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Only, when he pulled off his hat and ducked into Rand’s tent, no one was there except Natael, lounging on the cushions with his gilded, dragoncarved harp propped against his knee and a gold goblet in his hand

Mat grimaced, and swore under his breath He should have known as h a circle of Maidens right around the tent Most likely he was up at that newbuilt tower A good idea, that Know the terrain That was the second rule, close behind "Know your eneht put a sour twist to his mouth Those rules came from other men’s memories; the only rules he wanted to reirl whose brothers have knife scars" and "Never ga a back way out" He almost wished those memories of otherinto his thoughts when he least expected

"Trouble with a bilious stoht have a root to cure it Or you could try Moiraine"

Mat could not like theof a joke he did not mean to share And he always looked as if he had three servants taking care of his clothes All that snowy lace at collar and cuffs, always see freshly laundered The fellow never appeared to sweat, either Why Rand wanted hi ed "When he decides to Perhaps soon, perhaps late No ain, that secretive smile A touch bleak, this tih with this Too

Natael sipped at his wine, studying hih that Moiraine and the Wise Ones watched hiwene did too; she had certainly changed, half Wise One and half Aes Sedai -- but froe The best thing about leaving would be not having anyone look at hi, and already knehether his smallclothes were clean

Two maps lay spread out near the firepit One, copied in detail from a tattered map found in a halfburned town, covered northern Cairhien frouenya halfway to the Spine of the World, while the other, newly drawn and sketchy, showed the land around the city Slips of parch to stay, and ignore Natael’s searching look at the sa for it but to study the maps

With the toe of his boot he shifted a few pebbles on the map of the city so he could read ritten on the parchments In spite of himself, he winced If the Aiel scouts could count, Couladin had nearly one hundred and sixty thousand spears -- Shaido and those who had supposedly gone to join their societies a the Shaido A hard nut to crack, and prickly This side of the Spine of the World had not seen an ar’s time

The second onwall All had now, in one force or another, strung out according to when they had left the Jangai and spread apart, but too close to here for cooma Between them, they apparently had at least as many spears as Couladin; they had not left many behind, if that was true The seven clans with Rand alh to face Couladin or the four clans Either or Not both, not at once But both at once ht

What the Aiel called the bleakness had to be affecting those clans too -- every day still men tossed down their weapons and vanished -- but only a fool would think it lessened their numbers any more than it did Rand’s And there was always the possibility that so to Couladin The Aiel did not speak of it very much or very freely, andsocieties, but even now, men and Maidens decided they could not accept Rand or what he had told the, and not all left their spears behind

"A pretty situation, wouldn’t you say?"

Mat’s head jerked up at Lan’s voice, but the Warder had entered the tent alone "Just so back?"

"He will be with us soon" Thumbs tucked behind his sword belt, Lan stood beside Mat, looking down at the ave away as est battle since Artur Haing"

"You don’t say?" Where was Rand? Still up on that tower, probably Maybe he should go there No, he could end up haring all over the camp, always one step behind Rand would co besides Couladin This fight is none ofthat concerns estured to the slips representing the Miagoma and the others "Any word on whether they mean to join Rand, or do they just intend to sit there watching?"

"Who can say? Rhuarc doesn’t seem to know anyThe only thing certain is that Couladin is not going anywhere"

Couladin again Mat shifted uncomfortably and took a halfstep toward the entrance No, he would wait Fastening his gaze on the maps, he pretended to study them further Perhaps Lan would leave hio

The Warder appeared to want to talk, though "What do you think, Master Glee and crush hiood to oblet down his throat, he dropped it on the carpets and picked up the harp to begin softly stru dark and funereal "I lead no ar save lanced at hi to his study of the ood plan? Why not?"

He said it so casually that Mat answered without thinking "Plenty of reasons If you surround Couladin, trap hiainst it" How long was Rand going to be? "But you ht over the walls, too Frootten over twice already, even withouton by its teeth" Say his piece and go, that was it "Press hi inside Cairhien Nasty thing, fighting in a city And the idea is to save the place, not finish ruining it" Those slips laid out on the maps, the maps themsel