Siuan's soup was surprisingly good. She took another sip, raising an eyebrow. It was simple-broth and vegetables, bits of chicken-but when most food tasted stale at best, this seemed a wonder. She tried the biscuit. No weevils? Delightful! Nynaeve had just fallen silent, her own bowl steaming in front of her. Newly raised, she'd taken the oaths earlier in the day. They were in the Amyrlin's study, shutters open and spilling in golden light, new rugs of green and gold on the floor.
Silently, Siuan chided herself for getting distracted by the soup. Nynaeve's report demanded consideration. She'd spoken of her time with Rand al'Thor, and specifically of events such as the cleansing. Of course, Siuan had heard the reports that saidin had been cleansed; an Asha'man had visited the camp during the division. She had remained skeptical, but there was little denying it now.
Well," the Amyrlin said, "I am very glad for this longer explanation, Nynaeve. Though saidin being cleansed does make it less unsettling to consider Asha'man and Aes Sedai bonding one another. I wish Rand had been willing to speak to me of that during our meeting." She said it evenly, though Siuan knew she looked on men bonding women with as much pleasure as a captain looked on a fire in his hold.
"I suppose," Nynaeve said, lips turning down. "If it matters, Rand didn't approve the men bonding women."
"It doesn't matter if he did or not," Egwene said. "The Asha'rnan are his responsibility."
"As the Aes Sedai who chained him and beat him are yours, Mother?" Nynaeve asked.
"Inherited from Elaida, perhaps," Egwene said, eyes narrowing just slightly.
She was right to bring Nynaeve back, Siuan thought, taking a sip of soup. She takes his side far too often for comfort.
Nynaeve sighed, taking her spoon to begin her soup. "I didn't mean that as a challenge, Mother. I just want to show how he thinks. Light' I didn't approve of much of what he did, particularly lately. But I can see how he got there."
"He has changed, though," Siuan said thoughtfully. "You said so yourself."
"Yes," Nynaeve said. "The Aiel say he's embraced death."
"I've heard that from them, too," Egwene said. "But I looked into his eyes, and something else has changed, something inexplicable. The man I saw…"
"He didn't seem like one to destroy Natrin's Barrow?" Siuan shivered as she thought of that.
"The man I saw wouldn't need to destroy such a place," Egwene said. "Those inside would just follow him. Bend to his wishes. Because he was"
The three fell silent.
Egwene shook her head and took a sip of her soup. She paused, then smiled. "Well, I see the soup is good. Perhaps things aren't as bad as I thought."
"The ingredients came from Caemlyn," Nynaeve noted. "I overheard the serving girls talking."
"Oh."
More silence.
"Mother," Siuan said, speaking carefully. "The women are still worried about the deaths in the Tower."
"I agree. Mother," Nynaeve said. "Sisters stare at one another with distrust. It worries me."
"You both should have seen it before," Egwene said. "During Elaidas reign."
"If it was worse than this," Nynaeve said, "I'm glad that I didn't." She glanced down at her Great Serpent ring. She did that a lot, recently. As a fisher with a new boat often glanced toward the docks and smiled. For all her complaints that she was Aes Sedai, and for all the fact that she'd been wearing that ring for a long time now' she was obviously satisfied to have passsed the testing and taken the oaths. "It was terrible," Egwene said. "And I don't intend to let it go back to that. Siuan, the plan must be put into motion."
Siuan grimaced. "I've been teaching the others. But I don't think this is a good idea, Mother. They're barely trained."
"What's this?" Nynaeve asked.
"Aes Sedai," Egwene said. "Carefully chosen and given dream ter'angreal. Siuan is showing them how Tel'ararirhiod works."
"Mother, that place is dangerous."
Egwene took another sip of soup. "I believe I know that better than most. But it is necessary; we must lure the killers into a confrontation. I'll arrange for a 'secret' meeting among my most loyal Aes Sedai, in the World of Dreams, and perhaps lay clues that other people of importance will be attending. Siuan, you've contacted the Windfinders?"
"Yes," Siuan said. "Though they want to know what you'll give them to agree to meet with you."
"The loan of the dream ter'angreal will be enough," Egwene said dryly. "Not everything has to be a bargain."
