had not been delivered. At first Elayne felt relief at anything to change the topic from Rand. It was not the jealousy come back; rather, more and more she found herself wanting what Aviendha had shared with him. Not jealousy. Envy. She would almost have preferred the other. Then she began really hearing what her friend was saying in a low monotone, and the hair on the back of her neck tried to stand.
'You can’t do that,' she protested, reining her horse closer to Aviendha’s. Actually, she supposed Aviendha would not have much trouble drubbing Kurin, or tying her up, or any of the rest. If the other Sea Folk women stood still for it, anyway. 'We can’t start a war with them, certainly not before we use the Bowl. And not over this,' she added hastily. 'Not at all.' They certainly were not going to start a war before or after the Bowl was used. Not just because the Windfinders were behaving more highhandedly by the hour. Not just because… Drawing breath, she hurried on. 'If she
Aviendha glared ahead at nothing, absently brushing flies away from her face. 'Without fail, I told her,' she grumbled. 'Without fail! What if he had been one of the Shadowsouled? What if he had managed to get by me through the gateway, and you with no warning? What if…?' She turned a suddenly forlorn gaze on Elayne. 'I will bite my knife,' she said sadly, 'but my liver may burst for it.'
Elayne was about to say that swallowing her anger was the right thing to do and she could pitch as large a fit as she wanted so long as she did not hurl it at the Atha’an Miere — that was what all that about knives and livers meant — but before she could open her mouth, Adeleas brought her rangy gray up on her other side. The white-haired sister had acquired a new saddle in Ebou Dar, a gaudy thing worked with silver on pommel and cantle. The flies seemed to avoid her, for some reason, though she wore a scent as strong as any of the flowers.
'Pardon me. I could not help overhearing that last.' Adeleas did not sound at all apologetic, and Elayne wondered just how much she had overheard. She felt her cheeks coloring. Some of what Aviendha had said about Rand had been remarkably frank and straightforward. Some of what she had said had been, too. It was one thing to talk that way with your nearest friend, quite another to suspect someone else had been listening. Aviendha seemed to feel the same way; she did not blush, but the sour look she shot at the Brown would have done Nynaeve proud.
Adeleas merely smiled, a vague smile as bland as water soup. 'It might be best if you gave your friend there free rein with the Atha’an Miere.' She peered past Elayne at Aviendha, blinking. 'Well, a loose rein. Putting the fear of the Light into them ought to be sufficient. They’re almost there already, in case you haven’t noticed. They’re much more wary of the ‘savage’ Aiel — forgive me, Aviendha — than they are of Aes Sedai. Merilille would have suggested it, but her ears are still burning.'
Aviendha’s face rarely gave much away, but right then she looked as puzzled as Elayne felt. Elayne twisted in her saddle to frown behind her. Merilille rode abreast with Vandene, Careane, and Sareitha not far back, all very studiously looking at anything except Elayne. Beyond the sisters were the Sea Folk, still in single file, and then would come the Knitting Circle, keeping themselves out of sight for the moment just ahead of the packhorses. They were threading their way through the glades of truncated columns. Fifty or a hundred long-tailed red-and-green birds winged over their heads, filling the air with chattering cries.
'Why?' Elayne asked curtly. It seemed foolish to add to the turmoil already bubbling just below the surface — and sometimes on the surface — but she had seen no hint of the fool in Adeleas. The Brown sister’s eyebrows rose in apparent surprise. Maybe she was surprised; Adeleas usually thought anyone should see what she saw. Maybe.
'Why? To restore a little balance, that is why. If the Atha’an Miere feel they need us to protect them from an Aiel, it might be a useful balance against…' Adeleas paused slightly, suddenly absorbed in adjusting her pale gray skirts. '…other things.'
Elayne’s face tightened. Other things. The bargain with the Sea Folk was what Adeleas meant. 'You may ride with the others,' she said coolly.
