The Gathering Storm

her. 'Look for a statue,' he said.

'What?' she asked with surprise.

He glanced back at her, stopping. 'You asked where Perrin was. He's camped with an army beneath the shade of an enormous fallen statue shaped like a sword stabbing the earth. I'm certain scholars here can tell you where it is; it's very distinctive.'

'How . . . how do you know that?'

Rand just shrugged. 'I just do.'

'Why tell me?' she asked, walking alongside him across the yard of packed earth. She hadn't expected him to give up the information—he had gotten into the habit of holding onto whatever he knew, even if that knowledge was meaningless.

'Because,' he said, striding toward the keep, voice growing almost too soft to hear, 'I ... have a debt to you for caring when I cannot. If you seek Perrin out, tell him that I will soon need him.'

With that, he left her.

Nynaeve stood in the horse yard, watching him go. There was a wet scent to the air, the smell of new rain, and she could feel that she'd missed a sprinkle. Not enough to clear the air or muddy the ground, but enough to leave wetted sections of stone in shaded corners. To her right, men galloped and exercised horses beneath the dun sky, riding across sandy earth between pickets. The Stone was the only fortress she knew of with exercise areas for cavalry—but, then, the Stone was far from ordinary.

The rumble of hoofbeats was like the sound of a distant storm, and she found herself glancing northward. The storm there felt closer than it had before. She'd assumed it was gathering in the Blight, but now she wasn't so certain.

She took a deep breath, then hastened to the keep. She passed Defenders in their immaculate uniforms, the upper arm portions ribbed and puffy, breastplates smooth and curved. She passed stableboys, each probably dreaming of one day wearing that same uniform, but for now only leading horses back to the stables for hay and currying. She passed dozens of servants in linens, doubtless far more comfortable than Nynaeve's maroon wool.

The keep itself was a towering rock of a structure, sheer walls broken only by windows. Except that she could still spot the place where Mat had destroyed a section of stone with his Illuminator's fireworks when coming to rescue Nynaeve and the others from their imprisonment. Fool boy. Where was he? She hadn't seen him in ... in quite a long time. Since Ebou Dar had fallen to the Seanchan. In a way, she felt as though she'd abandoned him, though she'd never admit that. Why, she'd embarrassed herself enough in front of the Daughter of the Nine Moons when she'd defended that scoundrel! She still didn't know what had come over her.

Mat could care for himself. He was probably carousing in some inn while the rest of them worked to save the world—drinking himself silly and playing at dice. Rand was another matter. He'd been so much easier to deal with when he'd continued to act like other men—stubborn and immature, but predictable. This new Rand with the cold emotions and the cold voice was truly unnerving.

The narrow corridors of the Stone were still unfamiliar to Nynaeve, and she often got lost. Her disorientation wasn't helped by the fact that hallways and walls sometimes changed places. She'd tried to discount such tales as superstitious nonsense, but the day before, she'd woken to discover that her room had indeed suddenly and mysteriously moved. Her door had opened to a smooth wall of the same seamless rock as the Stone itself. She'd been forced to escape through a gateway, and had been shocked to learn that her window looked out from a location two stories higher than it had the previous night!

Cadsuane said it was the Dark One's touch on the world, causing the Pattern to unravel. Cadsuane said a lot of things, and few of them were things that Nynaeve wished to hear.

Nynaeve got lost twice as she wove her way through the corridors, but she eventually arrived at Cadsuane's room. At least Rand hadn't forbidden his stewards to grant her rooms. Nynaeve knocked—she'd learned that she'd better—then entered.

The Aes Sedai from Cadsuane's group—Merise and Corele—sat in the room, knitting and sipping tea, trying to look like they were not waiting on the infernal woman's whims. Cadsuane herself was speaking quietly with Min, whom she had all but appropriated in recent days. Min herself didn't seem to mind, perhaps because it wasn't easy to spend time with Rand these days. Nynaeve felt a stab of sympathy for the girl. Ny-naeve only had to deal with Rand as a friend; all of this would be much harsher on the one who shared his heart.

All eyes turned toward Nynaeve as she closed the door. 'I think I've found him,' she announced.

'Who is that, child?' Cadsuane said, leafing through one of Min's books.

'Perrin,' Nynaeve said. 'You were right; Rand did know where he was.'

'Excellent!' Cadsuane said. 'You did well; it appears that you can be of use.'

Nynaeve wasn't certain which annoyed her more—the backhanded compliment, or the fact that her heart swelled with pride at hearing it. She was no girl, without her braid, to be stroked by this woman's words!

'Well?' Cadsuane looked up from the book. The others remained silent, though Min did shoot Nynaeve a congratulatory smile. 'Where is he?'

Nynaeve's opened her mouth to reply before she caught herself. What was it about this woman that made her want to obey? It wasn't the One Power or anything to do with it. Cadsuane simply projected the air of a stern, but fair, grandmother. The type you never spoke back to, but who would give you some baked sweets in reward for sweeping the floor when told.

'First, I want to know why Perrin is important.' Nynaeve stalked into the room and took the only remaining seat, a painted wooden stool. When she sat, she found herself sitting a few inches below eye level. Like a student before Cadsuane. She almost stood up, but realized that would draw more attention.

'Phaw!' Cadsuane said. 'You'd hold this knowledge back, even if it means the lives of those you hold dear?'

'I want to know what I've gotten myself into,' Nynaeve said stubbornly. 'I want to know that this information isn't going to end up hurting Rand further.'

Cadsuane snorted. 'You presume to think that I'd hurt the fool boy?'

'I'm not going to presume otherwise,' Nynaeve snapped. 'Not until you tell me what you are doing.'

Cadsuane closed the book—Echoes of His Dynasty—and looked perturbed. 'Will you at least tell me how the meeting with the Borderlan-ders went?' she asked. 'Or is that information held for ransom as well?'

Did she think she'd distract Nynaeve that easily? 'It went poorly, as one might expect,' she said. 'They've hunkered down outside Far Madding and refuse to meet with Rand unless he comes within range of the Guardian, cutting himself off from the Source.'

'Did he take it well?' Corele asked from her cushioned bench at the side of the room. She smiled faintly; she seemed to be the only one who thought the changes in Rand were amusing, rather than terrifying. But, then, she was one of the women who had bonded an Asha'man at practically the first opportunity.

'Did he take it well?' Nynaeve repeated flatly. 'That depends. Does pulling out that blasted ter'angreal and threatening to rain down fire on the army strike you as 'Taking it well'?'

Min paled. Cadsuane raised an eyebrow.

'I stopped him,' Nynaeve said. 'But just barely. I don't know. It ... it might be getting too late to do anything to change him.'

'That boy will laugh again,' Cadsuane said quietly, but intensely. 'I didn't live this long to fail now.'

'What does it matter?' Corele said.

Nynaeve turned in shock.

'Well?' Corele set down her mending. 'What does it matter? We're obviously going to succeed.'

'Light!' Nynaeve said. 'What gave you that idea?'

'We've just spent all afternoon drilling this girl about her visions.' Corele nodded to Min. 'They always come