Author's Note 11/22: Uploaded a previous version without a final check and editing pass.

Saven 7, 998 NE (May 17th)

We rode out right after breakfast, Moiraine and I. It was a quiet ride, the flowers forming a beautiful carpet in the undergrowth. She did not speak until we were deep into the woods. "The Five Elements are the threads of the One Power, the individual parts of the whole," she explained. "Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Spirit. Each is no more powerful than the other, though the White Tower is fair more partial to using Air and Water than any other Element, given that saidar works best with either Element, then the other three. As a man, saidin works well with Fire and Earth, presumably "

We sat across from one another in a large clearing with a small pond on the northern edge. Moiraine wore a dark green riding dress slashed with dark brown, earrings of golden amber, and an emerald the size of a ravens egg around her neck.

"The first thing I want you to do is seize saidin, and pick one of the Five and wield the smallest thread you can of any Element besides Spirit."

Going through the cycle like I had every night I worked with Moiraine, I achieved ko'di and seizing saidin in mere seconds. I felt truly alive, a feeling of power that was accompanied by the rotten perfume of the Taint temporarily soiling me. I could feel it trying to seep into me, take hold in my soul and only the knowledge that I would vomit it all up soon kept me from releasing saidin.

I could feel the flows of the One Power, the currents inside the raging river that dwelt inside me. Each differed from the other, and I could almost feel them beneath my skin; the endless heat of Fire, the raging windstorm of Air, the inexorable tides of Water, the deep endless grind of Earth, and the ineffable lightness of Spirit imposing itself. I tugged on the flow of Water and a thread eagerly jumped into my control. It was blue and about as round as a summer sausage. How odd. I can see right through it.

"I've got a thread of Water, Moiraine Sedai." I announced.

She considered me. "Water is an interesting choice. Should be more difficult for you. Direct it at the pond, try to form a ball of water with the thread. We should see something happen to the pond's surface, at the very least."

I did just that, the thread lumbering in my grasp. A ball of water about the size of a pumpkin came free with a small fish before I squeezed too hard. It popped like a bubble, fish floundering in the air before falling back into the water with a plop.

Moiraine was peering at me as if she was a bird and I was a wriggling worm she had unexpectedly found. She had been nervous off and on the entire ride but now a strange mix of fear and relief and worry. "That was… I knew men were said to be more powerful, but…." Relief won, and she laughed, high and clear. "Rand, you continue to exceed my expectations. I expected us to have to try at least a dozen times to do anything more than dimple the water." She paused, considering. "Perhaps it is simply a difference between saidin and saidar."

I was abashed; she thought me successful when I was not. "I did not wield it well, I meant for a small ball of water, maybe the size of a fist, and certainly not for it to explode!"

She laughed once more. "If this is wielding it unwell, then let us continue practicing Water. Make the thread as thin as you can, and try delicately scooping the water, do not simply grab at it."

We worked on Water for nearly two hours until I was completely exhausted, physically and mentally. By the time we finished I could make a ball of water the size of my head, though it was unstable and collapsed within half a minute. I could not get Moiraine's advice to work, there was no delicate work with the rushing power of saidin. We ate lunch then, sour apples and cold chicken shredded and mixed with vegetables in some kind of creamy egg sauce spooned on slices of bread. After such culinary delights I was tired, and Moiraine let me nap on the blanket underneath the tree.

I woke up in her lap some time later, a small smile on her lips that disappeared when she realized I was awake, pulling on her perpetual calm. I wanted to laugh as I that. "You can be happy at some point in front of me, Moiraine. I know you are not just the distant cold Aes Sedai, no need to pretend."

She raised an eyebrow then let her face fall back into the small smile. "I will admit I was admiring your face as you slept."

"Why?"

The sun was a little past its apex, and she seemed to shine in it, while warmth and birdsong filled the air. "It is strange to consider you as the Dragon Reborn. I was pondering you and your place in the Pattern." She paused, giving me a look before adding straightforwardly. "You look very handsome when you sleep. Adorable, even." I managed to not look away, but my face felt hot. She does that on purpose, she had to.

