Bao stood on the balcony, in the middle of the night, arms resting on the guardrail. The moon was no more than a narrow crescent among the myriad stars. He rather enjoyed the view from this room; the royal gardens were quite a sight at this time of year. He could not understand why the Sh'botay had opted for a bedchamber with a view of the main square – though perhaps it had not been his choice. The Ayyad had controlled every single aspect of the man's life, from the clothes he wore to the woman who shared his bed. The constant noise erupting from the square during the day, and well into the night, had been Bao's sole reason for not appropriating the royal suite after finally subduing the Ayyad.

He glanced over his shoulder. Neya was soundly asleep. She snored lightly, as usual, but that was not the reason behind Bao's current sleeplessness. His latest encounter with Moridin was.

Bao should not have reacted so…impulsively, he realised that now. He did not think he would have actually done anything to harm the other man but, all the same, he was almost grateful that Moridin had intervened. The Nae'blis had shielded him with the True Power and thrown him across the room for good measure, without causing any real damage. Then he had lectured Bao at great length, sounding so pedantic and looking so professorial that for a painful moment Bao was strongly reminded of Elan. Peaceable, sensible Elan. The supportive, socially awkward mentor he had so appreciated. The person he used to call a friend, before everything went to hell.

To be honest, the sudden, snide remark about Neya had taken him completely by surprise. Would Moridin carelessly let something like that slip? No, it had obviously been intentional. But why would he purposefully goad Bao? To test him, to see what he would do, how he would react? It was the only possible explanation. Moridin wanted to know how much he cared about Neya - wanted to know if he cared. And Bao had obligingly risen to the bait.

Bao was not certain why he had reacted as he had – he did not think of himself as a jealous man – but even now he had trouble digesting the news. Although Neya did have a history of sleeping with practically everyone she'd encountered over the past year – Asmodean and Taim, some random Aiel Friend of the Dark – so it should not have come as a surprise.

But Bao had never stopped to consider that there might be a reason for Neya's…romantic spree. Indeed, much like Lews Therin – and his present incarnation – having multiple partners seemed to be a trait shared by ta'veren. Ilyena Sunhair may have been the love of Lews Therin's life, but that never stopped him from going after several other women. At any point of his life, the Dragon had had numerous mistresses, and al'Thor reportedly had three lovers at present.

To be fair to Neya, however, she never had more than one partner at a given time. Although it would have been hypocritical of him to resent her for that, Bao realised.

He had not had sex with anyone else, just as he had promised her. It had only been a few days, but he did not feel the need to do so. Besides, Neya was now spending a lot more time here, in the palace. She slept with him every night.

It was quite pleasant.

Less pleasant were the other facts that Moridin had shared with him three days past.

Blast the man! Would it have killed him to report this earlier? It contradicted everything Bao held true, everything Shendla had told him about Neya. Bao simply could not imagine either woman betraying him.

Moridin claimed that Neya was not only ta'veren, but that she was also part of the Prophecies – not the Sharans' Prophecies of the Wyld, nor the Karaethon Cycle, but the Prophecies of the Shadow, as they were commonly named. This the Nae'blis had discovered over two years ago. The Finn had apparently led him straight to her.

Neya's exact role was frustratingly unclear, however. Or rather, frustratingly unpredictable. Parts of the Prophecies asserted that she could become a valuable asset to the Shadow. That, at least, fitted Shendla's visions – and Bao's calculations. In other passages, Neya was considered as the Shadow's fiercest adversary.

In other words, it made no bloody sense. Prophecies rarely did, admittedly, but…

Moridin believed it to mean that Neya's ultimate choice – whether to serve the Shadow or the Light – was completely up to her, and would depend on a large variety of elements until the very last possible moment. The Nae'blis thought that, because of her ta'veren nature, Neya could not be swayed or otherwise forced to make one choice or the other. The decision was hers, and hers only.

In other words, all Bao could do was hope that Neya would choose him, instead of some foolish notion that she could somehow prevent the inevitable from happening. Because once Bao finally laid his hands on D'jedt, there would be nothing anybody could do to stop him.

For the first time, the Nae'blis had also issued a proper command on the matter of his reincarnation: Bao was not to reveal Moridin's identity to Neya. Never, under no circumstances. If Moridin deemed useful to do so, he would see to it himself. Bao had no problem with that. He would rather Neya never found out. He already had Taim to worry about; he did not need another former flame to draw her attention or distract her. That was also why he wanted Asmodean dead – or rather, one of the various reasons why he wanted the craven renegade dead.

