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There it was The crack she needed But instead of asking what she had intended, she said, "You an and Nicola and Areina? How can they be trouble?" Only a fool passed over what Min saw

"I don’t know exactly I only caught glimpses of aura, and just out of the corner of ht haveout There aren’t many who have auras all the time, you know Trouble Maybe they’ll carry tales Were you up to anything you wouldn’t want the Aes Sedai to know about?"

"Certainly not," Elayne said briskly Min looked at her sideways, and she added, "Well, nothing we didn’t have to do They can’t possibly know about it anyway" This was not taking her where she wanted to go Drawing a deep breath, she leaped off the cliff "Min, you had a viewing about Rand and me, didn’t you?" She went two steps before she realized the other woman had stopped

"Yes" It was a ord

"You saw that ere going to fall in love"

"Not exactly I saw you’d fall in love with him I don’t knohat he feels for you, only that he’s tied to you sohtened That was about what she had expected, but not what she wanted to hear "Wish" and "want" trip the feet, but "is" makes the path smoother That hat Lini said You had to deal as, not what you wished was "And you saw there would be someone else Someone I’d have to share him with"

"Two," Min said hoarsely "Two others And And I’m one"

Mouth already open for the next question, for a ot out at last

Min bristled "Yes, me! Do you think I can’t fall in love? I didn’t want to, but I did, and that’s that" She stalked past Elayne down the alleyway, and this time Elayne was slower to catch up

It certainly explained a few things How nervously Min had always sidestepped talking about it The e it, Min earing rouge, too How do I feel about it? she wondered She could not sort it out "Who is the third?" she asked quietly

"I don’t know," Min muht" She gave a weak laugh "I don’t think I could have survived that" Oncelook "What does this mean between you and me? I like you I never had a sister, but sometimes I feel like you I want to be your friend, Elayne, and I won’t stop liking you whatever happens, but I can’t stop loving hi to share a man," Elayne said stiffly That was certainly an understatement

"Me, neither Only Elayne, it shaet hiht, he’s scra about him scrambles h or cry

Elayne exhaled slowly Not Min’s fault Was it better that it was Min rather than, say, Berelain or somebody else she could not abide? "Ta’veren," she said "He bends the world around hiht in a whirlpool But I see we’d never let afriends, We ork it out somehow, Min And e find out who the third is Well, we’ll work that out, as well Somehow" A third! Could she be Berelain? Oh, blood and ashes!

"Soht here in a leg trap I know there’s another, I know I can’t do anything about it, but I had enough trouble reconciling myself to you, and Cairhienin women aren’t all like Moiraine I saw a Cairhienin noblewoman in Baerlon once On the surface, she s, hinting And her auras! I don’t think a man in the whole toas safe alone with her, not unless he was ugly, laed to ht "Never you mind about that We have another sister, you and I, one you’ve nevera close eye on Rand, and he doesn’t go ten steps without a guard of Aiel Maidens of the Spear" A Cairhienin wo of her No She was not going to fret over it like sorooman dealt with the world as it was and made the best of it Who could it be?

They had coe kettles, ainst the encircling stone wall, which had been toppled in several places by trees growing up in it Despite the shadows crossing the yard, two stea kettles still sat on flames, and three novices, hair sweatsoaked and white skirts tied up, were hard at work on scrub boards stuck into broad washpots full of soapy water

With a glance at the shirts under Min’s arm, Elayne e to do assigned chores was forbidden -- physical labor built character, so they said -- but this could not be counted the same If she swirled the shirts around in the water violently enough, there should be no reason to get their hands wet "Tell ed as they seeain really here? And why are you laundering sohed, plainly pleased to change the subject "’Everything’ will take a week But I’ll try First, I helped Siuan and Leane get out of the dungeon Elaida had stuck the appropriate sounds of a kettles clear of its flames She hardly noticed the novices’ incredulous stares; she was used to her own strength now, and it rarely occurred to her that she did things, without thinking, that some full Aes Sedai could not do at all Who was the third wo a close eye on him

Chapter 51

(Dice)

News Co from the plain, shortstemmed pipe clenched in his teeth, Rand rested one hand on the balcony’s stone railing and looked into the garden below Sharp shadoere lengthening; the sun was a red ball falling through a cloudless sky Ten days in Cairhien, and this seemed the first moment he had stood still when he was not asleep Selande stood close by his side, pale face tilted up to watch hiarden Her hair was not so elaborately done as that of a woht He tried to ignore her, but it was difficult to ignore a woainst your arh for him to want a moment’s break He had known it for a mistake as soon as