Winter's Heart

roughly toward Tear, and no telling how far; truth, because she did not trust them sufficiently for even that. She just had to be careful what she said, and how. 'I do know that apparently he intends to remain where he is awhile.' He had not moved for days, the first time since leaving her that he had remained in any one place longer than half a day. 'I will tell you what I can, but only if you agree that you will march south within the week. You will run out of barley as well as meat if you remain here much longer, anyway. I promise, you will be marching toward the Dragon Reborn.' To begin with they would be, at any rate.

Paitar shook his bald head. 'You want us to enter Andor? Elayne Sedai—or should I call you Lady Elayne, now?—I wish you the Light's blessing in your quest for Andor's crown, but not enough to offer my men to fight for it.'

'Elayne Sedai and Lady Elayne are one and the same,' she told them. 'I do not ask you to fight for me. In truth, I hope with all my heart that you cross Andor without so much as a skirmish.' Raising her silver winecup, she wet her lips without drinking. A flash of caution surged through the Warder bond, and in spite of herself, Elayne laughed. Aviendha was watching her from the corner other eye and frowning. Even now, they were going to look after the mother to be.

'I am glad someone finds this amusing,' Ethenielle said wryly. 'Try to think like a Southlander, Paitar. They play the Game of Houses here, and I think she is being very clever at it. She should be, I suppose; I've always heard that Aes Sedai created Does Dae'mar.'

'Think tactics, Paitar.' Easar was studying Elayne, wearing a small smile. 'We move toward Caemlyn as invaders, so any Andoran will see it. Winter may be mild here, but we'll still need weeks to ride that far. By the time we do, she will have rallied enough of the Andoran Houses against us, and to her, that she will have the Lion Throne, or near enough. At the least, enough strength will have been pledged to her that no one else will be able to stand long against her.' Tenobia shifted on her chair, frowning and adjusting her skirts, but there was a respect in her eyes when she looked at Elayne that had not been there before.

'And when we reach Caemlyn, Elayne Sedai,' Ethenielle said, 'you will… negotiate… us into leaving Andor without a battle being fought.' That came out as not quite a question, but almost. 'Very clever indeed.'

'If all works as she plans,' Easar said, his smile fading. He put out a hand without looking, and the old soldier placed a winecup in it. 'Battles seldom do; even this bloodless sort, I think.'

'I very much want it all to be bloodless,' Elayne said. Light, it had to be, or instead of saving her country from civil war, she had plunged it into worse. 'I will work hard to see that it is. I expect you to do the same.'

'Do you also happen to know where my Uncle Davram is, Elayne Sedai?' Tenobia said suddenly. 'Davram Bashere? I would like to speak with him as much as with the Dragon Reborn.'

'Lord Davram is not far from Caemlyn, Tenobia. I cannot promise he will still be there when you arrive, though. That is, if you agree?' Elayne made herself breathe, to hide her anxiety. She was beyond where she could turn back, now. They would move south now, she was certain, but without their agreement, there would be bloodshed.

For a long moment there was silence in the tent except for a coal cracking in one of the braziers. Ethenielle exchanged glances with the two men.

'So long as I get to see my uncle,' Tenobia said heatedly, 'I am agreed.'

'On my honor, I am agreed,' Easar said decisively, and almost atop him, if in a milder tone, Paitar said, 'Under the Light, I am agreed.'

'Then so are we all,' Ethenielle breathed. 'And now your part, Elayne Sedai. Where do we find the Dragon Reborn?'

A thrill shot through Elayne, and she could not say whether it was exhilaration, or fear. She had done what she had come for, risked the dangers for herself and for Andor, and only time would tell whether she had made the right decision. She answered without hesitation. 'As I told you, I cannot say exactly where. A search in Murandy will be profitable, though.' Truth, though the profit would be hers, not theirs, if any came. Egwene had moved from Murandy today, taking away the army that had held Arathelle Renshar and the other nobles in the south. Perhaps the Borderlanders moving south would force Arathelle and Luan and Pelivar to decide as Dyelin believed they would, to support her. The Light send it so.

