Chapter 18
A Loose Thread
"Come with me if you want to live," I said to her. I felt some belated embarrassment at the line, even if she didn't get the reference. The Aes Sedai hadn't dropped her hand either. In fact, I could still faintly smell flowers and cut grass.
I threw my hands up. "We don't have time for this and my charity has limits. I didn't come to this city to rescue you. So if you don't want to get captured again, stop channeling and follow my lead." I looked around. It occurred to me that there were several a'dams just lying around for the taking. Maybe the Pattern had thrown me a bone.
I couldn't wait any longer for the Aes Sedai to make up her mind and started gathering up the a'dams. On closer examination, I got my confirmation that lethal violence towards a sul'dam did indeed kill the damane they were linked with.
Turning my mask into a basket I loaded the ter'angreals into it and used some pieces of cloth to make apples I could lay on top. Those weren't edible, but they looked and felt real enough. I got to the one damane that hadn't run, on account that she was still leashed.
"What do you want from her?"
The Aes Sedai had stepped closer and I noticed the smell of saidar was gone. "Ah, good, you've decided to play this smart. Put this bracelet on your wrist, you'll just be another sul'dam and her damane on patrol who bought some apples along the way." I hefted the bag.
Her gaze flickered over the still bodies on the street. "I don't know if we have enough time for me to change clothes."
"We don't, allow me," I said, getting up and laying a hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but couldn't escape my grip. Truly, just redyeing and altering a dress was easy enough, but we needed this done fast so I put some Effort behind it.
She looked down with her jaw hitting the ground when her clothes turned to blue and red with silver lightning bolts on the red panels. It was a perfect copy of the examples around them. "Let's go," I told her as I turned around.
I didn't look back to check if she was coming. As I told her, my charity had limits.
"Sheraine, I'm so sorry," the damane said with a hitch in her voice and fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. "I couldn't-couldn't stop them." They knew each other? Thinking back, her face did have that same ageless quality.
"Shh, it's alright. And I'm sorry I can't take that off yet but that man's right," Sheraine said. "We'll just have to bear it a little longer."
I waited in the narrow side street, the same one that the Seanchan had used for their ambush. "Name's Ron, by the way." If they did get captured again, then they couldn't point them in the direction of Master Parthun. And if we pulled this off, we might meet again. "You'll have to lead, I'm just a laborer. Head south, we're heading for the tannery. Just in case they put a corlm on our trail."
They passed me and I picked up a small barrel that held iron items, judging by the weight and how they clinked against each other as I carried it over to the mouth of the alley. Expending Effort I turned much of the contents into a mix of one-third black powder and two-thirds sugar before pricking a hole in the side near the top. The wick went through and I ignited it before hastening over to join up with the Aes Sedai as they emerged into the street.
"What were you doing," Sheraine hissed, though she kept her eyes forward and turned to the south.
"Buying us a little more time, I hope."
We kept walking, the street basically abandoned, and the few that were about bowed quickly when they spotted Sheraine. Ahead, a patrol of Seanchan soldiers with a pair of giant, flightless birds following them came rushing towards us.
It was that moment my fuse reached the contents of the barrel. A loud bang that had everybody jumping rang through the streets of Falme. I turned with everybody else to the direction of the sound and saw a cloud of white smoke rise up.
To the Seanchan credit, they only took a couple of seconds to recover before they ran towards the explosion. The hunting cries of the corlm mixed with the thundering sound of armored figures running down the cobbled street.
"Don't move, act like you're searching for something here," I said out of the corner of my mouth before I crouched down and did my best to cower.
My heart galloped in my chest as the Seanchan soldiers got closer and closer. Then they stopped and I could see the officer's boots step closer. "Sul'dam, is something wrong?"
My stomach was cramping, but I prepared to deal with them quickly. I still had some Effort left.
"I … I believe so, Standard Bearer. We're catching a marath'damane," Sheraine said with a drawl. It wasn't quite the Seanchan accent I'd heard before, but it sounded like it. And she'd apparently learned how Seanchan spoke about channelers. "Take your men and investigate. We-I have my own orders. Come," she said to us before she turned her back to the smoke now billowing out of the alley.
"Y-your will, mistress," I said, keeping my eyes on the cobbles as I quickly stood up and followed.
For a moment, the soldiers were silent, but then the officer ordered them to follow him and the sound of their pounding feet joined that of others we could hear echoing through the streets.
Still, I didn't let out my breath until we turned left into another alley.
VVVV
We had switched disguises at the tannery. Ryma's a'dam, that was the other Aes Sedai's name, joined the rest in my basket. So did Sheraine's ear rings and other jewelry, with the exception of the gold ring in the shape of a snake eating its own tail. That one went in her purse.
