The campsite was a mess. Fallen rocks and trees were strewn everywhere and there were small, blackened holes in the earth for hundreds of paces around him where his lightning strikes must have struck the earth. Several trees were nothing but charred remains or had been cloven in two. Strangely, despite the damage to the forest all around him the yew tree he had been placed under had survived without damage, aside from a few broken branches where rocks had fallen past or where the wind had rushed in. The Al'sieta Sedai were cleaning up the mess he had made of their clothes. They were covered in mud and leaves, and they had been thrown into the middle of a rainstorm that Jed had created while he was still somewhere between conscious and unconscious. He head still hurt where Namelle had elbowed him when she had fallen after he apparently lifted the earth and dropped it from underneath her. He thought back to the reason this had all happened. He had been beginning to wake, he thought, but had tried to return to the Dream, to force it into happening. The resulting pain had been unlike anything Jed had experienced before, endless pain that burned through every particle of his being, his body, his soul. Dimly he had felt saidin calling to him and had reached out blindly to grasp it, anything to relieve the pain. He had been unable to control it however. The raw power that had surged through him had had nowhere to go and had continued to build as he drew more and more in a futile effort to overcome the pain caused by his attempt to Dream. Somehow he had managed to release it, not knowing or caring where it was going, as long as it was away from him. Despite the pure ecstasy of holding the Power, the amount had caused him almost as much pain as whatever had happened when he tried to force the Dream to return.
Jed shook his head, grimacing slowly as he watched the Reds and Rashelle emerging from behind the rocks that he had upturned, completely clean and wearing new clothes but looking very angry. Jed glanced at Tarnia, Tomeine and Rhemala, who were maintaining his shield and already clean. They had cleaned themselves first while the others kept him shielded and reversed roles when they were done. He had awakened some time ago while Rashelle and the other Reds were cleaning themselves, and Rhemala had told him what had happened, that he had been poisoned by a myrddraal's blade and they had had to Heal him, that he had been asleep for over five days now, drifting closer to death with each passing moment. He had shivered at that. Tomeine, her face burning with anger, had explained why the camp looked as if a man had channelled there. Jed found some amusement in that, until he saw the fissure that had opened at some point before he was fully knocked unconscious. He looked over at it now, a black scar in the earth that stretched from him into the trees as far as he could see. Jed had been awake for maybe an hour or so and occasionally the earth rumbled slightly. Every time it did the women looked at him fearfully and not without a good deal of anger in their eyes. Namelle, the only one who had not been covered in mud, was resting in the cart. She had been Healed by Salarme after receiving a fractured skull from a rock. Jed regretted what had happened, especially since this would be the second time he had hurt her in just over two weeks. Two injuries in twenty days, though he could do nothing for the first. Jed looked up as Alaria, Rashelle and the others stopped in front of him. Usually, Jed prided himself on being able to stare down any Al'sieta Sedai, but right at that moment they were not Aes Sedai, instead Jed saw, including the three holding his shield, eight very angry women. He stood quickly, brushing his coat as he opened his mouth to apologise, say I-told-you-so, anything to break the silence. Alaria stepped up to him and suddenly Jed's face was burning, his eyes clearing. Alaria let her hand fall to her side and stepped away, moving to her horse and mounting it before looking over at him again. She had slapped him! Katerine stepped forward and raised her hand. Oh, Jed had time to think, before her slap to his face sent him staggering. Jed raised his arm to prevent more blows for a moment before lowering it. He deserved this, he realised. If they had used to power then he would have attempted to stop them but they had not, which meant that they were doing this not as Aes Sedai punishing a man who could channel, but as women who had been wronged by a man. Elena stepped forward, and Jed closed his eyes before facing her.
An hour later Jed sat in the cart, his face burning and his jaw aching; Salarme had a strong hand and she had almost sent him to his knees. Rashelle had looked thunderous and had knocked him to his knees. Strangely though, he had caught her smiling slightly as she looked down at him. The smile had quickly had him jumping to his feet again. Now, Jed watched Namelle silently while she ignored him completely, examining the woodwork, talking to Rhemala, not even looking at him when he tried to apologise for hurting her again. She kept his swords close to her though, looking at them every now and then in determination. Jed supposed that she had decided to use them to fill the void left by saidar, or she could just have been trying to irritate him by reminding him that he had given them to her and offered to teach her the sword. Countless years of experience and whenever he thought he had learned a bit more women seemed to surprise him all over again. He tried again.
"Namelle, please, I am sorry for what happened. I was still asleep. I did not know what I was doing," he pleaded. She just sniffed, and started playing Cat's Cradle with herself. Jed gave up, lifting his shoulders in defeat and turned to Rashelle, riding on his right.
"Would you mind if I walked for a while?" he asked her. She looked at him a moment before speaking.
"Wait for a moment," she finally said, heeling her horse forward to speak with Alaria. They looked back at him and Alaria nodded. Rashelle came back and said that he could. Jed jumped out of the cart and stretched his legs, falling into step between the cart and Rashelle on her horse.
"What do you intend to do once you have been taken to Tar Valon?" she asked.
Jed looked at her, surprised. "I do not suppose that I will want to do anything."
