(A/N – As a sort of penance for the brevity of the last chapter I have made this current update almost unfeasibly long. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Virago – Hope you didn't get in trouble with the whole working thing, but I'm glad you skived to read my little tale and provide such a top review. As ever, it's greatly appreciated.)

**Disclaimer** - Disclaimerered

Chapter Eleven

Mat groaned. A sliver of light pierced his slitted eyes, forcing them closed. He swallowed a curse and tried again.

A worried face came into focus.

Mat groaned again. 'For the love of the Light, Per, what are you doing sneaking around my tent?'

'I was merely checking that you were well, My Lord. I thought that perhaps you were sickening.'

'Why would you think that? I am fine. A bit too much wine, perhaps.' Except there were no empty wineskins. No bloody wine, in fact.

'Master Cal mentioned that you were out of sorts last night, my Lord. And it is unusual for you to sleep until so late...'

'Late? I have slept late?'

'My Lord, it is long past midday.' Per stared at him. 'Are you sure you are quite well? Perhaps I should call Mai.'

'I feel absolutely fine.' Mat sat up quickly to send the point home. He was fine. Fine enough. 'Will you stop looking at me as though I'm about to keel over?'

In truth he did feel a little delicate. He resisted the urge to slump back on his pillows and supposed he had better visit Mai - just in case. The sluggish thought dredged the last time he had seen her, strange and strained and looking just about how he felt right now.

'My Lord, are you certain you do not wish me to summon Mai?'

'I'm fine.' Mat scooped his hat from the floor; at least he had the sense not to sleep in that as well. 'But I think I would like to have a word with our healer just the same.'

Mai rested her chin on her hands and shot a withering glance at the fellow so intent on talking her into a stupor. While the other men were basking in the warm sunlight, or resting in the cool shade of the tents, this one seemed determined to stay no more than two paces from her side. Mai had finally surrendered and settled onto a sunlit patch of grass, legs aching. Her pursuer had quickly joined her.

'So what do you think...Mai, was it?'

She had barely given a weary nod before the man hurried on.

'Should it be Brene or Suryana? As I said to Mat, it does not really matter which I choose. One woman is as good as another, as they say.'

Estean scratched at his unhealthy looking beard as he considered; the hiatus gave Mai the opportunity to idly wonder who exactly they were. She supposed if she were not so exhausted, she would have been vaguely piqued.

'Taking a wife sounds frightfully grown up, doesn't it? But it is time I settled down. I shouldn't deprive the ladies of a man in his prime. They've always had an eye for me, you know? Who wouldn't for a young, eligible Lord like myself?'

He gave a snorting laugh at his wit. Mai gave another sigh.

'Of course, there are few noble women who would refuse me, but I'm sure a common wife would be more suitable to my tastes. Less stuffy, you know, more eager to please. Naturally, she would need attributes to compensate for her lack of breeding. Not just the usual things like cooking and such, but something of note as well. It would be good fortune to find a woman with a true skill. It would make married life far more interesting, yes? I have always thought a dancer would be an entertaining companion. Or maybe one of those Aiel women would be exciting, although they are a little on the savage side.'

A what woman? Mai barely had time to ruminate before Estean hurried on.

'Perhaps it would be best to aim for something a little more practical.' With a rising sensation of alarm, Mai realised the man's oily gaze was gliding towards her.

She leapt to her feet quickly enough to make her head perform a giddy swirl. 'Estean, I think it is time you had some rest.'

The young Lord peered up at her. 'Why?' His voice had a whiney, demanding cast to it.

'Because that is what you need right now.' Light, how could she get rid of this one? 'Besides, too much sun can be dangerous for someone in your condition.'

A disbelieving appeared on the Estean's irritatingly conceited face. 'Oh? How so?'

Mai faltered a little, silently willing her beleaguered mind to rescue her. 'Pox.' The word practically leapt from her tongue. 'The sunlight can brings out boils of frightening proportions. They affect the face mostly. One poor fellow had one right there.' She directed a slim finger at Estean's less that delicate nose. He followed its progress until he became near cross-eyed. 'It scarred horribly of course.'

