The Gathering Storm

She opened her mouth, no doubt to snap at him, but faltered as she met his eyes. Light, he thought, seeing the apprehension in her face. / can do it to Nynaeve, now. What is it that they see when they look at me? That look in her eyes almost made him frightened of himself.

"Lan will be well," Nynaeve said, looking away.

"He has ridden to Malkier, hasn't he?"

She flushed.

"How long?" Rand asked. "He hasn't gotten to the Blight already, has he?" Turned loose to follow what he saw as both his duty and destiny, Lan would ride straight to Malkier alone. The kingdom—his kingdom—had been consumed by the Blight decades ago, when he'd been a babe.

"Two or three more months," she said. "Perhaps a little longer. He rides to Shienar to stand at the Gap, even if he has to do so alone."

"He seeks vengeance," Rand said softly. " 'To avenge what cannot be defended.'"

"He does his duty!" Nynaeve said. "But ... I do worry at his brash-ness. He insisted that I take him to the Borderlands, so I did, but I left him in Saldaea. I wanted him as far from the Gap as possible. He'll have to cross some difficult terrain to get where he's going."

Rand felt an icy coldness as he considered Lan riding to the Gap. To his death, essentially. But there was nothing to be done about that. "I am sorry, Nynaeve," he said, though he did not feel it. He had trouble feeling anything lately.

"You think I'd send him alone?" she snapped. "Wool-headed, both of you! I've seen that he'll have his own army, although he doesn't want one."

And she was perfectly capable of it. Perhaps she'd sent warning to the remnants of the Malkieri in Lan's name. Lan was a strange mixture; he refused to raise the banner of Malkier or claim his place as its king, for he feared leading the last of his countrymen to their deaths. Yet he would be perfectly willing to ride to that same death himself in the name of honor.

Is that what I do? Rand thought. Ride to my death in the name of honor? But no, it's different. Lan has a choice. There were no prophecies saying that Lan would die, whatever the man's assumptions about his own fate.

"He could use some help regardless," Nynaeve said uncomfortably. Asking for help always made her uncomfortable. "His army will be small. I doubt they'll stand long against the Trollocs."

"Will he attack?" Rand asked.

Nynaeve hesitated. "He didn't say," she said. "But yes, I think he will. He thinks you are wasting time here, Rand. If he arrives and gathers an army, and finds Trollocs gathered at Tarwin's Gap . . . yes, I think he'll attack."

"Then he deserves what he will get, for riding without the rest of us," Rand said.

Nynaeve scowled at him. "How can you say that?"

"I must," Rand replied softly. "The Last Battle is imminent. Perhaps my own attack on the Blight will happen at the same time as Lan's. Perhaps not." He paused thoughtfully. If Lan and whatever army he brought engaged at the Gap . . . perhaps that would draw attention. If Rand didn't attack there, it would throw off the Shadow. He could strike them where they didn't expect it while their eyes were on Lan.

"Yes," Rand said thoughtfully. "His death could serve me well indeed."

Nynaeve's eyes widened in fury, but Rand ignored them. A very quiet place, deep inside of him, was struck with worry over his friend. He had to ignore that worry, silence it. But that voice whispered to him.

He named you friend. Do not abandon him. . . .

Nynaeve controlled her anger, which impressed Rand. "We will speak of this again," she said to him, voice curt. "Perhaps after you've had a chance to think on exactly what abandoning Lan would mean."

He liked to think of Nynaeve as the same belligerent Wisdom who had bullied him back in the Two Rivers. She'd always seemed as if she tried too hard, as if she had worried that others would ignore her title because of her youth. But she had grown a lot since then.

They reached the mansion, where fifty of Bashere's soldiers stood guard before the gates. They saluted in unison as Rand passed through them. He passed Aiel camped outside, dismounted at the stables and transferred the access key from its loop on his saddle to the oversized pocket of his coat—more of a pouch, buttoned into his coat—designed for the statuette. The hand holding its globe aloft reached out of its depths.

He went to his throne room. He couldn't call it anything other than that, now that the King's throne had been brought to him. It was oversized, with gilding and gemstones affixed to the wood at the arms and to the back, above the head. They protruded like budding eyes, giving the throne an ornate richness that Rand disliked. It hadn't been in the palace. One of the local merchants had been "protecting" it from the riots. Perhaps he had considered seizing the seat in a more figurative sense as well.

Rand sat on the throne, despite its gaudiness, shifting so that the access key in his pocket didn't jab him in the side. The powerful in the city weren't certain what to think of him, and he preferred it that way. He didn't name himself king, yet his armies secured the capital. He spoke of restoring Alsalam's place to him, yet sat on the throne as if he had a right to it. He had not moved into the palace. He wanted them to wonder.

In truth, he hadn't made a decision. A lot would depend on this day's reports. He nodded to Rhuarc as he entered; the muscular Aielman returned the gesture. Then Rand stepped down from the throne and he and Rhuarc sat down on the circular rug of spiraling colors which lay on the floor in front of the green-carpeted dais. The first time they'd done this, it had caused a quiet stir among the Domani attendants and functionaries of Rand's growing court.

"We have located and taken another of them, Rand al'Thor," Rhuarc said. "Alamindra Cutren was hiding on her cousin's lands near the northern border; what we learned on her estate led us directly to her."

That made four members of the merchant council in his custody. "What of Meashan Dubaris? You said you might have her as well."

"Dead," Rhuarc said. "By the hands of a mob a week gone."