Adeleas made no protest, no attempts to press her argument. She just inclined her head and let her horse fall back. Her small smile never altered a whit. The older Aes Sedai accepted that Nynaeve and Elayne stood above them and spoke with Egwene’s authority at their backs, but the truth was, that changed little beyond the surface. Perhaps nothing. They were outwardly respectful, they obeyed, and yet…
After all was said and done, Elayne, at least, was Aes Sedai at an age when most initiates of the Tower still wore novice white and very few had reached the Accepted. And she and Nynaeve had agreed to that bargain, hardly a display of wisdom and acumen. Not just the Sea Folk getting the Bowl, but twenty sisters going to the Atha’an Miere, subject to their laws, required to teach anything the Windfinders wanted to learn and unable to leave until others came to replace them. Windfinders allowed to enter the Tower as guests, allowed to learn whatever they wished, leave whenever they wished. Those alone would make the Hall scream, and probably Egwene as well, yet the rest… Every last one of the older sisters thought she would have found a way around making that bargain. Perhaps they really could have. Elayne did not believe it, but she was not sure.
She did not say anything to Aviendha, but after a few moments, the other woman spoke. 'If I can serve honor and help you at the same time, I do not care whether it serves some Aes Sedai end.' She never seemed to take it in that Elayne was also Aes Sedai, not completely.
Elayne hesitated, then nodded. Something had to be done to temper the Sea Folk. Merilille and the others had displayed a remarkable forbearance so far, but how long would that last? Nynaeve might explode, once she actually turned her attentions to the Windfinders. Matters had to be kept as smooth as possible for as long as possible, but if the Atha’an Miere went on believing they could stare down any Aes Sedai, there would be trouble. Life was more complex than she had imagined back in Caemlyn, no matter how many lessons she had received as Daughter-Heir. So much more complicated since she entered the Tower.
'Just don’t be too… emphatic,' she said softly. 'And please have a care. There are twenty of them, after all, and only one of you. I wouldn’t want anything to happen before I could help you.' Aviendha gave her a grin with a good bit of wolf in it and drew her dun mare off at the edge of the stones to wait for the Atha’an Miere.
From time to time Elayne glanced back, but all she saw through the trees was Aviendha riding next to Kurin, speaking quite calmly and not even looking at the Sea Folk woman. Certainly not glaring, though Kurin seemed to stare at her with considerable astonishment. When Aviendha thumped her horse back up to join Elayne, flapping her reins — she would never be a horsewoman — Kurin rode forward to speak with Renaile, and a short time later Renaile angrily sent Rainyn to the head of the column.
The most junior of the Windfinders sat her horse even more awkwardly than Aviendha, whom she pretended to ignore on Elayne’s other side just as she ignored the small green flies buzzing around her dark face. 'Renaile din Calon Blue Star,' she said stiffly, 'demands that you snub in the Aiel woman, Elayne Aes Sedai.' Aviendha grinned toothily at her, and Rainyn must have been watching at least a little, because her cheeks reddened beneath the sheen of sweat.
'Tell Renaile that Aviendha is not Aes Sedai,' Elayne replied. 'I will ask her to be careful,' no lie there; she had, and would again, 'but I can’t
Aviendha gave a pleased chuckle, but Elayne wondered whether the whole notion had been a mistake. Even with a good thirty paces between them, she could see Renaile’s face swell up at Rainyn’s report, and the others began to buzz like bees. They did not look frightened, they looked angry, and the glares they directed at the Aes Sedai ahead of them grew baleful. Not at Aviendha, at the sisters. Adeleas nodded thoughtfully when she saw that, and Merilille just barely failed to hide a smile. At least they were pleased.
If that had been the only incident during the ride it would have taken the edge off any enjoyment of flowers and birds, but it was not even the first. Beginning shortly after leaving the clearing, the Knitting Circle had made their way forward to Elayne one by one, all but Kirstian, and no doubt she would have come too had she not been ordered to keep Ispan shielded. One by one they came, each hesitant, smiling timorously until Elayne wanted to tell them to act their ages. They certainly made no demands, and they were too smart to ask straight out for what already had been denied, but they found other paths.
'It occurred to me,' Reanne said brightly, 'that you must want to question Ispan Sedai quite urgently. Who can say what else she was up to in the city besides trying to find the storeroom?' She pretended to just be making conversation, but from time to time she darted quick looks at Elayne to see how she was taking it. 'I’m sure we’ll
