Page 103 (1/1)

"And who else is there?" For a itte’s voice, too, and her shoulders actually sluthened her tone It was pure willpower Elayne could feel it, stone hard in the bond, so hard she wanted to weep "My officers are inexperienced boys," Birgitte went on, "or elsetheir bones in front of their grandchildren’s fireplace Except for the mercenary captains, anyway, and there isn’t one I’d trust without sos us back to: Who else but ue Not about the itte had explained about theth At tiht as hard as any Guardsman, but other times, they pulled back rather than take too old for their next hire unless they could be replaced with ood Battles that could have been won had been lost instead because mercenaries left the field to preserve their nu it if anybody except their own kind atching, though That spoiled their reputation and lowered their hire price But there had to be so over frowene needed hi booms crashed from the city behind her She turned, and herin astonishment, now

Where moments before there had been clear sky over the Inner City, a huge mass of black clouds loo down through a gray wall of rain that seeilded do in the sun were invisible behind that wall That torrent fell only over the Inner City Everywhere else the sky re natural in that Ahtning, three-tined, five-tined, was striking inside Caee and maybe deaths How had those clouds come to be? She reached to embrace saidar, to disperse theain It was like trying to grasp a bead buried in a pot of grease Just when she thought she had it, it squirted away It was like this far too often, now "Aviendha, will you deal with that, please?"

"Of course," Aviendha replied, ee of jealousy Her difficulty was Rand’s bloody fault, not her sister’s "And thank you I need the practice"

That was untrue, an atte Air, Fire, Water and Earth in co so nearly as smoothly as she herself could have, if much more slowly Her sister lacked her skill eather, but then, she had not had the advantage of Sea Folk teaching The clouds did not sile bolts, dwindled in nuhtning irling a feather between your fingers co up a blacksan to spread out, to thin and grow paler That was slow, too Doing too much too fast eather could cause effects that rippled across the countryside for leagues, and you never knehat the effectsstorentle breezes By the tih to reach the outer walls of Cae downpour that quickly slicked Elayne’s curls to her scalp

"Is that enough?" S, Aviendha turned her face up to let the rain run down her cheeks "I love to watch water falling froh of rain It had rained nearly every bloody day since spring ca back to the palace, Elayne," Birgitte said, tucking her bowstring into her coat pocket She had begun unstringing her bow as soon as the clouds begantoward them "Some of these men need a sister’s attention And my breakfast seems two days past"

Elayne scowled The bond carried a wariness that told her all she needed to know They et Elayne, in her delicate condition, out of the rain As if she roans frorew hot Those men did need a sister’s attention Even if she could hold on to saidar, the least of their injuries were beyond her

"Yes, it is tiet her eitte would be pleased at that, too Spots of color decorated her cheeks, too, echoes of Elayne’s shame They looked very odd with the frown she wore as she hurried Elayne into the tower

Fireheart and Mageen and the other horses were all standing patiently where their reins had been dropped, as Elayne expected Even Mageen ell trained They had the wall street utterly to themselves until Alise and the other Kin walked out of the narroay There was not a cart or wagon to be seen Every door in sight was tightly shut, everycurtained, though there ht well be no one behind any of theht a gli swords in their vicinity One curtain twitched; a woman’s face showed for a ht in watching

Talking quietly a themselves, the four Kinswoateway some hours earlier They eyed the corpses in the street and shook their heads, but these were not the first dead men they had seen Not one would have been allowed to test for Accepted, yet they were calnified as sisters despite the rain soaking their hair and dresses Learning Egwene’s plans for the Kin, to be associated with the Tower and a place for Aes Sedai to retire, had lessened their fears over their future, especially once they found out that their Rule would remain in place and the former Aes Sedai would have to follow it, too Not all believed-- over the lastso th fro work to do had restored their pride Elayne had not realized that had been dented until they stopped seeing theees wholly dependent on her They held thehter, now Worry had vanished from their faces And they were not so quick to bend their necks for a sister, unfortunately Though that part of it really had begun earlier They once had considered Aes Sedai superior to mortal flesh, but had learned to their dismay that the shawl did not make a woman mor