"Surely you must be thinking of escape though."
"Yes," he said carefully. They would expect him to try to escape so he might as well admit to thinking about it. "But what would be the point," he said.
"What do you mean?" Rashelle asked, frowning.
Jed though carefully before replying, "Even if I managed to escape, where would I go?" he asked. Where could he go? The waste, the words drifted up from his memory. It had only been a few days ago but already it felt like months since he had met that Aiel Wise One in his dreams.
Rashelle frowned, deeper this time, as if that was not the answer she was looking for. She could know, could she? No, it was impossible. She must be thinking of something else.
"Surely you can be more imaginative than that", she said, looking down at him. The gleam in her eyes was...possessive.
"I suppose my only choices would be to go somewhere you would not follow, or to prevent you from following me." The others were listening, he could tell, the way their heads were cocked in his direction.
"Let us assume for a moment that you do escape, where could you possibly go where the White Tower wouldn't find you?" she asked.
Jed smiled slightly. "The Blight," he said.
Rashelle looked at him sharply and the others looked at him sharply. "And who would you go there?" Rashelle whispered dangerously.
"Would you want to track a man through that place?" he asked. Jed had been to the blight, he had seen the affect the Light-cursed place had on people. He had decided long ago that if he ever felt himself succumbing to the taint he would go to the blight and fight there until he was killed by the shadowspawn creatures that inhabited it.
Rashelle shook her head before catching herself. "There you could be taken by myrddraal and turned," she said, looking at him. Alaria and the others looked at her sharply.
"That would only be if the rumours of the continued existence of the Black Ajah are true," Jed said softly, staring first at Rashelle and then at the others. They looked away, one by one. "Are they," he asked, "are they true?"
"Maybe," Rashelle said mysteriously. "We do not know, but we suspect not all of the...women, who served the Dark joined the male dreadlords during the Wars."
"Only the Green and the White still believe those foolish tales," Alaria said, certainty filling her voice with confidence. "The Black was eradicated as the Wars ended."
"Still," Namelle said, finally deeming to speak, though not to him, "there are no doubt wilders and men who have sworn to the Shadow still out there, biding their time." She did not look at Jed, but spoke instead to Rashelle, looking over his head. Rashelle looked at Jed, completely ignoring everyone else.
"What would you do if you escaped us, only to realise that the taint was beginning to overcome you?" she asked. She looked curious, if a bit pale at the thought of the taint. The others turned to look at him, not even trying hiding their eavesdropping. He looked around at them and decided to speak the truth, at least in this.
"If I feel the taint beginning to affect me I will go to the blight," he said.
"Why," Katerine said sharply, Tomeine and Rashelle looking at him suspiciously. Alaria just looked fascinated while Namelle and the others paled.
"If I begin to succumb to the taint, I will go the blight and I will burn it," he said, feeling excited at the prospect. His voice strengthened as he revealed what he would do, and their eyes widened at the expression on his face, the cold light in his eyes. "I will no longer need to hide what I am, no longer need to limit the amount of saidin that I draw and I will direct it all into burning everything within sight. By the Light and my hope of Salvation and Rebirth I will tear the Blight apart before I die." The women looked shocked, and there was silence in the land around them, as if the world itself was shocked at his announcement. Of all of them, strangely it was Tarnia who recovered first.
"Well, as much as it would please both the Tower and the borderlanders for the blight to burn, you know that once you go insane you will no longer be in control of your actions. You could well stray into the southlands, destroying everything in your path before we would be able to stop you," she said. Jed smiled.
"Do you recall the time, about thirty years ago now, when Borderland scouts reported that they had seen great flashes of light in the blight to the west of Tarwin's Gap?" The women looked at each other uncertainly, before Tarnia nodded.
"I remember," she said. "I was in the Seven Towers on a diplomatic mission from the Tower-the King's youngest son could channel-when a messenger came with news that flashes of light had been seen from one of the Blightborder Towers. I along with several other sisters at the time joined the King's legion to investigate the place where the flashes had been seen, just south of the Mountains of Dhoom. We found only a lake of glass and burnt land," she said.
"The scouts saw someone, didn't they?" Jed asked. "They saw a figure on the other side of the glass fields."
"Yes," Tarnia's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that? Nobody was supposed to find out that something had been found."
I knew a man, a soldier in the legion that went north," Jed lied, "After a few drinks he told me what he had seen." Jed paused. "I learned later on that a man on the edge of madness went north to the blight and that he did not go alone. I have friends among the towns and cities of the north; some know what I am, most do not and I was able to piece together what I believe happened." They all looked at him expectantly. "I learned that two men went north to the blight that day, one looked half-mad with missing fingers and scabs on his skin and the other was younger and healthy, wearing brown clothes and a black cloak. I learned that the young man returned but the older man did not. My contacts told me that the flashes began a few hours after the two men were seen entering the blight by a guard at one of the Blightborder towers. The man I spoke to, who had been in the legion, described what the man the scout had seen on the other side of the glass fields looked like. He said that at that distance the scout hadn't been able to make out his features but could confirm that he was wearing brown clothes with a black cloak and that he had black hair. The same man was described as the younger of the two men who came out of the blight a few days later."
