Evin nodded. “They stopped your dose of forkroot. They’ll take you next, after Logain. M’Hael was finally sent new women from the Great Lord, women who aren’t tired from channeling all the time. Them and Toveine and the Reds mean it should go quickly now. M’Hael should have Logain by the end of the day.”
“I’ll serve them,” Androl said. “I’ll swear to the Great Lord.”
“That’s good, Androl,” Evin said. “But we can’t let you go until you’ve been Turned. M’Hael won’t accept just an oath. It will be all right. I told them that you’d Turn easily. You will, won’t you? Not resisting?”
“I won’t resist.”
“Thank the Great Lord,” Evin said, relaxing.
Oh, Evin. You never were terribly bright.
“Evin,” Androl said softly, “you need to watch out for Abors. You know that, right?”
“I’m one of them now, Androl,” Evin said. “I don’t have to worry about them.”
“That’s good,” Androl whispered. “What I heard him say about you must have been nothing.”
Evin fidgeted. That look in his eyes… it was fright. The taint had been cleansed. Jonneth, Emarin and the other new Asha’man would never have to suffer the madness.
It manifested differently in different Asha’man, and at different rates. However, the fear was the most common. It came in waves; it had been consuming Evin when the cleansing happened. Androl had seen Asha’man need to be put down as the taint overwhelmed them. He knew that look in Evin’s eyes well. Though the lad had been Turned, he still carried the madness with him. He would do so forever.
“What did he say?” Evin said.
“He didn’t like it that you had been Turned,” Androl said. “He thinks you’ll take his place.”
“Oh.”
“Evin… he might be planning to kill you. Take care.”
Evin stood up. “Thank you, Androl.”
He walked away, leaving Androl ungagged.
That… can’t possibly work, Pevara sent drowsily.
She hadn’t lived among them long enough. She hadn’t seen what the madness could do, and didn’t know to recognize it in the eyes of the Asha’man. Normally, when one of them became like this, they would take him and confine him until he rode it out. If that didn’t work, Taim added something to their wine, and they didn’t wake up.
If they weren’t stopped, they would descend to destruction. They would kill those closest to them, lashing out first at people they should have loved. Androl knew that madness. He knew it was inside of him, too. That is a mistake, Taim, he thought. You use our own friends against us, but we know them better than you do.
Evin struck at Abors. It came in a burst of the One Power. A second later, Androl’s shield dropped.
Androl embraced the Source. He was not very strong, but he had enough Power to burn away a few ropes. He rolled free of his bindings, hands bloodied, and took stock of the room. He hadn’t been able to see it before, not entirely.
The room was bigger than he’d assumed, the size of a small throne room. A wide circular dais dominated the far end, topped by a double ring of Myrddraal and women. He shivered as he saw the Fades. Light, but that eyeless gaze was awful.
Taim’s exhausted men stood by the far wall, the Asha’man who had failed to Turn Logain. He sat on the dais, slouching and tied to a chair in the center of the double ring. Like a throne. Logain’s head rolled to the side, his eyes closed. He appeared to be whispering something.
Taim had spun, furious, toward Evin, who fought with Mishraile beside Abor
s’ smoking corpse. Evin and Mishraile each held the One Power, wrestling on the floor, a knife in Evin’s hands. Androl scrambled toward Emarin, then nearly fell on his face as his legs gave out. Light! He was weak, but he did manage to burn away Emarin’s bonds, then Pevara’s. She shook her head, trying to clear it. Emarin nodded in gratitude.
“Can you weave?” Androl whispered. Taim’s attention was on Evin’s fight.
Emarin shook his head. “The drink they gave us…” Androl clung to the One Power. Shadows began to lengthen around him. No! he thought. No, not now!
A gateway. He needed a gateway! Androl sucked in the One Power, forming the weave for Traveling. And yet, as before, he hit some kind of barrier—like a wall, preventing him from opening the gateway. Frustrated, he tried to make one to a closer destination. Perhaps distance mattered. Could he make a gateway to Canler’s store above them?
He struggled against that wall, fighting with everything he had. He strained, inching closer; he could almost do it… He felt as if something was happening.