Chapter 10: If These Walls Could Talk
Ask a philosopher if you want to know why. Why can't dogs fly?
– Asmodean
"You're lying!" Graendal screamed, trying to break through her bonds to hurl herself at Aran'gar, who stepped away from her with surprising tact. "Sammael, help me! Please!"
Sammael rolled onto his back, groggily holding his head, in no position to help anyone. He could barely even see the people standing around him; Aran'gar had hit him so hard he was probably lucky to be alive. Even so, he tried to pull himself to his feet, only to slump back onto the ground as Osan'gar watched him.
"It's no use, Graendal," Osan'gar explained, turning to where the captive continued to struggle. "The chase is over, and it was a merry one that you led us. But Aran'gar was right. There is nowhere left for you to go. We have enough proof that we could go to Shaidar Haran right now, and he would come after you… but we decided to come here first and hear your side of the story. You owe us for that much, frankly."
With a wail, Graendal's head fell forward onto her chest, tears rolling down her face. "How?" she mumbled, barely loud enough to be heard.
"Someone saw you." Aran'gar's voice held no remorse, and a sneer twisted her normally beautiful features into something Osan'gar could barely stand to look at. "A man named Mazrim Taim was hiding in the palace from an army that was searching for him. He was wandering around the corridors when he saw you and Asmodean, and he described it all to us. We know the truth." Somehow, Osan'gar thought, if Aran'gar was the representative of truth, then perhaps it wasn't as wonderful as it was said to be.
He walked towards Graendal. "There was other evidence too, of course. Who other than you or Sammael could have been so close to the palace on that day, out of the Chosen? You were the only one of the Chosen who failed to give a reliable alibi for your whereabouts. You were the one who tried to throw off our investigations with your games and tricks. You were the only one who was in communication with Sammael and could have warned him to stay away from us. Afraid he would let slip something the rest of us didn't know? But you managed to do that yourself. Everything pointed to you, Graendal. Taim just confirmed what we already suspected."
"Now what, then?" Graendal looked up and stared straight into his eyes, her face still covered in tears but with a hard edge of defiance about it. "You've proved your point. What do you want from me?"
"I'll be honest with you. You've intrigued me with everything that's happened, and, in a lot of ways, I suppose Aran'gar and myself owe our very existence to your action. So we decided to give you a chance to explain yourself to us, to tell us exactly what happened and explain everything we didn't understand already, so that we could finish this once and for all. After all, you are still one of the Chosen. Of course, if you'd rather explain it all to Shaidar Haran or the Great Lord himself, then we will, regrettably, be forced to accommodate your wishes."
"No!" she cried, and then, trying to mask her fear, she repeated, "No. I have said before that I want nothing to do with that thing, and that's what I'll stand by." She paused, appearing to be considering something, before she continued. "You want to know what happened? Fine, I'll tell you. The truth," she added, seeing Aran'gar's expression. "I swear it.
"It all started on the day before, when Rahvin called myself, Sammael and Lanfear to Caemlyn in the middle of the night for an emergency meeting. He said that he'd just received information from Cairhien that Rand al'Thor was preparing to move, but that he was attacking him in Caemlyn, not Sammael in Illian as had been originally planned. He would not tell us who had given him such information, other than that the source was definitely reliable; but that in itself wasn't unusual, as I doubt he would have trusted any of us with such knowledge. The back-up plan we had put into place for such an event had failed, and Rahvin was already moving an army of Shadowspawn into the city to defend himself in the usual, panicky way he did. We all agreed that we had no choice but to change the plan so that it would take place in Caemlyn, not Illian, and that Rahvin would have to be the one prepared for an attack, not Sammael. He didn't like it, as you might expect, but he agreed.
"On the morning of the attack, however, I Travelled to Sammael's stronghold in Illian. We had been plotting against the other two for some time, and I told him that now was the perfect time to act. I persuaded him that it would be best if we pulled our effort out of the plan and allowed Rahvin and Lanfear to deal with al'Thor themselves. After all, what had they done for us that we should risk our lives in their foolish plan? This way, we could better plan our own attack against him. If Rahvin and Lanfear were killed or captured, we could tell the Great Lord we had only just been able to escape ourselves, and if it was al'Thor who was taken, then we could explain that we were diverted by his other forces, like Asmodean. It all made sense to me, although Sammael needed a little convincing before he saw how much we would benefit from this course of action.
"What I didn't discover until much later was that Lanfear also did not follow the scheduled plan. Instead, she executed her own individual attack that morning at the docks in Cairhien, a foolish manoeuvre that resulted in her own death. Had I known what Lanfear intended, I might have considered changing things, but the news didn't arrive until after the event. Lanfear ruined everything with her stupidity, and I doubt I'll ever forgive her for that.
