"In Tel'aran'rhiod" Egwene said, leaning forward, "you can go anywhere. You can meet those who are distant without needing to Travel there, can learn what is hidden, and can confer in secret."
"This is a dangerous thing you suggest, Egwene al'Vere," Amys said sternly. "To let them loose would be like letting a group of wetlander children run wild in the Three-fold Land."
"You cannot keep this place for yourself, Amys," Egwene said.
"We are not so selfish," the Wise One said. "It is their safety I speak of."
"Then perhaps," Egwene said, "it would be best if the Sea Folk sent some of their apprentices to train with you Wise Ones and perhaps you could send some back."
"To live on ships?" Melaine said, aghast.
"What better way to conquer your fears of the water?"
"We aren't afraid of it," Amys snapped. "We respect it. You wetlanders . . ." She always spoke of ships as one spoke of a caged lion.
"Regardless." Egwene turned back to the Sea Folk. "The ter'angreal could be yours, should we have a bargain."
"You already gave these to us," Shielyn said.
"They were lent to you, Shielyn, as was made very clear by the women who delivered them."
"And you would give them to us permanently?" Shielyn asked. "With none of this nonsense about all ter'angreal belonging to the White Tower?"
"It is important that there be a rule to prevent ter'angreal from being kept by those who discover them," Egwene said. "That way, we can remove a potentially dangerous item from a foolish merchant or farmer. But I would be willing to make a formal exception for the Windfinders and Wise Ones."
"So the glass pillars . . ." Amys said. "I have wondered if the Aes Sedai would ever try to lay claim to them."
"I doubt that would happen," Egwene said. "But I also suspect that it would ease Aiel minds if we were to proclaim it officially, that those ter'angreal and others you possess belong to you, and that sisters cannot claim them."
That gave the Wise Ones serious thought.
"I still find this agreement odd," Bair said. "Aiel, training in the White Tower, but not becoming Aes Sedai? It is not the way things have been."
"The world is changing, Bair," Egwene said softly. "Back in Emond's Field, there was a patch of fine, cultivated Emond's Glory flowers near a brook. My father liked to walk there, and loved their beauty. But then when the new bridge was built, people began traipsing across the patch to get to it.
"My father tried for years to keep them off the patch. Small fences, signs. Nothing worked. And then he thought to build a neat path of river stones through the patch, cultivating the flowers to the sides. After that, people stopped walking on them.
"When change comes, you can scream and try to force things to stay the same. But you'll usually end up getting trampled. However, if you can direct the changes, they can serve you. Just as the Power serves us, but only after we surrender to it."
Egwene looked at each woman in turn. "Our three groups should have begun working together long ago. The Last Battle is upon us, and the Dragon Reborn threatens to free the Dark One. If that weren't enough, we have another common foe one who would see Aes Sedai, Windfinders and Wise Ones alike destroyed."
"The Seanchan," Melaine said.
Renaile, sitting at the back of the Windfinders, let out a soft hiss at the
word. Her clothing changed, and she was wearing armor, holding a sword. It was gone in a moment.
"Yes," Egwene said. "Together, we can be strong enough to fight them. Apart . . ."
"We must consider this bargain," Shielyn said. Egwene noticed a wind blowing through the room, likely created by one of the Sea Folk by accident. "We will meet again and perhaps make a promise. If we make it, the terms will be this: We will send you two apprentices a year, and you will send two to us."
"Not your weakest," Egwene said. "I want your most promising."
"And you will send the same?" Shielyn said.
"Yes," Egwene said. Two was a start. They would probably wish to move to larger numbers once the plan was proven effective. But she would not push for that at the start.
"And us?" Amys said. "We are part of this 'bargain' as you put it?"