"You think that the two men were able to channel?" Alaria asked.
"Yes," Jed said, looking at her. "I believe that the younger man took the older into the blight to die, that the older released his Power on the blight and the younger was there to make sure he died and did not come back south." The women looked at him. "I look for people like myself so that I can either stop them from channelling or, if they have already begun, shield them before the Tower can get to them. I always knot the webs in such a way that the men can never channel again, but I leave them with the hope that they can one day untie the web, keeping them alive." The women looked at him with different expressions, Rashelle looking possessive again for some reason, Namelle and Tarnia both looking proud and the others mostly looked at him with disgusted incredulity.
"That is a lot of speculation and not much evidence," Tomeine started. Jed interrupted her, walking around a small hole in the road.
"I know, but even if it is mostly my own imagination that is what I decided I would do if the taint ever began to overcome me." He paused. "Of course, that does not seem likely now."
"You will not escape us," Alaria said firmly.
"And if you try, I shall be forced to return to your daily punishments," Katerine said. From the look on her face she dearly wanted him to attempt it. Well, he would just have to give her what she wanted; but not yet.
"We are going too slowly," Alaria announced, "at this rate we will not reach the Tower before the first snows, and we have not even reached Jaroncen yet." She looked at Jed. "Back on the cart," she said, pointing. Jed sighed, but complied. So he would not be slowing them down anymore. Perhaps he could cause a commotion in the town that would allow him to escape. He smiled inwardly at the thought of the looks on their faces if he disappeared while they were at the inn. Even in disguise the Al'sieta Sedai would never stay in a second-class inn and would choose only the best. His back and rear began to ache as the cart and horses picked up speed, bouncing along the road to Jaroncen.
Over the next four days the Reds moved quickly, rising early, before the sun rose and not stopping until it was too dark to lead the horses further. They continued to set up wards around the campsite, and now that Jed was awake again, two of the Reds always kept a close eye on him, at least one always maintaining his shield. Jed noticed that even when one was holding the shield there were still seven hard points around the edges, along with the expected one soft remaining. Namelle asked him to begin teaching her the sword the day after he woke, finally speaking to him. Jed noticed that she still hadn't forgiven him for knocking her out though, which was troubling. The Reds and Rashelle watched the first time he began teaching Namelle, most curious despite a few sneers. Surprisingly, Rashelle also asked him to teach her how to handle a sword as well, saying that it would come in useful if she was ever unable to embrace the source. Jed didn't think he was supposed to have seen but, out of the corner of his eye, whenever they thought he wasn't looking Namelle glared daggers at Rashelle and Rashelle just smiled back, looking triumphant of all things. Women; he never had and never would understand them.
Four days after Jed awoke they reached Jaroncen. It was as Jed had seen it in the World of Dreams though there were several new buildings that he had not seen the last time he had been here in the flesh. The town, unlike borderland towns further north, did not have a stone wall circling it. Instead it was arranged as towns and villages were in the nations just south of the borderlands, with a deep moat filled with stakes around the original inner town and another moat four hundred paces outside of the first circle, this one filled with water with stakes on the outside. The moats would be roughly fifty paces across all the way around the town, with two bridges that could be quickly dismantled in the event of an attack, one on the west and the other on the east side. The Border Road ran straight through the town, shearing it in half, and the roads were arranged in crescents around the town square. Jed noticed that several new buildings were outside the outer moat and the trees had been cut down to almost a mile away from the village. Plans for a new moat were laid out; more stakes were being placed and men were digging into the earth near the road in a great third circle around the town. There were already eight watchtowers within the border of the town, inside the safety of each moat facing north, south, east and west. The innermost watchtowers were tall and made of stone, the four within the border of the second moat were stone bases with wooden frames going up to a platform high above the town. The stone foundations for another tower were being constructed by the side of the road as the party of Reds, Rashelle and Jed rode by. It looked as if they had come to the town during one of its expansion phases. The last time Jed had seen Jaroncen it had had only two circles, all the buildings inside and a wall being demolished within the first circle. Now there were buildings outside the second and a moat was being placed further down the road behind them. There was a guardhouse, an inn, several houses, one still under construction gathered around the west bridge to the outer circle which would probably be known as the second circle from now on. There were probably more buildings around the east bridge and others going up elsewhere around the town. Jaroncen was situated right on the border between Basharande and Elsalam and had been founded after the two nations were formed from the ruins of Jaramide and Aramaelle after the end of the Trolloc Wars five hundred years ago. Jaramide had been unable to hold together and had fallen apart to be reconstructed into the kingdoms of Abayan, Oman Dashar, Indrahar and Basharande. The people of Jaroncen descended from farmers, soldiers and traders who came together at the new border from both of the new nations and were now of both nations and none. Their town's laws were a mix of both Elsalam and Basharande and it was almost a tiny nation of its own, the people calling themselves Jaronens rather than Basharandeans or Elsalam.