Despite Moridin's words of warning, Bao was not particularly worried, however. All he had to do was make certain that Neya stayed away from the Last Battle. If she was not there, on the battlefield, surely she could not influence the outcome in any way. Just to be safe, Bao would try to convert her, not to the Shadow, necessarily, but to his perspective, to his belief that a better world would emerge from the ashes of this one. She had to have faith in him, to trust him entirely, to want him to triumph. She had to become his greatest ally.

Bao's advantage over Neya was that she was clueless as to her own critical role in all of this. If he had his way, she would have no role at all, save to take care of things here in Shara until Bao returned, victorious. After Tarmon Gai'don, none of it would matter. Neya would be like any other young woman. Bao vaguely wondered if he would still feel so strongly for her after that. After all, it was quite possible that her ta'veren nature had drawn him to her, as it had her former lovers. But if he still loved...

Loved? Bao scowled into the silent night. The word had just popped up inside his mind, unbidden.

Perhaps he did love her. He certainly cared for her more than he had ever cared for anyone else in his life.

And he was improbably excited at the idea of becoming a father, he had to admit. It startled him, how easily he had chosen to disregard the fact that the baby was not his.

But it was Neya's, and Neya belonged to him.

Neya awoke at dawn. Bao was lying on his flank, facing her, a hand on her abdomen. His eyes opened when he heard her breathing change. The scar on his nose was fully healed, but still visible.

A few days ago, he had come back from Light knew where with his hair in disarray and a glum look on his face. He wouldn't say what had happened, exactly, and Neya hadn't pressed him. He clearly hadn't been in the mood for questioning. All she'd received for an answer was that he'd been summoned by another Chosen, someone named Moridin, who was apparently the Nae'blis – the leader of the Chosen. How a man she'd never even heard of had come to attain the highest position imaginable was beyond her and, once again, Bao had provided no useful information. The Dark One really was a chaotic entity. Still, it appeared that this Moridin was quite formidable; he had to be, for Bao to even use that word.

"I must leave soon," Bao said quietly, bringing her out of her contemplation.

Neya fidgeted, smoothing the silky sheets needlessly. "Are you sure I shouldn't be coming with you?" she asked for the thousandth time. "You don't know who or what the Guardian is. I understand you must face it alone, but you might need a Healer afterward. You can be sure that if you come out of Rai'lair hurt and weakened, the Ayyad will jump on the opportunity to do away with you."

"They cannot afford to kill me now. If – when – I come out of the Hearttomb, I will be the Wyld. No one will be able to stop me then," he murmured. She had asked him what he hoped to find there, besides this fancy new title. Sakarnen – or D'jedt, as it was known during the Age of Legends – was a sa'angreal designed to channel saidin. Bao claimed that it was more powerful than Callandor itself. Once he had a hold on the Sceptre, and provided that he could bring the Ayyad to form a full circle, he would be invincible – or the next thing to it.

As the day when he would depart for Rai'lair approached, Bao had taken to mutter and rant about Lews Therin more and more often. He was truly obsessed with the other man. Neya didn't understand how Shendla could believe that he would end up saving the world somehow.

"I will be fine," Bao went on, almost reassuringly. He had spent most of his time practicing the sword, mostly with Torn – Neya had been forbidden to even lift a sword by her midwife, though she suspected Bao had had a hand in this – and he had been fasting for days. He meditated whenever he wasn't doing anything else. There was absolutely no indication as to the nature of the Guardian in the Prophecies. It seemed unlikely that anything – or anyone – might have survived this long, living in a cave, but many young men and women had died in an attempt to fulfil the Prophecies. Neya would feel a lot better if Bao would let her accompany them. Most everyone would be going with him, except for the female Ayyad, although he seemed certain that they would follow at some point, regardless of his orders. He had told them to keep an eye on matters of state while he was gone, and he expected Neya to keep an eye on them.

