Page 227 (1/1)

S to make her lips ache "You should have asked, Elayne You always go and do things without asking, without thinking It’s ti blindly, your old nurse isn’t going to come pick you up and wash your face" By the last word, Elayne’s eyes were as round as teacups, and her bared teeth looked ready to bite

Birgitte put a hand on each of theh joy had her by the throat "If you two don’t stop this, I’ to tip you both into the river to cool off You are both acting like Shago bar faces frozen in amiability, the three women stalked in different directions, just as far apart as the ship would allow Near sunset Nynaeve heard Ragan say that she and the others must really be relieved to be away fro on one another’s shoulder, and the othermuch the same, but the rest of the women aboard watched them with faces much too smooth They knew trouble when they saw it

Yet bit by bit, that trouble oozed away Nynaeve was not exactly sure how Perhaps the pleasant exteriors Elayne and Birgitte put on just seeped inside in spite of the to keep a friendly s a proper bite into your words, struck them more and more Whatever did it, she could not coan to match faces, and now and then one of the how she had been behaving Neither spoke one word of apology, of course, which Nynaeve quite understood Had she been as foolish and vicious as they, she certainly would not want to re Elayne and Birgitte to equilibriu after the ht out her scrip full of herbs, ashes h to Heal -- sickness and injury always h she had to be careful Wounds vanishing would have set people talking, and the Light knehat Neres would do if he thought he had an Aes Sedai aboard; very likely sneak a ht and try to have theht have sent soees over the side

With Uno, for exa mardrootoil liniment into his heavily bruised shoulder, dabbed a bit of healall oint either -- and wrapped his head in bandages until he could hardly asped and flailed, she said briskly, "Don’t be such a baby I wouldn’t have thought a little pain would bother a big strong man Now, you leave those alone; if you even touch the you won’t soon forget"

He nodded slowly, staring at her so uncertainly that it was plain he did not knohat she had done If he realized when he finally took the bandages off, with luck no one else would reash had been, and he should have sense enough to keep his o on to the rest of the passengers Few of the refugees lacked bruises and scrapes, and sons of fevers or worms Those she could Heal without worry; children alwaysthat did not taste of honey If they told their mothers it had felt odd, children always had fancies

She had never really been comfortable around children True, she wanted to have Lan’s babies Part of her did Children couldThey see the opposite of what you told them as soon as your back was turned, just to see how you would react Yet she found herself sher than her waist who stared up at her owlishly with bright blue eyes They looked very like Lan’s eyes

Elayne and Birgitte joined her, just to help keep order at first, but one way or another they gravitated to the children too Strangely, Birgitte did not look at all silly with a boy of three or four cradled on either hip and a ring of children about her, singing the animals And Elayne handed round a sack of sweet red candies The Light knehere she had gotten theht her sneaking one into her own irl’s thumb from her hed as if just reled theitte’s, as easily as into their mothers’ It was very difficult to maintain any sort of te herself to do more than sniff, and that faintly, when Elayne resumed her study of the a’dam in the privacy of the cabin on the second day The woman seemed more convinced than ever that the bracelet, necklace and leash created a strange forht of the vile thing itself was enough to enable her to eees’ stories came out, of course Families separated, lost or dead Farms and shops and crafts ruined as ripples of the world’s troubles spread out, disrupting trade People could not buy when they could not sell The Prophet had only been the last brick on the cart that broke the axle Nynaeve said nothing when she saw Elayne slipping a gold ray hair who knuckled a wrinkled forehead and tried to kiss her hand She would learn how fast gold vanished Besides, Nynaeve had handed out a few coins herself, Well, perhaps rizzled or balding, with leathery faces and workcallused hands Younger ht up by the Prophet; those who refused one or the other had been hanged The young pair -- little more than boys, really; Nynaeve doubted if either had to shave regularly -- wore hunted stares, and flinched if one of the Shienarans looked at the a bit of land to farain, but the tone of their voices said it was more bluff and bravado than real hope Mostly they talked quietly of their farandchildren lost They sounded lost The second night, a jugeared felloho had seemed the most enthusiastic in a sad lot had just vanished; he was siht have swum ash