Except for Tenobia, the Borderlanders did not seem at all exultant over learning where to find Rand. Ethenielle let out a long breath, almost a sigh, and Easar simply nodded and pursed his lips in thought. Paitar drank down half his wine, the first real drink he had taken. It very much seemed that however much they wanted to find the Dragon Reborn, they were not looking forward to meeting him. Tenobia, on the other hand, called for the old soldier to bring her wine and went on about how much she wanted to see her uncle. Elayne would not have thought the woman had so much family feeling.

Night came early that time of year, and only a few hours of daylight remained, as Easar pointed out, offering beds for the night. Ethenielle suggested that her own tent would be more comfortable, yet they gave no sign of disappointment when Elayne said she must leave immediately.

'Remarkable that you can cover such distance so quickly,' Ethenielle murmured. 'I have heard Aes Sedai speak of a thing called Traveling. A lost Talent?'

'Have you encountered many sisters on your journey?' Elayne asked.

'Some,' Ethenielle replied. 'There are Aes Sedai everywhere, it seems.' Even Tenobia was suddenly expressionless.

Allowing Birgitte to lay the marten-lined cloak on her shoulders, Elayne nodded. 'So there are. Would you have our horses brought?'

None of them spoke again until they were out of the camp, riding through the trees. The horse-smell and latrine-stink had seemed mild in the camp, but their absence here made the air seem very fresh, and the snow whiter, somehow.

'You were very quiet, Birgitte Trahelion,' Aviendha said, thumping her bay's ribs with her heels. She always believed the animal would stop without reminders to keep going.

'A Warder doesn't speak for her Aes Sedai; she bloody listens and watches her back,' Birgitte replied dryly. It was unlikely the forest contained anyone who might threaten them, this near the Shienaran camp, but her bow remained uncovered, and her eyes scanned the trees.

'A much hastier form of negotiation than I am used to, Elayne,' Merilille said. 'Normally, these matters require days or weeks of talking, if not months, before anything is agreed. You were lucky they are not Domani. Or Cairhienin,' she admitted judiciously. 'Borderlanders are refreshingly open and straightforward. Easy to deal with.'

Open and straightforward? Elayne shook her head slightly. They wanted to find Rand, but concealed why. They concealed the presence of sisters, too. At least they would be moving away from him, once she had them on their way to Murandy. That would have to do, for now, but she had to warn him, once she could figure out how to do so without endangering him. Take care of him, Min, she thought. Take care of him for us.

A few miles from the camp, she reined in to study the forest as assiduously as Birgitte. Especially behind them. The sun sat low on the treetops. A trotting white fox appeared for an instant and was gone. Something flickered on a bare gray branch, a bird perhaps, or a squirrel. A dark hawk suddenly plummeted out of the sky, and a thin squeal broke the air and ended suddenly. They were not being followed. It was not the Shienarans she worried about, but those hidden sisters. The weariness that had vanished earlier, with Merilille's news, had returned with interest now that her meeting with the Borderlanders was done. She wanted nothing so much as to climb into her bed as soon as possible, but she did not want it enough to give the weave for Traveling to sisters she did not know.

She could have woven a gateway to the Palace stableyard, but only at the risk of killing someone who happened to be crossing where it opened, so instead she wove one for another place she knew just as well. She was so tired that it required effort to weave, so tired that she did not think of the angreal pinned to her dress until the silvery slash had appeared in the air and opened onto a field covered with brown grass beaten flat by earlier snowfalls, a field just south of Caemlyn where Gareth Bryne had often taken her to watch the Queen's Guards ride to command, breaking from columns to form a line four abreast at a shouted order.

'Are you just going to look at it?' Birgitte demanded.

Elayne blinked. Aviendha and Merilille were studying her with concern. Birgitte's face gave nothing away, but the bond carried worry, too.