"When I return, I will be formally acknowledged as the Wyld and crowned king," Bao continued. "We will be ready for the Last Battle. I do not think it will be long now. A few months, maybe weeks. The Pattern is unravelling." There had been other strange occurrences in the last few days. While some were happy coincidences, others had rather dire consequences. It sounded like the sort of events that took place when Rand was about. Maybe the Dragon Reborn's ta'veren nature was getting stronger as the end drew nearer, strong enough to reach even here. Or maybe Bao himself was ta'veren. Neya had reflected a lot upon that lately. It would make sense; after all, his campaign to take over Shara had been full of odd circumstances. Maybe, as Lews Therin – Rand – had been chosen to be the Light's champion, Bao was meant to be the Shadow's champion. It would be fitting. The two men had always been rivals. At least, that was how Demandred saw it. Neya didn't think Lews Therin had ever considered Barid Bel Medar as a rival, but rather as a friend against whom he could compete amiably. The Dragon had probably never been aware of Barid Bel's jealousy and increasing scorn until it was too late. How different everything might have turned out if he had paid more attention to his friend's feelings.

"I must go," Bao murmured.

Neya turned to face him, looking into his dark green eyes. His hand followed her movement to remain on her belly. It always did. He seemed…fascinated by her pregnancy, as though he'd never seen a pregnant woman before. She didn't even have a bump yet. "Be careful. I would hate to be the one to tell that Moridin person that you died fighting some ancient immortal creature in a gloomy cave for an artefact that might not even be there."

"It will be there. It has to be." His tone implied that if the remaining part of Sakarnen was in fact not there, someone, or rather a large part of the population, would suffer for it. "And I am always careful," he added after a pause.

"Be extra careful then." Neya meant it as a jest, but Bao took it quite seriously. He nodded briefly before extracting himself from the bed. She took a particular care to admire the view as he dressed himself, since he would be gone at least two weeks, maybe more. She wasn't sure why he couldn't simply open a gateway near the entrance of the Hearttomb; something to do with the Prophecies, apparently. Shendla said the journey to the River of Souls was part of achieving his transformation as the Wyld. Neya had assumed Bao would dismiss that as a waste of time, but he listened to Shendla and followed her advice as if she had written the bloody Prophecies herself. Neya got out of the bed and walked up to him, placing her hands on his chest. He was wearing a plain cotton shirt. She could feel the hard muscles underneath the material. "Make sure to bring back everyone else in one piece as well." She meant the Freed and male Ayyad. The next few weeks were sure to be lonely with all of them gone. At least Nyamukuta would be keeping her company. She had become quite fond of the mousy midwife. Despite her apparent shyness, she had a sharp wit.

"I will." It always amazed her, the way every word he spoke seemed to be an unbreakable promise. He could be so intense, so earnest. And he was so beautiful. Light, how could anyone in their right mind have thought Lews Therin to be better-looking? He moved closer until he loomed over her then leaned forward to kiss her softly, placing his hands around her waist. She was surprised at first; he never did that. And no wonder, she thought amusedly, it must really strain his neck to bend down this low. Slowly, he let go of her. "Take care," he whispered before turning around. She watched him leave, feeling sullen. She couldn't wait for all of this to be over.

As the door closed, she put a hand on her belly, as she often did these days, at least as often as Bao did. She had always laughed at pregnant women who did that, but she found it comforting, somehow. A few days ago, she had finally asked Bao why he had decided to involve himself with the baby at all. Apparently, Shendla had never mentioned it, so why was he so determined to look after it as if it were his own? "In four hundred years," Neya had told him, "you've never had a child, nor wanted one, if what I've heard from the others is true. Why are you doing this now? Is it just because of me, because I'm so important to your…quest? Do you think the baby is important too, somehow?"

Bao was certainly being very careful. Even in bed. He was not roughing it up as he had the first time. He could be surprisingly gentle.

Of course, everyone was treating Neya as though she was made of porcelain. She had, however, not expected it from Bao. It was annoying, and yet… She found it endearing, coming from him.

"I do not know whether it is important or not, but that is irrelevant." Neya wasn't entirely convinced of that, but she'd said nothing. "I never felt the urge to have children before, but now…" Bao had appeared oddly hesitant. "Now it seems I cannot have children, and you never miss anything so much as when you are denied it."

He had told her before about his theory that none of the Forsaken could have children. "But how can you be so sure about that? Did you try to have one?"

"No. The idea never once crossed my mind since I turned to the Shadow. And rarely before that." He was silent for a long time. "I never did anything to prevent it, however, and I have been quite..." He'd cut off abruptly, as if realising - Neya's face might have given him a clue - that he did not want to finish that sentence.

He'd cleared his throat. "I suppose it is all because of you," he'd admitted eventually.

That was all the answer she'd received. It was clear that he wouldn't say anything else on the matter, and she knew better than to press him. As long as he did right by them – provided they both lived long enough to see the child born – she wasn't going to complain.