When Neya woke up the next morning, there was a brief respite during which she believed she must have dreamed her visit to the Eelfinn realm. Surely she couldn't have been that stupid, that improbably reckless. Then she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes and felt the absence of fingers on her left hand. Not a dream at all, unfortunately.

She sat up with a groan. Mat was gone, but she could hear some bustle outside. She drank some water from a nearby pitcher, stood and went out of the tent.

Everybody was preparing for departure. She spotted Mat, who seemed to be arguing with Melindhra. The blond woman saw Neya and gave her a nasty look before stalking away. Mat called after her but she didn't turn back. Neya joined him. "I hope that wasn't about me," she said sheepishly.

Mat shook his head and she heard him mutter a few curses under his breath. "Don't mind her. We need to get ready. We're running late because I didn't want to wake you," he said with a faint trace of reproach. "You snored," he added with a sudden grin. Well, at least he wasn't mad at her anymore.

They packed up the tent quickly and were soon joined by Azim. The Aiel eyed her up and down, as if to make sure she was in one piece. He seemed relieved to see her. He made some jokes about her sudden disappearance and missing fingers, then subtly mentioned that his tent could hold two people, if she needed a place to sleep. She smiled at him, grateful for his easy manner and genuine concern. Mat scowled at him the whole time, of course.

XXX

She was back! Azim was overjoyed, he didn't mind admitting it, if only to himself. It would be improper to appear that way where anyone could see, but feigning only a casual interest had been difficult. He had to talk to her, and soon. He had to. These last few days, when he thought she was gone for good, had been the worst as far as he could remember. He had no idea where she'd gone or why, but he didn't care. It didn't matter. She was there, and Leafblighter take him if he would let her out of his sight again.

That night he made his way to Matrim Cauthon's tent, where Neya al'Kane had apparently settled for the time being. The two of them were playing a game of dice with some Sha'mad Conde at a nearby fire. Of course, Melindhra was there as well. The way she clung to Neya al'Kane's brother was disturbing to say the least. He had never seen one of Far Dareis Mai behave like that.

"May I join you?" he asked around as he neared the fire.

The other Aiel nodded unconcernedly, but Matrim Cauthon got up. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night," he said with an obviously fake yawn. Melindhra almost jumped on her feet after him. One of the other players hid a smirk behind his hand. "What about you?" he asked his sister. Melindhra sighed in annoyance.

"I'll stay a while longer. Don't wait up on me," she told him wryly.

Azim took up the place her brother had just vacated. "I'm not sure why you keep playing this game, Neya al'Kane. You always end up losing." She did, even when her brother was not around.

She shrugged lightly. "Well, you always end up giving me back whatever I lost, so it doesn't really matter," she replied with a grin. Of course he gave it all back. She would be left with nothing but her skin if he didn't. It was a good thing that he didn't blush easily, because simply thinking of her that way made his blood boil. He found it difficult to control his thoughts when she was around. She turned his mind upside down without even trying.

They played for another hour, until the Sha'mad Conde decided to call it a night. Neya al'Kane lost everything she wagered, as usual, but thankfully Azim won most of it back from the others. After they departed, she tried to tell him to keep his winnings to himself, as she always did, but he insisted on giving it all back. "You can sleep in my tent, if you want," he offered once more when he had successfully returned every item to her care. "It sounded like Melindhra and your brother would be occupied for a while. I can share a tent with one of my own brothers."

She looked up at him with that irresistible smile of hers. "Alright, you win. Show me where it is."

When they reached it, he lifted the tent flap open for her and followed her inside. "I must take some things with me. I will not be long," he told her. If he was going to talk to her, seriously for once, now was the time. He turned to face her. She was already sitting on the pallet, so he crouched in front of her. "Neya al'Kane," he said gravely, "it seems that your relationship with Jasin Natael is over."

"Oh, what makes you think that?" she asked him wryly.

"In light of that, will you perhaps reconsider my previous offer?" he went on hopefully. He should be more subtle, but he wasn't sure what else to say. How did one go about these things?

She had always countered his past attempts with good humour, but she wasn't smiling now. Had he been too forward? Had he angered her? She wasn't as easy to read as he used to think.

