Complications
Rand was creeping. A choice rabbit was lurking in the undergrowth and he did not want to disturb it. drawing his bowstring back to his ear, he took aim. Suddenly he heard a growling behind him which startled him enough that he missed his shot by a foot or more. Turning, he saw a large mountain lion padding towards him, a thunderous growl in it's throat. They never come this far from the mountains! he thought. Throwing up his hands to defend himself, he suddenly felt a glowing warmth, as well as a putrid feeling that made him want to sick up. Fire leapt from his fingertips, taking the lion in the face, killing it instantly. Feeling dirty, Rand numbly picked up his bow and trudged off into the forest
On his way back to the farm he nearly walked into a stern, grey-hair woman, with a face that he could not quite put an age to. "Sorry, milady" he mumbled as he started walking
"Wait, I would like to ask you some questions. What is your name boy?"
"Rand, Rand al'Thor, milady."
"I am not a lady Rand al'Thor. I am called Cadsuane Sedai and you are coming with me."
"She took him Mister al'Thor! She took Rand! The Aes Sedai did I mean"
Tam was panicking. There was only one reason an Aes Sedai would want a young boy like Rand. Channeling. "I'll sort this out Perrin, you go and play now." After the Aybara boy had left he opened up his clothes chest and dug to the bottom. Pulling out his Power-forged sword he hung it from his belt. He walked outside, saddled Bela and climbed up, riding towards Baerlon. He would get his son back in one piece.
Rand sat looking at his food. He did not need to eat. There was no reason to be alive so why should he stay that way?
"Rand, your fathers here" he heard a voice say.
"Hello Rand"
"Hello Father"
"Come. I've bought you a blade. I'm going to teach you the art of the sword."
Practicing the sword forms 8 years later, Rand's life still felt hollow. His Father said he would be a Bladesmaster soon, and would need Master Luhan to make him a better sword. People had avoided him for months after he had returned from Tar Valon, until they had realised he was not dangerous. Still, only Perrin, Mat and Egwene would talk to him regurlarly. Not that he cared, of course. He saw Perrin then, running towards him looking excited
"Rand! A wagon train has come! And the merchant said we could be wagon guards if we want!"
"Ok"
"Do you want to come?"
"Fine"
With that his friend ran off, probably to tell Mat. Walking lethargically back inside, Rand told his Father what he wanted to do.
"Well, it was your 16th nameday last week, so your a man grown now. You can do what you want but I'll miss you.
And with that Rand left, his battered blade in hand, to become a wagon guard.
Gulmbar was drinking in a tavern, talking with the inkeeper while his three guards sat nearby, one with quarterstaff another with a battleaxe and the last with a sword. The inkeeper followed his gaze.
"They your new guards Gulmbar? Your unlucky with that redhead. I heard he burnt down near the whole forest, before they took him to the witch's nest. Other two look like children on an adventure as well."
Feeling worried, Gulmbar stood up from the stool. At that very moment half a dozen Whitecloaks burst into the commonroom.
"Your all Darkfriends in here! Your filthy leader denied us access to his stores! Those who wish to repent step forward and join us, you will be punished but you will live."
Suddenly, one of Gulmbar's guards stepped forward.
"I challenge you to single combat!" He said to the leader of the group. He realised that it was the auburn-haired one, the one with the sword. The Channeler! He thought.
"Foolish Darkfriend, your stupidity proves your guilt. I am Bladesmaster so I will slay you quickly. Let us finish this."
Gulmbar was no swordsman so he did not know any of the names of the strikes and parries but he could tell they were both extremely good with the sword. Fluid movements took them gracefully around the room, each one striking, parrying, striking again. The look of anger on the Whitecloak's face grew with each meeting of the sword. The fight seemed to go on for hours, until the Whitecloak seemed to be winning, when Gulmbar's guard went down on one knee, bringing his sword across the man's stomach, spilling his guts all over the floor.
"Sorcery!" one of the Whitecloaks screamed, charging at the guard.
Rand looked at the guard dispassionately, and raised a hand. Making a fist, he jabbed the hand ruthlessly into the man's throat, crushing his windpipe. Rand took the Whitecloak's dagger and threw it, taking another one in the heart. Perrin and Mat closed on two others while Rand attacked the last. The man was nowhere near the same skill level as Rand, probably only a begginer. The terrified Whitecloak did not expect River Undercuts The Bank and looked surprised as the rusty blade passed straight through him.
