The Gathering Storm

"So where is everyone?" Egwene asked.

"Light only knows, Mother," Bryne said, shaking his head. "We'll lose some men getting past that force, but not many. It will be a rout."

"Could the Seanchan have really hurt them that much?"

"I don't know, Mother," Bryne said. "It was bad last night. A lot of fire, a lot of men dead. But I'd have pegged the cost at hundreds, not thousands. Perhaps the Tower Guard is clearing out rubble and stopping the fires, but I still think they'd have gathered a larger force when they saw me forming up here. I've taken a spyglass to those lads over there, and I've noted more than one set of bleary red eyes."

Egwene sat thoughtfully, glad for the breeze blowing in along the river from downstream. "You haven't questioned the wisdom of this assault, General."

"It's not my habit to question where I'm pointed, Mother."

"And your thoughts on the matter, if asked?"

"If asked?" Byrne said. "Well, attacking makes tactical sense. We've lost Traveling as an edge, and if our enemy can resupply at will and send envoys in and out whenever they want, then what's the purpose of a siege? It's time to either attack or pack up and leave."

Egwene nodded. And yet, she found herself hesitating. That ominous smoke in the sky, the maimed Tower, the frightened soldiers without reinforcements. It all seemed to whisper a warning.

"How long can we wait before you absolutely must begin this assault, General?" she asked.

He frowned, but didn't question her. He glanced at the sky. "It's getting late. An hour, perhaps? After that, it will be too dark. With numbers this favorable, I'd rather not add the randomness of a night battle to the mix."

"We wait, then, for an hour," Egwene said, settling back on her mount. The others seemed confused, but they said nothing. The Amyrlin Seat had spoken.

What was she waiting for? What were her instincts telling her? Egwene thought on it as the minutes extended, eventually realizing what had made her pause. Once this step had been taken, there was no turning back. The White Tower had suffered the previous night; it was the first time an enemy force had used the One Power against it. Egwene's assault would be another first: the first time one group of Aes Sedai had led troops in battle against another group. There had been fights between factions in the Tower before; clashes between one Ajah and another, some turning to bloodshed, like what had happened after Siuan's ousting. The Secret Histories mentioned such events.

But never had the dissension extended beyond the doors of the Tower itself. Never had Aes Sedai led troops across those bridges. To do so now would attach the event forever to Egwene's tenure as Amyrlin. Whatever else she achieved, it would likely be overshadowed by this day.

She had hoped to liberate and unite. Instead, she would turn to war and subjugation. If it had to be so, then she would give the command. But she wanted to wait until the last possible moment. If that meant a grim hour beneath the overcast sky, horses snorting as they sensed their riders' tension, then so be it.

Bryne's hour came and passed. Egwene hesitated for a few minutes longer—as long as she dared. No relief came to the poor soldiers on the other side of the bridge. They just stared out behind their little barricade, resolute.

Reluctantly, Egwene turned to give the command.

"Here now." Bryne leaned forward in his saddle. "What is this?"

Egwene turned back to the bridge. Distantly, just barely visible, a procession was coming down the road. Had she waited too long? Had the White Tower sent reinforcements? Had she cost the lives of her men by her stubborn reluctance?

But no. That group wasn't soldiers, but women in skirts. Aes Sedai!

Egwene held up her hand, staying any attacks by her soldiers. The procession rode directly up to the Tower Guard fortification. A moment later, a woman in a gray dress stepped out in front of the road block, accompanied by a single Warder. Egwene squinted, trying to make out the woman's features, and Bryne hastily handed her his spyglass. Egwene accepted it thankfully, but had already recognized the woman. Andaya Forae, one of the new Sitters to the Hall chosen after the split. Gray Ajah. That implied a willingness to negotiate.

The glow of power surrounded the woman, and Siuan hissed, causing several nearby soldiers to raise their bows. Again Egwene held up a hand. "Bryne," she said sternly, "I will not have the first shot fired until I give permission."

"Stand down, men!" Bryne bellowed. "I'll have your hides if you so much as nock an arrow!" The men snapped their bows back down from the ready.

The distant woman used a weave Egwene couldn't make out, and then spoke in a voice that was obviously amplified. "We would speak with Egwene al'Vere," Andaya said. "Is she in attendance?"

Egwene made her own weave to amplify her voice. "I am here, Andaya. Tell the others with you to come out so that I can see them."

Surprisingly, they obeyed the command. Nine more women filed out, and Egwene studied each one. "Ten Sitters," she said, handing Bryne back his spyglass and releasing her weave so that she could speak without her words being projected. "Two from each Ajah except the Blue and the Red."

"That's promising." Bryne rubbed his chin.

"Well, they could be here to demand my surrender," Egwene noted. "All right," she said, amplifying her voice with the Power again. "What do you wish of me?"

"We have come," Andaya said. She hesitated. "We have come to inform you that the Hall of the White Tower has chosen to raise you to the Amyrlin Seat."

Siuan gasped in shock, and Bryne cursed quietly to himself. Several of the soldiers muttered about it being a trap. But Egwene just closed her eyes. Dared she hope? She'd assumed that her unwanted rescue had come too soon. But if she'd laid enough groundwork before being taken by Siuan and Gawyn. . . .