Nynaeve al'Meara sat on the steps, which had led to the former throne of the lord of Fal Dara. Her dark brown hair, which was braided into a long queue, hang over her shoulder. Her brown eyes lay on the big creature. Loial, the ogier with his ginger hair and beard, and his darker skin lay to her feet, while Egwene al'Vere, the young woman, who had her brown hair braided as well, was sitting beside him. Watching him through her big brown eyes, while he was healing.

Perrin Aybara came and observed the ogier as well. The young man with his curly brown hair and brown eyes looked worried. "Are you sure that he will survive?"

"I don't know, Perrin," Nynaeve snapped at him "I don't know anything about these creatures. At first, I thought he was dead, just like you said. But now… it looks like he is healing. So, I used what I could find and hope that his body is doing the rest."

"Moiraine would know what to do.", Egwene said quietly.

"Well, SHE isn't here. And I wouldn't be too sad about it if she would stay out of our lives forever."

"But then she would take Lan with her."

Nynaeve threw Egwene an angry look. "Lan can make his own choices."

"But he follows wherever she goes."

The wisdom opened her mouth, but no word came out. She knew that Egwene didn't want to be mean. It was the truth. Lan was a warder. No, it was even worse because he was Moiraine's warder. He was bonded to her and he always would be by her side for the rest of his life.

Nynaeve threw a look to Tarwin's Gap, which had been the place where Lord Agelmar had tried to fight off the Trolloc army. It had been two and half days now since Lan had followed Moiraine and Rand to the eye of the world, and neither of them had returned by now. Has he been too late? Did she wait too long? Maybe she should have told him earlier about her being able to follow his Aes Sedai. Or did he arrive in time, but was killed protecting Moiraine and Rand? No, Rand would have returned to them no matter what. But he wouldn't return if he was dead.

"Nynaeve?" The wisdom turned her attention back to the young woman and saw the fear in her eyes. She was afraid that Rand was dead. She and Perrin both knew that Lan had left them to find Rand. But they also were no fools.

The three of them had survived the battle against the Trolloc army, but after that, they had been on their own. No one was here anymore. The people of Fal Dara had escaped the attack and the Lord and his sister were dead. Nynaeve wanted to leave this place, but they had to wait for Rand and Lan…, and Moiraine.

"We have to wait."

"For how long?" Perrin asked frustrated.

"A few more days. Let's get Loial back on his feet – at least I hope he will get better – and then… we'll… see." Nynaeve knew that she didn't sound convinced, but right now she couldn't do better. They were far away from home, in a foreign city, left alone to deal with the problem themselves.

"Where is everyone?"

All three of them almost jumped when they heard the male voice. Perrin grabbed his ax, while Nynaeve pulled out her dagger until she recognized Lan. He was standing at the door with Moiraine by his side. The woman looked as if she had gone through hell, but at least they both were alive.

The wisdom put her dagger back before she jumped to her feet and moved over to Lan. She couldn't see Rand. Where was he? Was he hurt? Did he need her help?

"Are you alright?"

"Where's Rand?" Nynaeve and Lan spoke at the same time, but the young woman wasn't in the mood to explain their situation, so, she repeated her question. "Where's Rand?"

Sadly, Lan was sometimes as stubborn as Moiraine. He ignored her question and let his eyes wander over Egwene and Perrin before he saw Loial. "What happened here?"

"Trollocs and fades.", Perrin explained quietly "The people of Fal Dara got evacuated."

"The lord and his sister are dead.", Egwene continued with tears in her eyes.

Moiraine's eyes widen at Egwene's words, then she moved around the wisdom to get to Loial. "What happened to him?"

Lan wanted to follow his Aes Sedai, but Nynaeve stepped in his way. "Where is Rand?"

"Nynaeve…" The apologetic look on his face was too much for the young woman. She didn't want an apology. She wanted an explanation and there was only one person, who could give her what she wanted.

