The Lady in the Night

Rand woke the next morning to the sound a movement outside his tent. He embraced Saidin and wove a detection ward at the entrance of his tent. It was a Trolloc! Rand suddenly jumped to his feet and lit the tent with the weave of fire and air. The Trolloc was crouched in a sneaking position. It was black clad and had a short sword hanging at its waist. The Trolloc immediately locked eyes with Rand, and came out of his crouch.

"My Lord Dragon! I was sent to warn you sir." The Trolloc wasn't even frightened at Rand's use of the Power.

Rand still held a weave of bale fire at bay when he asked, "Warn me of what?"

The Trolloc looked around, then came closer saying, "There is a Chosen here in the camp... or just outside it. Her name is Graendal, perhaps you have heard of her."

Rand smiled deviously, letting his weaves fade away. The Forsaken had come in person, probably assuming that Rand was less guarded outside his stone walls. The truth was that Rand was his only protection, aside from the Black Tower. Even they weren't much help. "Yes, I know of her. I sensed her earlier. But tell me sir Trolloc, how is it that you know of her presence?"

The Trolloc slouched and said resignedly, "We Trollocs have been bound to the Dark One and his kind since the beginning of the Age and even before. As an innate ability, we can sense when one of our... former masters is near."

So the Trollocs have been spying on the encampment. They were not as helpless as they seemed. No matter though, the Trolloc had apparently come for other reasons. Rand looked down to the Trolloc in masked contempt, "Is that your reason for waking me before dawn?"

The Trolloc now shrunk back in fear, then he said, "No Lord Dragon.; my elders were wondering if you would like our help in killing the Forsaken woman?"

"Then let your elders come and asked me themselves."

The Trolloc now did not hide his want to run, but said, "But my Lord... she is almost upon you, and we can... we can take care of her for you."

Rand's irritation twinged, and he let his displeasure show violently. "Do you not know that Graendal is second most powerful of the Chosen and third most powerful with the Power next to Ishmael and I? Do you not understand what she could do to you and your entire clan. I myself could destroy you all with a thought, it would only take her a little more to kill you all. She is not an idiot. Even I knew you Trollocs were not the same."

The words came screaming from the back of Rand's mind, KILL! Kill the Trolloc! He works for the Dark One! Kill him!

Rand nearly doubled over as Lews Therin grappled for control of his body. "I am Rand al'Thor!" Rand yelled. Lews Therin's grasp weakened, but Rand could feel see the weaves he wove. They were foreign to Rand, but he knew he had to stop. "I am Rand al'Thor!" The Power disappeared, and Rand recoiled with the force of its disappearance. Lews Therin went with it, and rand was left on his knees, tears running down his face, and he was gagging but nothing came up.

At the sight of it, the Trolloc took it as an attack and in the interest of the alliance, he ran away silently back into the forest outside the camp. Rand recovered shortly after and he looked up from his kneeling position to see the Sun's brilliance beginning to peak over the horizon. Now starts another day of danger with the reminder that he could not trust anyone.

Sal was approaching Rand's tent when Rand stepped out into the approaching sunlight. The man held his bow and his eyes were scanning the surrounding camp as he approached. "My Lord Dragon, the scouts haven't found any traces of the woman you sensed last night. The night was quiet."

Rand grimaced, "Almost quiet. Remember we still have Trollocs out there. I don't care if we did ally with them, they may still pose a threat as any man would."

Sal nodded in firm agreement, which surprised Rand. Then Sal asked, "What are your plans for today?"

Rand thought a moment, then said, "First I plan to find some breakfast. Then, I think I will talk with Commander Tobin about last night. After that, I think my job will be finished here and you and your company can take over."

Sal hesitated before asking, "Then you don't have any intentions of stationing the regiment elsewhere?"

Rand knew the man meant the front lines, and said, "Captain Sal, I do not intend to send your regiment at the front lines of battle until it becomes necessary."

Sadness painted Sal's face when he said finally, "Well, in that case, would you please consider something for me? Would you consider taking me with you to fight with your Aiel? I promise I can fight as well as any Aielman and better than most."

Rand smiled at the man's persistence, and said, "We'll see Captain. We''ll see."

Rand turned from the captain and walked, still smiling toward the dining tent.