The smug expression slid from Estean's face, and a hand now hovered protectively over his protuberant nose. The man's vanity seemed grossly misplaced; he had a face like a sackful of wonky horseshoes.

'Yes, well, I suppose you have kept me a little too long.' Estean's gaze was accusatory as he hitched his blanket higher, as though considering whether to hoist it protectively over his head. Instead, he hugged it tightly against his shoulders and rose quickly. 'Right, time to be off. Shall I see you later?'

There was a hopeful note to his voice. Mai nodded, trying hard to keep reluctance from showing on her face, and watched with high relief as Estean finally scuttled towards the infirmary.

Mai took a deep breath. She didn't think she would appreciate being alone today. Evidently, she was wrong.

'That was nicely done.'

She turned to see Cal smiling at her. Despite her unexpected relief at the newly acquired solitude, Mai felt a small ember flicker within her.

'It was not very professional of me. And now there will be all sorts of rumours about some deadly pox flying around.' Mai flopped to the ground. 'I only just managed to offset the one about the flesh-eating slugs. Those leeches have a lot to answer for.'

Mai shifted a little as Cal lowered himself to the ground beside her, although the movement was unnecessary. Her companion kept a comfortable distance between them. Cal always seemed to know how to make her at ease.

'I shouldn't worry about it. Estean is very resilient.' There was a strained look to the smile he gave her, a subtle angularity to the usually easy curve of his lips. She silently added sound character judgement to her growing list of Cal's qualities.

They sat a while in companionable silence.

Despite the warmth of the day and the much-improved company, Mai felt thoroughly drained. The horror of the previous evening had finally dimmed with the sun's first rays, but that had been after many hours of raw panic. Now her head throbbed and her eyes felt swollen and heavy. Her only consolation was that she had kept wits enough to stifle the shriek that had tried to escape her. The last thing she had needed last night was a group of would-be rescuers charging into her tent. It was an uncharitable thought, she conceded, but any further excitement in her condition might have prompted a blathering tirade of what had so terrified her. She was certain the men thought her odd enough at present without hysterics to compound the general consensus that she was a few sprigs short of a full bale.

Mai raised her face to the clouds billowing across the sky. The daylight was always a wonder for her, although the unconscious measure of hours until dusk had already begun in her tired mind.

'You look exhausted.' Cal was plucking idly at the grass. 'Are you getting enough sleep?'

'I am always early to my blankets.'

She kept her gaze upon the blue sky, eyes studying the shapes of white vapours. A pristine cloud meandered above her, it's contours lending it the appearance of a galloping creature. The white peaks seemed to curve into the semblance of horns. For a moment, the cloud looked like nothing more than a charging bull, its broad back and twin horns shining. She watched the glowing vapour contort, meld into another shape, this one unrecognisable as anything familiar. Mai narrowed her eyes, and saw it slowly coalesce into the guise of some strange creature with a sinuous, rippling body before dissolving into tattered white streams.

'You, too?'

Mai broke her contemplation to stare at him. 'Sorry?'

He waved a vague gesture at the sky. 'Hopeless cloud-gazer. It made me a horribly clumsy child. My father was always reciting the story of Saal to try and get me to look where my feet where going.'

Mai glanced at him questioningly.

'You haven't heard that one? I thought every child in supposed danger of developing an imagination was taught it some time or another.'

'I do not remember it,' she murmured.

'Well, as I recall, Saal was a fellow who became convinced that he was the powerful man in existence. Like all the great lunatics of old he tried to defy nature, commanding the tide to turn, fires to rage, the earth to shake, that sort of thing. He failed at most of his attempts, but did manage to charm the winds and somehow persuade them to obey him. Saal found that he could change the shapes of the clouds. It was like an art for him, but he could never touch his creations and his joy quickly became his torment.'

Mai's jaws cracked in another wide yawn.

'I didn't think my storytelling was that bad.'

'Sorry. Please continue.'