"Unaware of what Lanfear had done, Sammael and I went to the palace in Caemlyn when we were summoned, but instead of going straight to Rahvin as planned, we stayed away from him. He probably didn't even notice another Gateway being woven in the city, with all the power he was throwing at al'Thor. We disguised ourselves with a couple of servant's uniforms, so al'Thor would not wonder who we were if he found us, and set about getting as close to the fight as possible; after all, we could not easily plan our next course of action unless we knew the outcome of the fight. We soon found ourselves near a fountain and realised that we had lost ourselves. That palace can be like a maze. We went to retrace our steps, when Rahvin came charging around the corner, looking behind him. Quickly, I threw myself at Sammael and brought him down so that Rahvin wouldn't see us. Luckily, he just ran straight past us, and it was alright until I realised why he didn't notice us. Rand al'Thor came around the corner as well as we were getting up, and he saw us. Fortunately, he didn't recognise us, but that idiot Sammael actually tried to fight him! I had to pull him back, and then I saw the dragons on his arms. Realising some sort of reaction was probably expected of me, I pretended to faint, and kept hold of Sammael as I did so to stop him ruining everything. Al'Thor ignored us, thankfully, and carried on after Rahvin.
"Al'Thor chased Rahvin into Tel'aran'rhiod, and we followed as closely as we dared. We had to stay fairly far back, since they were throwing balefire all over the place, it was hardly safe to be there at all. I was tempted a couple of times to help Rahvin in some way, but I couldn't alert either of them to our presence, so I held back. We eventually found al'Thor wandering around looking for Rahvin, although where Rahvin had gone I have no idea. Sammael was just staring at him, the way he does, and so he didn't see what I saw; Moghedien, clearly captured by one of the Aes Sedai and searching for Rahvin as well. Added to the fact that Lanfear was still missing, I realised something was seriously wrong and went to attack, but they blasted a massive flow of Fire at him. It almost burned me, and I was some distance away, so I can only imagine what it did to Rahvin. That was when al'Thor and Sammael finally realised where Rahvin was, and al'Thor killed him with balefire. After that, I wasn't going to stay there; I opened a Gateway and dragged Sammael through, before he tried to kill al'Thor again or something.
"Once we were back in the corridor, I told Sammael that it wasn't safe for us to stay if al'Thor was in control, and that we should go. I asked him if he would see if he could find out what had happened to Lanfear, but said I couldn't come with him, because I had to have a meeting with Moghedien. As you probably know by now, that was a lie. Sorry, Sammael," she added to the prone figure that still had barely moved on the floor, "but you know as well as I do that a secret is only as secret as the number of people who know it, no matter how much you're willing to trust those people. Rahvin didn't make it common knowledge, but there was evidence in Caemlyn palace that tied the two of us to everything that had happened. I did not want al'Thor to be able to prove that we had any part of Rahvin's schemes, or else we'd become the next targets on his list, and I feared Sammael would already be a target given what had happened. I had to find that evidence and destroy it.
"So I stayed behind. There were very few people about at first, and I felt confident enough to walk around without fear of being seen. After investigation that took some hours, I eventually managed to track down a small private office Rahvin had kept, organised as ever, and proceeded to destroy everything I found in it. Standard procedure, or so it would be if I had my way; just because someone was foolish enough to get themselves killed doesn't mean others should die with them.
"Anyway, as I performed this necessary duty, the door of the office opened. I didn't even see who it was before I reacted, and that's the truth. I heard him say something, I don't know what, but I could tell from his voice that he had recognised me, so I just lashed out with the Power. I almost couldn't believe it when I saw who it was laying dead in front of me. Surely Asmodean could have defended himself against my attack? I don't think he was that surprised, if he had time to recognise me. Whatever the reason, he was dead, and I suddenly realised that the palace must have been flooded with al'Thor's entire entourage while I was distracted. Aware of the increased danger, I went to leave, and then stopped. The thought suddenly came to me; why has the Great Lord never ordered any of us to kill Asmodean? Why was he allowed to teach Rand al'Thor all he knew? What had Lanfear and Asmodean decided between them before Asmodean had been captured? And that's when I realised what all of us had been too foolish to work out. Asmodean must have been given some plan, possibly involving Lanfear, by the Great Lord himself! Why else would we be told nothing about Asmodean's whereabouts or activities, given no orders to attack or even try to capture him for a traitor? We all know that the Great Lord sometimes gives orders secret even from the other Chosen. Asmodean must have had his orders. I don't believe Asmodean would be brave enough to betray the Great Lord, whatever Lanfear said, and despite anything the rest of you might believe. I decided to hide the body back at my palace in Arad Doman and not tell anyone about what had happened until I knew more, and resolved to find out what Lanfear knew.
"But by the next day, I discovered Lanfear had died, and with her died my chances of ever knowing if Asmodean really was crucial to one of the Great Lord's plans. It struck me that the Great Lord might be just as angry with whoever killed Asmodean as he would be with whoever broke his order not to kill al'Thor. So, I did what I had to do to protect myself. I lied. And any of the rest of you would have done the same in my place.
