The work didn't get any easier, but my bed was comfortable enough, and the food was good, so I stayed at the Stag and the Lion for almost five years before the first truly exciting thing happened to me.
It began when I was out exploring the city the night before what I knew was Winternight in the country, and was celebrated similarly in Baerlon. I saw two strangers walk in the North Gate – a man and a woman, both dressed in fine clothes and on fine horses, like a lady and her guard, but that wasn't really what was strange to me, though the rest of the city gaped at them. They were both surrounded by auras, flickering and changing. Always.
Most of the time, when I viewed people, the images stayed the same and where only there sometimes. But with these two – it was image after image, flashing through so quickly I could hardly identify them before they were changing before my eyes. A twisted red doorway, a beautiful woman in a white dress that would harm her somehow, three rings hanging in the air, a man with lightning wreathing his head whose life she would be tied to. A ring, with a snake biting its tail the design it was shaped into. I gasped, my mouth dropping open.
I had never had much time for reading, but I had read enough to know what that meant. Aes Sedai. I leaned back, fearfully, as though she could snare me in just by looking at me. She looked at me, suddenly, and rode over to where I shrunk back against the building. She looked at me, and the man with her – her Warder, I guess, I thought – also looked at me, warily, and everywhere else, too. He was the hardest looking man I'd ever seen.
"Yes, Aes Sedai?" I said warily, before I realized what I'd said and wished I could take it back.
The Warder tensed, and a breath hissed between his teeth. "What do you know of Aes Sedai?" he asked flatly, his hand fingering his sword.
"Peace, Lan," said the lady, laying a hand on his arm. She looked down at me. "Could you show us to a good inn, miss…
"Min, Aes Sedai. If you please." I said politely, though still warily. It was said that Aes Sedai could weave nets around you without you knowing it. I didn't intend to get any closer to this Aes Sedai than I already was. "Follow me."
I set off toward the Stag and the Lion and they followed me easily, though I would not have minded had I lost them in the crowd. Here you are, Aes Sedai and Master Lan. I work here. May I go now?"
"Mistress Alys, if you please, Min." I had a feeling that was not her real name, but I did not protest. If she wanted her name secret, I would keep it secret, as long as she left Baerlon soon. "And this is Master Andra." She put a peculiar emphasis on the name that only strengthened my realization that Alys was indeed not her true name.
Mutch walked out of the stable. He took one look at the Aes Sedai and her Warder and his eyes widened. His gaze turned and he scowled at me. "Lazy girl, have you been keeping guests waiting with your idle talk?" he turned to the guests and his voice took on a simpering tone. "Pardon me for this one's behavior, Master and Mistress. She's just a young lout with no idea of responsibility. If I may take your horses?"
"No, she wasn't bothering me at all. She was very helpful in leading us to this inn," said the Aes Sedai as she swung down. "You may, good sir. For your trouble, master –" she flipped him a coin, and my eyes widened as I saw the glint of gold. "And you, miss," she added, tossing a coin to me.
I caught it deftly and stared at the gold coin in my hand, stamped with a design I didn't recognize. Something whispered in my mind about not trusting Aes Sedai money, but I ignored it and pocketed the coin.
As soon as the Aes Sedai disappeared, Mutch's smile vanished and he growled at me. "You filthy little brat! With your idle, brainless chatter you could have lost us good money! Be thankful that that lady is so forgiving." He stumped off, leaving me to lead the two horses into the stable.
Later in the evening, yawning, I staggered up the stairs to my room and opened the door – only to find the Aes Sedai and Lan sitting in the chairs next to the fire. Well, she was sitting. Lan was leaning against the wall and watching everything. The position would have been relaxed on any other man. He still looked dangerous, and I kept one eye firmly on him, and the other on his Aes Sedai.
"Yes, Aes – I mean, Mistress Alys? Have I done something wrong?"
Her gaze pinned me to the wall like a bug in a collection. "No, but I am curious…how did you know I was Aes Sedai the first time you saw me?"
I wracked my brain for some other explanation for how I had known, and found nothing. "I…I just guessed."
The Warder, Lan, snorted, the first sound I'd heard him make. She shot him a glance, and he fell silent. "Child, you may tell the truth. There is nothing to fear."