---Graendal smiled to herself as she saw Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn turn away from a certain captain. His earlier episode of gagging and screaming was most intriguing. It was a time of weakness that Graendal knew that she could take advantage of. If she killed the boy, the Shaitan would be most pleased and would perhaps grant her more power; enough maybe to even surpass Ishmael. But that was all in the future. The night before, she had secured an alliance with the Commander Jack Tobin and now, she only needed to wait for the right moment to strike.

Graendal knew that Jack's mind had weakened terribly after her use of compulsion the night before. The only reason his mind was not completely destroyed was because she used her other, less potent power to seduce the man and make him hers. Now she had his loyalty without the madness of Compulsion. Jack Tobin would eventually get close enough to Rand, then hopefully be able to stick the poisoned dagger into the boy's back, catching him unaware. It was the perfect plan that kept her hands clean, yet left her mark upon the world. The other Chosen would know it was her because of the manner in which Rand al'Thor would die, which was by the hand of a man driven mad by Compulsion. The mind of a man was much easier to manipulate, that is by a woman anyway.

Graendal turned to walk away, and was met by the point of a sword. A thin black short sword was being held firmly to her throat by a... Trolloc, of all things. Graendal waved him away, and when he didn't move, she asked, "What are you doing Trolloc. Did Ishmael tell you to do this?"

The Trolloc just stared at her blankly. Then after a moment, Graendal was tired of the charade and embraced Saidar. At the embrace, the Trolloc pushed the point hard enough to draw blood and mar Graendal's beautiful neck. She pulled a dagger from nowhere, and before the lonely Trolloc could react, blood was gushing from its throat.

Even still, in its death, Graendal noticed that the Trolloc tried hard to lift his sword against her. At a gurgle, the Trolloc died. It was odd, but the Trolloc seemed determined to kill her. She obviously couldn't use the One Power to kill it because she was so close to the Dragon Reborn, no matter how weak he was at the moment. No, Jack would kill the boy for her and perhaps the resistance would fall with the Dragon. It was in human nature, Graendal knew, that there would be a loyalist uprising, but the Dark Lord could quickly put a stop to that. Then, Graendal could live out ruling her pets and maneuvering through the Great Game with the other Chosen. Contrary to popular belief, Graendal preferred peace which was unlike what most of the other Chosen liked. Asmodean was the only male Chosen that agreed with her on this, and he was dead.

Perhaps tonight would be the perfect night for Jack to strike, but only if al'Thor's sudden spasms continued. It put the boy in a state of weakness, even so that a lowly man could kill him. Graendal knew the boy's power and dare not confront him without help; which is why she was using the pretty Commander Tobin.

---Rand sent up mental barriers to Lews Therin as he entered the tent that had porridge boiling over open fires, the smell wafting and making his stomach want to do somersaults. Rand could show no weakness to these men, no matter what it took. Of course Rand would have to let the barriers down in order to take hold of Saidin, but many times, Saidin downed out the sickness that the dead Dragon brought on. No, now he must be strong and hard. He must demand respect from his soldiers. A bowl of porridge was passed his way, and Rand took it, letting his expression ease for a moment. Even the bland taste was good, after all Rand had not had a meal in three days. Lews Therin normally destroyed all temptations of food, but it was a necessary evil. Rand had spent the last three days silently conversing with the dead Dragon. Though the man spoke in riddles most of the time, Rand had worked out a more detailed history of the Forsaken and had learned many of their tricks.

Graendal for one liked to use what was known as Compulsion to take over peoples minds, and in essence create free disposable assassins. Now that Rand knew she was near, he could trust no one, not even to get him a goblet of wine or a cup of water. For the next few nights, Rand would need to sleep lightly and keep Saidin at hand. An attack could come from anyone, and probably at night when Rand would be sleeping. The block he used to block out Lews Therin was the most effective way of staying control of his own body, and the only way to stave off the constant attacks that followed the mad man's appearances. Even so, Rand knew that Graendal would not be stupid, and he could trust that an attack would come unexpectedly. All of that was in the future, but today he would be touring the Third Regiment of Andor; scouting out and trying to fix its weaknesses. He would also probably meet with another Ma Mael emissary before the days end, especially after his outburst at the visitor earlier that morning. Yes, today he would need to guard every step, lest he be killed.