Robert Jordan - The Gathering Storm

The front half of the shop was crowded with stools for customers to use. The shoes on the back wall were of different designs and patterns, along with test shoes for sizing. A person came into the shop, tried on the sizing shoes, then picked a style. The cobbler—or, likely, his assistants— would then craft a pair for later pickup. The wide glass windows at the front proclaimed the name of the cobbler in white painted letters to be Naorman Mashinta, and a smaller number "three" had been painted beside the name. This was the third generation of Mashintas to run the shop. Not uncommon at all among townsfolk. In fact, the part of Egwene that was still influenced by the Two Rivers found it odd that anyone would consider leaving their parent's trade for another, unless they were a third or fourth child.

"Now that we've dealt with the obvious," Egwene said, "what news is there?"

"Well," Siuan said, leaning on the window and staring out at the eerily empty Tar Valon street. "An old acquaintance of yours recently arrived in camp."

"Really?" Egwene asked absently. "Who?"

"Gawyn Trakand."

Egwene started. That was impossible! Gawyn had sided with Elaida's faction during the rebellion. He wouldn't have come over to the rebel side. Had he been captured? But that wasn't how Siuan had phrased it.

For a moment, Egwene was a trembling girl, caught in the power of his whispered promises. She managed to keep her form locked into that of the Amyrlin, however, and forced her thoughts back to the moment, driving herself to be casual as she responded. "Gawyn?" she asked. "How odd. I wouldn't have thought to find him there."

Siuan smiled. "That was nicely handled," she said. "Though you paused too long, and when you did ask for him, you were overly uninterested. That made you easy to read."

"Light blind you," Egwene said. "Another test? Is he really there?"

"I hold to the oaths, thank you," Siuan said, affronted. Egwene was one of the few who knew that, as a result of her stilling and healing, Siuan had been released from the Three Oaths. But, like Egwene, she chose not to lie anyway.

"Either way," Egwene said, "I should think that the time for testing me has passed."

"Everyone you meet will always be testing you, Mother," Siuan said. "You must be prepared for surprises; at any moment someone could throw one at you just to see how you respond."

"Thank you," Egwene said coldly. "But I really don't need the reminder."

"Don't you?" Siuan said. "Sounds a little like something Elaida would say."

"That's unfair!"

"Prove it," Siuan said smugly.

Egwene forced herself to be calm. Siuan was right. Better to take the advice, particularly when it was good advice, than to complain. "You are right, of course," Egwene said, smoothing out her dress across her knees as she also smoothed the frustration from her face. "Tell me more of Gawyn's arrival."

"I don't know much more," Siuan confessed. "I really should have mentioned it yesterday, but our meeting was cut short." They were meeting more often now—each night of Egwene's imprisonment—but yesterday something had awakened Siuan before they had finished talking. A bubble of evil in the rebel camp, she had reported, involving tents coming alive and trying to strangle people. Three had died, one of them Aes Sedai.

"Anyway," Siuan continued, "Gawyn hasn't said much that I could hear. I think he's here because he heard that you were captured. He arrived with a spectacular flurry, but now he stays in Bryne's command post, visiting the Aes Sedai regularly. He's mulling over something; keeps going to speak to Romanda and Lelaine."

"That's troubling."

"Well, they are the obvious power in camp," Siuan said. "Save when Sheriam and the others can wrench some authority away. Things haven't gone well without you; the camp needs leadership. Actually, we crave it, as a starving fisherman craves a catch. Aes Sedai are a people of order, I suppose. It—"

She stopped herself. Likely, she had been about to bully Egwene again to accept rescue. She glanced at Egwene, then continued. "Well, it will be good for us when you return, Mother. The longer you stay away, the stronger the factions become. You can almost see the lines down the middle of the camp now. Romanda on one side, Lelaine on the other, with a shrinking slice that doesn't want to take sides."

"We cannot afford another division," Egwene said. "Not among ourselves; we have to prove stronger than Elaida."

"At least our splits aren't along the lines of Ajah," Siuan said defensively.

"Factions and breaks," Egwene said, getting up. "Infighting and squabbling. We are better than this, Siuan. Tell the Hall that I wish to meet with them. Perhaps in two days. Tomorrow, you and I should meet again."

Siuan nodded hesitantly. "Very well."

Egwene eyed her. "You think it unwise?"

"No," Siuan said. "I worry about how hard you're pushing yourself. The Amyrlin needs to learn to ration her strength; some in your place have failed not because they lacked the capacity for greatness, but because they stretched that capacity too thin, sprinting when they should have walked."

Egwene refrained from pointing out that Siuan herself had spent much of her tenure as Amyrlin sprinting at a breakneck speed. But it could very well be argued that Siuan had stretched herself too thin, and had fallen as a result. Who better to speak on the dangers of such activities than one who had been burned by them so deeply?

"The advice is appreciated, daughter," Egwene said. "But really, there is little to worry about. My days are spent in solitude, with the occasional beating to provide spice. These meetings at night help me survive." She shivered, glancing away from Siuan, out the window toward the dirty, vacant street.

"Is it difficult to endure?" Siuan asked softly.