I bristled. "I am not a child. I am nearly to my twentieth nameday!"
Lan twitched, but rather than seeming angry, he seemed amused. I glared at him, but he didn't seem to notice. "Min, then," said the Aes Sedai absently. "If you will explain this…ability of yours? What did you see that distinguished me from any high-born lady?"
All of a sudden, in a rush, everything came out about my viewings, and my aunt and her telling me not to tell anyone. Everything. When I was done, I looked at her, looking for surprise or horror or anything, but she merely looked interested.
"Seeing Pieces of the Pattern," she said softly. "I have heard of such things, but never have I seen or listened to one who could do it, before. This is extraordinary, Min. Tell me…what do you see around me? And Lan?"
I warily told the Aes Sedai what I had seen around her, ready to run if she looked angry because of what I said. Then I looked at Lan and related what I saw around him. A dark haired woman underwater that he was bound to. The same red doorway as she had. Broken towers, and a baby in a cradle holding a sword. And more, too, always danger and foreboding…but he was a Warder, and Warders were always fighting, so the stories said. There were so many images, around both of them, that they were constantly crowding each other out so I could hardly distinguish one from another.
I glanced at her, searching for some sign of discomfort or annoyance, but all she looked was interested. "Very strange," she said. "And interesting. Does it mean anything to you? Can you know anything about what these images mean?"
"Sometimes," I said reluctantly. "But not with any of the images I told you about."
"Yes. Yes, of course. Thank you, Min," she said absently. "You may go." I could tell by her face that I was already forgotten, and I scowled. The Warder glanced at me, his face all stony planes and angles, but I would have thought he was amused if I thought that he was a man to be amused.
"Do you know how to use those knives you carry, girl?"
My hand twitched toward the sleeve of my coat, where two knives were hidden. I gaped at him. Perhaps it was true that Warders could see through cloth and behind their backs. I was suddenly very eager to leave the room. "Yes," I said defiantly, not about to show my fear. "I can." Then, just to show him, I flourished one of my knives from my sleeve and lunged at him, not intending to ever strike him. All of this was in less than a heartbeat, but in a moment he moved from apparent relaxation faster than a snake. His hand caught my arm, and though I struggled as hard as I could, he held it there as if he were stone – and his grip felt like stone, too. The Aes Sedai had not even looked up. His other hand brushed his sword briefly before he dropped it to his side and looked me in the eyes. He did not release me, however.
"Let me go!" I demanded, scowling fiercely at him.
Lan still looked amused. "Of course," he said, releasing my arm. I stumbled forward and almost fell, but I caught my balance quickly and glared at Lan, rubbing my arm.
"You needn't have been so rough. I wasn't actually going to hurt you."
"Of course not," said Lan. "I was never really in danger. I could tell the moment you moved that you would not. There is a difference in motion between the intent to kill and the intent to show off."
I blushed and looked down. "Well, you still…" I hesitated. "You shouldn't…" Letting out a huff of breath, I scowled. Anything I said, I knew, would sound childish. "Are you staying long?"
"No. We're leaving tomorrow morning," said the Aes Sedai briskly, still writing something at the table and not looking up.
"Where are you going?" I demanded.
"You don't have to know everything, girl," said Lan, but she shot him a look and offered me a smile. I resisted the urge to return it and deepened my scowl.
"We're going to the Two Rivers, child." When I glared at her, she added, "Min. We will be returning shortly, the day after, perhaps. It depends on what we find there. I will speak with you when I return, yes?"
I nodded. There was nothing else I could do.
"You may go, then, Min," said the Aes Sedai, and it was a dismissal, certainly, by the firmness in her voice. I walked to the door and walked out, closing the door behind me. However, I hesitated before leaving, and pressed my ear to the door.
"-an interesting child." the Aes Sedai was saying.
"Do you believe what she said? About these…viewings?"
"She has no reason to lie; therefore I will assume that she is telling the truth, until I have further evidence. I must speak to Siuan about this – she should be taken to the tower. I, at least, want to know more about this child's abilities." There was a pause, and then the Aes Sedai called out, "Min, child, I know you are listening. Eavesdropping is for children and thieves. As you are neither, you should not be doing it. Go to bed, child. And do no more listening to that which does not involve you."
Blushing, I turned and tiptoed away without responding.