Towers of Midnight (The Wheel of Time 13)

"Nonsense," Elayne said. "That's plain ridiculous!"

"Obviously," Norry said. "But there ar

e many rumors. They do tend to, urn, grow like chokevines. The sentiment is strong."

Elayne gritted her teeth. The world was fast coming to be a place for those with strong alliances, knit together with bonds of both blood and paper. She had the best chance of uniting Cairhien and Andor that any queen had had in generations. "Do we know who has been staffing the rumors?"

"That has been very difficult to ascertain, my Lady," Norry said. "Who stands to benefit most?" Elayne asked. "That's the first place we should look for the source." Norry glanced at Dyelin.

"Any numbet of people could benefit," Dyelin said, stirring her tea. "I would guess that those with the greatest chance of taking the throne themselves would benefit the most."

"Those who resisted Rand," Elayne guessed.

"Perhaps," Dyelin said. "Or perhaps not. The strongest of the tebellious elements received great attention from the Dtagon, and many of them were either converted or broken. So his allies those he trusted most, or who professed greatest allegiance to him are the ones we should probably suspect. This is Cairhien, after all."

Daes Dae'mar. Yes, it would make sense for Rand's allies to resist her ascent to the throne. Those who had been favored by Rand would be favored for the throne, should Elayne prove incapable. However, those people would also have undermined their chances by professing allegiance to a foreign leader.

"I should think," Elayne said thoughtfully, "that those in the best position for the throne would be those in the middle. Anyone who didn't oppose Rand, and so didn't earn his ire. But also someone who didn't suppott him too wholeheartedly someone who can be viewed as a patriot who can reluctantly step in and take power once I've failed." She eyed the othet two. "Get me the names of anyone who has risen sharply in influence recently, a nobleman or woman who fits those criteria."

Dyelin and Master Norry nodded. Eventually, she would probably have to build a stronger network of eyes-and-ears, as neither of these two was perfectly suited to leading them. Norry was too obvious, and he already had enough to do with his other duties. Dyelin was . . . well, Elayne wasn't certain what Dyelin was.

She owed much to Dyelin, who seemed to have taken it upon hetself to act as a sutrogate mother to Elayne. A voice of experience and wisdom. But eventually, Dyelin would have to take a few steps back. Neither of them could afford to encourage the notion that Dyelin was the real power behind the throne.

But Light! What would she have done without the woman? Elayne had to steel herself against the sudden surge of feeling. Blood and bloody ashes, when was she going to get over these mood swings? A queen couldn't afford to be seen crying on a whim!

Elayne dabbed her eyes. Dyelin wisely said nothing.

"This will be for the best," Elayne said firmly, to distract attention from her treacherous eyes. "I'm still worried about the invasion."

Dyelin said nothing to that. She didn't believe that Chesmal had been talking of a specific invasion of Andor; she thought that the Black sister had been speaking of the Trolloc invasion of the Borderlands. Birgitte took the news more seriously, beefing up soldiers on the Andoran borders. Still, Egwene would very much like to have control of Cairhien; if Trollocs were to march on Andor, through her sister realm would be one of the avenues they might use.

Before the conversation could go further, the door to the hallway opened, and Elayne would have jumped in alarm had she not felt that it was Birgitte. The Warder never knocked. She strode in, wearing a sword reluctantly and her knee-high black boots over trousers. Oddly, she was followed by two cloaked figures, their faces hidden by hoods. Norry stepped back, raising a hand to his breast at the irregularity of it. Everyone knew that Elayne didn't like to see visitors in the small sitting room. If Birgitte was bringing people here. . . .

"Mat?" Elayne guessed.

"Hardly," a familiar voice said, firm and clear. The larger of the figures lowered his hood, revealing a perfectly beautiful masculine face. He had a square jaw and a set of focused eyes that Elayne remembered well from her childhood mostly when he had noticed her doing something wrong.

"Galad," Elayne said, surprised at the warmth she felt for her half-brother. She rose, holding out her hands toward him. She'd spent most of their childhood frustrated with him for one reason or another, but it was good to see him alive and well. "Where have you been?"

"I have been seeking truth," Galad said bowing with an expert bow, but he did not approach to take her hands. He rose and glanced to the side. "I found that which I did not expect. Steel yourself, sister."

Elayne frowned as the second, shorter figure lowered her hood. Elayne's mother.

Elayne gasped. It was her! That face, that golden hair. Those eyes that had so often looked at Elayne as a child, judging her, measuring her -not merely as a parent measured her daughter, but as a queen measured her successor. Elayne felt her heart beating in her chest. Her mother. Her mother was alive.

Morgase was alive. The Queen still lived.

Morgase locked eyes with Elayne, then oddly Morgase looked down. "Your Majesty," she said with a curtsy, still remaining beside the door.

Elayne controlled her thoughts, controlled her panic. She was Queen, or she would have been Queen, or . . . Light! She'd taken the throne, and she was at least the Daughtet-Heir. But now her own mother came back from the bloody dead?

"Please, sit," Elayne found herself saying, gesturing Morgase toward the seat beside Dyelin. It did Elayne good to see that Dyelin wasn't dealing with the shock any better than Elayne. She sat with her hand gripping her cup of tea, knuckles white, eyes bulging.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Motgase said, walking forward, Galad joining her and resting a hand on Elayne's shoulder in a comforting way. He then fetched himself a seat from the other side of the room.

Morgase's tone was more reserved than Elayne temembered. And why did she continue to call Elayne that title? The Queen had come in secret, with hood drawn. Elayne regarded her mothet, putting the pieces together as she sat. "You renounced the throne, didn't you?"

Morgase gave a stately nod.