Author's Note: I apologize to my readers for the long wait. I've been working on a piece for publication recently and it's taken up a good deal of my time.

Augusta

Egeanin was quarreling with that odd so'jhin of hers, the one who talked the same way as Tessi, as Bethamin entered her bedroom-she didn't seem to use any other for meetings or work. He seemed to be quite angry about something, shouting quite openly at his mistress. Bethamin felt her eyebrows twitch before she could stop them. If the man had belonged to her, she would have had him flogged, but the Seeker had made it quite apparent that Egeanin and the so'jhin kept each other company both before and after sundown. She listened carefully to what he was saying. Anything she knew could be helpful at this point.

" I do be telling you, Egeanin, this do be the best chance we do have-"

" Bayle, you know Merrilin as well as I do, maybe better!" Egeanin exclaimed, throwing up her hands. " That old man would stick a knife in our backs as soon as look at us. Light, I want out as much as you, but-" the so'jhin-Bayle-signed to her, causing her to break off immediately. She whirled to face Bethamin, a knife springing into her hand before she saw who it was.

" That Seeker was watching me while I was excercising a damane this morning," Bethamin said bluntly. " He followed me, but he's not listening in. Apparently, he doesn't trust me as much as he said."

Egeanin smiled mirthlessly. " Only a fool trusts half as much as they say they do, Bethamin." Bayle shifted slightly and muttered something Bethamin couldn't make out through his accursed accent. The hard-faced woman sat down. " Sit. Bayle, pour us some wine, and you sit too. You're in this as much as either of us." Egeanin must have noticed Bethamin's eyes become round as saucers, because she gave a laugh as hard as the planes of her face. " Shocking, isn't it? I, Lady Egeanin Tamarath, having a so'jhin in on a scheme of mine? You learn very quickly when you rise to the Blood that you use those who are avaliable that you can trust, and I would trust Bayle with anything."

" And why are you telling me this?"

Egeanin's eyes were cold. " So you'll know that he'll kill you if I order him to." Bethamin made a sudden, involuntary movement. "No, he didn't kill Turak," Egeanin said softly, as if reading her thoughts. " Bayle's methods are less refined. I was thinking more along the lines of breaking your neck, Bethamin." Knowing she was not conspiring with a man who would murder a High Lord did not give her the comfort that it would have given a loyal citizen of the Empire; she supposed that caring more about your own neck than you did about the Empire came part and parcel with being a traitor. Egeanin waited till Bayle had poured three glasses of wine and taken the third seat before she spoke again.

" There is a plan," she said, looking at Bethamin over the rim of her glass. " A plan to get some-persons-out of the city. A plan that requires sul'dam." Egeanin paused for a moment to let the full impact of that sink in.

" You want me to help damane escape?" Bethamin gasped. There was nothing else that Egeanin could mean. The other woman nodded.

" Precisely. I normally would do no such thing, but my ideas have changed considerably since Tanchico, and I have something to gain by helping this man."

" Merrilin?"

Egeanin's blue eyes flashed. " If you mention that name again before we are far from this city, Bethamin," Egeanin hissed, " then rest assured that I will kill you myself. You have no need of their names, and you will not mention any names you already know. Do you understand me?"

Egeanin had always had a very strong, domineering personality. " Yes, Egeanin." Disgust at herself flickered for a moment-she sounded as pliant a damane!-but she pushed it down ruthlessly. You did what you had to do to survive. If Egeanin wanted her to dance, she'd bloody well dance. The other woman nodded, and Bethamin breathed again. Safe, for now at least.

" Now, I will explain things to you, Beth." The use of the nickname from Egeanin made her have to repress a shudder. " I wouldn't, but I don't see as I have much choice. I know a mainlander who wants out of this city-something to do with being held prisoner by his lover, from what Bayle and I can work out. I need out of this city-that Seeker's coming for me, sooner or later, probably sooner. My mainlander accomplice apparently has a soft spot for Aes Sedai, because he needs three to make his plan succeed-liberate himself, his friends, his pet damane, and me and Bayle. You are going to help us."

" Sweet Light," Bethamin whispered. " It is treason."

Egeanin threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, I know it is. If you and I were proper Seanchan, I would go to that Seeker and confess everything, and you would hand yourself over to the sul'dam. Blood and ashes, you'd put the collar on your own neck and I'd heat the irons personally! But we're no strangers to treason, are we, Bethamin? No, both our souls are black with it. I say no devotions to the Light, the Creator, or the Empress. Treason has made me my own mistress, and treason has made me yours."

Bethamin bit back angry words. It wasn't right, Egeanin blackmailing her like this when she had as much if not more evidence against Egeanin, but Egeanin had far less to lose. Egeanin might not even have to undergo anything worse than execution, being of the Blood. Bethamin faced life on a leash, going from a respected citizen to something less than human, a collared animal. Of course, it was only right that if she could channel that she should become damane, but what was right seemed less and less important when she thought about Renna or Seta or worse carrying her bracelet.

" You are bound to be caught," she protested feebly instead. " It is a desperate chance, Egeanin."

Egeanin's face was grim as death. " I know, Bethamin. Desperate chances are all either one of us have left to us at this point."