"To them, it often does," Nynaeve said. "But that's beside the point. You're bringing Windfinden to this meeting to lure Mesaana?"
"Not exactly," Egwene said. "I'll see the Windfinders at the same time, in a different place. And some Wise Ones as well. Enough to hint to Mesaana-assuming she's got spies watching the other groups of women who can channel-that she really wants to spy on us in Tel'aran'rhiod that day.
"You and Siuan will hold a meeting in the Hall of the Tower, but it will be a decoy to draw Mesaana or her minions out of hiding. With wards-and some sisters watching from hidden places-we'll be able to trap them. Siuan will send for me as soon as the trap is sprung."
Nynaeve frowned. "It's a good plan, save for one thing. I don't like you being in danger, Mother. Let me lead this fight. I can manage it."
Egwene studied Nynaeve, and Siuan saw some of the real Egwene. Thoughtful. Bold, but calculating. She also saw Egwene's fatigue, the weight of responsibility. Siuan knew that feeling well.
I a admit you have a valid concern," Egwene said. "Ever since I let myself get captured by Elaid a's cronies outside of Tar Valon, I've wondered if I become too directly involved, too directly in danger."
"Exactly," Nynaeve said.
"However," Egwene said, "the simple fact remains that I am the one among us who is most expert at Tel'aran'rhiod. You two are skilled, true, but I have more experience. In this case, I am not just the leader of the Aes Sedai, I am a tool that the White Tower must use." She hesitated "I dreamed this, Nynaeve. If we do not defeat Mesaana here, all could be lost. All will be lost. It is not a time to hold back any of our tools, no matter how valuable."
Nynaeve reached for her braid, but it now came only to her shoulders She gritted her teeth at that. "You might have a point. But I don't like it."
"The Aiel dreamwalkers," Siuan said. "Mother, you said you'll be meet-ing with them. Might they be willing to help? I'd feel much better about having you fight if I knew they were around to keep an eye on you."
"Yes," Egwene said. "A good suggestion. I will contact them before we meet and make the request, just in case."
"Mother," Nynaeve said. "Perhaps Rand-"
"This is a matter of the Tower, Nynaeve," Egwene said. "We will manage it."
"Very well."
"Now," Egwene continued, "we need to figure out how to spread the right rumors so that Mesaana won't be able to resist coming to listen…"
Perrin hit the nightmare running. The air bent around him, and the city houses-this time of the Cairhienin flat-topped variety-disappeared. The road became soft beneath his feet, like mud, then turned to liquid.
He splashed in the ocean. Water again? he thought with annoyance.
Deep red lightning crashed in the sky, throwing waves of bloody light across the sea. Each burst revealed shadowed creatures lurking beneath the waves. Massive things, evil and sinuous in the spasming red lightning.
People clung to the wreckage of what had once been a ship, screaming in terror and crying out for loved ones. Men on broken boards, women trying to hold their babies above the water as towering waves broke over them, dead bodies bobbing like sacks of grain.
The things beneath the waves struck, snatching people from the surface and dragging them into the depths with splashes of fins and sparking, razor-sharp teeth. The water was soon bubbling red that didn't come from the lightning.
Whoever had dreamed this particular nightmare had a singularly twisted imagination.
Perrin refused to let himself be drawn in. He squelched his fear, and did not swim for one of those planks. It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real.
Despite his understanding, part of him knew that he was going to die in these waters. These terrible, bloody waters. The moans of the others assaulted him, and he yearned to try to help them. They weren't real, he knew. Just figments. But it was hard.
Perrin began to rise from the water, the waves turning back into ground. But then he cried out as something brushed his leg. Lightning crashed breaking the air. A woman beside him slipped beneath the waves, tugged by unseen jaws. Panicked, Perrin was suddenly back in the water, there in a heartbeat, floating in a completely different place, one arm slung over a piece of wreckage.
This happened sometimes. If he wavered for a moment-if he let himself see the nightmare as real-it would pull him in and actually move him, fitting him into its terrible mosaic. Something moved in the water nearby, and he splashed away with a start. One of the surging waves raised him into the air.
It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real.
The waters were so cold. Something touched his leg again, and he screamed, then choked off as he gulped in a mouthful of salty water.