Just when he thought she wasn't going to answer at all, she moved closer to him and kissed him, so fiercely that they both ended up sprawled on the ground. It wasn't long before all lucid thinking deserted him.

XXX

Neya didn't see Natael at all during the next few days. She thought she glimpsed him once or twice, his fancy, silver-embroidered clothes and gleeman cloak standing out among the Aiel cadin'sor. She found she didn't have to pretend to be resentful at having been 'replaced' so quickly, by Isendre of all people.

Rand came to her the morning after she returned, asking if Lanfear had anything to do with her disappearance. She told him where she'd gone and he gave her a puzzled look. He was the one who had detached Mat from Avendesora; he wouldn't expect anyone to go through the archway willingly. Thankfully, he didn't enquire as to what had happened inside the ter'angreal and simply left it at that. He made no mention of Natael and Isendre, so Neya assumed he either didn't know or didn't care.

They arrived near Taien on the third day after her return. The town had been devastated by the Shaido. Bloated bodies hung from the outer walls, where vultures made a feast of the dead's remains. Neya looked at them with a pang of sorrow, but there was nothing she could have done, even if she had been able to embrace the Source.

That night, as she lay asleep besides Azim in their tent – she hadn't given much thought to the new turn their relationship had taken; it had seemed perfectly natural at the time – she heard a blackbird call out in the night. That was strange. She hadn't picked up any familiar birdcalls since Lanfear had dropped her in the Waste.

Suddenly, there was a vast commotion outside and she was on her feet before she knew it, grabbing one of Azim's spears. Azim was already up and armed.

Chaos had broken loose in the night. There were fires in several places. She saw Aiel fighting other Aiel as well as men and women dressed like westerners. She also spotted several… creatures… nearby. Were those Trollocs? Two of the beasts caught sight of them and charged, their distorted animal heads looking fierce in the faint glow of the fires. She stepped aside lightly at the last moment, bringing the spear backward in one smooth motion to skewer the one closest to her as Azim did for the other one. She called out to him that she had to make sure her brother was alright and fought several more Trollocs on her way to Mat's tent. Azim remained behind to assist some members of his sept who seemed to be taking on another Shadowspawn. He didn't once try to stop her or question her ability to survive amidst the confusion and she was grateful for that.

She and Mat met halfway; obviously he'd had the same idea. They fought back to back until the flow of enemies finally dwindled. Bodies lay scattered everywhere, Aiel and Trollocs and Darkfriends all heaped together. What a mess, she thought dazedly. What a waste.

Mat was panting hard, his face covered with sweat and blood – not his, thankfully. She likely looked just as bad. "We should make sure Egwene and Rand are safe," she told her brother when she'd gotten her breath back. He nodded warily, cursing under his breath. She suspected he would have cursed out loud, if he'd had any breath to spare.

They found Egwene near Rand's tent, looking more angry than scared. The Aiel woman who always followed Rand around, Aviendha, was also there. Apparently, Rand had done something stupid. Which was hardly surprising, Egwene added viciously. In any case, they seemed to be unhurt, so Mat and Neya took their leave. She wanted to check on Natael but knew that Rand would have made sure the man was safe. Mat grumbled that he had to go back to Melindhra and Neya nodded absent-mindedly. She should find Azim, although she wasn't particularly worried about him. He was Aiel, after all, and she'd seen him fight against Lan on several occasions. They were evenly matched.

She wandered around for a long time before she finally found him. He lay half-buried under a dead Trolloc, his once-vibrant blue eyes already glazed over. She checked his pulse, knowing it was useless. Suddenly, she felt exhausted. She sat down on the ground next to him, staring at nothing.

Lan crouched next to her some time later and asked her if she was hurt, but she barely heard him. He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and carried her back to Azim's tent. Our tent, she thought numbly. He laid her on the pallet and she drifted off to sleep.

She slept fitfully, waking several times during the night. The Trollocs kept swarming over Azim and, every time, she was too late to save him. His blue eyes glared at her reproachfully. The Trollocs all looked like oversized, distorted foxes.

