Thank you all for reviewing. Sorry I haven't updated recently; I wasn't sure where to go after the last chapter.
Chapter 7:
The next morning, Rand squinted his eyes against the light pouring in from the window. He was surprised to find himself in a bed and Min, in a chair that had been pulled up next to him, asleep slumped partly over the bed with her head on her arms. Rand moved his arm to prop himself up, and unintentionally woke Min.
"Rand! Are you okay?" Min asked as she gently pushed his shoulder back so he remained lying down.
Rand was too confused to even realize it when she pushed him back down to the bed. "What happened?"
Egwene, hearing voices, got up and walked over to the side of the bed opposite of Min. "Are you all right, Rand? What happened to you?"
Rand tried to sit up again only to have both Min and Egwene put a restraining hand on his shoulders. "I'm not sure. What did you see?"
"It looked like you had Elaida wrapped in air, and then. . . I'm not really sure what happened but you suddenly started mumbling about not being put in the box again and then you killed Elaida with balefire. Not very long after, you just collapsed, unconscious." Egwene said.
Rand nodded, starting to remember what happened. He didn't know how Lews Therin was able to take over his body, but he didn't like it at all. "I don't know what happened." he lied.
Min and Egwene both frowned, folded their arms, and fixed Rand with "The Glare".
"Blood and ashes." Rand mumbled under his breath. "All right, I have some idea as to what happened. I'm just not sure why." He took a deep breath before continuing, "Part of Lews Therin is in me." He noted the skeptical glances that Egwene and Min both shared. "I'm not insane. Egwene, have I ever been able to draw?" She shook her head. "Min, remember how well I was able to draw Kisman and the others?" He saw her nod. "Lews Therin was able to draw. And that tune I was playing back in Far Madding. It's called 'Lament for the Long Night'. I've never heard it before that, but Lews Therin had. He told me about the Choedan Kal, too. So, you see, I'm not insane."
Min frowned even deeper, "Rand, what does that have to do with this though?"
"Somehow, Lews Therin was able to take over my body and Saidin. He shot Elaida with the balefire. I was finally able to retake control. I don't remember anything after that though." he stated thoughtfully.
"That must have been when you blacked out." Egwene said as she and Min exchanged another worried glance. They were both concerned that Lews Therin Telamon would be able to retake control over Rand's body.
Rand sat up quickly, "I'm fine." he protested when they tried to get him to lay back down. "You have control of the White Tower now?" Egwene nodded. "Good. I should get back to Tear before Alanna, and Cadsuane start looking for me."
"A little too late for that, Rand," Egwene commented. "They Traveled here earlier this morning."
"Light," Rand, only now realizing that he could feel Alanna more strongly in his head than before, muttered under his breath though both Min and Egwene heard it.
"Nynaeve and Elayne are coming-"
"They're already here," Rand said, cutting Egwene off, "or at least Elayne is, I'm not sure about Nynaeve, though Aviendha is here too."
Egwene shook her head slightly almost in amusement, she had never expected Rand to ever let anyone bond him- willingly at least- let alone three. She was broken out of her thoughts by Rand suddenly muttering, "Oh, Light. Oh, Light. Oh, Light."
"Elayne and Aviendha are headed this way," Rand said when he noticed that both Min and Egwene were giving him confused looks. Egwene looked even more confused and Min was now frowning at him in what appeared to be disbelief, "And Alanna is on her way too," he added in explanation. Egwene now nodded in understanding.
"She doesn't know- I mean, you didn't tell her about. . . us, did you?" Min managed to get out, her voice laced with suspicion.
"Of course, I didn't tell her who bonded me," he shot back.
Min nodded before realizing exactly what he had said, "Wait! So, she knows someone bonded you?"
"It was a little hard to hide that from her, Min, since she was unconscious for three days because of it," he explained quickly.
Min nodded slightly. When a slight knock came from the door, Min walked over and opened the door slightly as Egwene moved to see who it was. Alanna glided through the doorway, with a glaring Elayne and Aviendha close behind her, and looked around frowning. "Where did he go?" she demanded, whirling around to face Min, agitation seeping into her voice. "He was here a moment ago, and now I can't even feel him," she added, not taking in who was around.
"Why would you be able to feel him, Alanna?" Egwene questioned as Min shut the door, 'Light, where had Rand gone?'
Alanna hesitated for a moment before answering, "Because he is my Warder."
Min, Elayne, and Aviendha were glaring at Alanna now, but Egwene ignored them. "Why would Rand let you, or anyone, bond him?"
"Since I bonded him, he let someone else bond him," she said trying to change the direction of the questioning.
"I know that, and I know why he let himself be bonded. Rand and I were talking just the other day and an interesting topic came up," Egwene said all-knowingly. She paused a moment, carefully watching Alanna's reaction before continuing, "He told me that he never let you bond him, that you didn't give him any choice in it."
"I- Someone had to do it. He's the Dragon Reborn; I had to try to use the bond to get him to accept Aes Sedai help."
"But it didn't work, did it? You couldn't control him with the bond like you intended to, could you?" Egwene said, smoothing her skirt.
Alanna shook her head slightly, "No, Mother. When I found out someone else bonded him, I told him I would release his bond if whoever else has his bond was capable of handling him, but he wouldn't tell me who it was."
"I happen to know that she is quite capable," Egwene said looking at Elayne, Min, and Aviendha each in turn.
"You, Mother?" Alanna asked shocked.
"No, not me. So, will you release his bond?"
"Of course, Mother. As soon as I can find him I will release him."
"Good. Rand?" she got no response. "Rand! I know you're still here; You used this same thing on me in Cairhien before, remember."
There was an audible sigh from the corner of the room before Rand materialized seemingly out of nowhere. "Now, will you release the bond?" Egwene asked Alanna.
Alanna nodded and walked over to Rand, placing her hands on his head, "You need to unblock the bond for this to word, Rand." Once he had, if reluctantly, lowered the block, she let Saidar flow into him as she undid the Warder bond. Once the bond was removed she lowered her hands and stepped back from him.
"Alanna, will you leave us now?" Egwene asked, in a not quite commanding tone, though one leaving no room for protest. Once the door closed behind Alanna, she shielded the door and placed a ward against eavesdropping.
As soon as the ward and shield were up, Elayne spun around to face Egwene, "How did you know?" Before Egwene had a chance to respond, Elayne was halfway across the room towards Rand, "You didn't tell her, did you?"
Egwene sighed slightly, "He didn't tell me about the three of you bonding him, Elayne, only about Alanna. Min thought we were talking about you three bonding him and had the same reaction you just did."
"So you're not upset?" Elayne asked.
"A little. Only because you thought you had to hide it from me, though." Elayne nodded slightly. "I should probably go now," Egwene said giving a meaningful look to Elayne, Aviendha, and Min before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.