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Darkgarbed servants, the first Cairhienin Rand had seen in the palace, rushed out orked golden bowls and white linen cloths as he swung a leg over the high pommel and slid from his saddle Others ca his face and hands in cool water to leave Aviendha to cliht have ended with the stones
Unprompted, Sulin chose out twenty Maidens besides herself to accolad she did not want to keep every last spear around him On the other hand, he wished Enaila, La looks they gave hijaoman with dark red hair, nearly twenty years older than he -- ly Soed to speak to them, and to Sulin, behind his back I ri men, but burn me if there isn’t one Aiel woman who’ll learn I’reeted hiray stairs that led up from the courtyard, all in colorful silk coats and satin stripes and silverworked boots It was plain that none were aware Meilan had gone to uid for such a lumpy man, sniffed anxiously at a scented handkerchief Gueya his head seelared at Meilan even as he bowed to Rand Sie; Maraconn, with blue eyes rare in Tear, compressed his thin lips until they almost disappeared; and while Hearne’s narrow face was all sed unconsciously at one earlobe as he did when furious Only bladeslender Aracome showed no outward eer well banked until ready to let it burst into flaood an opportunity toMoiraine for her, lessons -- it was easier to trip a fool than to knock hiy hand warmly and clapped Gueyam on the point of a thick shoulder, returned Hearne’s sh for a close conificant glance Sinored after one look as flat and cool as a deep winter pond for each
That was all it needed for the hten in thought They had played Daes Dae’ Cairhienin, who could read voluhtened their sensitivity Each man knew Rand had no reason to be friendly toward hi was only to cover so real with someone else Simaan and Maraconn appeared the most worried, yet the others eyed those two perhaps the most suspiciously of all Perhaps his coolness had been the true cover Or maybe that hat they were ht that Moiraine would be proud of him, and so would Tho against hi he did not think even Mat would bet on -- men in their positions could doseen to, and they would do so from habit if for no other reason Or they would have He had them off balance now If he could keep the each other, and too afraid of being watched in turn, to trouble hi a hundred reasons why things should be done differently fro too much
His satisfaction slipped when he saw As stare She had been in the Stone of Tear; she kneho these men were, and why he had sent theht sourly, and wished it did not sound as if he were trying to excuse himself
"Inside," he said, h Lords ju who and what he was
They wanted to crowd around him as he climbed the stairs, but except for Meilan to show the way, the Maidens siht up the rear with Asmodean and the lesser lords Aviendha stuck close by of course, and Sulin was on his other side, Soht behind him They could have reached out and touched his back without stretching He gave Aviendha an accusing look, and she arched her eyebrows at hi to do with it Almost
The corridors of the palace were empty except for darkliveried servants who bowed almost chest to knees or curtsied just as deeply as he passed, but when he entered the Grand Hall of the Sun he discovered that the Cairhienin nobility had not been excluded froon Reborn coilded doors worked with the Rising Sun His red coat ee on him after his time in Cairhien, marked him for an upper servant of Meilan’s House "All hail the Lord Dragon Rand al’Thor All glory to the Lord Dragon"
A quick roar filled the cha, fifty paces up "Hail the Lord Dragon Rand al’Thor! All glory to the Lord Dragon! The Light illuon!" The silence that followed seemed twice as still by comparison
Between massive square columns of marble thick streaked with blue so deep it was almost black stood more Tairens than Rand expected, ranks of Lords and Ladies of the Land dressed in their finest, in peaked velvet hats and coats with puffy, striped sleeves, in colorful gowns and lace ruffs and closefitting caps intricately eearbed except for slashes of color across the breast of gown or kneelength coat The her the rank of the wearer, but men and women with color from neck to waist or lower stood behind Tairens clearly of old and wool instead of silk No few of the Cairhienin men had shaved and powdered the front of their heads; all of the younger men had
The Tairens looked expectant, if uneasy; the Cairhienin faces could have been chiseled from ice There was no way to say who had cheered and who not, but Rand suspected ood many wished to serve you here," Meilan murreat goldenSun A ripple of silent c