The Gathering Storm

"Nynaeve Sedai," the aged woman said, growing eager, "do you suppose you can see her to freedom? Restore her to the Lord Dragon's good graces?"

"Perhaps." Doubtful, Nynaeve added in her mind, but anything is possible. "My activities tonight may help. Did you ever see this messenger, the one your mistress imprisoned?"

"The one sent by the King?" Loral asked. "I never spoke with him, Aes Sedai, but I did see him. Tall, handsome fellow, curiously cleanshaven for a Domani man. I passed him in the hallway. Had one of the most beautiful faces I rightly think I've ever seen on a man."

"And then?" Nynaeve asked.

"Well, he went directly to speak with Lady Chadmar, and then. ..." Loral trailed off. "Nynaeve Sedai, I don't mean to be getting my lady into any more trouble, and—"

"He was sent for questioning," Nynaeve said shortly. "I have little time for foolishness, Loral. I am not here looking for evidence against your mistress, and I don't really care what your loyalties are. There are much larger issues at stake. Answer my question."

"Yes, Lady," Loral said, paling. "We all knew what had happened, of course. Didn't seem right, sending one of the King's men to a questioner like that. Particularly that man. Shame to mar a face so beautiful, and all."

"You know the location of the questioner and the dungeon?"

Loral hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. Good. She didn't intend to withhold information.

"Let us go, then,' Nynaeve said, rising.

"My Lady?"

"To the dungeon," Nynaeve said. "I assume it isn't on the property anywhere, not if Milisair Chadmar was as careful as I think."

"It's a modest distance away, in the Gull's Feast," Loral said. "You wish to go tonight^"

"Yes," Nynaeve said, then hesitated. "Unless I decide to visit the questioner at his home instead."

"They are the same place, my Lady."

"Excellent. Come."

Loral didn't have much choice. Nynaeve allowed her—guarded by a soldier—to return to her rooms for a dress.

A short time later, Nynaeve and her soldiers marched the dosun— along with the four workers, to keep them from accidentally giving warning of what was happening—from the building. All five looked decidedly displeased. They probably believed the superstitious rumors that the night was not safe. Nynaeve knew better. The night might not be safe, but it wasn't any worse than other times. In fact, it might be safer. If there were fewer people about, there were fewer chances of someone nearby suddenly growing thorns out of their skin, bursting into flame or dying in some other horribly random way.

They left the mansion grounds, Nynaeve walking with a firm step, hoping to keep the others from feeling too nervous. She nodded to the soldiers at the gate, and went in the direction Loral indicated. Their feet thumped against the wood of the boardwalk, the clouded night sky glowing just faintly from moonlight above.

oiraine had been successful. Through her, Rand had begun to overcome his aversion to Aes Sedai. Without Rand's eventual acceptance for Moiraine, it was doubtful that Cadsuane would ever have made headway in becoming his counselor.

Well, Nynaeve wasn't about to act the same way for Rand al'Thor, no matter how many fancy titles he had. However, she did have something to learn from Moraine's success. Perhaps Rand had listened to Moiraine because her subservience had flattered him, or maybe he had simply been tired of people pushing him around. Rand did have many people trying to control him. They must frustrate him, and they made Nynaeve's own job a lot more difficult, since she was the one that he actually needed to listen to.

Did he, perhaps, see her simply as another of those irrelevant manipulators? She wouldn't put it past him.

She needed to show him that they were working for the same goals. She didn't want tell him what to do; she just wanted him to stop acting like a fool. And, beyond that, she just wanted him to be safe. She'd also like him to be a leader that people respected, not one that people feared. He seemed incapable of seeing that the path he was on was that of a tyrant.

Being a king really wasn't all that different from being mayor in the Two Rivers. The mayor needed to be respected and liked. The Wisdom and the Women's Circle could do the difficult tasks, such as punishing those who overstepped their bounds. The mayor, however, needed to be loved. That led to a civil and a safe town.

But how to show that to Rand? She couldn't force him; she needed to get him to listen to her in another way. A plan began to take root in her head. By the time she reached the mansion, she had an idea of what to do.

The gate to the mansion grounds was guarded by Saldaeans; the Aiel preferred to stay closer to Rand, watching the rooms and the hallways of the mansion itself. Haster Nalmat, the officer on duty, gave Nynaeve a bow as she approached; some people still knew how to treat Aes Sedai. The grounds beyond the gate were ornamental and cultivated. Nynaeve's lantern cast strange shadows on the grass as its light shone through the trees trained and trimmed in the shapes of fanciful animals. The shadows moved in concert with her lantern, the phantom shapes lengthening and merging with the greater blackness of the night around her. Like rivers of shadow.

A larger group of Saldaean soldiers stood guard at the front of the mansion; far more than were necessary. Whenever men stood on guard, their friends tended to gather, no doubt to gossip. Nynaeve strode up to the group, causing several of them to stop leaning lazily against the mansion's gallery of pillars.

"Who of you are not on duty right now?" she asked.

Sure enough, three of the nine soldiers raised their hands, looking somewhat sheepish.

"Excellent," Nynaeve said, handing her lantern to one of them. "You three, come with me." She strode into the mansion, the three soldiers scrambling in behind.