Chapter 1
New Beginnings
It had only been a few days since he had sealed the bore, but already Rand felt as though he had had enough of this "no responsibilities" thing. Everyone he loved, everyone he knew thought he was dead. Save for the few who really know what happened, and the one or two that suspect it. Rand stopped little, although when he did he had no problems. He tried not to use his new found powers for granted, mainly because he had no idea how they would work. At one point he tried casting gold coins out of thin air, and almost drowned himself in the process. He had at one point succeeded, but it wasn't much. Most inns he stopped at, he payed with the flute and harp.
The months passed by like a blur, and he soon became known as a gleeman by the people he met. He told stories of the Age of Legends, of the War of Power, the Trolloc Wars, the Fall of Manetheren, and more. And the fact that made them all better, was that they were all true. The countryside had just been ravaged by war, the worst war since the breaking. The people knew that life wasn't a he adventure, and they loved hearing stories for how they really were. It wasn't long before he found himself wandering into Caemlyn. I wonder if Elayne will be here, or if she will be elsewhere... he thought as his horse cantered through the gates. He rode through this city and to the Palace. They saw him coming up, with his Cloak and Cases, and the guards knew that he was a gleeman.
"I've come to preform for The Queen Elayne, good sires." he said with a flourish of his cloak. He expected a delay, but when the guard left and didn't come back for more than a couple of minutes he suspected something.
"I'm sorry Master Gleeman," the guard said as he returned, "but her Grace the Queen is not in Caemlyn at the moment. She is occupied in studies at the White Tower with her sisters, and will not be back for a while at best. She left her steward in charge, although she is not a fan of entertainment from people of what she calls the "wet lands" bloody Aiel. It's a wonder how the Queen puts up with her." Rand thought on that for a moment, There is only one person that Elayne would trust enough as her steward, and the fact that she was an Aiel just proves it all the more.
"I would still wish to see her, if that would be alright, or at least have an audience." The guard knew that he could not deny and audience, especially from a gleeman.
"Alright, just follow me, and don't wander off." The guard said, obviously annoyed that he had to do something on his watch. Rand looked at the walls, admiring the tappestries. It took more than a couple of minutes for him to realize that they were all new.
"These tapestries," Rand acknowledged, "They depict Tarmon Gai'don don't they?" Rand asked, in awe of how detailed they were. Some of them showed the battle on the Field of Merrilor, whereas others depicted his own fight inside of the Bore. She must have had Nyneave or Moraine help her with those ones, he reflected. They arrived at the doors to the throne room, the guard mumbled, which Rand took as "Stay here." and went inside. A few moments later he came back, and motioned for him to go inside. As he entered, he saw one of his beloved. Aviendha sat crosslegged on the floor in front of the throne. She glanced at him, not thinking much. He approached her. "Aviendha, you grace me with your presence. I have something for you..." If there was one thing Rand did know how to do with his new powers, it was to conjure a flower out of thin air. He procured it, thrusted it towards her, and it was then that she decided to pay closer attention to him, which was when she knew who he was."
"Rand."