After I readjusted both their dresses into something a peasant woman would wear I handed Ryma the basket and led them to my manufactory. The streets were dark now as the last rays of the setting sun died the upper floors of Falme a pinkish red.
The two Aes Sedai were conversing in hushed tones with one another and I could feel their eyes on me. Now that I had some time to consider my actions, I was having doubts. I didn't know these two, I think they were the captured Aes Sedai we saw in later books and both were thoroughly broken.
But there was no indication they'd been Black Ajah that I could recall. But how reliable was that? And even if they weren't, how would they react to finding out they didn't know as much as they thought?
"Better burn that bridge after I get to it, not before," I muttered to myself.
"What did you say?" Sheraine asked.
"That we're here." I used the simple key to unlock the door and slid it to the side. The former stable was silent and empty, Kelua had closed up behind her when the day's work had stopped. Without electricity, the work rhythm was determined by the sun and it set early this late in the year.
They stood outside, watching me and peering into the dark gloom of the building. Sheraine spoke first. "How do we know this isn't a trap? You're not Seanchan, but you could be a Darkfriend."
"I understand that we don't know each other, but given that I didn't need to rescue either of you I would hope you'd extend a modicum of trust. Or at least have the good sense not to be paranoid in the middle of the street while they're looking for you."
"No!" Ryma's teeth clicked together as her face reddened and she rushed inside.
"Fine. It's better we speak in private," Sheraine stated before she followed her fellow Aes Sedai inside at a more measured pace. I didn't shut the door right away, I first had to light an oil lamp which I hung up on a hook in the ceiling. Only then did I pull the door shut and lowered the metal bar with a hook on the end that fitted into a metal hoop on the door.
Ryma dropped the basket and took several steps away from it, looking at it like she'd just carried a basket of manure. She also flinched at the clinkling of the a'dams as they hit the wooden floorboards.
Sheraine paid more attention to her surroundings, studying the Spinning Jenny's that occupied half the barn as well as the spools of thread and piles of woolen rovings yet to be spun into thread. The smell of lanolin had long since driven the old smell of horse out of the building. "There's nobody else here?"
"There shouldn't be," I said.
Quick as a flash, Sheraine had a dagger to my throat. "Now, who are you and what did you do to me?"
I blinked, my tongue tied as several disparate thoughts tumbled through my brain. I hadn't expected an Aes Sedai to be capable of using something other than the One Power, but she had and without hesitation. And she'd just lost her Warder, her soul had basically just been amputated and the wound should still be bleeding. But she wasn't a sobbing mess, had it together better than Ryma even.
I couldn't help but smile. "You're a Green, aren't you?"
She pressed the knife deeper. "I'm asking the questions."
"Sheraine, is this necessary?" Ryma asked from behind her.
She turned away from me to answer Ryma and the pressure of the knife relented. "You didn't see what he did. He tore through weaves as if they were nothing. And when he removed their shield stopping me from reaching the Source, he also removed my oaths."
"That's impossible," Ryma said. "But you did lie to those soldiers." Her eyes grew three sizes. "You're not bound by the Three Oaths anymore?"
"Oh," I said and their attention returned to me. "That's on me then, I got a little enthusiastic there. I just wanted to free you from the a'dam. But I suppose those oaths do bind you."
"And how did you do that?" The knife pressed in again. If my throat wasn't armored this would have drawn blood. "I was shielded, but I could still sense their weaves and they placed a shield on you. It didn't slow you down. And my shield didn't stop you from turning that mask of yours into a basket either."
For a moment I considered pulling the knife away, but that wouldn't de-escalate the situation. "Well, shielding me from the One Power would be like building a dyke to keep the river out when there's a hurricane bearing down on your town. Like the Seanchan, I'm an out-of-context problem."
She studied me for a moment, then she nodded. The knife didn't leave my neck, but it wasn't pressed against my skin anymore. "Alright, undo what you did. Restore the oaths."
I blinked. "Oh, I can't do that."
"What?!" And the knife went back to my artery.
"I can set people free, I can't jail them. I'm afraid you'll just have to return to Tar Valon and swear on the Oath Rod again."
Ryma frowned. "How you know about the Oath Rod?"
"I'll answer your questions, but I would prefer to do it while seated. And without the knife to my throat," I told Sheraine, giving the knife a meaningful look. "I understand you just lost your Warder and that it feels like they tore your heart out and left only some bleeding pieces, but I'm not your enemy."
Tears welled up in Sheraine's eyes at my mentioning of her Warder. Then she closed them and took a shuddering breath. The blade shook against my neck. Exhaling through her nose she opened her eyes again and took a step away. "Very well. We … I've been up since early this morning. A place to sit would be nice."
"Excellent." I got us all a chair and sat down. The two Aes Sedai made sure to sit relatively close to each other and opposite of me. "Now then, what would you like to know first?"
