The Gathering Storm

'I experienced the most curious of events,' Verin continued. Ignoring Mat, of course. 'You may not be aware of this, but in order to Travel from a location, you need to spend time in it. Usually, stopping in a place for an evening is enough. Consequently, after parting from the Dragon, I made my way to a nearby village and took a room at the inn. I settled down, learning the room and preparing to open a Gateway in the morning.

'In the middle of the night, however, the innkeeper arrived. He explained with chagrin that I needed to be moved to another room. It appeared that a leak had been discovered in the roof above my room, and it would soon seep through my ceiling. I protested, but he was insistent.

'And so I moved across the hall and began learning that room. Just when I was feeling I knew it well enough to open a gateway, I was interrupted again. This time, the innkeeper—more embarrassed—explained that his wife had lost her ring in that room during early morning cleaning. The woman awoke in the night and was very upset. The innkeeper— looking quite tired—apologetically wanted to move me again.'

'And?' Mat asked. 'Coincidence, Verin.'

She raised an eyebrow at him, then smiled as he shifted on the bench again. Burn it all, he wasn't squirming!

'I refused to be moved, Matrim,' she said. 'I told the innkeeper he was quite welcome to search the room after I left, and promised that I would not take any rings I discovered with me. Then I firmly shut the door on him.' She sipped her drink. 'A few minutes later, the inn caught fire—a coal from the hearth rolled to the floor and ended up burning the entire place to the ground. Everyone escaped, fortunately, but the inn was a loss. Tired and bleary-eyed, Tomas and I had to move on to the next village and find rooms there instead.'

'So?' Mat said. 'Still sounds like a coincidence.'

'This continued for three days,' Verin said. 'I was interrupted even when I tried to learn a place outside a building. Random passersby asking to share the fire, a falling tree crashing down in camp, a flock of sheep wandering by, an isolated storm. Various random events always contrived to keep me from learning the area.'

Talmanes whistled softly. Verin nodded. 'Each time I tried to learn an area, something went wrong. I was inevitably moved for some reason. However, when I decided I wasn't going to do anything to learn a location and wasn't planning to make a gateway, nothing happened. Another person might have simply moved on and given up on Traveling for the time, but my nature asserted itself, and I found myself studying the phenomenon. It was quite regular.'

Bloody ashes. That was the sort of thing Rand was supposed to do to people. Not Mat. 'By your account, you should still be in Tear.'

'Yes,' she said, 'but I soon started to feel a tugging on me. Something pulling me, yanking me. As if. ...'

Mat shifted again. 'As if someone's got a bloody fishhook inside of you? And is standing far away, pulling gently—but insistently—on it?'

'Yes,' Verin said. She smiled. 'What a clever description.'

Mat didn't respond.

'I decided to use more mundane means to make my voyage. I thought that maybe my inability to Travel had something to do with al'Thor's proximity, or perhaps the gradual unraveling of the Pattern due to the Dark One's influence. I secured a place in a merchant caravan traveling northward toward Cairhien. They had an empty wagon they were willing to rent for a reasonable rate. I was quite fatigued from my days spent staying up all hours because of fires, crying babies and constant moves from one inn room to another. As such, I fear I slept much longer than I should have. Tomas napped as well.

'When we awoke, we were surprised to discover that the caravan had taken a turn to the northwest instead of heading toward Cairhien. I spoke with the caravan master, and he explained that he'd received a last-minute tip that his goods would fetch a much better price in Murandy than in Cairhien. As he considered it, he mentioned that he really should have told me about the change, but it had slipped his mind.'

She took another sip of tea. 'It was then that I knew for certain that I was being directed. Most wouldn't have noticed it, I suspect, but I have made a study of the nature oita'veren. The caravan hadn't moved far toward Murandy—only one day—but mixed with the tugging, it was enough. I spoke with Tomas, and we determined to avoid going where we were being pulled. Skimming is an inferior substitute for Traveling, but does not have the same limitation of knowing the area. I opened a gateway, but when we reached the end of our journey, we stepped not into Tar Valon, but a small village in northern Murandy!

'That shouldn't have been possible. However, as we considered it, Tomas and I realized he had been speaking fondly of a hunting trip he'd gone on once in the village of Trustair, and I'd opened the gateway at that moment. I must have let myself focus on the wrong location.'

'And here we are,' Tomas said, arms folded, looking dissatisfied as he stood behind his Aes Sedai's chair.

'Indeed,' Verin said. 'Curious, wouldn't you say, young Matrim? I accidentally end up here, in your path, right when you have great need of someone to create a gateway for your army?'

'Still could be coincidence.'

'And the tugging?'

He didn't know what to say to that.

'Coincidence is how being ta'veren works,' Verin said. 'You find a discarded object that is of great use to you, or happen to meet an individual at just the right time. Random chance randomly works in your favor. Or haven't you noticed?' She smiled. 'Care to throw some dice on it?'

'No,' he said reluctantly.

'One thing bothers me, however,' Verin said. 'Was there no other person who could have happened into your path? Al'Thor has those Asha'man scouring the countryside looking for men who can channel, and I suspect rural areas like this are top on their list, as it is more likely that channelers could stay unnoticed in such places. One of them could have happened into your path and given you a gateway.'

'Not bloody likely,' Mat said, shivering. 'I'm not trusting the Band to the likes of them.'

'Not to get to Andor in a heartbeat?' Verin asked.

Mat hesitated. Well, maybe.

'7 had to be here for some reason,' she said thoughtfully.

'I still think you're reading too much into this,' he replied, shifting yet again on the burning bench.

'Perhaps. Perhaps not. First, we should negotiate my price for taking you to Andor. I assume you want to reach Caemlyn?'

'Price?' Mat said. 'But you think the Pattern forced you here! Why demand a price of me?'

'Because,' she said, raising a finger, 'while I waited to find you—I honestly didn't know if it would be you or young Perrin—I realized that there were several things I could provide you that no other could.' She reached into a pocket of her dress, pulling out several pieces of paper. One was the picture of Mat. 'You didn't ask where I got this.'

'You're Aes Sedai,' Mat said, shrugging. 'I figured you . . . you know, saidared it.'

'Saidared it?' she asked flatly.

He shrugged.

'I received this paper, Matrim—'

'Call me Mat,' he said.

'I received this paper, Matrim, from a Darkfriend,' she said, 'who told me—thinking me a servant of the Shadow—that one of the Forsaken had commanded that the men in these pictures be killed. You and Perrin are in grave danger.'

'I'm not surprised,' he said, hiding the chill her announcement made him feel. 'Verin, Darkfriends have been trying to kill me since the day I left the Two Rivers.' He paused. 'Burn me. Since the day before I left the Two Rivers. What does it change?'

'This is different,' Verin said, growing stern. 'The level of danger you are in ... I ... Well, let us simply agree that you are in great, great danger. I suggest that you be very careful during the next few weeks.'