The party rode by the guardhouse, not drawing the attention of the guards. Jed's sword was in its sheath by his side and he had donned his cloak after they came within sight of the town but swords were a common sight in any borderland town. The Reds rode proudly along the busy road, here called the High Street where the road ran through the town. Jed knew which inn they were heading for. It was one of the grandest and oldest buildings in the town at five stories high and made of bluish-grey stone. All of the stone buildings in the inner circle were made of bluish stone that was taken from one of the Ogier-built cities lost in the Wars. The inn was called The Gnashing Barman. Jed rather though the name had originally been called the Nashebar, after one of the cities of Jaramide. Not much was known about the city except that many of its palaces had been 'blue, like the summer sky' one of the old scrolls of the library of Al'cair'rahienallen said. The main reason he thought this was because the picture over the name featured a city of blue palaces and towers in a sunset, rather than a picture of a barman gnashing his teeth.
The group led the cart and horses to the stables around the back of the inn and Alaria sent Rashelle and Rhemala to find out if there were any guards they could hire in the town. Plainly they meant to avoid another incident such as the trolloc attack the night he was injured. They must have lost almost a week already, much to the relief and continued annoyance of Alaria.
"Tomeine, Tarnia, keep an eye on our 'guard' while I get us some rooms." Tomeine and Tarnia nodded, stepping up beside Jed. They had agreed on the cover story earlier that day. The women were traders from Tar Valon, Jed would be the only surviving guard of a trolloc raid on their caravan a month earlier, and they were here to hire guards before returning to the city. Since Jed was a blademaster there was no need for them to explain why he was the only guard to have survived and for any lying that needed to be done, Jed would do it or Alaria threatened that she would let Katerine have him for the remainder of their trip to the Tower. How lucky for him.
Jed turned to Tomeine and asked, "Mistress Tomeine, would you mind if I retrieve my possessions from the cart before we go to our rooms?" He had been perfectly polite and all servant asking a favour of his mistress but Tomeine still grimaced before replying.
"Of course, Guardsman Jedwyn," she replied. Jed had informed them that he had been a guard once while he was hiding from some Red sisters in the Shandalle Royal Palace, so they could safely use the title guardsman without choking their lungs up trying to lie. Jed smiled his thanks at her and took his pack from the cart. He looked at Namelle, standing there under the weight of her saddlebags and personal items picked up on her travels. He sighed and took the bags from her, hefting the saddle onto his shoulders with a grunt. Namelle, fitting her new station as one not Aes Sedai, had taken on the role of a servant. She smiled thankfully at Jed.
"Where are the swords?" he asked her.
"Here," she said, patting a bundle still in the cart. Jed nodded.
"Good," he said. "If you would pass them to me, it would be best if I carry them into the inn. Seeing a woman carrying swords here will draw attention to us." Namelle frowned and lifted her chin, straining for height as she tried to look him in the eyes.
"Women in Ebou Dar carry weapons all the time," she said stubbornly, "so why can I not carry them here?"
"Firstly," Jed said impatiently, beginning to feel the weight of the saddlebags, "because we are not in Ebou Dar, and secondly because you have not yet earned the right to carry a sword. You are learning," he said more kindly when her face fell, "but until I am sure that you see those swords are a part of you I am afraid that you will not be carrying them on your hip or in a bundle of blankets," He looked meaningfully at the bundle in the cart. Namelle blushed and stopped glaring at him stubbornly.
"Fine," she said, "You can take this bundle up to my room too, guardsman," she said loudly enough for the grooms to hear. Jed grumbled as he picked up the bundle and staggered his way around the building and into the inn. Alaria was finished with the innkeeper and was waiting at the foot of the stairs. The common room was as Jed remembered it, a clear path straight to the stairs with the bar on the left side of the room and tables and chairs spread across the floor. The door to the kitchens was open and Jed's stomach growled as he breathed in the smell of roasting meat.
"Later, guardsman Jedwyn," Namelle said loudly. Jed turned to her questioningly. She smiled mischievously, "I can hear your belly from here and I say later. For now you must take those saddlebags to my room." She was now speaking loudly enough for everyone in the common room to hear her and several heads had turned their way. Tomeine was hiding her mouth behind her hand but her eyes were sparkling with amusement. Tarnia laughed out loud before she could stop herself, but she was still giggling as Jed made his way over to the stairs. Alaria opened her mouth to speak as Jed staggered up to her, a wide smile spreading across her mouth but Jed forestalled her.
"Not one word," he said with a glare. Alaria closed her mouth with a snap but still looked fit to burst from wanting to laugh as she led them up to the third floor. She turned right along the spacious corridor and they walked for a few silent moments before stopping at the door to one of the larger servants' quarters. Namelle opened the door and walked in, gesturing for Jed to follow her. He walked over to the bed and dumped Namelle's saddlebags in a heap. The bundle carrying the swords he laid on the table beneath a mirror. Jed looked up and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, black red-streaked hair and dark eyes staring at him from a handsome face with smooth skin. There was dirt on his forehead and his clothes needed to be cleaned, but apart from a haunted look to his eyes he was fine. He turned away from the mirror to find Namelle staring at him strangely. He shook the thought from his head and walked to the door, Tomeine following him. Namelle spoke before he escaped into the corridor though.