Mat parried the clumsy lunge of the swordsman, cracking him in the shin. They exchanged blows for a few seconds and he got a glimpse of Rand. Light, the fool was already done with his man! Mat was determined not to be last so with a resounding CRACK Mat whacked the Whitecloak over the head. He thought he'd broken his skull.
Perrin looked over at Rand for a fleeting second and saw that he AND Mat had both incapacitated their opponents. Blushing at his slowness Perrin swung his axe as hard as he could, cleaving the whole of the mans arm off at the shoulder. Looking down at his stump, the Whitecloak fainted.
Feeling sick, Gulmbar looked at the mess on the floor. Two unconscious Whitecloaks and four dead ones, done by three 16 year olds. All four dead men were in that condition from the actions of one of his guards. They would be after him now!
Apparently reading his expression, the auburn-haired man spoke up. "If anyone asks we were strangers nobody knew. If you want you can tell them we went to Tear." and with that all three men left
"Rand, what do we do now?" Mat asked him
"Caemlyn." he replied "We are going to Caemlyn"
"Why?" Perrin asked.
"I heard it is nice there." Rand said coldly.
"S'all right by me!" Mat added
"Caemlyn it is." Perrin conceded
Rand wandered the streets of the capital of Andor, looking for a cloth shop. He had unconsciously picked up the Power-forged Bladesmaster's sword, swapping it for his own. He had seen lots of people with coloured wrappings on the sword hilt and on their arms and had asked someone about it. It turned out it was to show your support for the queen or your opposition of her. There were more whites than red and red was most likely to get him killed so he chose red.
They were staying in an inn owned by one Mastef Gill, a friendly man who had created them warmly.
Turning a corner he almost ploughed into a group of armed men, all wearing white. Rand thought this was going to be the death he desired, until one of them said different.
"We would normally just kill a pretty little queen's boy like you and be done with it, but today we feel like having some fun first."
Rand did not have any desire to be the object of these men's fun so he drew his sword and, quick as a snake, sliced it across the closest man's throat, almost decapitating him. Then he ran.
Elayne sat on the wall of the palace, the one that almost looked like a cliff. She gazed down upon the grass below her, and nearly fell when she saw what was down there. A tall red haired man of about her age was running carrying a sword with red wrappings on the hilt. She was pleased about that but what she wasn't pleased about was the six white cocaded men chasing him. What was strange was that the redhead was completely emotionless, and his eyes were cold and dead. He reached the wall and started climbing, and got half way up before a dagger took him in the calf and he fell. The men's faces grew lustful and she realised with a start what was going to happen. Scrambling, she found a rock and threw it, hitting a man in the head. They all looked up and one said
"We'll 'ave some fun with you, dear"
When Rand heard the man speak he reached for the dagger in his leg he grimaced as he pulled it out. Keeping one hand on the wound, Rand jammed the dagger under one of the men's chin, wrenchimg his sword out of it's scabbard. Flowing from one man to the next, Rand gave each of his assailants a killing blow. Silently he cleaned his sword on an already bloodstained cloak and sheathed it. Looking up, he saw what had caused the distraction. A girl with redy gold hair looked down at him. She looked about his age and had a look of fear plastered her face. Taking the climb up the wall Rand decided to speak to her.
Elayne looked fearfully at the dispassionate man climbing towards her. Her common sense was screaming at her to call the guards but her curiosity won out. Her hands were still shaking as she had never seen anyone die before and she had just witnessed this man kill six people at once!
"Hello" she said when he got close "I am Elayne. Who are you?"
"Rand. Rand al'Thor."
"I am pleased to meet you. May I ask a question?"
"Yes"
"Why did you make sure all of them were dead?"
"Because I wanted them to die."
"Don't you feel anything about what you did?"
"No. People die every day."
Light, Elayne thought does he have no emotion? "Well, you didn't even get scratched. Are you a Bladesmaster?"
"Yes"
"Can I see the Heron?
"It is under the hilt wrappings as well." he said as he drew the blade an inch "I took it off a Whitecl-"
Suddenly he dived forward, straight at her. Elayne thought she was going to die, when she was shoved roughly to the ground, until, that is, an arrow took Rand in the stomach, and he fell, with painful slowness.
Rand woke in a dark room, fresh bandages round his middle. "Burn it." he said calmly to the woman standing nearby. "I wanted to die."
That was when he noticed the face.
"Aes Sedai!" he spat
"Not many people can recognise an Aes Sedai on sight, child."
"Well i'm not 'many people' am I Blue?
"How did you now that?
