AN: Well, here's the next chapter. This was going to go through the entire "Something Flickers" chapter, but I decided it was too long and I wasn't feeling creative enough. So I chopped it off roughly in the middle and gave you the first part to tide you over while I finish the second. It's not really quite the way I want it…but I don't expect it to improve very much. I would also love feedback on whether I should continue through book 11 or end it with the next chapter.

I want to thank the three people who reviewed since my last post, and all the lovely people making my hit counter soar. Since my stats are skewed after that last reset, I have the highest hits for this story. Thanks for making me feel so worthwhile!

Disclaimer: If I owned the Wheel of Time, Rand would still be bumbling around in Caemlyn somewhere, probably, and the whole thing would be about Mat. As usual, the plot and most (but not all) of the dialogue is drawn from pages 631-640 of Robert Jordan's Crossroads of Twilight. I am doing this purely for your and my entertainment, and there's really no point in suing me since you can't take what I don't own.

It took him three days to agree to her request. She didn't let it bother her, since she knew what his answer would be.

She dressed carefully that morning. She made sure she was completely concealed, and that Selucia was too. It wouldn't do to discomfit him enough for him to change his mind. They left the wagon to wait outside. Tuon didn't want to spend one moment more in that wagon than she had to. She took a deep breath of the winter air and pretended that she didn't see the armsman giving them strange looks. She raised her chin and pretended indifference to the world around her as she waited.

Toy arrived later than she wished, but sooner than she expected. He was decently garbed, for once, in good wool and silk. She was surprised he knew how to dress himself. Unless Leilwin had helped him. Tuon suppressed the sudden discomfort that thought provoked.

He bowed with a flourish, as if he were a performer. "Are you ready to go shopping?" he inquired boldly.

"I have been ready for an hour, Toy," she replied coolly. Mustn't let him think he had the upper hand. She made a show of eyeing his clothing, even inspecting his coat, as if to make certain he wouldn't embarrass her. "Lace suits you. Perhaps I will have lace added to your robes if I make you a cupbearer."

She knew she wouldn't do any such thing, but she liked watching his control slip. She liked being the one that discomfited him. If he was going to turn her world upside down, the least he could do is put up with the same. The lace did look good, though. It almost made him look civilized.

"Do you want me to come along, my Lord?" that armsman inquired. Tuon glanced at him, but he was very carefully not looking at anyone. "Just to carry, maybe?"

Tuon looked back at Toy, eyes hard and implacable. She dared him to bring the soldier and display his doubt in her word. He would suffer if he did that, and she wanted him to know it.

Somehow, he got the message. He jerked his head, sending the soldier off. Then he offered her his arm. She considered it for a moment, and decided that would be too informal. She did not want to encourage him too far, after all. She wanted to see how he handled today, at the least. She wanted assurance that this was what she had to do.

Tuon strode off, trusting Selucia to follow and Toy to catch up. He would not want his captives running off, oh no.

Latelle watched them as they left. Toy stopped to speak to her, just loudly enough for her to hear him.

"I have everything in hand. Believe me, there's nothing to worry about."

Tuon wasn't surprised that Latelle didn't believe him. He didn't sound as if he believed himself. She was quite certain he was aware that he did not have everything in hand.

Latelle frowned at Tuon and Selucia, and then at Toy. "Remember, if you send us to the gallows, you send yourself." She turned back to watching the people entering her show.

After taking a few steps to get out of earshot, Tuon murmured, "She is a good wife for Master Luca." Toy gave her a look akin to a rabbit that had stumbled onto a lion's hunting ground, and resettled his hat. She could just see his thoughts turning, trying to get the meaning out of her statement. In truth, she just wanted to watch his reaction.

She had wondered, sometimes, if he knew what game he was playing. She was certain now that he did. The gifts, the walks, the attempts to learn about her…and the way he reacted to mentions of marriage and making him her cupbearer. She was certain it was on his mind.

He started moving very strangely, leaping about on the road. He fell behind, and she looked back. She was puzzled by his behavior, and asked, "Are you practicing a dance, Toy? It isn't very graceful."

He stopped, opened his mouth, and then looked around slowly. He seemed disturbed by something. He touched his chest, eyes wide and disbelieving. Tuon raised an eyebrow and managed not to ask if he was feeling alright.

"I can't buy you a dress standing here," he said, just as if he was not the reason they had stopped.

Tuon exchanged a glance with Selucia, shaking her head. He was a very strange man, sometimes. Maybe even a good man—she did not know—but he was just like any other in not wanting to admit to acting the fool. She turned and started for the town again, certain that he would follow soon.

The guard let them pass without protest. He looked pretty enough, but nothing like the guards she was used to. Ah, what did it matter?

Jurador was a quaint little town. It was noisy and close. All the buildings looked much the same, though some were a little larger. All had screens for privacy and all were roofed in red tiles. There was a nice symmetry to it. Tables with wares and hawkers lined the streets. Tuon and Selucia stopped at each table offering silk, to test the quality of the goods. She murmured to Selucia about color and weave, and ignored the watchful shopkeepers. Whenever Toy came too close, she stared at him until he backed off. She was resolved that he would not ruin her shopping. Eventually she decided to just ignore him.

Some tables she paused at for awhile, and some she barely glanced at. Nothing here was quite what she wanted. Nor did she want to make this too easy for Toy. This was about her outing, and him making good on a promise. Whatever he had to do to make her comfortable, he had said. Well, if she decided her comfort involved dressing as was her habit, who was he to tell her nay?

At last, she found a table with silk good enough to warrant further investigation. For once, Toy was not at her elbow. She remained unruffled and entered the shop with Selucia. The room was filled with cloth of every color and weight, all of it of good quality. Excellent.

The shopkeeper immediately came forward, eyeing them suspiciously. "Can I help you?"

Tuon did not answer—indeed, dared not—so she simply fingered a bolt of crimson silk.

"What is it you need? Have you the gold to buy that sort of silk?" The shopkeeper was being terribly rude, even if Tuon was dressed poorly. Tuon ignored her, studying another bolt.

"For the last time, if you won't tell me what you're here for, I'm going to send Nelsa for the guards."

Toy burst into the shop at that moment. "They're with me," he announced, tossing a purse onto a table. "Give them whatever they want." By the smile on the woman's face, she would be only too happy to comply. Then Toy turned to her. "If you're going to buy anything, it's going to be here. I've had all the exercise I care for this morning."

Such a strange man. Riding all day or wandering about a dangerous city didn't tire him in the least, but one morning of looking at fabric was all he could handle. And he was finally acting like a captain instead of a deckboy. Interesting. What had put him in this mood, she wondered. She met his eyes and smiled to herself.

Then she turned away to make her choices. The silk here was of good quality, fine weave, and varied. She pointed to bolts of silk in sapphire, azure, navy, indigo, jade, emerald, ruby, scarlet and crimson, measuring with her hands. She picked out a few swatches of linen, and wool for Selucia and herself. The shopkeeper cut it all herself, and everything was folded and wrapped to her satisfaction. Once it was ready, Tuon stared at Toy until he picked up the bundle. Satisfied that he knew his place, she stepped back onto the street with her head held high.

I decided this was the best place to cut my chapter off, seeing as the rest of the action is rather continuous. If you click on that little purple button to the left there, maybe I'll post the next chapter sooner. (Shameless, aren't I?)