teasing it straight again. However, if the cord is not of good material, then no untangling will save it. You gave us fine material, Egwene al'Vere.'
'I wish that there were a way,' Egwene said, 'to train more sisters in the ways of the Wise Ones.'
'You could send them to us,' Amys said. 'Particularly if they need punishing. We wouldn't coddle them like the White Tower.'
Egwene bristled. The beatings she'd taken had been 'coddling'? That was a fight she didn't want to join, however. The Aiel would always assume wetlander ways to be soft, and there was no changing that assumption.
'I doubt the sisters would agree to that,' Egwene said carefully. 'But what might work would be to send young women—those still train—to study with you. That was part of why my training was so effective; I wasn't yet set in the ways of the Aes Sedai.'
'Would they agree to this?' Bair asked.
'They might,' Egwene said. 'If we sent Accepted. Novices would be considered too inexperienced, sisters too dignified. But Accepted… perhaps. There would need to be a good reason that seems to benefit the White Tower.'
'You should tell them to go,' Bair said, 'and expect them to obey. Have you not the most honor among them? Should they not listen to your counsel when it is wise?'
'Does the clan always do as a chief demands?' Egwene said.
'Of course not,' Amys said. 'But wetlanders are always fawning over kings and lords. They seem to like being told what to do. It makes them feel safe.'
'Aes Sedai are different,' Egwene said.
'The Aes Sedai keep implying that we should all be training in the White Tower,' Amys said. Her tone indicated what she thought of that idea. 'They drone on, as noisy as a blind chippabird that cannot tell if it's day or night. They need to see that we will never do such a thing. Tell them that you're sending women to us to study our ways so we can understand one another. It is only the truth; they needn't know that you also expect them to be strengthened by the experience.'
'That might work.' Egwene was pleased; the plan was only a few hairs off from what she eventually wanted to accomplish.
'This is a topic to consider in easier days,' Bair said. 'I sense greater trouble in you than this, Egwene al'Vere.'
'There is a greater trouble,' she said. 'Rand al'Thor. Has he told you what he declared when he visited the White Tower?'
'He said he angered you,' Amys said. 'I find his actions odd. He visits you after all his talk of the Aes Sedai locking him up and putting him in a box?'
'He was… different when he came here,' Egwene said.
'He has embraced death,' Bair said again, nodding. 'He becomes the Car'a'carn truly.'
'He spoke powerfully,' Egwene said, 'but his words were those of madness. He said he is going to break the seals on the Dark One's prison.' Amys and Bair both froze.
'You are certain of this?' Bair asked.
'Yes.'
'This is disturbing news,' Amys said. 'We will consult with him on this. Thank you for bringing this to us.'
'I will be gathering those who resist him.' Egwene relaxed. Until that moment, she hadn't been certain which way the Wise Ones would go. 'Perhaps Rand will listen to reason if enough voices are present.'
'He is not known for his willingness to listen to reason,' Amys said with a sigh, rising. Egwene and Bair did so as well. The Wise Ones' blouses were laced in an instant.
'The time is long past for the White Tower to ignore the Wise Ones' Egwene said, 'or for the Wise Ones to avoid the Aes Sedai. We must work together. Hand in hand as sisters.'
'So long as it isn't some sun-blinded ridiculous thought about the Wise Ones training in the Tower,' Bair said. She smiled to show it was a joke, but succeeded only in baring her teeth.
Egwene smiled. She did want the Wise Ones to train in the Tower. There were many methods of channeling that the Aes Sedai did better than the Wise Ones. On the other hand, the Wise Ones were better about working together and—Egwene admitted reluctantly—with leadership.
The two groups could learn much from one another. She would find a way to tie them together. Somehow.
She fondly bade farewell to the two Wise Ones, watching as they faded from Tel'aran'rhiod. Would that their counsel alone proved enough to turn Rand from his insane plan. But it was unlikely.
Egwene took a breath. In an instant she stood in the Hall of the Tower, her feet planted directly on the Flame of Tar Valon painted on the floor. Seven spirals of color wound out from her, spinning toward the perimeter of the domed chamber.
Nynaeve was not there. Egwene drew her lips to a line. That woman! Egwene could bring the White Tower to its knees, turn a staunch member of the Red Ajah to her side, earn the respect of the toughest Wise Ones. But Light help her if she needed the loyalty of her friends! Rand, Gawyn, Nynaeve—all infuriating in their own ways.
She folded her arms to wait. Perhaps Nynaeve would still come. If not, this wouldn't be the first time she had disappointed Egwene. A massive rose window dominated the far wall behind the Amyrlin Seat itself. The Flame at the center sparkled, as if there were sunlight beyond, though Egwene knew those boiling black clouds covered all the sky of the World of Dreams.
She turned from the window, then froze.
There, set into the glass below the Flame of Tar Valon, was a large segment in the shape of the Dragon's Fang. That wasn't part of the original window. Egwene stepped forward, inspecting the glass.
There is a third constant besides the Creator and the Dark One, Verin's meticulous voice said, a memory from another time. There is a world that lies within each of these others, inside all of them at the same time. Or perhaps surrounding them. Writers in the Age of Legends called it Tel'aran'rhiod.
Did this window represent one of those, another world where Dragon and Amyrlin ruled Tar Valon side by side?
'That's an interesting window,' a voice said from behind her.
Egwene started, spinning. Nynaeve stood there, wearing a dress of bright yellow trimmed with green across the high bodice and along the skirt. She wore a red dot at the center of her forehead, and had her hair woven into its characteristic braid.
Egwene felt a surge of relief. Finally! It had been months since she'd seen Nynaeve. Cursing inside for letting herself be surprised, she smoothed her face and embraced the Source, weaving Spirit. A few inverted wards might help keep her from being startled again. Elayne was supposed to arrive a little later.
'I didn't choose this pattern,' Egwene said, looking back at the Rose Window. 'This is Tel'aran'rhiod's interpretation.'
'But the window itself is real?' Nynaeve asked.
'Unfortunately,' Egwene said. 'One of the holes the Seanchan left when they attacked.'
'They attacked?' Nynaeve asked.
'Yes,' Egwene said. Something you would have known if you'd ever responded to my summons!
Nynaeve folded her arms, and the two of them regarded one another across the room, Flame of Tar Valon centering the floor beneath them. This would have to be handled very carefully; Nynaeve could be as prickly as the worst of thornbushes.
'Well,' Nynaeve said, sounding distinctly uncomfortable, 'I know you're busy, and Light knows I have enough things to be doing. Tell me the news you think I need to know, and I'll be off.'
'Nynaeve,' Egwene said, 'I didn't bring you here only to give you news.'
Nynaeve grasped her braid. She knew she should be rebuked for the way she'd avoided Egwene.
'Actually,' Egwene continued, 'I wanted to ask your advice.'
Nynaeve blinked. 'Advice on what?'
'Well,' Egwene said, strolling across the Flame, 'you're one of the few people I can think of who has been in