"Your dress is blue, your neclace stone is blue, and that gem hanging on your head is blue."
"How very... Observant of you."
"Why are you here?"
" I am particularly interested in you and your two friends. I am trying to get you exiled instead of executed for the attemted murder of the Daughter-Heir. You know, that was rather foolish of you, shoving her off the wall. She survived with only a broken arm."
"I shoved here off the wall, did I? Well she was on there when I blacked out, so wether my unconscious body knocked her off I don't know what happened."
"Tell me exactly what happened."
"Well, that was an interesting tale you told me, shame its a lie really."
"Its not though! I was wishing for death up until now, but now I may live just to spite you. What's your name, by the way?"
"Moirane Damodred"
"Well, Moirane Sedai, I am just going to hope Elayne wakes before my lucky day. Oh and can you tell your Warder to put his knife away before he gets to me. I'd rather die in front of a crowd than in a dark dungeon under the palace."
She felt Lan's bond stiffen as he heard what the youth was saying. She knew Lan had not been making enough noise for any normal person to hear so how had he known Lan was going to cut his throat? She nodded her head slightly to Lan, signaling to carry on.
Suddenly, the youth sprang off his bed. "I told you to tell him to put the knife away! Why do you want me dead?!" he shouted and looked down on her, straight into her eyes. She saw cold, grey, dispassionate death emanating from him
"When were you gentled?" she asked softly. Thankfully the youth seemed to calm.
"I am not going to tell you. I would appreciate it if you did not kill me in my sleep."
Perrin was worried. Rand had been gone for hours when he was supposed to have been gone for ten minutes at most.
"You don't think he went to the execution that they announced earlier, do you?" Mat suggested.
"Well it is a start. We should get moving if we want to be there in time." Perrin did not know why anyone would go to see someone die, but Rand was a cold-hearted killer as well as their friend.
They arrived just in time to see the announcer calling out the crimes of the convicted.
"This man is to be executed by will of the queen for the hanus crime of the attempted assassination of the Daughter-Heir. He will be hung from the neck till dead."
That was when they saw the man convicted.
"But that is Rand!" Mat cried out. "Why would he do something like that?!"
"Maybe he knew they would kill him, so he got caught on purpose."
"Maybe." admitted Mat
But Perrin did not believe that. From the look on Rand's face, he was very angry at something, but that wasn't unusual as the only two emotions Rand seemed to fee were anger and hatred. No, Rand was staring at a woman, with a face he could not quite put an age to. She was staring haughtily down at him from her seat, looking smug. Startling Perrin, she held her hand out and her cup floated to it. An Aes Sedai! That must be why Rand was so angry. How were they to rescue Rand with an Aes Sedai watching him?
Elayne woke with a start. The last thing she remembered was Rand falling off the wall after shoving her out of the way of an arrow.
"Mother!" she called when she saw queen Morgase enter the room "What happened to the man on top of the wall ?"
"Do not fear. We took him prisoner after you pushed him off and he is going to be executed any minute now."
"No!" she screamed "He pushed me out of the way of an arrow and took it in the stomach! That is why he fell! You must stop the execution!"
"If this is the case it may be to late. it is a good thing we felt he did not deserve a quick neck break so we may be able to cut him down. So far your stories match, so I will postpone his fate for now."
Rand stepped up to the gallows, angrily staring at anyone and everyone, especially that burning Aes Sedai! This was not how he wanted to die, a painful death by strangulation, for a crime that he had not commited but had in fact prevented. He had hoped for a quick and painless death by poison at best, a sword through the gut at worst.
Rand grew calm when the noose was tightened around his neck. At least he was dying, albeit in a painful way. Taking one last ragged breath as the bar he was to be hanged from was raised. His throat constricted, the rough rope shredding the skin around his neck. His face was slowy turning purple, and the pain was worsening all over his body. His vision started to grey at the edges and he felt himself slipping from consciousness..
"Stop!" he heard someone shout "By order of the Queen, STOP THE EXECUTION!"
Rand could no longer see anything in colour when he saw a sword rushing towards him. Finally, a quicker end. he thought, but the sword whizzed over his head and sliced clean through the rope. Dropping onto his hands and knees Rand retched, coughing and wheezing. Luckily, Rand had not had lunch so there was no mess made.
"Couldn't you just have taken off my head?" he asked the executioner. "No? Well never mind. I guess I'll have to live a little longer."
Stepping back of the gallows Rand realised he was missing something.