"Who are you?" Sheraine leaned forward. "Who are you really, Ron?"
"Perhaps I should have added that I can't answer every question. But," I continued as to forestall her, "as you can imagine, the Amyrlin has a lot of nets in a lot of rivers. And when you're fishing for silverpike an eel trap just won't work."
"By the Light, please no fish metaphors," Ryma pleaded. "I don't want to see or hear about fish for the rest of my life."
"I know you don't like fish," Sheraine said, frowning in Ryma's direction.
"They made me eat it anyway, Sheraine," the other Aes Sedai said with a grimace. "I ate what they told me to eat, I went where they told me to go." She rubbed her neck with her hand. "When Surine realized how much I hated fish she delighted in serving it with every meal. Just another way to show their power. To break me!" Her breathing got faster and faster.
Sheraine reached for Ryma, but she shied away. "I'm f-f-f. I'm free now, Sheraine." She looked up and her pale blue eyes shone. "Thanks to you, we're both free." She held her breath, then let it out with a shuddering exhalation. "So, thank you, Ron, for that if nothing else. But … are you saying you're an agent of the Amyrlin Seat."
I spread my fingers out on the table. "I couldn't possible confirm or deny that. But my last conversation with the Amyrlin was friendly enough." I'm not sure Egwene considered me a friend, but last we spoke was amicable enough. And she will be an Amyrlin.
Sheraine took over. "Then can you tell us why you're here? Or how you know things an outsider, let alone a man, shouldn't know about?"
"Not from the Amyrlin, I can assure you." I put a hand on my chest. "I'm a scholar that's had access to now lost sources of knowledge. That's how I know things nobody that's not an Aes Sedai is supposed to know. And also some things that the Aes Sedai as a whole don't know."
I formed a triangle with my fingers as I contemplated my next words. Ryma had been inside. She might know where they held Gemiad. "As to why I'm here, I already told you. I'm here to rescue several people. Several young women, I should say."
Sheraine's gaze sharpened. "Using that ability of yours?"
I spread my hands apart. "Using every trick and tool at my disposal."
"And can you tell us who you're rescuing? What's the Amyrlin's interest in this?"
I licked my lips, started to speak, then reconsidered how I should open. "More than a month ago, several Novices and one Accepted disappeared from the Tower. One of those novices is the Daughter-Heir of Andor."
Ryma choked and Sheraine looked at me slack jawed.
"I've now confirmed that the other Novice is being held captive here in Falme by the Seanchan. She was captured only a few days after disappearing from the White Tower. You can imagine that this is both sensitive and something of a mystery as to how they could have traveled the distance in such a short time."
"They've lost Queen Morgase's daughter?" Ryma shook her head. "The Tower would have sent both the Tower Guard and a hundred sisters if they knew she was in Seanchan hands."
"And what would they do?" Sheraine asked her. "The guardsmen wouldn't stand a chance. And our sisters wouldn't fare so much better than we did." She turned her attention to me. "But you can sneak in. You're not a channeler, you're something else. Something they don't know. An out-of-context problem, I believe I grasp what that is now."
"I believe so yes," I said, inclining my head. "Ah, Ryma Sedai. Did you by any chance hear of a damane called Egwene? She has a dark complexion, brown eyes, long hair not in a braid. She'd have a Two Rivers accent."
"Ah." Ryma blinked and thought. "No. There were some that answer to the description, but I don't know their names and I didn't hear them speak."
"That's alright. How about a young woman, not a channeler, called Min. She has short hair and wears boy's trousers rather than a dress."
"Yes, yes, I … I heard Renna and Surine talk about a young woman like that. They didn't use her name, but they talked about her wearing a man's clothing. They didn't know what to make of her. Who is she?"
"Someone else that disappeared from the Tower at the same time. I can't tell you more than that. How about another woman slightly older, with dark blond hair that would reach her shoulders, dark green eyes, and she's have a Caemlyn accent? Her name's Gemiad."
"A Caemlyn accent? Yes," Ryma said, "there is someone with that on the same floor they held me. I never caught her name, but I thought it strange to hear that accent in Falme of all places." She grimaced, though she said nothing more.
I breathed a little easier than I had for weeks. I had more than confirmation now, Ryma had narrowed my search down to a manageable area. If need be, I would simply fly in, smash through the wall on Gemiad's floor, and find out where she was from there. A lot of innocent people would die, but she'd be safe.
Let's make that plan C.
"You didn't ask about Elayne Trakand," Sheraine said. "Do you already know where she is?"
"Not exactly. Lady Suroth came back with Egwene and Min, but also a few empty a'dams. So Elayne and Nynaeve are either hiding out in the country side, or they're here in Falme planning to rescue their friends. And given their personalities, I'm willing to bet a very large sum of money on the latter." I couldn't help but smile.