'Right, well, predictably poor Saal soon lost all reason and, in a fit of rage, used his power to rip the clouds from the sky and tear them into forms that would please him. The Creator blinded Saal for this sin and placed the clouds back where they belonged. But, as legend goes, the clouds sometimes remember the shapes that Saal once commanded them to take, and that's why they look like different things from time to time.' He paused. 'It's a bit of a silly story, actually. I should imagine its sole purpose was to deter hopeless daydreamers like myself.'

Mai frowned at the bitterness in his voice. 'Did it work?'

'Not particularly. In fact it only filled my head with lots of Saal-inspired stories - all startlingly unoriginal, of course.'

Mai again lifted her gaze to the cloud, which had now shaped itself into something like a loping fox, long tail trailing behind it like a banner. 'I do not remember reading that story. It has been a long time since I read anything.'

Cal frowned at the regretful note in her voice. 'You like to read?'

A smile came to her lips as she nodded.

Cal rose quickly to his feet and motioned for her to do the same.

'Where are we going?'

Cal merely shook his head as he backed away from her. 'Follow me and you'll find out.'

Mai had to run slightly to catch up with him, no easy feat in a cloak that seemed determined to trip her.

As she crested a small rise, Mai saw Cal had stopped.

He did not turn as she approached, or even acknowledge her arrival. He seemed to be very much involved in staring at something.

She watched him for a small while, perplexed. Cal's face was in shadow, save for where the sun had etched his profile in gold, and eerily expressionless. There was still no hint of any recognition of her arrival. Unease prickled. Mai would have reasoned that the man were trying to goose her, but that was not the sort of thing she thought Cal would do. Curiously, it appeared to be the tent before him that had snared his attention so completely. She moved carefully beside him and the angle soon revealed to her what he was studying.

An unfamiliar symbol was scrawled upon the tent, blazing starkly against the light canvas. Rivulets of red had run from the taut fabric onto the grass below. The strange marking reminded Mai of a hook.

Cal moved suddenly to shield her view. Her unease was so great that she physically started when he eventually broke the silence.

'Mai, Could you leave me alone for a moment?'

'Why?' She glanced at the stained tent. 'Is that one yours?'

'It will not take me long to clean up. Please just go.' The words were emotionless, so unlike the usual warmth of his well-mannered speech.

A whip of hair clung to her face. She swept at it awkwardly. 'I'll leave you to it, then.'

She received no response. Mai turned and headed reluctantly back to the infirmaries. She shivered into gooseflesh as a shadow passed above. Glancing up, Mai saw that the offending cloud was wide and sprawling. She was uncomfortably reminded of the strange crow that had watched her with glinting eyes, bloody carrion hooked under-claw.

She turned to Cal, as though for comfort, but the man was still staring at the tent. He hand't even moved. She made her decision and strode back to him.

'Here.' Mai knelt and began tugging at the knots. 'Help me with these.'

Cal stared before eventually moving into an awkward crouch, his fingers moving on the rope with slow yet methodical care.

They worked in silence, and it took them the better part of an hour before the tent was at last listing to the ground.

When it was done the pair stood in silence over the remains, now nothing more that a wan spill of red-stained material on the grass.

The high colour had left Cal's cheeks.

'The men probably thought it entertaining to play a prank on me,' he said. Then, seemingly realising he was being studied, 'Sorry it took me off guard. Still not used to this whole initiation into camaraderie nonsense.'

'Are they always this childish?'

He smiled and and suddenly looked like Cal again. 'That was actually almost mature for their standards.'

They stood in awkward silence for a few moments, then Cal dug an apple out of coat and offered it to her suddenly.

'Here. I think we shall be rolling in apples for some time after the bounty you and Mat collected.'

'I don't think I can stomach another apple for as long as I live.'

There was another awkward pause. 'I am sorry, Mai. For troubling you, I mean. I was acting like some sulky child.'

Suddenly he was quite a bit closer and taking her hand and, oh, as if she were not blushing enough already, planting a small kiss on it.

He was still staring earnestly at her as he stepped back. She busied herself brushing flecks of imaginary dust from her cloak.

