The Gathering Storm

"It takes a very special tea to make asping rot go down sweetly," Verin said, taking another sip. "As I said, please thank Laras for me."

Egwene closed her eyes. Nynaeve had mentioned asping rot to her; a drop could kill. It was a quick death, peaceful, and often came . . . within an hour of ingestion.

"A curious hole in the oaths," Verin said softly. "To allow one to effect a betrayal in the final hour of one's life. I cannot help wondering if the Great Lord knows of it. Why wouldn't he close that hole?"

"Perhaps he doesn't see it as threatening," Egwene said, opening her eyes. "After all, what kind of Darkfriend would kill themselves in order to advance the greater good? It doesn't seem the kind of thing his followers would consider."

"You may be right at that," Verin said, setting the cup of tea aside. "It would be wise to make certain that is disposed of with care, child."

"So that is it?" Egwene asked, chilled. "What of Tomas?"

"We made our farewells. He is spending his last hour with family."

Egwene shook her head. It seemed such a tragedy. "You come to me to confess, killing yourself in a final quest for redemption?"

Verin laughed. "Redemption? I should think that wouldn't be so easily earned. Light knows I've done enough to require a very special kind of redemption. But it was worth the cost. Worth it indeed. Or perhaps that is simply what I must tell myself." She reached to her side, pulling a leather scrip from beneath the folded blanket at the foot of Egwene's bed. Verin carefully undid the straps, then produced two items: two books, both bound in leather. One was larger, like a reference book, though it had no title on its red binding. The other was a thin blue book. The covers of both were a little worn from use.

Verin handed them to Egwene. Hesitantly she took them, the larger volume heavy in her right hand, the blue book light in her left hand. She ran a finger over the smooth leather, frowning. She looked up at Verin.

"Every woman in the Brown," Verin said, "seeks to produce something lasting. Research or study that will be meaningful. Others often accuse us of ignoring the world around us. They think we only look backward. Well, that is inaccurate. If we are distracted, it is because we look forward, toward those who will come. And the information, the knowledge we gather . . . we leave it for them. The other Ajahs worry about making today better; we yearn to make tomorrow better."

Egwene set the blue book aside, looking into the red one first. The words were written in a small, efficient, but cramped hand she recognized as Verin's. None of the sentences made sense. They were gibberish.

"The small book is a key, Egwene," Verin explained. "It contains the cipher I used to write this tome. That tome is the . . . work. My work. The work of my life."

"What is it?" Egwene asked softly, suspecting she might know the answer.

"Names, locations, explanations," Verin said. "Everything I learned about them. About the leaders among the Darkfriends, about the Black Ajah. The prophecies they believe, the goals and motivations of the separate factions. Along with a list, at the back, of every Black Ajah sister I could identify."

Egwene started. "Every one?"

"I doubt I caught them all," Verin said, smiling. "But I think I got the large majority of them. I promise you, Egwene. I can be quite thorough."

Egwene looked down at the books with awe. Incredible! Light, but this was a treasure greater than any king's hoard. A treasure as great as the Horn of Valere itself. She looked up, tears in her eyes, imagining a life spent among the Black, always watching, recording, and working for the good of all.

"Oh, don't go doing that," Verin said. Her face was beginning to look pale. "They have many agents among us, like worms eating the fruit out from the core. Well, I thought it time that we had at least one of us among them. This is worth one woman's life. Few people have had a chance to create something as useful, and as wonderful, as that book you hold. We all seek to change the future, Egwene. I think I might just have a chance at doing so."

Verin took a deep breath, then raised a hand to her head. "My. That does work quickly. There is one more thing I must tell you. Open the red book, please."

Egwene did so, and found a thin leather strap with steel weights on the ends, the type used for marking one's place in a book, though it was longer than others she had seen.

"Wrap it around the book," Verin said, "place it marking any page, then twist the loose ends around the top."

Egwene did so, curious, tucking the strap into a random page and closing the book. She put the smaller book on top of the larger one, then took the long ends of the bookmark that dangled down and twisted them about one another. The weights, she noticed, fit together. She locked them into place.

And the books vanished.

Egwene stared. She could still feel them in her hands, but the books themselves were invisible.

"Only works on books, I'm afraid," Verin said, yawning. "Someone from the Age of Legends, it appears, was very worried about hiding his or her journal from others." She smiled slightly, but was growing very pale.

"Thank you, Verin," Egwene said, unclasping and unwrapping the bookmark. The volumes appeared again. "I wish there were some other way . . ."

"I will admit that the poison was a backup plan," Verin said. "I am not eager for death; there are still things I need to do. Fortunately, I have set several of them in motion to be ... seen to, in case I do not return. Regardless, my first plan was to find the Oath Rod, then see if I could use it to remove the Great Lord's oaths. The Oath Rod appears to have gone missing, unfortunately."

Saerin, Egwene thought, and the others. They must have taken it again. "I'm sorry, Verin," she said.

"It might not have worked anyway," Verin said, settling back on the bed, arranging the pillow behind her streaked brown hair. "The process of making those oaths to the Great Lord was . . . distinctive. I do wish I'd been able to discover one more tidbit for you. One of the Chosen is in the Tower, child. It's Mesaana, I'm certain of it. I had hoped to be able to bring you the name she was hiding under, but the two times I met with her, she was shrouded to the point that I couldn't tell. What I did see is recorded in the red book.