"I want to speak to you before you go, Jedwyn," she said from behind him. Jed groaned, his shoulders drooping and turned back into the room. "Alone," Namelle said, looking over his shoulder at Tomeine.
"We need to keep an eye on him, Namelle, and you are unfortunately unable to do that anymore," Tarnia said, not unkindly.
Namelle sniffed. "I have been Stilled Tarnia but I am not stupid. You do not need to be able to see him to maintain the shield. Don't worry," she said, "I will scream if he tries to escape." She smiled with mirth. Tarnia nodded and, herding a protesting Tomeine ahead of her, left the room and closed the door. Jed faced Namelle.
"I want to know when we can begin my training again," she said, smoothing her skirts. Somehow, Jed got the impression that wasn't what she had wanted to say, but he answered her anyway.
"It will be difficult," he said, thinking. They would have guards now who would not know who they were. They might be curious as to why he was teaching a servant and a woman no less, how to fight using a sword. "We will have to come up with a reason for you to train."
He thought for a moment. "Ah." Namelle looked at him questioningly. "Simple," Jed said, "we will say that you were unhappy at not being able to do anything when the trollocs attacked and after the other guards were killed we had need of someone else who could handle a sword, so you asked me to train you. How is that?" he asked. Namelle nodded.
"It could work," was all she said.
"Good. So, was there anything else?" he asked. She blushed before replying.
"Yes, actually I-" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as the door banged open and Rashelle stamped in looking furious. Her face darkened when she saw Jed standing protectively in front of Namelle. When the door burst open he hadn't thought, simply darting between whoever was coming and Namelle. She was more vulnerable now than she realised and would not hesitate to stand up to anyone or anything that might be coming.
"What do you think you are doing!" she almost screamed, glaring at Jed. Suddenly the goosebumps on his arms, which he hadn't noticed in a while now but realised must have been there for days, flared as his clothes were pressed against his body and a force he couldn't see lifted him into the air and slammed him against the wall beside the bed. He looked up in astonishment as Rashelle began to advance on him, lifting her right hand toward his head. He struggled against the shield and the flows of Air but could do nothing. He was helpless! What is she going to do to me!
"Stop it Rashelle!" Tarnia yelled, as she ran into the room after the enraged Green. Jed couldn't move any part of his body save his head and he looked around to see Namelle trapped in the corner on the other side of the room. Suddenly the flows holding him disappeared and he dropped to the carpeted floorboards, startled. Tarnia was looking at Rashelle while Tomeine quickly ran to Jed and stared at him. Jed ran straight into the shield as he tried, in that brief moment when Tarnia had let go, to reach the source, but Tomeine got there first, slamming a shield between him and saidin before he could grasp it. Jed cried out in anguish as it was lost to him the moment he had been about to take it. Tomeine sighed in relief before helping Jed to his feet and wrapping his wrists in flows of Air behind his back. His feet suddenly attached themselves to the floor and the flare of anger within him faded when he looked up. Jed understood when Tomeine turned to watch the confrontation between Tarnia and Rashelle and taking her eyes off him to stare, intrigued, at the two women.
Rashelle was facing Tarnia with her hands clasped firmly in front of her and her dress flat against her body. Tarnia was glaring at her angrily. Jed thought that Tarnia must have let go of his shield to shield Rashelle and stop her from doing whatever it was she had been about to do to him. Tomeine might have lost control when Rashelle stormed in but had got to him before he realised that Tarnia had let his shield go.
"What were you thinking, Rashelle?" Tarnia demanded, "Bursting in here like a trolloc and slamming them against the walls. You could have smashed his bones to splinters you foolish child!" Tarnia was red in the face and screaming so loudly it was a wonder Jed couldn't hear the innkeeper pounding on the door. Rashelle's face was wet with tears and she was glaring angrily back at Tarnia. Her mouth was shut though, and white around the lips where Tarnia had obviously wrapped Air around her jaw to stop her from speaking.
"Now," Tarnia said, somewhat less loudly and her voice rough after shouting so loudly, "I am going to let you speak and you are going to give me a very good reason for what you just tried to do." Rashelle's mouth was freed and she opened her mouth before glancing at Jed.
"I...what were you thinking, Tarnia, leaving him alone in here with Namelle?" she asked desperately, her face red with anger. "Look," she said, pointing at the bundle containing the dual-swords beside the bed. "He could have taken them and killed you both before you even realised what was happening. He could have forced Namelle to open the door for him to club you! She might even have done it willingly, the way she acts around him!" Rashelle yelled one excuse after another without pausing for breath. Tarnia's eyebrows were rising higher and higher, until Jed thought that they would disappear into her greying fringe before she stopped being surprised. The way she acts around me? he thought, but shook it away, concentrating on what was happening before him.
Tarnia interrupted Rashelle's tirade. "None of this explains why you were about to-..." She looked sharply at Jed, before glaring at Rashelle. She gulped, beginning to sweat before looking away.
"You saw what happened the day he woke up," she said sullenly, "you were thrown into a tree!" Rashelle stopped, looking desperately into Tarnia's eyes. Tarnia stared back coldly, mercilessly. Finally Rashelle, seeing no quarter in the Red's eyes, said, "He could be made safe, here and now, before we even reach Tar Valon. I can control him," she said quietly. Jed had no idea what they were talking about now but it seemed that the Reds had been just in time if whatever she had been about to do would have put him under her control. Jed felt some amusement at that, though it faded quickly. Red Ajah to the rescue, he thought.
