The Gathering Storm

'You are not learning quickly enough,' Amys added, shaking her white-haired head.

'Not learning quickly enough?' Aviendha demanded. 'I have learned everything you have asked of me! I have memorized every lesson, repeated every fact, performed every duty. I have answered all your questions and have seen you nod in approval at each answer!'

She stared them down before continuing. 'I can channel better than any Aiel woman alive,' she said. 'I have left behind the spears, and I welcome my place among you. I have done my duty and sought honor on each occasion. Yet you continue to give me punishments! I will have no more of it. Either tell me what it is you wish of me or send me away.'

She expected anger from them. She expected disappointment. She expected them to explain that a mere apprentice was not to question full Wise Ones. She expected, at least, to be given greater punishment for her temerity.

Amys glanced at Melaine and Bair. 'It is not we who punish you, child,' she said, seeming to choose her words with care. 'These punishments come by your own hand.'

'Whatever I have done,' Aviendha said, 'I cannot see that it would have you make me da'tsang. You shame yourselves by treating me so.'

'Child,' Amys said, meeting her eyes. 'Are you rejecting our punishments?'

'Yes,' she said, heart thumping. 'I am.'

'You think your stakes as strong as ours, do you?' Bair asked, shading her aged face with her hand. 'You presume to be our equal?'

Their equal? Aviendha thought, panic setting in. I'm not their equal! I have years left to study. What am I doing?

Could she back down now? Beg forgiveness, meet her toh somehow? She should hurry back to her punishment and move the waters. Yes! That is what she needed to do. She had to go and—

'I see no more reason to study,' she found herself saying instead. 'If these punishments are all you have left to teach me, then I must assume that I have learned all that I must. I am ready to join you.'

She gritted her teeth, waiting for an explosion of furious incredulity. What was she thinking? She shouldn't have let Min's foolish talk rile her so.

And then Bair started to laugh.

It was a full-bellied sound, incongruous coming from the small woman. Melaine joined her, the sun-haired Wise One holding her stomach, slightly bulging from her pregnancy. 'She took even longer than you, Amys!' Melaine exclaimed. 'As stubborn a girl as I've ever seen.'

Amys' expression was uncharacteristically soft. 'Welcome, sister,' she said to Aviendha.

Aviendha blinked. 'What?'

'You are one of us now, girl!' Bair said. 'Or soon will be.'

'But I defied you!'

'A Wise One cannot allow others to step upon her,' Amys said. 'If she comes into the shade of our sisterhood thinking like an apprentice, then she will never see herself as one of us.'

Bair glanced at Rand al'Thor, who stood in the distance talking to Sarene. 'I never realized how important our ways were until I studied these Aes Sedai. Those at the bottom simper and beg like hounds, and are ignored by those who consider themselves their betters. It is a wonder they achieve anything!'

'But there is rank among Wise Ones,' Aviendha said. 'Is there not?'

'Rank?' Amys looked puzzled. 'Some of us have more honor than others, earned by wisdom, actions and experience.'

Melaine held up a finger. 'But it is important—vital, even—that each Wise One be willing to defend her own well. If she believes that she is right, she cannot let herself be shoved aside, even by other Wise Ones, no matter how aged or wise.'

'No woman is ready to join us until she has declared herself ready,' Amys continued. 'She must present herself as our equal.'

'A punishment is not a true punishment unless you accept it, Aviendha,' Bair said, still smiling. 'We thought you ready weeks ago, but you stubbornly continued to obey.'

'Almost, I began to think you prideful, girl,' Melaine added with a fond smile.

'Girl no longer,' Amys said.

'Oh, she's still a girl,' Bair said. 'Until one more thing is done.'

Aviendha felt dazed. They'd said she wasn't learning quickly enough. Learning to stand up for herself! Aviendha had never allowed others to push her around, but these weren't 'others'—they were Wise Ones, and she the apprentice. What would have happened if Min hadn't riled her? She would have to thank the woman, although Min didn't realize what she'd done.

Until one more thing is done. . . 'What must I still do?' Aviendha asked.

'Rhuidean,' Bair said.

Of course. A Wise One visited that most sacred city twice in her life. Once when she became an apprentice, once when she became a full Wise One.

'Things will be different, now,' Melaine said. 'Rhuidean is no longer what it once was.'

'That is no reason to abandon the old ways,' Bair replied. 'The city may be open, but nobody will be foolish enough to walk through the pillars. Aviendha, you must—'

'Bair,' Amys cut in, 'if it is well with you, I would prefer to tell her.'

Bair hesitated, then nodded. 'Yes, of course. It is only right. We turn our backs on you now, Aviendha. We will not see you again until you return to us as a sister returning from a long journey.'

'A sister we had forgotten that we knew,' Melaine said, smiling. The two turned from her, then Amys began to walk toward the Traveling ground. Aviendha hurried to catch up.

'You may wear your clothing this time,' Amys said, 'as it is the mark of your station. Normally, I would suggest that you travel to the city by foot, even though we know of Traveling now, but I think that custom is best bent in this case. Still, you should not Travel directly to the city. I suggest Traveling to Cold Rocks Hold and walk from there. You must spend time in the Three-fold Land to contemplate your journey.'

Aviendha nodded. 'I will need a waterskin and supplies there.'

'Ready and waiting for you at the hold,' Amys said. 'We've been expecting you to leap this chasm soon. You should have leapt it days ago, considering all the hints we gave you.' She eyed Aviendha, who glanced down at the ground.

'You have no reason for shame,' Amys said. 'That burden is upon us. Despite Bair's joking, you did well. Some women spend months and months being punished before deciding that they have had enough. We had to be hard on you, child—harder than I've ever seen a ready apprentice treated. There is just so little time!'

'I understand,' Aviendha said. 'And . . . thank you.'

Amys snorted. 'You forced us to be very creative. Remember this time you spent and the shame you felt, for it is the shame any da'tsang will know, should you consign them to their fate. And they cannot escape it simply by demanding release.'

'What do you do if an apprentice declares herself ready to be a Wise One during her first few months of training?'

'Strap her a few times and set her digging holes, I suspect,' Amys said. 'I don't know of that ever happening. The closest was Sevanna.'

Aviendha had wondered why the Wise Ones had accepted the Shaido woman without complaint. Her declaration had been enough: and so Amys and the others had been forced to accept her.

Amys pulled her shawl close. 'There is a bundle for you with the Maidens guarding the Traveling ground. Once you reach Rhuidean, travel to the center of the city. You will find the pillars of glass. Pass through the center of them, then return here. Spend well your days running to the city. We pushed you hard so that you would have this time for contemplation. It is likely the last you will have for some while.'

Aviendha nodded. 'The battle comes.'

'Yes. Return quickly once you pass through the pillars. We will need to discuss how to best handle the Car'a'carn. He has . . . changed since last night.'

'I understand,' Aviendha said, taking a deep breath.

'Go,' Amys said, 'and return.' She put emphasis on the final word. Some women did not survive