Yes, it was cramped, but considering her banishment, Cadsuane was lucky to have rooms in the Stone at all.
Min sighed and turned back to Commentary on the Dragon. That same phrase popped out at her again. He shall hold a blade of light in his hands, and the three shall be one. What did it mean?
"Cadsuane," Min said, holding up the book. "I think the interpretation of this phrase is wrong."
Again, Beldeine let out a small—almost imperceptible—sniff of disdain.
"You have something to say, Beldeine?" Cadsuane asked, not looking up from her own book, a history called The Proper Taming of Power.
"Not in so many words, Cadsuane Sedai," Beldeine replied lightly. The Green had a face that some might have called pretty, bearing traces of her Saldaean heritage. Young enough to not yet have the ageless face, she often seemed to try too hard to prove herself.
"You obviously thought something when Min spoke, Beldeine," Cadsuane replied, turning a page. "Out with it."
Beldeine flushed slightly—one noticed these things, if one spent a lot of time with Aes Sedai. They did have emotional reactions, they were just subtle. Unless, of course, the Aes Sedai in question was Nynaeve. Although she'd grown better at controlling her emotions, she . . . well, she was still Nynaeve.
Beldeine said, "I simply think that the child is amusing in the way she pokes through those tomes, as if she were a scholar."
Min would have taken that as a challenge from most people, but from Beldeine, the words were matter-of-fact.
Cadsuane turned another page. "I see. Min, what was it you were saying to me?"
"Nothing important, Cadsuane Sedai."
"I didn't ask if it was important, girl," Cadsuane said briskly. "I asked you to repeat yourself. Out with it."
Min sighed. Nobody could humiliate one more soundly than an Aes Sedai, for they did it without malice. Moiraine had explained it to Min once in simple terms: Most Aes Sedai felt it was important to establish control when there was no great conflict, so that if a crisis did happen, people would know where to look.
It was very frustrating.
"I said," Min repeated, "that a passage is wrong. I'm reading commentary on the Karaethon Cycle. Sajius claims that this line about the three becoming one speaks of the unification of three kingdoms beneath the Dragon's banner. But I think he's wrong."
"And why," Cadsuane said, "is it that you think you know more than a respected scholar of the prophecies?"
"Because," Min said, bristling, "the theory doesn't make sense. Rand only really holds one crown. There might have been a good argument here if he hadn't given away Tear to Darlin. But the theory doesn't hold any longer. I think the passage refers to some way he has to use Callandor."
"I see," Cadsuane said, turning yet another page in her own book. "That is a very unconventional interpretation." Beldeine smiled thinly, turning back to her embroidery. "Of course," Cadsuane added, "you are quite right."
Min looked up.
"It was that very passage that led me to investigate Callandor" Cadsuane continued. "Through a great deal of searching I discovered that the sword could only be used properly in a circle of three. That is likely the ultimate meaning of the passage."
"But that would imply that Rand had to use Callandor in a circle sometime," Min said, looking at the passage again. He'd never done so, as far as she knew.
"It would," Cadsuane said.
Min felt a sudden thrill. A hint, perhaps. Something that Rand didn't know, that might help him! Except . . . Cadsuane had already known it. So Min hadn't discovered anything of real import after all.
"I should think," Cadsuane said, "that an acknowledgment is due. Bad manners are not to be tolerated, after all."
Beldeine looked up from her needlework, face dark. Then, unexpectedly, she stood and left the room. Her Warder, the youthful Asha'man Soldier Karldin, followed quickly from the side chamber, crossing the room with the Aes Sedai and following Beldeine out into the hallway outside. Cadsuane gave a sniff, then turned back to her book.
The door closed, and Nynaeve eyed Min before returning to her pacing. Min could read a lot in that glance. Nynaeve was annoyed that nobody else seemed nervous. She was frustrated that they hadn't found some way to listen in on Rand and Tarn's conversation. And she was obviously terrified for Lan. Min understood. She felt similarly about Rand.
And . . . what was that vision that was suddenly hovering above Nynaeve's head? She was kneeling over someone's corpse in a posture of grief. The viewing was gone a moment later.
Min shook her head. That hadn't been a viewing she could interpret, so she let it pass. She couldn't waste her time trying to unravel all of those. For instance, the black knife that spun around Beldeine's head recently could mean anything.
She focused on the book. So ... Rand was to use Callandor as part of a circle, then? The three becoming one? But for what reason and with whom? If he was to fight the Dark One, then it didn't make sense for him to be in a circle with someone else in control, did it?