"And what do you think the consequences of such an action would be?" Tarnia asked quietly, looking into Rashelle's eyes. Tears were flowing down her face, her eyes moist. "How could you not think of the consequences?" Tarnia asked again urgently. "The penance you would be set for doing it would be bad enough, but to have to go through that," Tarnia whispered. She seemed about to say more but noticed everyone else in the room watching her, and her eyes focused on Jed.
"Get him out of here," she said to Tomeine, "This is not for him to hear." Tomeine nodded and Jed's arms and feet were freed.
"Come along then," she said, tugging at Jed's arm. He looked at her, confused, before glancing at Tarnia and Rashelle and moving to the door.
"Jed." The word stopped him in his tracks. He turned to look back at Rashelle. She looked up at him from where she had sat next to Tarnia and Namelle at the small table in the room. Namelle looked furious and kept glaring at Rashelle, her hands twitching, but Rashelle ignored her, focusing instead on Jed.
"I'm sorry, Jed," she said, sounding sincere. She looked up at him pleadingly. "Please say you will forgive me?" She looked so upset that Jed could not help but feel sorry for her. Whatever she had been about to do she had been thinking only of her Sisters safety and, truth to tell, Jed might well have done the same had their roles been reversed and his friend had been alone in a room with someone who had torn apart their campsite while having a bad dream.
Jed nodded at her, managing a smile. "I forgive you, Rashelle Damroden," he said, before turning and walking from the room.
Namelle watched Jed leave the room. Tomeine walked out behind him and closed the door quietly. Namelle heard their footsteps fade down the corridor before she turned her head and looked at Rashelle. The other woman was sitting there sulkily, glaring at the tabletop and clasping her hands together. Namelle had seen that look in the eyes of Accepted about to be raised to the shawl before, mostly women who became Greens or Yellows. Women who were afraid, not that they were about to become Aes Sedai but that another would get to the man they wanted to bond before they could. It was one of the reasons Namelle had chosen the Red Ajah, so that she would never have to experience the jealousy and worry that the others held for their warders. She snorted softly. She had never believed she might end up in a situation like this one, either. Tarnia kept glancing from Namelle to Rashelle thoughtfully, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed. Her curious glances at Namelle were becoming quite irritating. Tarnia opened her mouth to speak.
"We need to discuss what happened," she stated. Rashelle stirred and looked up from the table to dart a nervous look at Tarnia and a venomous one at Namelle. Namelle returned her glare with one of her own. How dare she barge in like that and throw them around like dolls. For the first time Namelle knew what it must be like for men or even women to be around someone who can channel. They were helpless, unable to fight back and incapable of doing anything if the channeller decided to use the Power against them. It was no wonder Aes Sedai had nearly always had to force warriors into becoming warders, though more men accepted the bond willingly now than they had before the Trolloc Wars. Namelle spoke before Rashelle had a chance to defend herself.
"There was no cause for the way she acted, Tarnia," Namelle said, not even looking at Rashelle. "She had no reason to believe that he would try anything here. I have taken part in six captures of men who could channel and I know how to deal with them." She held up a hand when Rashelle tried to say something and Tarnia's face filled with pity, "even without the Power," Namelle finished. At that moment Namelle heard voices outside the door before Alaria, Katerine, Salarme and Elena entered the room. Alaria looked furious, as did Salarme and Elena but Namelle wasn't surprised to see that Katerine seemed quite happy though she was obviously trying to hide it. Namelle noted the absence of Rhemala and supposed that she was still maintaining Jed's shield along with Tomeine. And probably having a good long chat with him as well; she had always been odd, nothing like the rest of them. She had continually tried to study and talk to the men they captured, learning about them and how they began channelling, what it was like touching the male half of the source and the way the taint felt when they grasped the Power. Namelle had thought her insane until she had discovered that Rhemala's brother had been able to channel. All she knew was that the boy had died before they found him. Namelle thought she understood Rhemala now, though she had seen her the way most Reds had before she had been stilled; a Brown in a red shawl. Alaria had her hands on her hips and Namelle knew that wasn't a good sign.
"Well," Alaria said into the silence, "I must admit it took you longer than I thought it would, Rashelle." Namelle's jaw dropped in astonishment and from the corner of her eye she saw that both Tarnia and Rashelle's mouths were also hanging open. Alaria didn't fail to see this and she smiled in amusement.
"Come now," she said, looking at the three of them, and at the women beside her. "You are a new sister of the Green Ajah, Rashelle, what did you think would happen?" She raised her eyebrows at Rashelle, who looked dumbfounded.
"Rashelle attempted to bond the boy, Alaria," Tarnia said fiercely, "and I for one don't think that it's a laughing matter. At all," she added for emphasis. Salarme's eyebrows rose and Elena looked shocked for a moment before hastily assuming a cool expression.