'We really should find you something else to wear,' Cal announced, seemingly noticing the rent in the garment's hem.

'Perhaps.' She tried sounding non-committal instead of rude, but she was comfortable being hidden in its depths. Besides, what else was there to wear? Trousers? She almost choked at the thought.

'I'll try and dig something out for you.'

Mai was about to give dubious thanks when she heard a voice hailing her. Mat was striding towards them. Mai felt her cheeks redden anew; the thought of a witness to Cal bent over her hand was doubly mortifying.

'Mai. Can I have a word?'

'Just the one?' Cal quipped, grinning.

Mat's expression did not soften from that strangely rigid smile. 'Very funny. Well? Mai?'

Cal stayed on the small hill, absently lifted the apple to his mouth and took a deep bite. His narrowed gaze never left the departing pair.

The girl looked tired. Mat did not lessen his pace, however. As far as he was concerned, the girl's current state was no-one's fault but her own.

Mai held one hand level with her brow to shield the glare of the lowering sun, while the other grasped the front of her ragged cloak in an effort to keep from tripping. It was clear that she was struggling, but Mat wanted to be far from prying ears. He wondered if she had told Cal something. They had certainly seemed deep in conversation.

He stopped so abruptly that Mai faltered on a few paces before realising she was alone. She turned so Mat saw her face fully in the dimming light. She was pale, bluish veins visible beneath her red-rimmed eyes. She looked wretched yet composed, face politely enquiring yet so infuriatingly guarded.

'Is something wrong?'

'I suppose there is.' The terseness of his voice obviously surprised her; her polite facade slipped into a frown. 'I need to discuss a small matter with you.'

'Oh.' She grasped a clutch of black cloak then smoothed the creases. 'Well, if there is any way I can help...'

'You look tired,' he stated, keeping his voice level as possible. 'Hardly surprising really. Tell me, Mai, why do you not sleep?'

He had expected a reaction of some kind. Perhaps surprise at being found out, or a flush of guilt at harbouring such a strange secret. Instead he was met with calm. The girl had all the coolness of those bloody Aes Sedai. Time to try a different tack.

'That little glass container you have. It seems very dear to you.'

The girl's hand strayed to her sleeve before jerking back to her side. He revised his opinion a little; the girl was not so calm after all. And if he could prick an Aes Sedai's cool exterior then he could certainly rattle some village girl with a guilty secret.

'I fail to see how that has anything...'

'Yesterday, I picked up that little bottle. You might not remember, I believe you were shrieking at the time.' He felt a stab of satisfaction at her flush. No, it would not be so difficult after all. 'Some of what was inside leaked onto my hand.' He leaned closer. 'That little drop was enough to keep me awake all night.'

The colour had drained from her face. 'What is it you are trying to accuse me of?'

'You're using that...whatever it is...to keep you awake. Which brings me back to my first question - why do you never sleep?'

'That is no one's business but mine,' she snapped, turning away.

'No it isn't.' His stride easily caught up with her. 'But whether you're a danger to me and my men bloody well is.'

She stopped, eyes wide. 'What do you think I am?'

'I don't know, why don't you tell me.'

'Because it is of no consequence to you. I am healing your men, isn't that what I am here for?'

'If you are poisoning yourself, what's to stop you harming others?'

'I would never hurt them.'

Her shocked face was as effective as a slap. Mat rubbed his eyes so he would not have to see her dismay. 'I am not accusing you. I'm not. But if you are always on the edge of fainting what's to say you won't make mistakes? Yesterday, before you drank from that thing, you were asleep on your bloody feet.'

'I am aware of my limitations.' She had regained a little composure, although her hands had again taken to grasping clutches of her cloak.

'Why are you doing this?'

'It is is not something I wish to discuss. We all have our secrets, Mat.'

'Are yours dangerous?'

Her eyes flickered deliberately to the scar on his throat. 'Are yours?'

He stepped back, fingers itching to right the necktie. The girl was good, he'd give her that much. 'All right,' he murmured. Then, a trifle sneakily, 'I only wanted to help.'