Nynaeve turned around and stormed to Moiraine, who was examining the wounds of the big ogier. Egwene and Perrin took a step back since they already knew what was coming over the Aes Sedai and they didn't want to be near her. The wisdom grabbed Moiraine's arm, so she would face her.

"What happened?! Where's Rand?!"

For a second, it looked as if Moiraine wouldn't answer, but then she sighed: "He is gone." Her eyes went to the balcony, where Lord Agelmar had greeted them when they had arrived in Fal Dara. Lan furrowed his eyebrows. There was something…

"What do you mean with gone?!"

"I don't like to repeat myself. Who did this to Loial?" But Nynaeve wasn't done with Moiraine. Her grip became tighter until the Aes Sedai turned back to her. "Let me go, wisdom."

"I want an answer! Is Rand dead?!"

"Let me go!"

"You're talking, but you're not giving clear answers! Rand isn't dead! What happened to him?!"

"Nynaeve." Lan stepped forward to calm the furious woman. Sadly, Nynaeve's anger was on him as well.

"You promised that you would bring him back! That was our deal! I tell you how you can find HER if you bring Rand back!" Surprised, Moiraine furrowed her forehead. She finally realized that it should have been impossible for her warder to find her without the bond.

"He wasn't there." Lan tried to stay calm. It wasn't as if he hadn't expected the wisdom to be angry with him.

"What is she talking about, Lan? How did you find me?" But no one listened to Moiraine. Although the wisdom was still holding on to the arm of the Aes Sedai, her eyes were locked on the warder.

"Did you search for him?!", Nynaeve wanted to know from Lan "Or did SHE just tell you that he was gone and that was it?!

"That's not…!"

"You don't care about Rand! You only care about HER! And now that you have your precious bond back, you don't give a damn about our deal!"

"The bond is still masked! Moiraine can't channel anymore!" Now it was Lan, who got angry with Nynaeve's attitude. Moiraine wanted to cut him off when he spilled her secret, but Lan was only concentrated on the wisdom. "And I DID look for Rand, but he wasn't there! There was no sign of him!"

"So that's it?! He wasn't there and you gave up?! What did she tell you? What happened with the Dark One?!"

"I didn't ask! But I can at least tell you that she isn't telling you everything!"

Suddenly, the room was filled with silence. Nynaeve was surprised by his words and even released Moiraine's arm. Perrin, who had his arms around a crying Egwene, looked at the warder with big eyes.

"What do you mean?", Nynaeve asked with a shaking voice.

"I don't think that Rand is dead." Lan had finally found his calm again. But Nynaeve narrowed his eyes at him. She didn't believe him.

"How can you be so sure?"

Lan turned his head to Moiraine, who was giving him an evil eye. Then she shook her head very slightly, but visible enough for her warder to understand the movement. Surprisingly, he wasn't impressed by it. "She can't lie, so, she avoids giving you a clear answer by giving you the space to interpret what you want to her words."

This confirmation was everything Nynaeve needed. Quickly, she swirled around and slapped Moiraine in the face, who stumbled backward. But the wisdom wasn't done with the Aes Sedai, who was now holding her cheek in surprise. Nynaeve was already getting ready to slap her again when Lan moved between the two women and held the furious wisdom back.

"Nynaeve, this isn't…"

"Where is Rand?!"

"She won't give you an answer when you keep slapping her."

"Why are you protecting her?! She left you! Without saying anything! She lies to you too, but you keep protecting her! WHY?!"

"Because she is my Aes Sedai and I have sworn to protect her at any cost!" Lan barked. He was tired, and this continuing fight between those two women was exhausting.

Suddenly, Moiraine moved around the unconscious Loial and went for the door. Nynaeve, who was still having a staring contest with the warder, noticed it immediately. She was not even nearly done with this woman, so, she tried to step in her way. "Don't you dare leave! I want an explanation! Where's Rand?!"