XXX

Despite the events of the previous night, they made good time the following day. When Rand finally allowed them to stop for the night, she did a quick wash-up before stepping out once more. She met Isendre on the way and the tall, gorgeous woman gave her a condescending sneer. Neya shot her back her most winning smile and was gratified to see the stupefaction on her face.

She found Lan taking care of his warhorse not far from Moiraine's tent. The huge animal – Mandarb, she thought it was called – nickered casually as she reached them, causing the Warder to whirl around, hand on the hilt of his sword. She grinned at him. Visibly, he hadn't heard her approach. He bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement.

"Thank you for carrying me back to my tent yesterday," she told him softly.

"You would have frozen out there," he replied matter-of-factly. "I'm sorry about your friend," he went on. "He was a good man." He seemed to be done with the horse. "If you've come to practice–"

"No, not at all," she interrupted him quickly. "I think I've had quite enough of that, thank you," she went on with a grimace. "Can we just… talk?" she asked him a little timidly, indicating the small fire he'd laid out. He gave her the tiniest frown but said nothing, simply sitting down and gesturing for her to do the same. He waited for her to speak.

She realised he wasn't the best person with whom to have a conversation, but he was all she had at the moment. She simply couldn't face to spend the rest of the evening on her own, alone in Azim's tent. Melindhra had dragged Mat back to her tent as soon as he'd finished eating and Egwene was serving the Wise Ones. Rand… She didn't even know where he was. She didn't really want to talk to him, in any case. Natael was out of the question, of course. At least Lan appeared to listen when she talked.

"I don't want to talk about anything in particular," she said. "I just need some distraction." He nodded. She could talk if she wanted, but the man certainly wasn't going to start the conversation. She cast about for a likely topic. "Why do the Aiel call you Aan'allein?" She knew it translated literally as 'One Man', but what did it mean about the Warder? "I could have asked them, I suppose, but I find it improper to question other people about someone else's life. At least you're free to decide whether to tell me or not," she explained.

Contemplating the fire, he didn't answer right away. "What do you know of Malkier?" he asked her eventually.

She'd read about Malkier and how it had been swallowed by the Blight. It had been a fairly recent book, perhaps the latest addition to Elan's library, and it also recounted the Aiel War. "About everything a southerner might know." His eyes widened in surprise. She gave him a sheepish smile. "I read about it somewhere. You're al'Lan Mandragoran," she whispered. The last survivor of Malkier's royal line. If his land still existed, he would be king. He nodded once, slowly, obviously startled that she'd figured it out so quickly. She cleared her throat. This wasn't a good subject of conversation.

"What about you?" he asked suddenly.

She looked up at him, frowning. "Me?" she repeated. "What about me?"

"You know my story. What's yours?" He was a man of few words.

"There's not much to tell," she said after a brief hesitation. "I come from ta'veren land, a place formerly known as the Two Rivers," she began with a small grin, "and I'm Mat's sister. Adopted sister," she amended reluctantly. Mat may not be her blood kin, but for all intents and purposes, he was her brother. "I'm just a regular country girl, really. Not much to tell," she said again. She couldn't tell him more than that. Rand had said to be wary of Moiraine, and Lan would certainly report anything Neya told him.

He seemed to consider that for a moment. "Who taught you the sword?" he asked eventually.

"Jasin," she muttered, thinking fast. She couldn't very well tell the Warder that Ishamael himself had been her mentor, could she?

"Natael, the gleeman?" he repeated with a slight frown. "I had no idea he was a swordsman."

"Well, you wouldn't know. He doesn't practice very often." Truth be told, Neya had no inkling whether or not the former Forsaken could wield a blade.

Moiraine appeared at that moment, as cool as ever. "A word, Gaidin?" she asked Lan, indicating her tent. The Warder was already on his feet.

Neya got up as well. "I'll leave you to it. Thank you, Dai Shan," she said once more, bowing her head to Lan. That was a Malkieri title. It meant 'battle lord'. She ignored the Aes Sedai entirely – she didn't need another lecture about the necessity of her training in the White Tower – and departed. It seemed she would have to keep herself company after all.