"Or they're dead," Ryma pointed out, biting her lower lip so it turned white.
"If it had come down to that, we would have heard about it. Nynaeve's the strongest channeler the White Tower has seen in a thousand years. Stronger than Cadsuane even. And given that she hasn't sworn the oaths yet …"
Ryma and Sheraine shared a look, then the latter spoke up. "Are you certain about that?"
"It's Cadsuane Sedai's estimation of her strength." I shrugged. "I'll defer to her judgment on that." A judgment she'll make when they meet, which won't be for another year or two. Or wouldn't be.
Ryma shook her head. "I thought Cadsuane was dead."
"She's been growing roses in Ghealdan," I said, the little factoid just popping into my head as I pulled the basket over to me. I had confirmation and if I was right, I had what I needed to make my plan work.
"Very well," Sheraine said, "We'll rescue them as well. You can disguise us both as sul'dam this time and we'll simply walk them out. Both Gemiad and Egwene."
That jerked my attention back to the two Aes Sedai. Sheraine looked determined, Ryma as if she'd been told to walk over hot coals; without using the One Power. "Too risky. Someone could recognize Ryma."
The Aes Sedai in question seemed to sway between relief and the need to defend her ability as she interjected. "I could do it. I've noticed the Seanchan look more to what someone wears than who they are. And they don't think of-of damane as people. Very few Seanchan will even think to connect a strange sul'dam to Ryma the damane."
"Few, but some will," I said. "And in any case, I'm not planning on only rescuing two people." I pulled out two of the a'dams and both Aes Sedai rocked back in their seat. I, however, was more interested in examining the devices rather than in their reaction to it. "I'm going to free every damane on the peninsula."
"Every …?" Ryma trailed off.
"Using the same power you used on me?" Sheraine asked, her eyes narrowed.
"Not exactly. That was causing a temporary hiccup in reality. Sort of. To free every leashed woman in the area I'll have to permanently alter the rules of reality. For Toman's Head anyway, a'dam outside of it will keep working."
Ryma shot up from her seat and pointed in my direction. "If you could do that, why didn't you already do it?"
"Because I needed several a'dams to make it work." I jingled one of them. "With these, I have the base material I need to anchor my working. They'll need to be distributed around the city, but I'll only need a couple of days."
Sheraine gently guided Ryma back into her chair. "I understand you have your secrets. But you've just told us they're holding a novice and tried to capture another. We need more than your reassurance that you can do what you say you can do. So explain what you can."
Running one of the chains through my hand, I considered her request. Well, not really a request, more a demand. "Okay, to put it simply, these are ter'angreal," I said, once more holding up one of the a'dams.
"But they have hundreds of them. Thousands," Ryma protested. "Nobody's found two identical ter'angreal before, let alone enough to equip an army with them."
I turned to face her. "But consider what they do. They allow one channeler to form an involuntary circle with another. Interacting with the One Power like that, what else could it be?"
"He's right, those things can't be anything else, Ryma," Sheraine said slowly as she pondered my words. "And that means that the sul'dam are channelers too."
Horror filled Ryma's pale blue eyes. "What?"
"How else could they use a ter'angreal? How else could they create a Weave" She shivered. "That … woman only had it on me for a short time, but I felt what she did. She used me to channel but she made the Weave. And how could she have done that if she couldn't see the Threads?"
"And only a channeler can see Weaves of the One Power." She blinked and looked at me. "Can you?"
"Ah, I can only smell it if someone channels. Much like a dog, really."
"Dogs can smell the One Power?" Sheraine looked down. "Is that why‒" She swallowed and closed her eyes. "We are getting distracted." Only after those words did she open her eyes. "We'll accept that the a'dam is a ter'angreal, for this discussion. Now how will this help you free everybody?"
"Because it means that every a'dam is the same, they all operate on the exact same principle. With preparation I can do a … more powerful version of the trick I used to free you. In essence, the rules governing this part of reality will change every so slightly. Not enough to be noticeable for normal people, but the a'dam in its current form will no longer work here; permanently. And once that's done, the Seanchan suddenly have a couple of hundred pissed-off channelers in the heart of their base of operation with no ability to counter or recapture them."
Sheraine looked somewhat sick. "None of whom are Aes Sedai, none have sworn the Three Oaths, and all have been "trained" to use the One Power as a weapon. They'll destroy Falme."
"It's not going to be pretty," I admitted. "Especially because some of the damane are Seanchan themselves, brought over with the invaders. There's no telling what they'll do, but I expect at least a couple to be so far gone that they actually believe they must be leashed. And fight anybody that threatens the empire."
"P-perhaps we should go with Sheraine's plan. We can get Egwene and Gemiad out tomorrow quietly. And without any deaths."
But I shook my head. "No, I'm not going to let anybody else rot in captivity. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."