Luckily, Lan was faster. He grabbed Nynaeve to keep her from following Moiraine, although he didn't want his Aes Sedai to leave the room. "Moiraine. Come back here." But she wasn't listening to him. Angrily, Lan gritted his teeth. Why did she always have to push him away? He couldn't help her if she wasn't talking to him. Especially since he couldn't feel her anymore through the bond, which was still driving him crazy. He was so used to feeling her all the time, and now there was nothing.

"Let me go, Lan! I want answers!"

"But not like this."

"There is no other way! She keeps things to herself! Important things! And you're protecting her!"

"I promise that I will find out what happened to Rand. Just give her some time."

Angrily, Nynaeve freed herself, but at least she didn't run after the Aes Sedai. Instead, she gave Lan an evil eye. "I don't make any more deals with you. You broke our last deal. You promised that you would bring back Rand. But instead, you show up with HER and left him there."

Annoyed, Lan pinched his nose. This conversation was exhausting. Why did he have to repeat himself over and over again? "Rand wasn't there."

"Then tell me. How long did you search for him? Did you take a quick look? Or did you actually search for him?" Lan just looked at the wisdom with an apologetic look, which was everything Nynaeve needed to know. "You didn't. You saw HER and forgot about Rand completely. She tells you that he is gone, and you believe her. Because you only cared about getting your bond back."

Lan wasn't answering, but the muscles in his face were moving. Of course, he knew how his return looked for Rand's friends. He had left to get both of them back. Instead, he had returned with the woman, he cared about, while their friend was missing. For someone like Nynaeve, it looked as if he only cared about Moiraine and had forgotten about his deal with the wisdom. Light, he had to admit to himself that it hadn't been one of his finest moments. He had been so relieved after he had seen that Moiraine was still breathing and unhurt, and then he had found out that she couldn't touch the source anymore, which had broken his heart to see this strong woman… shattered and insecure. If he was honest to himself, he didn't think about Rand very much and just believed what Moiraine had told him. The warder realized that he couldn't win this battle against Nynaeve, so, he decided to go with Moiraine's way by leaving the room. Nynaeve didn't stop him when he passed her, and his heart hurt when she didn't.

Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by a loud gasp, followed by a painful growling. Loial was waking up! The wisdom was by his side immediately, making sure that the ogier wouldn't reopen his wounds through a hasty movement. Even Perrin and Egwene moved to the big creature to check on him.

"Builder, it's good to see you alive."

"I'm afraid, I don't feel so good. What did I miss?" Loial looked confused from Perrin to Nynaeve, Egwene, and Lan with his brown eyes, which were still trying to adjust to the light.

"We thought you were dead.", Perrin said with tears in his eyes.

Loial smiled and laid his big hand on Perrin's chest. "We ogier don't die that easily."

"I wanted to… and I had the ax…", the young man sounded desperate, and the tears were now running down his cheeks, while he tried to explain his actions "… but I couldn't. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sure that you did everything in your power."

"He needs to rest.", Nynaeve explained harshly "Help me to get him to his room."

"Actually, I would like to stay here." Nynaeve furrowed her forehead by the words of Loial. "Don't worry about me. My wounds will heal better if I don't move. But I wouldn't say no to a drink."

A small smile appeared on Lan's lips. The ogier was alive and would heal. Now he needed to find his Aes Sedai. She was in a bad shape, and he needed to remind her that she wasn't alone. The warder turned around and left the ogier in Nynaeve's capable hands.

The wisdom noticed Lan's departure and she knew where he would be going. "Egwene, Perrin. Get some pillows and blankets and make Loial comfortable. He may not want to move, but this doesn't mean that he has to be cold."

The two friends nodded, then they left to follow Nynaeve's instruction, while the wisdom turned her attention back to the hurt ogier. "Try to get some rest. I will look at your wounds later."

"Thank you." With a deep sigh, the big creature closed his eyes.

Nynaeve took it as a sign to leave him alone. Instead, she would try to get her second round with the Aes Sedai. This woman would tell her everything she knew about Rand if she would like it or not.

Will Nynaeve get the answers to her questions? Or will Moiraine keep lying for Rand?