When the morning came, the camp awoke. Lan, who was observing their hosts since last night, noticed that the women were the ones, who were the first ones out to prepare everything for the day. Two women approached their tents, but when they saw Lan with the blade in his hands and the dangerous look in his eyes, they quickly turned around and left. Lan didn't care if they were going to tell Beram about it. He wanted to leave this place as fast as possible.

Slowly, Lan re-entered their tent. Moiraine and Nynaeve were still peacefully asleep, but the wisdom stirred when the fabric fell back into place. Tiredly, she rubbed her eyes, then she sat herself upright and saw Lan.

"Good morning."

"Morning. Don't tell me you stayed up all night."

"I didn't want to give Tarin a chance to return."

Sighing, Nynaeve looked down at the sleeping Aes Sedai. "We have to leave this place. I won't survive another day with those… people. And we can't hide HER all the time in this tent."

Lan came over and nodded. "I won't give Tarin another chance to touch any of you."

"They won't be happy about it. Beram wanted to talk to Loial."

"Then he should have a better control over Tarin."

Moiraine stirred, then she opened her eyes as well. Lan sat down on the edge of the bed and waited until she turned her head to him. She only needed one look at his face to know that he hadn't slept.

"Did he return?" She didn't need to say a name. All of them knew who she was talking about. When Lan shook his head, the Aes Sedai sighed relieved. "We should move on as soon as possible."

"We'll pack everything together and then we leave this place. I rather fight against the Aiel, than stay any longer with men like Tarin."

Moiraine put her hand on Lan's forearm and squeezed it softly. "Do you want to close your eyes for a few minutes? We can…"

"I'm good. How do you feel?"

"I want to leave this place."

Lan looked carefully at her face, but Moiraine avoided his gaze. She knew what he was looking for and she wasn't ready to talk about last night.

Nynaeve, who couldn't stand the moment between the Aes Sedai and her warder stood up and started to pack her stuff. Lan finally gave up to get an answer from Moiraine and started to help her. When they were done, and everyone was fully dressed again, they heard Liana's voice at the entrance.

"Sir? May I enter?"

Instead of an answer, Lan moved to the entrance and opened it with his sword in his hands. He had assumed that Tarin would use Liana to get his way back into their tent. But the young woman was alone and was shocked when she saw his blade.

"Please, Sir. Did I do something wrong? I can… I can come back later if you…"

"That's not necessary, Liana. We are leaving your group."

"You're leaving?" Liana looked confused but followed Lan inside when the warder turned around. "I don't understand. Beram told me that I was supposed to bring you to him, so, you two can have breakfast together."

"That is really kind of him, but I have to decline."

Suddenly, the young woman fell to her knees and leaned forward until her forehead came in contact with the ground. "Please, Sir. Please tell me what it is that made you angry, so, I can try to make it up to you. We don't wish to anger you, and my husband will…"

"It's nothing you did, Liana. And now, stand up." Lan helped the young woman to stand up, who had tears in her eyes. "I will talk to your husband and explain everything, but then we will be on our way."

"I will bring you to him."

Lan put away his sword, then he grabbed Moiraine's and his' bags, while Nynaeve took care of her own. Then the warder looked at his two women. "I want you to stay close to me. No matter what anyone says, you will stand right behind me." Together, they left the tent, but they didn't follow Liana. At first, they informed Perrin, Egwene, and Loial about their departure.

Liana was very nervous, while they waited for their companions to pack their stuff. She probably was afraid of what Beram would do to her since she wasn't bringing Lan immediately to him. But this time, Lan didn't care for her tears.

Beram was already occupied with his breakfast when the little group arrived. Surprised, the leader jumped to his feet and met them halfway.

"What does this mean? Why are your companions with you? And why do you look as if you would leave us?"

Liana threw herself back on the ground and cried: "I'm sorry, Sir. I did what you ask of me, but…"

"We will leave you now.", Lan interrupted her lamentation harshly.

"But why? Is there anything wrong? Did our women…?"

"It's nothing your women did. They were very polite and helped us in every way possible."

Beram furrowed his forehead. "Then I don't understand. What could be the reason…?"

At this moment, Tarin appeared behind his leader and Lan's eyes became ice-cold when they fell on the warrior. "It's your men, who don't understand to not touch what belongs to me."

The warrior was wearing his slick smile again and wasn't in the slightest concerned. "In our group, the women don't belong to only one man. It is their obligation to pleasure us and there is no exception for visitors."

Lan dropped the bags and pulled his sword, but Beram blocked him immediately. "Tarin is right. These are our traditions."

"But they are not our traditions!", Lan growled "We tried to play along, but there are boundaries! And I don't take it lightly when a man forces himself on a woman, who clearly isn't interested!"

Suddenly, Tarin's men surrounded the little group and all of them had an arrow loaded in their bows. Beram noticed the change as well, although he stayed between Lan and Tarin.

"Tarin, tell your men to lower their weapon."

"I would rather see how this guy tries to fight against them with only a sword, while his precious women are defenseless."

"TARIN!"

The warder and the warrior stared at each other, while they waited for the other to make the first move. Finally, Lan put away his sword, and Tarin's smile grew. "Good choice, Sir." The warrior nodded his head, and his men lowered their weapons. Then he moved to Moiraine, but Lan stepped quickly in front of his Aes Sedai. "I would accept a night with this beauty as an apology."