"And yes, I told Sammael to stay away from the rest of you. I was afraid he would lose his temper and give something away in the heat of the moment, but I couldn't tell him how much danger I was in. So I played on his paranoia, just as my own paranoia was being played upon. And I never lied to him. The rest of you were plotting against him, as far as I'm concerned. I still believe that. And that's it, as far as I'm concerned. It's finally over. I've told you everything. And I want nothing more to do with it."
During this speech, Aran'gar's expression had grown more and more impatient, but Osan'gar was looking more and more fascinated. This entire episode was finally coming to a close, and now he did understand. He didn't think he really had before, but now he thought he did. "It is over," he said, as much to himself as to Graendal. "And now it's over, you can come with us back to Shayol Ghul, and let Shaidar Haran hear your story."
He reached out to touch her, but she recoiled, as far as her bonds would allow. "No! I won't go. You can't make me. None of this is my fault!"
"It doesn't matter whether it's your fault or not," said Aran'gar. "You still did it. You can make up whatever excuses you like, and it won't make any difference. You killed Asmodean. Whether the Great Lord chooses to punish you like you think, or rewards you for killing a traitor, is for you to find out when we get there. But we've spent weeks hunting you, and we aren't about to let you get away now."
"Easy for you to say. You know I'm right, Aran'gar. Everyone does. You just want to see me suffer because you're sadistic. Do not think for a second I have forgotten what happened to make you hate me so much." She turned to a rather confused Osan'gar, who was wondering what all that was about. "But you realise what's going on, don't you, Osan'gar? You listened to everything I said. I saw you. You can help me. Just let me go. I won't bother you again, you probably won't even hear from me again, I swear!" All the last words came out almost faster than Graendal could say them.
Osan'gar looked at her, wondering just what her game was, and then at Aran'gar. Whatever the reason, Graendal was right; Aran'gar did hate her, although he couldn't ever recall any reason why that should be. Then again, he couldn't remember too many specific events from his old life. "No. We have to carry out the Great Lord's wishes. You have to be brought to him."
"You can't!" Somehow, without Osan'gar realising it, he had allowed himself to drop Graendal's bonds enough for her to drop to her knees and reach out to him, pulling him towards her. He did not resist. "Please. I'm begging you, Osan'gar. I'm begging you."
He looked at her face, and too late, he saw her lips twitch.
Aran'gar went down first, before Osan'gar could give a warning; he tried to turn around, but that only caused him to receive his blow to the temple instead of the back of his head. It impacted the floor as he fell, causing pain to explode into his head with a force that felt as though he was being crushed. Dizzily, he tried and failed to move his head, instead emitting a groan. He could see Aran'gar lying face down on the floor. She wasn't moving. He wasn't moving much either, but at least he seemed to be conscious.
Graendal's feet entered his field of vision as she walked across the floor to his assailant. "Thanks," she said. "I had to keep them talking for a bit. You could have made it here sooner, if you really wanted me alive."
"I did," said Mesaana's voice, and Osan'gar let out another groan. They'd been tricked, of course. He'd known that there was something wrong, but he'd ignored it because he thought he knew the truth. And Aran'gar still wasn't moving.
There was a rustling sound, almost as if two women were pulling a rather bulky, dazed man to his feet, and Mesaana said, "The three of us need to get out of here. The Great Lord won't be happy once he finds out what happened here. You said you'd have everything planned, and you had better live up to your word. Don't forget who stuck her neck out for you."
"Of course I haven't," Graendal's voice replied over sounds that seemed to indicate that Sammael was coming to. "Everything's ready and waiting. We're safe now."
Osan'gar felt the blackness coming to him, and as he passed out, the last thing he saw was Aran'gar's body, still unmoving.
- THE END –
A/N: 'What do you mean, "The End"? You can't leave them lying unconscious like that!' I hear you cry. Can and just did, I'm afraid. This may only be the end of part one, though, depending on whether or not I decide to write more about what happens after this, but I told myself that once I reached the point where Asmodean's killer was revealed and the killer's motives were explained, I'd stop. I'm leaving it open for the sole reason that I might what to write another part to it eventually, but I'm already woefully behind on things like Forsaken Tales to go beyond my original plans here. Hopefully I'll finish the story properly sometime in the future, but for now, the end means the end.
Oh, and to Damon-Elaet; Last time I checked, the reviews area was a place to critique writers and offer constructive criticism, not free advertising space (that doesn't work anyway). I'd be less annoyed if you hadn't left virtually identical messages on pretty much every WoT fic on the first page of the list, every single one of them being reviews of the first chapter which screams "I DIDN'T READ THIS STORY!" to me. I hate to end on a rant, but there it is.
Anyway, watch this space; I'll probably write a sequel some day. Until then, if you see Graendal, feel free to make a citizen's arrest.