Her shoulders sagged, resolve finally weakening. 'I am not a danger to you. You have to believe that.' Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

'And you can't go on like this.'

'I must.' The words were low, as though she had not intended to breathe them at all.

'Come on.' He extended an arm and urged her into a walk. 'I suppose you have your reasons.' He cleared his throat. 'Light knows, don't we all. If you ever you want to talk...' Easy now; he didn't want to be her confidante. '...Or anything...' He had never been any good in these situations. 'There's Cal. Or me, or something.' He winced. Where was Perrin when you needed the gentle touch?

'Thank you.'

'Right.' He clapped his hands together, glad to put an end to the situation. 'I suppose we'd better get back then.'

But the girl was already somewhere else; he followed her gaze to the cloud hanging low above. Its shape almost like that of a a huge black bird. Light, he was getting as dewy as Cal. 'Come on, Mai. It's getting dark.'

With a final glance upward, Mai drew her cloak tighter around her body and followed Mat to the camp.

Mai did not look up when the fire announced Cal's arrival with a swirl of embers. Wincing, she stitched a little more quickly, nearly piercing the pad of her finger.

What eventually disturbed her from her overly attentive repairing of her cloak's hem was the small bundle that appeared at her feet. She glanced up at Cal's easy smile.

Despite herself, Mai smiled back. 'What is it?'

'The quickest way to find out would be to open it.'

Mai picked up the package; it was folded in undyed cloth and boasted a sloppily tied rag-ribbon.

'You don't like my handiwork?'

'It's pretty.'

'Sarcasm's the most offensive form of wit, you know.'

Mai folded back the cloth. Beneath the thin layer of covering was a huddle of fabric which she picked up and held before her.

Mat, who had been watching the curious exchange with thinly veiled amusement, snorted. 'Very nice - no need to ride side-saddle in those.'

Mai folded the breeches back into the parcel. The second item - a blue tunic - was met with equally dubious enthusiasm. 'Cal,' she said carefully. 'These aren't women's clothes.'

'Sorry about that. Smallest clothes I could find were in the apprentice chest. Don't worry; the previous owner outgrew them.'

Mai was unenthusiastically refolding the garments when she realised there was something else in the soft parcel. Her exploring fingers revealed smooth leather.

'You said it's been a while since you read anything.' Cal's voice was soft and tentative, as though he expected her to be as unimpressed with this offering as the clothes.

She ran her fingers over the book's face, firelight giving away the tears in her eyes. 'Thank you.'

Mat stared at the two of them. 'Well, what is it?' Neither responded, so he craned a look at the book cradled in Mai's lap. 'Not bad. Mind if I have a borrow of that?'

Cal frowned at him. 'You've already read it twice since we've camped here.'

'I read lots of flaming books,' he said defensively. 'This one just happens to be my favourite.'

'I though Jain Farstrider was your favourite.'

'Never mind,' Mat muttered.

'It's the story of Saal,' said Mai in a soft voice, turning the pages gently.

'Not just Saal,' Cal assured. 'There are others. It's sort of a collection of stories.'

Her fingers traced the book cover once again as she smiled softly. 'Thank you.'

A wood knot chose that precise instant to explode in the campfire. Mat, who was midway through a dramatic eye-roll, blurted a startled oath.

Mai looked at him curiously. 'Would you like me to prepare some tea for your nerves?'

'Funny. Very funny.' He stood, yawned, stretched. 'Well, if you two are quite happy to sit here cooing over some book, be my guests. I'm off to bed.'

Cal's eyebrows quirked in surprise. 'It's a little early for you, isn't it?'

'I didn't get much sleep last night.' The statement emerged more harshly than intended, and he shot a guilty look at Mai. 'Not that it is a problem, of course,' he added too loudly. 'Plenty of time to catch up on some shut-eye.'

Mai tilted her head towards him a little, just enough to show her grateful smile.

He gave a small yet suitably grave bow in acknowledgement, pleased with his ability to make any situation better and grateful for an escape from any further discussion of books.