To clear up some confusion with the Tam issue, I will give a straight copy from something I found on a Wheel of Time fan website, concerning the thought if Tam knew Rand was the Dragon Reborn or not:

           Tam "knows" that Rand is the Dragon Reborn. Jordan said that Tam has all the clues he needs to figure out that Rand is the Dragon Reborn. Whether or not Tam will admit it to himself is another matter. Jordan said that Tam merely finding Rand as a baby on the slopes of Dragonmount wasn't enough of a clue -- even if Tam were familiar with that prophecy then, few people think about those things or expect them to happen literally to them -- but that, plus the fact that Rand has disappeared off with Aes Sedai who say he's important, and the fact that the world is going crazy, should give Tam enough information to make the conclusion.

I enjoy skimming through fan websites and I just happened to find a little section on one of my favorite characters, giving the answer to a question I have raised several times. (I mean come on, Tam's been around the block a few times; he's not entirely blind and deaf to rumors and such, either.)

Thank you for reading, and now let's get back to the story.

Chapter Two:

Meetings

           The white-clad Aiel were the only gai'shan in the tent that stood still and calm, ready to move at any given order. The others sulked, slouched, and darted their eyes about the room, obviously trying to think of a way to escape. The odd thing in this tent, which caught Tam by surprise, was the fact that all the gai'shan were women. And they all had matching gold belts and gold collars.

           Tam raised a hand, planning to use it to smooth back his gray hair, which had gone scraggly and stiff in the cold, but the glare he got from the eldest of the three Aiel made Tam lower his hand back to his side. He scowled and got another warning glare. In his youth, Tam may have struck out in annoyance and anger against this Aiel, but now he knew the foolishness of that action; if he did strike out, surrounded by Aiel as he was, there would be absolutely no way to survive. With that in mind, Tam suppressed his anger and looked up at the presence of Sevanna.

           "Rhudil, why do you bother me?" Her voice was cool, holding back some annoyance or anger, very possibly both. Her hard green eyes stared very coldly at the eldest Aielman; she either didn't notice Tam or was just ignoring his presence at the moment. But no matter what she was doing, or pretending, Tam couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

           She was beautiful with those blaring green eyes that demanded for things to be done her way and with all acquired swiftness. That look almost rivaled Nynaeve's glare; it was a good thing that he knew how to deal with Nynaeve—if only at times—because now he wouldn't be lost in the dark trying to understand this Sevanna. The Aiel woman turned her head, letting her golden hair glimmer beautifully in the light, causing the several-jeweled necklaces framing her bosom to rattle at her movement. Yes, she was young and beautiful, but that wasn't what forced his eyes on her.

           When he had made his first observation of this room, Tam had noticed how the "wetlanders" were all darting their eyes about the tent, obviously planning escape. The Aiel gai'shan showed no interest whatsoever in escape; their eyes stayed fixed on Sevanna, clearly ready to do what gai'shan did, serve. Well, Tam would show that some humble readiness to serve, even though he was only pretending; at least he could keep his plans of escape secret. The time would come when these Aiel would see what it meant to try to control a Two Rivers man; the time would come, and he would remain patient in waiting for it to come.

           "We found this wetlanders spying on our camp, and he surrendered to us so we made him gai'shan, Sevanna." The eldest Aiel, the one with the scar, had stepped forth to answer to his name.

           Tam remained concentrated on Sevanna. He would not alter his gaze to meet the urge of studying the tent for possible escape routes—he would not! He had promised himself he would show these Aiel a true Two Rivers man, and a good way to start would be to keep his gaze on the head of this Aiel camp.

           "So, Rhudil, you say you caught us a wetlanders spy?" Sevanna's jewelry rattled greatly as she moved across the spacious tent. Snow and ice cracked under her nice, thick shoes, reminding Tam of his quickly numbing feet, and inevitably reminding him of the pain in his right leg. He looked down to study his wound, hoping his shifting gaze downward was taken for meekness only as Sevanna approached ever closer. The spear had been taken out of his leg—forced out rather painfully—and then his wound had been poorly bandaged up. It still stung, though, and more than his cold bare feet. He blinked when Sevanna—very gently—forced his chin up so that they were eye-to-eye. "What's your name, wetlanders?"

           Tam blinked again at that piercing look; it really reminded him of Nynaeve for some odd reason. Now why would she care about his name? After thinking on it, he decided not to speak at all. Spies rarely got caught, but when they just happened to be unlucky one day, they always refused to give out information, at least as far as he knew.

           "Well?" Her voice was hard, just as hard as her green eyes.

           Tam remained silent. He continued to meet her gaze, refusing to speak one word. Those eyes demanded an answer for her question, but he refused to give one. He was from the Two Rivers, and he could deal with Aiel better than he could standing alone in front of the Woman's Circle back home.

           Sevanna dropped his chin and stepped away, letting Tam go without answering her question. He risked shifting his gaze once, only to be met with three angry glares. If all these Aiel were made of was simple looks, he might be able to get out of here after all. "I have no use for spies that don't shed information, and if he poses no use…"

           Immediately there were three spears pointing dangerously at his throat. Tam's eyes flicked around the room quickly, but he made no move, knowing full well there was no chance for escape any more, no chance for secrecy if he was to live. Now these were the Aiel he remembered, not that it was something worth being enlightened over.