"You did what?" Katerine asked disgustedly. She looked quite ugly when she sneered like that, Namelle thought. She had no more room for Katerine though, as Rashelle spoke.
"As I told Tarnia," she said, shooting Tarnia a resentful glare that would have skinned a myrddraal at fifty paces, "he would be much safer if I was allowed to bond him. I could compel him through the bond and he would be no trouble all the way to Tar Valon," she said stubbornly. Namelle felt sick. She couldn't let this happen.
"You weren't looking to bond him to make him safe!" she almost yelled. "You almost smashed the door down and threw both myself and Jed against the walls like common thieves!" Rashelle flushed a deep red, perhaps in shame but more likely in anger. Namelle had known of her increasing interest in the boy for a while now.
"Jed?" Alaria said softly. Namelle looked at her quickly, noting the dangerous quality to her voice. "I did not know you were on first-name terms with the boy Namelle," she said, looking at her. Namelle swallowed and felt a blush building in her neck. She thought quickly.
"I must speak to him as an equal if he is to teach me the sword," Namelle replied, speaking as quickly as the words formed in her mind. "He is far younger than me, yes," Namelle saw Rashelle shift and look away, "but I can't call him boy without offending him."
Alaria's lips tightened slightly but then she relaxed. "We have accepted that you need to find something to replace...what was lost," she said uncomfortably, "but should you not then call him Blademaster Jedwyn if he is to teach you? Calling him 'Jed' sounds much more...intimate," she said slowly. Katerine smirked. Namelle felt her blush rising.
"It is not your business what Namelle calls him, Alaria," Tarnia spoke up suddenly to her right. "We were discussing Rashelle and her attempt to bond the boy, not Namelle's feelings towards him." Namelle felt a great rush of gratitude toward the older woman, and inclined her head slightly in thanks.
"Yes, of course," Alaria said.
"This cannot be allowed," Katerine snarled, anger twisting her features. "It is disgusting. It is an abomination! We cannot permit this." Namelle thought she was speaking about Rashelle but found to her great surprise that Katerine was glaring at her.
"What?" she asked. This was startling.
"You were of the Red Ajah, Namelle! The Red! How can you turn your back on everything that means so quickly?" Namelle and Katerine had never been close, in fact Namelle didn't believe she had any friends at all but this was downright insulting.
"I was stilled, Katerine! I thought you would understand that above all others. I need to find something or I'll die!" she shouted. Katerine winced but shouted right back.
"Then leave," she hissed, pointing at the door. "Go and find a hole to hide in like a good girl. Why can't you just go away like all the others, men and women both!" This stung more than anything Namelle could have done herself. The hole in her mind seemed to gape wider than ever and for a moment she wondered what the point of going was on. Why should she bother? Jed, a little voice in her mind whispered. Namelle took strength from that voice and shook out of her wandering thoughts. She looked up to find Salarme standing over her, Tarnia at her side. Katerine was gone and the others were avoiding Namelle's eye.
"How long?" she asked. No need to explain for Salarme answered instantly.
"Only a few minutes," she said. "Katerine has been punished and will not bother you again." Namelle sighed and smiled up at Salarme in gratitude. "Thank you from bringing me back," she said.
"Oh, it wasn't me," Salarme said surprisingly. "There is almost nothing to be done when one is...stilled, but when you went blank like that I thought the worst." Salarme turned away and sat down next to the bed. Tarnia remained. She looked at Namelle for a time before speaking.
"Something must have brought you out of that trance," she said. "I have seen men like that before and they never survive long or do much of anything afterward." She looked thoughtfully at Namelle for a moment.
"Come," she said. "We need to rejoin the others if we are to stop Rashelle bonding the boy before dawn." Namelle nodded and stood, walking over to the circle of chairs where the others had sat while she was occupied trying to survive.
"Have you thought f the consequences for bonding this man before we reach the Tower?" Elena was asking.
"Of course," Rashelle retorted. "I know what is going to happen."
"But do you have any idea of what it will be like to feel it?" Alaria said. "You will feel everything he feels while he is being gentled."
"You might even try to stop us," Katerine added harshly. "Light knows you Greens are possessive enough of your warders, but you haven't even been Aes Sedai for a year yet."
"I would never betray the Tower," Rashelle said fiercely. "I've already told you, I can handle it." Namelle noted that Alaria seemed to actually be considering letting Rashelle bond Jed. She felt a surge of panic.
"You can't let her do this, Alaria!" Namelle cried.
Alaria turned to face her. Katerine sneered but remained quiet.
"And why not?" Alaria asked. "We do not bond men and you cannot bond the boy." Namelle winced. "If Rashelle bonds him she can control him, if we can control him there will be no more attempts to escape or unexpected storms," she finished wryly.
"But he can channel," Namelle said desperately. "We cannot know what kind of affect the bond will have on him, she might not even be able to control him at all!"
"I can control him," Rashelle almost shouted at her. Alaria looked thoughtful. Namelle looked to Tarnia for help.
"What of the shield?" Tarnia asked. The others looked at her with confusion. Namelle was confused as well. What did the shield have to do with this? Tarnia looked around at them all. "The ability to touch the source is in the mind," she said, "the shield is placed in the mind and so is the bond." Alaria looked at Salarme.
