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Schooling his face, he strode down the carpet to his own chair That chair alone was reason to control his features It was a new gift froined was the Tairen style He audiness; he ruled Tear, had sent theold with enaolden eyes Two more made the arms, and others clione without sleep since his arrival toon it Asrand sound, now, a triumphal march

And yet, there was an added wariness in those dark Cairhienin eyes watching him, a wariness reflected in the Tairens It had been there before he went outside, too Perhaps in atte to curry favor they hadon thenore who he was, pretend he was si lord who had conquered them, who could be dealt with and manipulated That chair -- that throne -- held up in front of the on schedule, Lord Dobraine?" The harp faded away as soon as he opened hisit

The leathery on" No more than that Rand had no illusions that Dobraine liked him ain advantage where he could, but Dobraine actually seemed ready to hold to the oath he had sworn The colorful slashes down the chest of his coat orn froil shifted forward on his chair, whipslender and tall for a Cairhienin, white hair al his shoulders His forehead was not shaved, and his coat, stripes nearly to his knees, bore no visible wear "We need those ilded throne, focused on Rand again "There are ain, so he did not have to look at the Tairens Meilan and the other tere s bandits," Rand said They did have orders to sweep up any brigands in their path And to not go out of their way to find them Even Aiel could not do that and s killed nearly two hundred near Morelle" That was near the southernmost line claimed by Cairhien in recent years, halfway to the River Iralell No need to let this lot know that those Aieldistances faster than horses

Maringil persisted, frowning uneasily "There is another reason Half of our land west of the Alguenya is in the hands of Andor" He hesitated They all knew Rand had grown up in Andor; a dozen rumors made hiase herself, either cast off because he could channel or fled before he could be gentled The slenderdaggers "Morgase does not see for more as yet, but what she has already ht to the --" He stopped abruptly None of thease

Colavaere’s dark gaze had Rand on balance scales again; she had said little today She would not until she learned why Selande’s face was so white

Suddenly Rand was tired, of nobles balking, of all thein Daes Dae’mar "Andoran claims to Cairhien will be taken care of when I ao to Tear You will follow the High Lord Meilan’s good exa toward the Tairens "Your exaood one, Meilan, isn’t it? And yours, Aracome? If I ride out tomorroon’t find a thousand Defenders of the Stone camped ten miles south ere supposed to be on their way back to Tear two days ago, will I? Or two thousand armsmen from Tairen Houses?"

Those faint smiles faded with each word Meilan beca, and Aracoer or fear it was hard to say Torean dabbed at his lumpy face with a silk handkerchief pulled from his sleeve Rand ruled in Tear, and meant to rule; Callandor driven into the Heart of the Stone proved that That hy they had not protested against his sending Cairhienin soldiers to Tear They thought to carve new estates, perhaps kingdoms, here, far froon," Meilan said finally "Tomorroill ride with you so you may see for yourself"

Rand did not doubt it A rider would be dispatched south as soon as the e it, and by tomorrow those soldiers would be far on toward Tear It would do For now "I am done, then You may leave ht have been i, Selande and the young lords backing away They had expected , and tortuous as they saw it, with hio, whether it was declaring that no Tairen could clai into a Cairhienin House, or refusing to allow the expulsion of Foregaters, orlaws apply to nobles that had never applied to any but commoners before

His eyes followed Selande for a moment She was not the first in the last ten days Nor the tenth, or even the twentieth He had been tempted, at least at first When he rejected slender, plump promptly replaced her, as tall or dark, for Cairhienin anyway, replaced short or fair A constant search for the woman ould please him The Maidens turned back those who tried to sneak into his quarters at night, firht Aviendha apparently took Elayne’s ownership of him with little short of deadly seriousness Yet her Aiel sense of hu; he had seen the satisfaction on her face when he groaned and hid his face as she started undressing for the night Thus he could have resented her deadly seriousness if he had not quickly understood as behind that string of pretty young women

"My Lady Colavaere"

She stopped as soon as he spoke her name, cooleyed and calm beneath her ornate tower of dark curls Selande had no choice but to reh she was plainly as reluctant to stay as the others were to go Meilan and Maringil bowed the to puzzle out why she had been called to stay that they did not realize they were side by side Their eyes were a perfect