           His gaze caught hold of Sevanna staring at him, a smirk ready to form on her face. Tam felt foolish for ever believing she would let him go without first meeting her demands. He let out a breath he just noticed he had been holding, and then inhaled some more to have enough air to speak. "Tam Al'Thor. My name's Tam Al'Thor." In the face of death, even spies were allowed to let some information loose.

           As soon as the words left his mouth, it seemed the entire tent was holding its breath. Even the Aiel gai'shan looked surprised. Sevanna's mouth was the first to form words. "Al'Thor? Are you related to Rand Al'Thor?"

           Now it was Tam's turn to be shocked. How do these Aiel know Rand? It must be that Aes Sedai's fault!

           Tam found himself nodding and then surprised again at Sevanna's whispered words—Aiel whispering! " 'Raised of the blood, but not by the blood.' His is the Car'a'carn."

           Tam blinked. Who? What? He put a hand to his head to run it through his scraggly white hair, this time not getting glared at because all the Aiel seemed busy with their own thoughts. And all the non-Aiel gai'shan were staring at him, backing away slowly, as if afraid.

           Tam got one more chance to blink before Sevanna got a hold of herself. She stared at him now, completely forgetting about the others in the room with them. Her green eyes held his own, and Light, did they remind him of Nynaeve every time! That golden hair of hers fluffed around her face and all those necklaces rattled with every bounce of her half-concealed bosom. Yet with all that beauty she possessed, there was still that familiar commanding air about her figure.

           "We have things we must discuss, Tam Al'Thor." Sevanna looked down and her eyes widened just a little. Tam bit his lip when he realized why. He couldn't feel his feet anymore; not even the cold seeped into his bare feet. "Rhudil, get him some decent clothes and footwear for this snow." Sevanna said the word rather well for an Aiel, almost as if she had practiced saying it. As the three Aielmen led him out of the tent, Tam caught Sevanna's last whispered words. "We do have certain things to discuss, certain people of great importance to talk about, Tam Al'Thor." She rather appeared to like saying that name, her words twisting just right over al'Thor as if she planned to trap all the al'Thor's for revenge. What has that bloody Aes Sedai gotten Rand into, having Aiel know the name al'Thor!

           He was stopped, standing in the middle of yet another tent, or maybe it was the same as before? No matter. He was considered special property now—according to the way the three Aielmen treated him differently, none scowling no mater what he did—though why still confused him. As thicker white clothes were placed on him and feeling began to return to his feet, Tam tried to think out an escape from every angle, every single possible angle; sometimes an obvious means of escape worked better than a hidden back door. Sadly, nothing came to mind. When he was set free to do what he pleased, Tam merely fell into the padded chair behind him, or maybe he should just call it a cushion, since that's all it basically was.

           There was no escape.

           He looked at every possible escape route and found it blocked by one way or another. That meant he was trapped here, trapped to act like a servant to Aiel. On top of the knowledge that he couldn't escape, that boiled his blood to near bursting! Servant to bloody Aiel! The Two Rivers falling apart while he sat here being humble and meet for a bunch of Aiel!

           He fingered the golden collar carefully and he touched the gleaming belt like in a trance of wonder. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Rhudil and the younger Aiel exit the tent, both growling fiercely. The middle-aged Aiel crouched down next to the tent entrance, seemingly waiting for the other two to return while completely ignoring Tam.

           Seemingly.

           Tam did not let his gaze alter once in surprise, but instead continued to study this Aiel. Of all the Aiel in the camp so far, Tam had really come to dislike this one the most. While the other two at least had the decency to acknowledge Tam, this Aiel sat back and ignored him; letting the other two fight out their differences. The only words Tam ever heard out of this Aiel's mouth was the suggestion that he and his two buddies shared Tam's ownership if Sevanna did not take him.

           The bright red hair, scraggly like Tam's own in this cold, would forever mark the man as Aiel in any crowd, though the man appeared like he would try to blend in as best he could. The man sat stock still, barely moving except for twirling an arrow lightly against the hard snow, lightly so as not to break the arrow, and even though he appeared to be ignoring everything in the room, Tam could feel the man's gaze, staring him down, studying him like some piece of property. Again, Tam felt his blood boil, but he cooled himself, taking his own turn at studying the Aiel in the same notion, by seeming to be ignoring the world around him.

           "You are a good spy. Sevanna should watch her back." Tam blinked at the Aielman's words. The man just spent five, maybe ten minutes pretending to ignore Tam's existence and all he could come up with when he did speak was that Sevanna should watch her back? Tam would never get used to these bloody Aiel!

           The Aielman opened his mouth to say something else—probably after seeing Tam's reaction—but he was interrupted before another word could be spoken. The tent flap moved to allow Rhudil and the young Aiel to walk right in. The other Aielman was on his feet before Tam could beat him to it, the arrow gone from his hand. He lowered his eyes immediately, acting the part of gai'shan as he was supposed to.

           "Sevanna will see you now, Tam Al'Thor." Rhudil spit his name out like it contained poison, his blaring eyes taking the place of his usual scowl.

           Tam followed the Aielman, barely passing a glance to the middle-aged one as he walked on by—he could feel his feet again like nothing had ever happened to them, and the pain in his leg was slowly dwelling down. The words of the Aielman who was definitely more than he seemed rebounded in his head again and again. "You are a good spy. Sevanna should watch her back." A good spy am I? Well, these Aiel haven't seen anything yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~