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The apprentices barely straightened enough to follow hi roundeyed at Rand even more than at the Aiel as they vanished down the ladder Cail was a year older than he, Jol two Both had been born in bigger towns than he had i the Two Rivers, had visited Cairhien and seen the king and the A sheep Very likely, they still knewhis head, he bent to the new looking glass
Cairhien leaped into view The forests, never particularly thick to one used to Two Rivers’ woods, stopped coray, squaretowered walls in a perfect square against the rivercurves Within, rid, soh as the walls or endary topless toere still being rebuilt after their burning in the Aiel War
When last he had seen the city, another city had surrounded it froate, a rabbit warren as raucous as Cairhien was solemn, all in wood Now only a wide stretch of ash and charred timbers bordered the walls How that fire had been kept fro into Cairhien itself, he could not understand
Banners decked every tower in the city, too distant to make out clearly, but scouts had described them to him Half bore the Crescents of Tear; the other half, perhaps not surprisingly, duplicated the Dragon banner he had left flying over the Stone of Tear Not one bore the Rising Sun of Cairhien
Moving the looking glass only a little swept the city froht On the far side of the river still stood the blackened stone shells of the granaries So of the granaries had led to riots and then King Galldrian’s death, and thus to the civil war Others said Galldrian’s assassination had caused the riots and the burning Rand doubted that he would ever knohich was the truth, or whether either was
A number of burnedout hulks dotted both banks of the wide river, but none lay close to the city Aiel had an uneasiness -- feara word -- about bodies of water they could not step across or wade, but Couladin had uenya both above and below Cairhien, along with enough men to see they were not cut Firearrows had done the rest Nothing except rats and birds could get into or out of Cairhien without Couladin’s leave
The hills around the city showed little sign of a besieging ar on the remains of some attempt to break out, but no Shaido were visible Aiel seldo the looking glass back to a treeless hilltop perhaps a mile from the city walls Back to a cluster of men He could not discern faces, or much else aside fro more One of those ination, but he thought that when Couladinoff thethe man’s forearms in imitation of his own Asmodean had put those there Just an attempt to divert Rand’s attention, to occupy him while Asmodean worked his own plans, but without that, how much would have turned out differently? Certainly, he would not be standing on this toatching a besieged city and awaiting a battle
Suddenly, soh the air on that distant hilltop, a long blur, and two of theat the fallen men, both apparently transfixed with the same spear, Couladin and the others seelass, Rand scanned for the man who had throith such force He had to be brave -- and a fool -- to get close enough Rand’s search widened quickly, beyond any possible range of a huier -- not likely; it took a great deal to rouse an Ogier into violence -- when another streaking blur caught his eye
Startled, he halfstraightened before jerking the glass back to Cairhien’s walls That spear -- or whatever it was -- had come from there He was certain of it Hoas another matter entirely At this distance it was all he could do toon the wails or atop a tower
Raising his head, Rand found Rhuarc just stepping away fro up his place to Han That was the whole reason for the tower and the glasses Scouts brought back ord they could of how the Shaido were deployed, but this way the chiefs could see for theht They had worked out a plan between theo aht their plan a good one At least, Rand did not know much in his own mind; sometimes those other memories crept in, and then he seemed to know more than he wanted
"Did you see that? Those spears?"
Rhuarc looked as puzzled as Rand knew he himself must, but the Aiel nodded "The last took another Shaido, but he crawled away Not Couladin, worse luck" He gestured to the looking glass, and Rand let him take his place
Was it such bad luck? Couladin’s death would not end the threat to Cairhien, or to anywhere else Now they were this side of the Dragonwall, the Shaido would not taht was the true Car’a’carn died It h for that And after all Rand had seen, he did not think Couladin deserved so easy a way out I can be as hard as Ihis sword hilt For him, I can
Chapter 42
(Dice)
Before the Arrow
The inside of a tent roof had to be theback in his shirtsleeves on scarlettasseled cushions that Melindhra had acquired, Mat studied the graybrown cloth intently Or rather, he stared beyond it One aroblet full of good wine from the south of Cairhien A sood horses would -- asin it had not been stood on its head -- but he counted it a s decent Sometimes a drop or two splashed over onto his hand, but he never noticed and he never took a drink
By his book, one beyondstuck in the Waste with no idea of the way out Serious was Darkfriends popping up when you least expected, Trolloc attacks in the night, the odd Myrddraal freezing your blood with an eyeless stare That sort of thing came quickly, and usually was done before you had much chance to think It was certainly not what you would seek out, yet if you had to, you could live with it if you could live through it But for days he had knohere they were heading, and why Nothing quic