"You don't lay a finger on her!"

"Tarin, this is enough!" Beram pulled his warrior away from the furious warder. "Why do you have to keep going? They are our guests."

But Tarin didn't answer. He freed himself from his leader's grab and brought some distance between himself and the warder. Meanwhile, Beram tried to reason with Lan. "I apologize for Tarin's behavior. I assure you that he is one of the best men I have. Why don't we sit down and…?"

"We're leaving. Now."

Beram threw a look at Loial, who was staying in the background. The leader was obviously thinking about his chances to talk to the ogier. Finally, he nodded in defeat. "I understand. I will bring you to your horses."

"You can't be serious!" Beram stopped his best warrior by giving him an evil eye.

"You have done enough, Tarin. You are a great warrior, but sometimes I wish you would be able to listen. I'm bringing these people to their horses and I don't want you or your men to follow us." Without looking back, the leader moved for Lan to follow him.

Soon, the horses were saddled and carried the bags of the little group. Beram was standing by Loial's side and used the little time he had left to speak to the ogier, who was answering him politely.

As soon as Lan was done, he guided his horse to Beram. The leader bowed his head to the warder. "I'm sorry for how our time ended. I wish you a safe journey."

Lan returned the gesture and said: "It wasn't your fault. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Maybe one day, we will meet again, and then I will have a chance to talk to Loial here."

"Maybe." Lan didn't want to mention that he didn't hope for it. The next time, he probably would kill Tarin if he would see the man.

Everybody got into their saddle, then they left Beram and his camp behind them and turned to the path, which would lead them to the Aiel and hopefully Rand.

They moved over the spine of the world without any more surprises. But everyone was nervous. Since no one ever came back from the Aiel, they could be killed during their sleep. They had agreed that they wouldn't show their weapons. This way, the Aiel would hopefully not think of them as a threat. Although it made Lan feel terrible. Without Moiraine's power, they were now unarmed and couldn't protect themselves if they would be attacked.

After a little snack, which they ate while they were riding on their horses, Lan's worst fear became reality. The bond between Moiraine and Rand formed, and if Loial hadn't noticed it in time, the poor woman would have fallen from her horse. The group thought about taking a break, but in the end, Lan decided to place Moiraine in front of him. This way, he was still able to hold her, while they were also getting closer to Rand.

Egwene took care of the reins of Moiraine's horse, while Nynaeve stayed close to the warder, in case he needed help with Moiraine. But the Aes Sedai awoke after a while, and luckily, wasn't as exhausted as expected. Still, Lan didn't trust her to ride on her own again, and although she protested vehemently, in the end, she had to give up.

The sun was slowly settling down, and still, they hadn't seen a person yet. The warder thought about presenting his sword to get a reaction from the Aiel when Perrin suddenly stopped his horse. "We are not alone anymore."

Everyone stopped, while their eyes were searching the surrounding for any signs of life. Lan's fingers itched, but he resisted grabbing his sword. He didn't want the Aiel to think of him as the enemy.

Suddenly, shadows emerged out of the bushes, the trees, and the high grass. Ten deadly Aiel. They wore the typical grey clothes, which allowed them to stay unseen. Their faces were hidden with a black scarf, and each of them had some sort of weapon in their hands. The one closest to Perrin – a woman – was the one, who spoke first. "How did you notice us?"

Perrin looked at her and gulped. He was very nervous. "I… I had this feeling… I… can't explain it. Not that I don't want to, but…"

"My name is Lan Mandragoran.", the warder interrupted Perrin's rambling "And these are my companions. We are not here to fight. We search a friend of ours and believe that he could be in your land."

An Aiel man stepped forward. "Why do you think that one of your people came to our land?"

"He recently came in contact with the One Power and ran away. We want to help him."

The man's eyes moved over the hands of the three women until his eyes found Loial. "You have an ogier with you."

"I'm Loial, son of Arent, son of Halan."

"You honor us with your presence, ogier. What are you doing in our land?"

"I'm befriended to a young man and I hope that I will find him here. He is confused, but I'm sure that with the help of his friends, he will return home with us."

The Aiel man turned back to Lan. "Do you have weapons with you?"

"Yes, but we stuffed them away. As I said, we don't want to fight you. We just want to find our friend."

"Prove it. Dismount your horse and kneel in front of me."

Moiraine dug her fingernails into Lan's forearm as a warning, but the warder ignored it. Carefully, he dismounted his horse, but he gave Moiraine's thigh a reassuring squeeze before he slowly made his way over to the Aiel man. He held up his hands in defense to show that he was unarmed. The masked man waited until Lan kneeled in front of him. Then he laid his sword under the warder's chin. Moiraine reached for the reins, while Nynaeve's hand moved to her bag, where she had hidden her dagger.

"Tell me, Lan Mandragoran. What is so special about you that two beautiful women are willing to fight for you if I should slice your throat?"

"This is a complicated story, which I would love to tell you if you bring us to our friend."

The man with the sword thought about Lan's words. "Does your friend have a name?"

"Rand al'Thor."

The sword left Lan's skin and the Aiel man took a step back. Then he shoved down his scarf, and as if this was a sign, the others followed his example. Their weapons disappeared and suddenly, their opponents didn't look so scary anymore.

"Then we better hurry. Because I can't wait to hear this story."