Two days had passed since Lan had entered Moiraine's brain. They had moved closer to the spine of the world, although everyone was nervous. Everyone knew that it wasn't easy to deal with the Aiel. They all had heard stories about those famous warriors, but not one of them had met one in person.
Loial knew about a path – one of the Niamh Passes – which would bring them over the spine of the world and wasn't far away. Hopefully, it was the same path Rand had taken days ago.
On their third day, they reached a forest. As soon as they were through, they would be able to take the path over the spine. Egwene asked for a break, and everyone else was glad to have an excuse not to enter the forest.
They made a small campfire to heat some water for a warm tea, then they sat together in silence, while everyone was thinking about the land behind the spine of the world. What would they see? How long would they be able to walk around before an Aiel would try to kill them? Would they find Rand and could he help them? Or did he take another path? What if they couldn't find the village where he was hiding from the Dark One?
Suddenly, they heard the breaking of a branch, and immediately, they were ready to fight. In an instant, Lan had his sword in his hands, and Perrin pulled out his ax, while Nynaeve's fingers were around her dagger. The sweet, big ogier turned his hands into fists, but he looked as if he had never used them in an actual fight. Moiraine and Egwene were the only ones without a weapon, but they were ready to jump to their feet if necessary.
The bushes behind Loial started to move, then two rabbits appeared. They stopped and looked at the armed human beings in front of them. No one was moving, while those little animals were observing them until they finally ran for their life.
Egwene was the first, who started to giggle, which broke the tension, and soon everyone was smiling. They had fought against so many enemies in the last two months and now, they were afraid of rabbits.
"Impressive." Immediately, the group was back in action and standing. Lan stepped in front of Moiraine and Nynaeve, while he watched how a group of ten men emerged out of the forest. Nine of them had a bow in their hands, while the tenth man – apparently the guy, who had spoken – had his bow hanging over his shoulder. "I don't know if I would have hesitated. Those rabbits looked delicious."
"Who are you?", Lan asked calmly, but his brain was working. How had it been possible that he hadn't noticed this group? There were only a few people in this world, who were able to sneak up on him. But a group of ten men?
The man smiled. He was very handsome with his short brown hair and his brown eyes. Lan assumed that he was around his age. "My name is Tarin. What's your name?"
"Lan Mandragoran."
Tarin let his eyes move over the others and their small campfire, then he smiled. "You look like you could use a bath and a warm bed. Our tents aren't far from here. Would you like to join us?"
Lan watched Tarin's men. All of them wore the clothes of a simple farmer, but from the looks in their eyes, the warder saw that those men knew how to fight. They were ready to fire if he would move a muscle. "That's really generous of you, but I think we stay out here."
"I'm afraid, I have to insist. Our leader will love to meet you and your… companions." Tarin's eyes fell on Loial, and Lan could have sworn that he saw an evil glint in them.
Moiraine saw it too, but she also saw Nynaeve's anger. If they wouldn't be outnumbered, the wisdom would have shown this Tarin what she thought about getting orders from a man. But those arrows were still pointed at them and could be very deadly. Very carefully, Moiraine reached out and touched Lan's back. Since she couldn't communicate over their bond anymore, she had to try something else. She hoped that he would understand the meaning of her gentle touch. His muscles moved under her touch, but she also noticed how he leaned his head aside, just a little bit as if he was listening to something.
Usually, he would've listened to her feelings, but now he had to interpret her move. She didn't increase her pressure. Instead, she kept her touch as gentle as possible. He needed to understand that they couldn't fight those men. For the moment, it was best if they would follow them.
"I guess we don't have a choice here.", Lan said.
"No, you're not."
"Then we're coming with you. But we have to pack our stuff first. It would be nice if your men could lower their bows."
Tarin nodded, and the nine men relaxed. Nynaeve, who now saw that Moiraine's hand laid on Lan's back, took a step closer to the warder.
"What are you doing?!", she hissed. Her hand was still touching her dagger.
"Surviving. We can't fight them and we can't run without getting killed. We talk to his leader and then, we decide what we do."
"We have to find Rand!"
"I know." This time, Lan looked her directly in the eye. He wanted her to understand that he wasn't happy about this disturbance as well. Finally, Nynaeve nodded, but she couldn't resist throwing an evil eye at the armed men in front of them.
Tarin wore a smile on his face and watched how the wisdom was preparing their departure. Lan had to force himself not to attack the man, who was still guarded by his men. He felt how Moiraine let go of his back, so, he put away his sword and faced her. His fingers grabbed her left hand and pulled the ring of the Aes Sedai off.
Moiraine shrugged for a second. It was always hard for her to take the ring off, but when she looked into Lan's eyes, she knew that they had no choice. They didn't know anything about these people. And right now, they couldn't let anyone know that she was an Aes Sedai with no power.
Of course, Lan saw the pain in his Aes Sedai's eyes. The ring was the only thing that was saying that she was still an Aes Sedai. He knew how much she clung to it, but here it was a risk. With his thumb, he caressed her fingers to calm her. Moiraine closed her eyes, then she pulled her fingers out of his grasp and helped pack their stuff, while Lan hid the ring.
When they were done, Tarin's men tried to take the reins of the horses. But Lan's horse didn't seem to like the strangers. When one of the men tried to take the reins, the horse showed his teeth and tried to bite the hand of the owner. Lan smiled. "I'm afraid he doesn't like it to be guided by someone else except me."
