Chapter 1: Going home
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the snow-capped peaks of the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
The wind roared under the faint glow cast by the sinking moon, carrying the chill of the heights as it rushed down the rocky slope. Eastward the wind howled, towards the place known as the Two Rivers.
Standing at the foot of the Mountains of Mist, Rand pulled his cloak tighter around himself as a particularly cold and strong wind raged past him. He could not feel the cold, of course, but that didn't mean that he was unaware of it.
"Hmph", Cadsuane snorted, coming up beside him. "We should not be here, boy; it is a waste of time". Rand said nothing, just continued to stare out in the direction of Emond's Field. Truth be told, he had not even wanted to bring Cadsuane, not here, but when he had told her so, she had just snorted and ignored him.
"She is right, we shouldn't have come", Lews Therin mumbled at him. "You're a fool, a madman to come here! We will only bring death and destruction on Emond's Field!" Lews Therin cackled madly until Rand muted his voice.
"Tarmon Gaidon is coming", Rand thought firmly, "and I want to see my father one more time before the end." There was no reply, only more laughter. "Are you ready, Min?" he asked, feeling her come to stand on his other side. Apart from Cadsuane and Min, Logain, Nynaeve and Bashere completed his small party. Min exhaled heavily and then nodded, looking straight at him. Rand smiled. Her nervousness flowed through the bond, which he supposed was natural, as she was going to be meeting her father-in-law for the first time.
"Yes Rand, let's go", Nynaeve said, doing her upmost to put on a face of Aes Sedai calm, even though she was trembling slightly from nervousness, or excitement, or both. "Light!" She muttered, "it's been so long!" Then turning to Rand she said for what had to be the fifth time, "I have to warn you, Rand, Emond's Field isn't what it was. It's a lot-."
"Bigger." "Yes I know, Nynaeve, you've told me", Rand said, irritated despite himself. He glanced at Nynaeve's face, and caught sight of her growing scowl at having been cut off mid sentence. Just as she was opening her mouth, to deliver a tongue lashing no doubt, Rand raised his voice and spoke over her again. "Logain, it's time, make the gateway."
"As my lord dragon commands", he murmured, dipping his head a fraction in Rand's general direction. Rand almost smiled. Almost. The man truly despised having to answer to anyone besides himself. But it didn't matter. As long as he did obey, that was all Rand cared about. The Gateway opened and Bashere rode through first, twisting in his saddle to check for any possible threats. He signaled that it was clear, and they all mounted and rode through in single file, Cadsuane first, and Logain following once everyone else had gone through.
"Well boy, we're here, wherever here is", Cadsuane said, looking around her and shaking her head, her hair ornaments swaying. "Stop gawking, boy, and hurry up! We may as well get this foolishness over with now that we're here". Rand only half heard her; he was too absorbed by what he was seeing. He felt Min squeeze his hand and he gave her a grateful smile.
"Rand, where was that"? Min asked him softly.
"That's your farm isn't it, Rand?" Nynaeve asked, sparing him the trouble of answering. "Your house?" Rand just nodded, still staring with no expression at the rubble that used to be his home.
Even though she had seen it before in the world of dreams, there was nothing like seeing it for real. Nynaeve couldn't help herself from gaping as they came in sight of Emond's Field. Or, she thought, more accurately, in sight of the eight foot high wall that surrounded it. She glanced at Rand, thinking that if she was gaping then he must be practically falling out of his saddle, seeing it for the first time. However, Rand was not practically falling out of his saddle. He didn't even look mildly surprised! Men! Did they never show any emotion? Rand didn't, that was for sure. He was just like Lan, Nynaeve thought irritably, a stone bloody statue. She stopped suddenly, staring at Rand. He was muttering to himself, under his breath. Nynaeve shuddered. No, Rand was not talking to himself; he was almost certainly speaking to Lews Therin Telamon, a man three thousand years dead. Cadsuane was watching him as well, she saw, the way a hawk might watch a worm. She repressed another shiver. Although she would never admit it to anyone, that woman frightened her.
"Halt!" came a cry from ahead. "State your business here".
The man who had spoken seemed to be from Tarabon, of all places! And there was another man beside him that looked as though he could be from Arad Doman. And they were guards! Guards for Emond's Field! She opened her mouth to tell them to get out of her way at once, but for the third time in the last hour, Rand spoke over the top of her. The nerve of some men!
"My name is Rand al'Thor," he said quietly, "and I'm here to see my father, Tam al'Thor."
The man looked thoughtful for a moment. "Tam's son, you say? I didn't know he had a son, did you Mark?" he asked the domani next to him. The other man shook his head. "Okay then, what about the rest of you?"
Cadsuane snorted impatiently and pushed her way to the front. "I am Cadsuane Melaidhrin of the green ajah", she snapped. "Now stop standing around staring and do something useful, like go find Master al'Thor and tell him that his son is here to see him. Well? Hop!" She gestured imperiously with one finger and the men stammered that they knew just where Tam was, and if the lady Aes Sedai would care to follow them, they would lead her straight to him.
Nynaeve scowled, following the others. Why people jumped so when Cadsuane crooked her finger, she would never understand. It just added to her already overgrown ego, Nynaeve thought grumpily. Up ahead, Cadsuane turned around and looked at her. "Girl, come here!" she snapped.
"Coming," Nynaeve called hurriedly. It didn't do to keep Cadsuane waiting. A moment, and then she realized what she had just done. She had jumped when Cadsuane crooked her finger. Growling under her breath, she approached Cadsuane. "What?", she snapped at her. Cadsuane's expression darkened, and Nynaeve gulped and quickly apologized.
"Put up your hood, girl, some of these people recognize you." Cadsuane instructed her curtly, before turning back to her study of Rand, who had stopped muttering to himself and was quietly giving instructions to Logain and Bashere.
Doing as she was told, Nynaeve studied the changes to Emond's Field more closely. It was nothing like the tiny village that it had once been. It was now a bustling town with probably several thousand people in it. The streets were paved. There were all sorts of buildings with slate roofs. Some of them were two or three stories tall, and Nynaeve had already spotted about ten different inns. In the distance she spotted the Manor house towering over all the other buildings, which Rand had told her belonged to Perrin and Faile. Apparently, they were the self-proclaimed Lord and Lady of the Two Rivers. Ludicrous. The Two Rivers had no need of a bloody Lord. The Women's circle could run things better than any man, especially Perrin who, in Nynaeve's opinion, wasn't fit to run a bath by himself. Everybody stopped, and Nynaeve smiled as she finally spotted a familiar sight. The Winespring inn, standing in all it's glory.
Nynaeve looked at Rand as the two men who had brought them here hurried inside to fetch Tam. He was holding Min's hand and speaking quietly in her ear. Min seemed to relax slightly, and nodded to Rand determinedly as they dismounted. Nynaeve dismounted also, and looked at the door of the Winespring expectantly. After a moment it opened and Tam al'Thor sprinted out, followed by Bran and Marin al'Vere who were followed by – Nynaeve felt her mouth drop to her chest.