"The cell is narrow enough for me to touch opposite walls at once," Egwene said. "And isn't very long, either. When I lie down, I have to bend my knees to fit. I can't stand, since the ceiling is so low it makes me stoop, and I can't sit without pain, for they no longer Heal me between beatings. The straw is old and itches. The door is thick and the cracks don't allow in much light. I wasn't aware that the Tower had cells such as this one." She glanced back at Siuan. "Once I am upheld fully as Amyrlin, this room and any like it will be removed, the doors ripped out and the cells themselves filled with bricks and mortar."

Siuan nodded. "We'll make certain of it."

Egwene turned away again, and noticed with shame that she'd let her

gown shift to the cadin'sor of an Aiel Maiden, complete with spears and bow at her back. She forced the clothing back, taking a deep breath. "No person should be kept in such a manner," she said, "not even. ..."

Siuan frowned as Egwene trailed off. "What was that?"

Egwene shook her head. "It just occurred to me. This is what it must have been like for Rand. No, worse. The stories say he was locked in a box smaller than my cell. At least I can spend part of the evenings chatting with you. He had nobody. He was without the belief that his beatings meant something." Light send that she didn't have to endure as long as he had. Her imprisonment had only been a few days so far.

Siuan fell silent.

"Regardless," Egwene said, "I have Tel'aran'rbiod. During the days, my body is captive, but my soul is free at night. And each day I endure is another proof that Elaida's will is not law. She cannot break me. Her support from the others is eroding. Trust me."

Siuan nodded. "Very well," she said, rising. "You are Amyrlin."

"Of course I am," Egwene said absently.

"No, Egwene," Siuan said. "I meant that from the heart."

Egwene turned, surprised. "But you've always believed in me!"

Siuan raised an eyebrow.

"At least," Egwene said, "from fairly near the beginning."

"I always believed you had potential," Siuan corrected. "Well, you've fulfilled it. Some of it at least. Enough of it. However this storm blows through, you've proven one thing. You deserved the place you hold. Light, girl, you may end up being the best Amyrlin this world has known this side of Artur Hawkwing's reign!" She hesitated. "And that's not an easy thing for me to admit, mind you."

Egwene took Siuan's arms, smiling. Why, Siuan almost looked teary-eyed with pride! "All I did was get myself locked in a cell."

"And you did it like an Amyrlin, Egwene," Siuan said. "But I should be getting back. Some of us can't spend our days relaxing the way you can. We need real sleep, otherwise we're likely to fall unconscious in our washwater." She grimaced, releasing herself from Egwene's hands.

"You could just tell him to—"

"Now, I'll have none of that," Siuan said, wagging a finger at Egwene. Had she forgotten that she'd just been complimenting Egwene's stature as an Amyrlin? "I gave my word, and I'll be fish guts before I'll break it."

Egwene blinked. "I wouldn't dream of making you," she said, covering a smile as she noticed that Siuan's shadowy form now had a bright red ribbon in its hair. "Off with you, then."

Siuan nodded sharply, then sat down and closed her eyes. She faded slowly from Tel'aran'rhiod.

Egwene hesitated, watching the area where Siuan had been. It was probably time to return to normal dreaming, letting her mind restore itself. But returning to her normal dreams would be a step toward waking, and when she woke she would find only that cramped dungeon and its stuffy darkness. She longed to stay in the World of Dreams just a little longer. She thought of visiting Elayne's dreams to ask for a meeting . . . but no, that would take too much time, assuming Elayne could make her dream ter'angreal work. She rarely could, these days.

She found herself stepping away from Tar Valon, the cobbler's shop vanishing around her.

She appeared in the rebel Aes Sedai camp. A foolish place to visit, perhaps. If there were Darkfriends or Forsaken in the World of Dreams, they could very well be studying this camp and looking for information, much as Egwene sometimes visited the Amyrlin's study in Tel'aran'rhiod to search for clues on Elaida's plans. But Egwene needed to come here. She didn't question why; she simply felt that it was true.

The streets of the camp were muddy, worn in ruts from passing wagons. Once just a field, the area had been appropriated by the Aes Sedai and turned into . . . something. Part a place of war, with Bryne's soldiers camped in a ring about them. Part town, though no town had ever boasted such a complement of Aes Sedai, novices and Accepted. Part monument to the weakness of the White Tower.

Egwene walked the camp's main thoroughfare, where weeds had been trampled to mud, then mud worn into a road. Walkways lined it, and tents covered the flat land beyond. There were no people, only the occasional fleeting glimpse of a sleeper who had stumbled into Tel'aran'rhiod. Here, a brief flash of a woman in a fine green gown. A dreaming Aes Sedai, perhaps, though it was just as likely to be a serving maid imagining herself to be a queen. There, a woman in white—a woman with stringy blond hair who was far too old to be a novice. That no longer mattered. The novice book should have long ago been opened to all. The White Tower was too weak to turn down any source of strength.

Both women were gone almost as quickly as they appeared. Few dreamers stayed long in Tel'aran'rbiod; to remain longer, one needed either a particular skill like Egwene's or a ter'angreal like the ring Siuan used. There was a third way. Getting caught up in a living nightmare. There were none of the latter about, thank the Light.