The Gathering Storm

"Rand!" Aviendha called.

He froze, then looked down at her, dazed. She met his eyes, and she could feel his anger, almost as she'd felt the intense flames just a short time before. He turned and stalked away, walking back into the building and up the blackened wooden steps.

"Light!" an anxious voice asked. "Does this sort of thing happen often when he is near?"

Aviendha turned to see a young man in an unfamiliar uniform standing and watching. He was lanky, with light brown hair and coppery skin—she didn't remember his name, but she was fairly certain he was one of the officers Rand had brought back after meeting with Rodel Ituralde.

She turned back to the mess, listening to soldiers call orders in the distance. Bashere had arrived and was taking command, telling men to watch the perimeter, though he was likely just giving them something to do. This was not the beginning of an attack. It was just another of the Dark One's touches on the world, like meat spoiling, beetles and rats appearing from nothing, and men dropping dead of strange diseases.

"Yes," Aviendha said in response to the man's question, "it happens often. More often around the Car'a'carn than in other places, at least. You have had similar events among your own men?"

"I have heard stories," he said. "Only I dismissed them."

"Not all stories are exaggerations," she said, looking at the blackened remains of the soldier. "The Dark One's prison is weak."

"Bloody ashes," the young man said, turning away. "What have you gotten us into, Rodel?" The man shook his head and stalked off.

Bashere's officers began calling orders, organizing the men to clean up. Would Rand move out of the manor, now? When pockets of evil appeared, people often wanted to leave. And yet, through her bond with Rand, she felt no urgency. In fact ... it seemed that he had gone back to rest! That man's moods were becoming as erratic as Elayne's during her pregnancy.

Aviendha shook her head and started gathering burned chunks of wood to help clean. As she worked, several Aes Sedai came out of the building and began inspecting the damage. The entire front of the manor was scored with black marks, and the hole where the entry way had been was at least fifteen feet across. One of the women, Merise, eyed Aviendha appreciatively. "A shame," she said.

Aviendha straightened up, lifting a piece of charred wood, her clothing still soaked. With those clouds covering the sun, it would be long before she was dry. "A shame?" she asked. "About the manor?" The portly Lord Tellaen, owner of the place, moaned to himself as he sat on a stool inside the entryway, wiping his brow and shaking his head.

"No," Merise said. "A shame about you, child. Your skill with weaves, it is impressive. If we had you in the White Tower, you'd have been an Aes Sedai by now. Your weaving, it has some roughness to it, but you'd learn to fix that quickly if taught by sisters."

There was an audible sniff, and Aviendha spun. Melaine stood behind her. The golden-haired Wise One had her arms folded beneath her breasts, and her stomach was starting to bulge with child. Her face was not amused. How had Aviendha let the woman walk up behind her without hearing? She was letting her fatigue make her careless.

Melaine and Merise stared at each other for a long moment; then the tall Aes Sedai spun in a flurry of green skirts and moved off to speak with the servants who had been trapped by the flames, asking if any of them needed Healing. Melaine watched her go, then shook her head. "Insufferable woman," she muttered. "To think, how we once regarded them!"

"Wise One?" Aviendha asked.

"I'm stronger than most Aes Sedai, Aviendha, and you're far stronger than I am. You have a control and understanding of weaves that puts most of us to shame. Others have to struggle to learn what comes naturally to you. 'Roughness to your weaves,' she says! I doubt any of the Aes Sedai, save perhaps Cadsuane Sedai, could have managed what you did with that column of water. Moving water that far required you to use the river's own flow and pressure."

"Is that what I did?" Aviendha asked, blinking.

Melaine eyed her, then snorted again, softly to herself. "Yes, that is what you did. You have such great talent, child."

Aviendha swelled with the praise; from Wise Ones, it was rare, but always sincere.

"But you refuse to learn," Melaine continued. "There isn't much time! Here, I have another question for you. What do you think of Rand al'Thor's plan to kidnap these Domani merchant chiefs?"

Aviendha blinked again, so tired it was hard to think. It defied reason that the Domani used merchants as leaders in the first place. How could a merchant lead people? Did not merchants have to focus on their wares? It was ridiculous. Would the wetlanders ever stop shocking her with their strange ways?

And why was Melaine asking her about this now of all times?

"His plan seems a good one, Wise One," Aviendha said. "Yet the spears do not like being used for kidnapping. I think the Car'a'carn should have spoken in terms of offering protection—forced protection— for the merchants. The chiefs would have responded better to being told they were protecting rather than kidnapping."

"They would be doing the very same thing, no matter what you call it."

"But what you call a thing is important," Aviendha said. "It is not dishonest if both definitions are true."

Melaine's eyes twinkled, and Aviendha caught a hint of a smile on her lips. "What else do you think of the meeting?"

"Rand al'Thor still seems to think that the Car'a'carn can make demands like a wetlander king. This is my shame. I failed to explain the right way."

Melaine waved a hand. "You have no shame there. We all know how bullheaded the Car'a'carn is. The Wise Ones have tried as well, and none have been able to train him correctly."

So. That wasn't the reason for her dishonor before the Wise Ones. What was it then? Aviendha ground her teeth in frustration, then forced herself to continue. "Regardless, he needs to be reminded. Again and again. Rhuarc is a wise and patient man, but not all clan chiefs are so. I know that some of the others wonder if their decision to follow Rand al'Thor was an error."