The Gathering Storm

first-sisters, they could marry him together as was proper. Only, how could Aviendha marry anyone, now? Her honor had been in her spears, but Rand al'Thor now wore those at his waist, beaten and forged into a belt buckle, given to him by her own hand.

He had offered her marriage once. A man! Offering marriage! Another of those strange wetlander customs. Even disregarding the strangeness of it—disregarding the insult his proposal had shown Elayne—Aviendha could never have accepted Rand al'Thor as her husband. Couldn't he understand that a woman must bring honor to a marriage? What could a mere apprentice offer? Would he have her come to him as an inferior? It would shame her completely to do that!

He must not have understood. She did not think him cruel, only dense. She would come to him when she was ready, then lay the bridal wreath at his feet. And she couldn't do that until she knew who she was.

The ways of ji'e'toh were complex. Aviendha knew how to measure honor as a Maiden, but Wise Ones were different creatures entirely. She had thought she was gaining some small amount of honor in their eyes. They had allowed her, for instance, to spend a great deal of time with her first-sister in Caemlyn. But then, suddenly, Dorindha and Nadere had arrived and informed Aviendha that she had been ignoring her training. They had seized her like a child caught listening furtively outside the sweat tent, towing her away to join the rest of her clan as they left for Arad Doman.

And now . . . and now the Wise Ones treated her with less respect than they had before! They offered her no teaching. Somehow, she had misstepped in their eyes. That made her stomach twist. To shame herself before the other Wise Ones was almost as bad as showing fear before one as brave as Elayne!

So far, the Wise Ones had allowed Aviendha some honor by letting her serve punishments, but she didn't know how she had shamed herself in the first place. Asking would—of course—only bring more shame. Until she unwove the problem, she could not meet her toh. Worse, there was a real danger of her making the mistake again. Until she sorted out this problem, she would remain an apprentice, and she would never be able to bring an honorable bridal wreath to Rand al'Thor.

Aviendha gritted her teeth. Another woman might have wept, but what good would that have done? Whatever her mistake, she had brought it upon herself, and it was her duty to right it. She would find honor again and she would marry Rand al'Thor before he died at the Last Battle.

That meant that whatever it was she had to learn, she needed to do so quickly. Very quickly.

They met up with another group of Aiel waiting in a small clearing amid a stand of pine trees. The ground was thick with discarded brown needles, the sky broken by the towering trunks. The group was small by the standards of clans and septs, barely two hundred people. In the middle of the clearing stood four Wise Ones, each wearing the characteristic brown woolen skirt and white blouse. Aviendha wore similar attire, which now felt as natural to her as the cadin'sor once had. The scouting party split up, men and Maidens moving to join members of their clans or societies. Rhuarc joined the Wise Ones, and Aviendha followed him.

Each of the Wise Ones—Amys, Bair, Melaine, and Nadere—gave her a glance. Bair, the only Aiel with the group who wasn't Taardad or Goshien, had arrived only recently, perhaps to coordinate with the others. Whatever the reason, none of them seemed pleased. Aviendha hesitated. If she left now, would it seem as if she were trying to avoid their attention? Did she instead dare stay, and risk incurring their further displeasure?

'Well?' Amys said to Rhuarc. Though Amys had white hair, she looked quite young. In her case, this wasn't due to working the Power— her hair had started turning silver when she'd been a child.

'It was as the scouts described, shade of my heart,' Rhuarc said. 'Another pitiful band of wetlander refugees. I saw no hidden danger in them.'

The Wise Ones nodded, as if this was what they had expected. 'That is the tenth band of refugees in less than a week,' said aged Bair, her watery blue eyes thoughtful.

Rhuarc nodded. 'There are rumors of Seanchan attacks on harbors to the west. Perhaps the people move inland to avoid the raids.' He glanced at Amys. 'This country boils like water spilled on a hearthstone. The clans are uncertain what Rand al'Thor wishes of them.'

'He was very clear,' Bair noted. 'He will be pleased that you and Dobraine Taborwin secured Bandar Eban, as he asked.'

Rhuarc nodded. 'But still, his intentions are not clear. He asked for us to restore order. Are we then to be like wetlander city guardsmen? That is no place for the Aiel. We are not to conquer, so we do not get the fifth.

And yet it feels very much like conquest, what we do. The Car'a'carns orders can be clear yet confusing at the same time. He has a gift in that area, I think.'

Bair smiled, nodding. 'Perhaps he intends for us to do something with these refugees.'

'And what would we do?' Amys asked, shaking her head. 'Are we Shaido, expected to make gai'sbain from wetlanders?' Her tone left little doubt as to what she thought of both Shaido and the idea of making wet-landers gai'sbain.

Aviendha nodded in agreement. As Rhuarc said, the Car'a'carn had sent them to Arad Doman to 'restore order.' But that was a wetlander concept; Aiel brought their own order with them. There was chaos to war and battle, true, but each and every Aiel understood his place, and would act within that place. The little children understood honor and toh, and a hold would continue to function after all of the leaders and Wise Ones were killed.

It was not so with wetlanders. They ran about like a basket of wild lizards suddenly dropped onto hot stones, taking no care for provisions when they fled. As soon as their leaders were occupied or distracted, banditry and chaos ruled. The strong took from the weak, and even blacksmiths were not safe.

What could Rand al'Thor expect the Aiel to do about it? They could not teach ji'e'tob to an entire nation. Rand al'Thor had told them to avoid killing Domani troops. But those troops—often corrupt and turned to banditry themselves—were part of the problem.

'Perhaps he will explain more when we arrive at this manor house of his,' said Melaine, shaking her head, red-gold hair catching the light. Her pregnancy was just beginning to show beneath her Wise One blouse. 'And if he does not, then surely it is better for us to be here in Arad Doman than to spend yet more time lounging back in the land of the treekillers.'

'As you say,' Rhuarc agreed. 'Let us move on, then. There is still a distance to run.' He moved off to speak with Bael. Aviendha took a step away, but a harsh glance from Amys made her freeze.

'Aviendha,' said the hard, white-haired woman. 'How many Wise Ones went with Rhuarc to scout this refugee train?'

'None but me,' Aviendha admitted.

'Oh, and are you a Wise One now?' Bair asked.

'No,' Aviendha said, quickly, then shamed herself further by blushing. 'I spoke poorly.'

'Then you shall be punished,' Bair said. 'You are no longer a Maiden, Aviendha. It is not your place to scout; that is a task for others.'

'Yes, Wise One,' Aviendha said, looking down. She had not thought that going with Rhuarc would bring her shame—she had seen other Wise Ones do similar tasks.

But I am not a Wise One, she reminded herself. / am an apprentice only. Bair had not said that a Wise One could not scout; only that it had not been Aviendha's place to go. It was about Aviendha herself. And about whatever it was she had done—or perhaps continued to do—to provoke the Wise Ones.

Did they think she had grown soft by spending time with Elayne? Aviendha herself worried that that was true. During her days in Caem-lyn, she had begun to find herself enjoying the silks and baths. By the end, she had objected only feebly when Elayne had come up with an excuse to dress her in some impractical and frivolous garment with embroidery and lace. It was well that the others had come for her.

The others just stood there, looking at her expectantly, faces like red desert stones, impassive and stern. Aviendha gritted her teeth again. She would complete her apprenticeship and find honor. She would.

The call came to begin moving, and cadin'sor-c&d men and women did so,