The Gathering Storm

White Tower, you'd have been an Aes Sedai by now. Your weaving, it has some roughness to it, but you'd learn to fix that quickly if taught by sisters.'

There was an audible sniff, and Aviendha spun. Melaine stood behind her. The golden-haired Wise One had her arms folded beneath her breasts, and her stomach was starting to bulge with child. Her face was not amused. How had Aviendha let the woman walk up behind her without hearing? She was letting her fatigue make her careless.

Melaine and Merise stared at each other for a long moment; then the tall Aes Sedai spun in a flurry of green skirts and moved off to speak with the servants who had been trapped by the flames, asking if any of them needed Healing. Melaine watched her go, then shook her head. 'Insufferable woman,' she muttered. 'To think, how we once regarded them!'

'Wise One?' Aviendha asked.

'I'm stronger than most Aes Sedai, Aviendha, and you're far stronger than I am. You have a control and understanding of weaves that puts most of us to shame. Others have to struggle to learn what comes naturally to you. 'Roughness to your weaves,' she says! I doubt any of the Aes Sedai, save perhaps Cadsuane Sedai, could have managed what you did with that column of water. Moving water that far required you to use the river's own flow and pressure.'

'Is that what I did?' Aviendha asked, blinking.

Melaine eyed her, then snorted again, softly to herself. 'Yes, that is what you did. You have such great talent, child.'

Aviendha swelled with the praise; from Wise Ones, it was rare, but always sincere.

'But you refuse to learn,' Melaine continued. 'There isn't much time! Here, I have another question for you. What do you think of Rand al'Thor's plan to kidnap these Domani merchant chiefs?'

Aviendha blinked again, so tired it was hard to think. It defied reason that the Domani used merchants as leaders in the first place. How could a merchant lead people? Did not merchants have to focus on their wares? It was ridiculous. Would the wetlanders ever stop shocking her with their strange ways?

And why was Melaine asking her about this now of all times?

'His plan seems a good one, Wise One,' Aviendha said. 'Yet the spears do not like being used for kidnapping. I think the Car'a'carn should have spoken in terms of offering protection—forced protection— for the merchants. The chiefs would have responded better to being told they were protecting rather than kidnapping.'

'They would be doing the very same thing, no matter what you call it.'

'But what you call a thing is important,' Aviendha said. 'It is not dishonest if both definitions are true.'

Melaine's eyes twinkled, and Aviendha caught a hint of a smile on her lips. 'What else do you think of the meeting?'

'Rand al'Thor still seems to think that the Car'a'carn can make demands like a wetlander king. This is my shame. I failed to explain the right way.'

Melaine waved a hand. 'You have no shame there. We all know how bullheaded the Car'a'carn is. The Wise Ones have tried as well, and none have been able to train him correctly.'

So. That wasn't the reason for her dishonor before the Wise Ones. What was it then? Aviendha ground her teeth in frustration, then forced herself to continue. 'Regardless, he needs to be reminded. Again and again. Rhuarc is a wise and patient man, but not all clan chiefs are so. I know that some of the others wonder if their decision to follow Rand al'Thor was an error.'

'True,' Melaine said. 'But look at what happened to the Shaido.'

'I did not say they were right, Wise One,' Aviendha said. A group of soldiers were hesitantly trying to pry up the glassy black mound. It appeared to have fused to the ground. Aviendha lowered her voice. 'They are wrong to question the Car'a'carn, but they are speaking to one another. Rand al'Thor needs to realize that they will not accept offense after offense from him without end. They may not turn against him like the Shaido, but I would not put it past Timolan—for instance—to simply return to the Three- fold Land and leave the Car'a'carn to his arrogance.'

Melaine nodded. 'Do not worry. We are aware of this . . . possibility.'

That meant Wise Ones had been sent to soothe Timolan, who was chief of the Miagoma Aiel. It would not be the first time. Did Rand al'Thor know how hard the Wise Ones worked behind his back to maintain Aiel loyalty? Probably not. He saw them all as one homogeneous group, sworn to him, to be used. That was one of Rand's great weaknesses. He could not see that Aiel, like other people, did not like being used as tools. The clans were far less tightly knit than he believed. Blood feuds had been put aside for him. Couldn't he understand how incredible that was? Couldn't he see how tenuous that alliance continued to be?

But not only was he a wetlander by birth, he was not a Wise One. Few Aiel themselves saw the work the Wise Ones did in a dozen different areas. How simple life had seemed when she had been a Maiden! It would have dazzled her to know how much went on beyond her sight.

Melaine stared blindly at the broken building. 'A remnant of a remnant,' she said, as if to herself. 'And if he leaves us burned and broken, like those boards? What will become of the Aiel then? Do we limp back to the Three-fold Land and continue as we did before? Many will not want to leave. These lands offer too much.'

Aviendha blinked at the weight of those words. She had rarely given thought to what would happen after the Car'a'carn was finished with them. She was centered on the now, upon regaining her honor and being there to protect Rand al'Thor at the Last Battle. But a Wise One could not just think of the now or the tomorrow. She had to think of the years ahead and the times that would be brought upon the winds.

A remnant of a remnant. He had broken the Aiel as a people. What would become of them?

Melaine glanced back at Aviendha, her face softening. 'Go to the tents, child, and rest. You look like a sharadan that has crawled on his belly across three days of sand.'

Aviendha looked down at her arms, seeing the flakes of ash from the burnings. Her clothing was soaked and stained, and she suspected that her face was just as filthy. Her arms ached from carrying the stones all day. Once she acknowledged the fatigue, it seemed to crash upon her like a windstorm. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain upright. She would not shame herself by collapsing! But she did turn to leave, as instructed.

'Oh, and Aviendha,' Melaine called. 'We will discuss your punishment tomorrow.'

She turned in shock.

'For not finishing with the stones,' Melaine said, surveying the wreckage again. 'And for not learning quickly enough. Go.'

Aviendha sighed. Another round of questions, and another undeserved punishment. There was a correlation of some sort. But what?

She was too exhausted to think about it for now. All she wanted was her bed, and she found herself treacherously recalling the soft, luxurious mattresses back in the palace of Caemlyn. She forced those thoughts out of her mind. Sleep that soundly, muffled in pillows and down comforters, and you'd be too relaxed to wake if someone tried to kill you in the night! How had she let Elayne convince her to sleep in one of those soft-feathered death traps?

Another thought occurred to her as she pushed that one away—a treacherous one. A thought of Rand al'Thor, resting in his room. She could go to him. . . .

No! Not until she had her honor back. She would not go to him as a beggar. She would go to him as a woman of honor. Assuming that she could ever figure out what she was doing wrong.

She shook her head and trotted toward the Aiel camp at the side of the green.

CHAPTER 12 Unexpected Encounters