"Well?" she asked.
Salarme nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, of course. The webs for the shield and the bond may combine, and there is no way to know what affect that will have." Tarnia snorted in agreement.
"The two webs joining or even touching each other, however indirectly, could cause any number of problems." Tarnia looked round at them all. "I knew a novice when I was younger, who told me a story of an Aes Sedai who mixed two different webs containing spirit together and caused an explosion much like one that we were taught can happen if we attempt to unravel a web." There was a collective intake of breath. Unravelling webs was dangerous and forbidden. Records from the library stated that not even the Aes Sedai of old, before the War of the Shadow, had unravelled webs. The few remaining books on channelling from the Age of Legends all agreed that unravelling webs was an unpredictable and very stupid thing to attempt to do. The results of failure were never the same but almost always very bad for the one trying to accomplish it.
"You see why it would be unwise to bond the boy before we reach the Tower," said Tarnia.
"We can release the shield holding him while I bond him," said Rashelle hopefully.
"No," said Alaria. Rashelle began to argue but Alaria held up her hand, stopping her. "No," she said again, "I will not risk another incident like the last and that is final." Rashelle frowned.
"But what if there is another," Elena said. There was quiet in the room for a moment.
"I would only need a moment," Rashelle said eagerly. "I could prepare the web and hold his head before you let go of the shield holding him. All I need is a few seconds without him realising he is free to bond him."
"While he sleeps," Elena said. Rashelle nodded in agreement.
"No!" Namelle said loudly. The others looked at her, their decision made. It was time to try something desperate. "At least wait until after we reach the Tower," she begged.
"He might escape by then," said Rashelle loudly, glaring at Namelle. There was another silence before Alaria spoke.
"The idea of an Aes Sedai bonding a man who can channel is horrifying to me," said Alaria. Katerine nodded quickly in agreement, her mouth tight with distaste. "So, unless there is another incident along the road, Rashelle, you will not be allowed to bond him before we reach the Tower." Rashelle tried to speak. "But," Alaria said quickly, "after that he is yours. It may even save his life." Rashelle grinned in triumph. Namelle deflated, feeling lost.
"May I at least continue to learn the sword from him until we reach the Tower?" Namelle asked. Rashelle grimaced and answered immediately.
"No," she said.
"He is not yours yet," Tarnia said, looking at Rashelle scathingly. Rashelle blushed and settled back in her chair.
"He will be," she said in satisfaction.
"Please, Alaria," Namelle asked. "I feel more whole when I am near him. When he is teaching me I almost never notice the hole." Alaria and the others winced.
"It would be fair, Alaria," said Salarme.
"Yes," Tarnia said. "We cannot doom Namelle for the sake of Rashelle's pride." Rashelle gave an indignant squawk.
Alaria looked at them, then at Namelle. "Very well," she said, "you may continue to learn from him, but," here she looked at Rashelle, who was beginning to look angry again, "after he has been bonded you are to stay away from him." Namelle set her jaw stubbornly.
"I will not debate this," Alaria said firmly, "whether he is bonded after we reach Tar Valon or before you will not approach him for anything. He will truly belong to Rashelle then." Namelle nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.
"If you don't mind," she said, "I would like to rest before tomorrow." Her voice shook slightly and she could feel a tightening in her throat but she held on long enough to see them out of her room before closing the door and throwing herself onto the bed, weeping into her pillow. There had to be a way out of this, there had to. Suddenly she stopped crying, though tears still ran down her cheeks.
"Yes," she whispered. There was a way to stop this, but it would be going against everything she had stood for as an Aes Sedai. But then, she thought, I am no longer Aes Sedai. Namelle stood and began to pace while she planned.
In her own room, Rashelle hummed softly to herself. She brushed her hair before setting the brush down on her dresser and sliding under the covers. She really hadn't wanted to act that way in the room, but when she had seen Tomeine and Tarnia standing outside Namelle's room she had had no doubt that Jed was in there. Namelle was by no means an ugly, or even plain, woman. Strangely, since her stilling, Namelle seemed to have become younger and more beautiful. She had not thought before charging in, blinded with anger and jealousy. Only now did Rashelle realise what she had done. Namelle was falling for the boy, Rashelle thought with a twist of her lips. She had noticed it since after the trolloc attack, how Namelle began to blush whenever Jed walked past and how she had started improving her appearance and acting less and less helpless around him. Rashelle had begun feeling closer to him long before Namelle and swore that there had been a spark between them that night she had first seen him in the inn. She had not told the others but there had been a connection, an understanding between the two of them the last time she had seen him before finding out that he had been the one who channelled in Garadrin. She had begun to feel more and more attracted to him and now she was sure that she was falling in love with the boy. Not that she saw him as a boy, no. She had increasingly strong suspicions about his true age. As she drifted off to sleep Rashelle imagined the day she would bond him, dreaming of him, lost and losing the will to live after his gentling, how Rashelle would come to him and take away his pain, giving him a piece of herself, along with her love. She dreamed of him crying with joy and, if not yet in love with her, growing to realise that she was the woman of his dreams over time. Rashelle smiled as she slept.