"Did the Daughter-Heir finally wake up then?" he asked. The messenger nodded. "Well I should thank her should I not?"
"The Queen will see you first. You are going to tell her your story, and she will decide if it matches Elayne's. You can still be killed if necessary."
"That is fine by me. I have been hoping for death for eight years. Unfortunately, you just denied it from me."
"It seems that the crown owes you a debt, mastter al'Thor." Morgase said "You will need a reward for your service, within reason you can have anything you choose."
"Can I have a position in the Royal Guards? And maybe jobs for my two friends as well."
"Well, yes. That is easy enough to do. May I ask why?"
"Someone might kill me."
"Wait! Queen Morgase do you know what he is?" Elaida yelled.
"Well he looks like an Aiel."
"No, he is a gentled man!" Her advisor told her.
That explains a lot. Morgase thought. "Gentled man or no, he saved my daughter's life, when it would have been easier to ignore her and run away."
"Go burn in the Pit of Doom, Red!" The redheaded youth shouted.
"That is no way to talk to an Aes Sedai!" Morgase said
"I am going to find my friends and sign up at a guards post."
"You got us jobs in the guards?" Perrin asked him. "And you did it by saving thee Daughter-Heir from a Whitecloak assassin?"
"Yes." Rand said.
"Well lets go and sign up then!" Mat decided.
Four years later
"Captain al'Thor! You are required in the Grand Hall."
Wondering absently if he was in trouble he picked up his Heron marked sword and followed the servant. They were taking the most direct route through the palace to the Grand Hall, and Rand was still confused as to what was going on. They arrived at the hall quickly and Rand scanned the room, looking for potential threats to any of the nobles. That was when he saw her.
"Oh, not you!" he said as he saw her, sitting by the throne. It was the Blue Aes Sedai from four years ago.
"Hello again." she said "I have discovered certain facts about your heritage that you yourself do not know. Would you like me to tell you?"
"Fine."
"Your parents are not who you think they are. They are in fact Tigrane Damodred and Janduin, a clan chief among the Aiel. They both perished in the Blood Snow twenty years ago. Your mother went into battle heavily pregnant, and died in childbirth. You were born on Dragonmount. Do you know what this means?"
"If I am the Dragon Reborn, the world is going to burn."
"I am trying to change that."
"Am I coming with you then? If I am then Mat and Perrin are coming as well."
"So Aes Sedai" Morgase said "You are taking my three best guards because you think one of them is the Dragon Reborn, not to mention Royal Blood."
Rand was bored. He was staring around the room, analysing threats when he saw a pale man that was nothing out of the ordinary except that Rand's eyes seemed to just slide off him. Then he saw the flash of steel and realised the man was walking straight towards the Queen. Dropping a throwing knife out of his sleeve, Rand aimed his hand and threw, taking the man in the throat. Suddenly he was on the floor with a guardsmen holding a knife to his neck.
"Betreyal!" screamed one of the nobles, and promptly fainted.
"Let him up Captain Tallanvor, look, I wasn't his target. This man was, the one with the dagger in his hand. Dare I ask how he got so close to me?" Morgase said
"Grey Man" said the Aes Sedai "A man or woman who has given away their soul to the Dark One."
"I'll go with you then, Aes Sedai, but please don't tell your Warder to kill me in my sleep."
Crawling through the undergrowth, Rand drew his bow, taking aim on a deer. Letting the arrow fly, he got his hunting knife out to skin the deer. They were nearly at the Blight, so they were collecting food before they entered it. Their small group were there to find the Eye of the World.
As he arrived back at the camp, he heard Moirane announce that they were leaving. Mat looked sullen and Perrin glared at the ground with his strange golden eyes.
Perrin had been acting oddly recently, saying that he could hear voices in his head, and that he could smell things that were miles away. Rand wondered if Perrin had channeled, and was going mad.
Climbing up on Red, his horse Rand followed the rest of the group, with the deer carcass over his shoulder
The ride was largely uneventful, up until a group of seven men stopped them at a bridge, asking for a toll.
Wordlessly, Rand got down off his horse and stepped up to the leader of the group and in one motion drew his sword and swung it across, taking off the man's head. Fluidly gliding to the next man he threw a knife at the furthest away thug.
Lan joined the fight, engaging one of the three swordsmen, while Mat and Perrin closed on two more. Rand was now fighting two men but they did not fight as a team and got in each others way a lot, so Rand finished them quickly. Looking around he saw Moirane looking annoyed as she wasn't in danger so she could not fight.