The man threw an angry look at the horse, then he turned to Tarin, who nodded. "Let him walk the horse." Tarin's man bowed the head to his leader and moved on to Moiraine's horse. "If you'd be so kind to follow me?"
Without looking back, Tarin stepped into the forest again. Lan made sure that he was the one, who was right behind the stranger, while the rest of their group was behind him. He was the only one, who was allowed to guide his horse, and it felt weird that his companions were trapped between him and Tarin's men.
The tents of Tarin's group were placed right in front of the stone wall, which was the spine of the world. They were a very large group, so, there were a lot of tents, and soon, Lan gave up counting them. This group even had a place for the horses and they had some space left for the newcomers.
Lan took his and Moiraine's bags, while Loial and Perrin took the rest. They were surrounded by men. And they all were observing Moiraine, Nynaeve, and Egwene as if they hadn't seen a woman for a very long time. The warder didn't like the smiles, which appeared on a lot of faces around them. If he could, he would have liked to protect them from those looks.
"Follow me.", Tarin said and led the way "Our leader likes to talk to every visitor we find around our camp."
"How many visitors did you have in the last month?", Lan asked carefully.
"You were the first people we have seen in months. Not many people come close to the spine of the world. They're all afraid of the Aiel."
"Tarin." A strong man with black hair and brown eyes stepped in their way. Three other men guarded him and had their hands on their swords when they saw the little group. His clothes didn't show that he was someone important, but his posture told Lan everything he needed to know. He was the leader of this group. "Who are these people?"
"I found them camping outside the forest, Sir. They have an ogier among themselves."
The eyes of the man moved over the group until they found Loial's big silhouette, who was partly hidden by a tree. "An ogier? Well, this is interesting. I only heard about the ogiers, but I never have seen one."
"My name is Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan. What is your name, Sir?"
"I'm Beram, and I'm the leader of this group." Beram bowed in front of Loial, and the friendly ogier did the same. Then the leader turned to Lan. "I assume that you're the leader of this little group."
Lan narrowed his eyes on him. "What makes you think that?"
"Well, you are the one with the sword. Ogiers don't lead a group, and this boy here looks as if he hadn't seen much from the world yet." Perrin's ears turned red at Beram's words, and the leader laughed. "Excuse me, sometimes I speak without thinking. You look exhausted. Why don't you take a bath and rest? Tomorrow, I would like to speak to the ogier, if he agrees."
Lan looked at Loial, who nodded. "I would be delighted to talk to you, leader Beram."
"Very well. Liana!" A young, blonde woman appeared by his side. She wore a simple dress and her blue eyes looked up only once before they stayed locked at the ground. "This is my wife, Liana. She will show your women where they will get the water to fill your bath."
"That is very kind of you, but I can get my own water.", Lan said, but Beram shook his head.
"In our camp, the women are responsible to care for the men. We protect them from any danger coming our way, but they do the rest."
Lan's eyes fell on the young woman, Liana. She didn't move at her husband's words. Was she really comfortable with her role in this camp? And where were the other women?
"But we are not a part of your group.", Nynaeve protested, and Beram raised his eyebrows surprised. Lan didn't assume that the man was used to a woman, who was talking back to him.
"As long as you stay with us, you will live by our rules."
"Then we will leave you."
Beram turned back to Lan. "You allow your women to speak for you?"
Lan saw from the corner of his eyes, that the wisdom was turning red. If he didn't stop this now, she would probably do something stupid. He stepped forward until he was standing beside Tarin. "Please forgive us, Beram. She didn't mean to insult you or your way of living. In our group, everyone is allowed to speak freely."
"I respect that, but while you are here, your women cannot do as they please. This would disturb our women, who are used to our way of living."
"We will remember this.", Lan answered and bowed his head.
Tarin moved beside Lan and walked in front of Moiraine. There was a lustful glint in his eyes, while they moved up and down her body. "It is also a tradition that the women have to please the men at night. Since I don't assume that the ogier is interested in a human woman, one of them will be free. I could use some company tonight. Would you mind if I take…?"
The fingers of the warrior came close to Moiraine's face, who tried her best not to move at all. Nynaeve hissed angrily beside her, but it was Lan, who stopped the warrior before he was able to touch his Aes Sedai. With one hand, he held the other man's elbow. "I don't want to disrespect your traditions, but if you touch her or the other two, I will have to use my sword."
Tarin hesitated as if he wasn't sure if Lan would be a threat to him, then his eyes moved one last time over Moiraine's body and he smiled. "As you wish."
Reluctantly, the warrior let his hand fall and stepped away from the Aes Sedai. Lan and Moiraine exchanged a short glance, then the warder released Tarin's arm. Beram seemed content and clapped his hands exited. "Now that we have talked about each other's traditions and ways of living, you should get this bath and a good meal. Tarin, show our guests their tents. I believe we have three or four to spare at the east side."
Tarin bowed to his leader, then he moved east. Apparently, he tried to test his boundaries, when he passed Moiraine and brushed her arm. Lan felt how his fingers were itching, but this wasn't the time to start a fight. At least, it showed him that he had to be very careful around their hosts. They would use every opportunity they would get.
The warder bowed his head in front of Beram one last time, then he followed Tarin to find their tents for the night.