Before I transformed, she pulled several bowls from her saddlebags; ones of different metals and ceramics, even a small delicate bowl of green Sea Folk porcelain that must cost more than my father's farm is worth.

She had me start with a large clay bowl which shattered and melted from the black tar of the Taint, then a bronze bowl and a copper one, a couple different ceramics that ranged from shattered to melted into a soup, each burnt to a crisp by the colorful flame that I spat on them, a flame that seemed to seek the Taint.

Only the porcelain and the lead container survived, the Taint slowly evaporating in both as thin streams of black smoke drifted north, the heat slowly melting out the bottom of both containers. The blue-green of the porcelain had turned a sickly yellow-brown. Looks like I'll be needing a lead jar and some kind of iron platter in my room, and to apologize to Lord Agelmar.

The next few hours I spent in my so'shan, working on the six simplest weaves, naming them as I figured them out. Moiraine was content to let me make ham-fisted names, stating it would not be right for a woman to name men's weaves. She let her amusement at the simple names trickle to her face.

What surprised me the most was how easy they were. Often I made more powerful threads than I meant, or the thread simply slipped from my grasp like a wriggling worm, but actually making the Weave was simple. My grasp on the threads of saidin was clumsy, but enough to make the weave work somewhat consistently. As so'shan I constantly leaked black smoke from my nose and mouth when I channeled, the Taint burning up before it could touch me. I was glad to not have to vomit every time, but the scent of burnt Taint is going to linger in my mouth for days, I feared.

The Torchlight weave was a knot of Fire and Air that created a heatless flame as a light, and its twin weave a twist of Fire and Air, the Torchflare created a flame that briefly dazzled the eyes. I blinded us when I first made the Torchlight, far too much power makes it into a Torchflare that burns perpetually when tied off. Useful in a fight, but otherwise makes your teacher quite upset. Which was good to know, but it took minutes for our vision to return, only for us to lose it once more when I made the Torchflare. Moiraine forced me to move on, a scowl on her face.

I could make the Elemental Arrow from any single Element, forming a ray of the Element that could do some damage from our testing, but traveled far slower than an arrow. Still, it was fast enough to kill someone, which is presumably what the Spirit meant in their gift of these weaves. I struggled to settle my stomach after we tested each one, as I could only imagine what they would do to a person.

The Fire Arrow came so easily and so powerfully to me, that the first bolt I flung instantly steamed the pond, killing several fish. Moiraine forbid me from using Fire again until I can better regulate my power, something I vehemently agreed with. Fire scares me, I could have killed Moiraine with that. The Water Arrow made a lance of ice that pierced a tree. The Air Arrow cut through a thick branch and ripped it to pieces scattering , and the Earth Arrow, formed from a kind of black rock with sharp edges that tore another hole through the already damaged tree. I could kill anyone with these simple weaves, I thought, my stomach turning queasily

The Spirit Sword was, as its name implies, a sword made of Spirit. The sword was set into a loop that caused it to swing around me, presumably attacking anyone near me. It seemed to me to be another dangerous weave, though I knew not what kind of damage a blade of Spirit could do. It would be a surprising tactic to pull off in a sword fight. When I mentioned that, Moiraine had a thoughtful look and spoke of bringing Lan with us at some point, to practice swordplay and channeling together. I dreaded the thought. Even with the One Power I would never hit him.

The Alarm Ward was composed of Earth and Spirit layered on top of one another in a wide circle. It appeared to only let me know when someone crossed the invisible border. We tested with sticks and stones and leaves, even a squirrel that Moiraine held in a thread of Air. Only Moiraine crossing the Alarm would set off the loud noise that rang in my said it was similar, but simpler compared to the more complex wards Aes Sedai learned.

Last, but not least, was the One Power Finder. It was a silvery white crown of Spirit woven around my head that detected uses of the One Power as far as one edge of the clearing to another, about twenty paces, with testing. I closed my eyes and pointed at different directions that seemed to call to me with a warble of warning. Moiraine thought it of niche use for a woman, but valuable for me.

We spent the last hour in a Circle, as she watched me make each weave, before she attempted to do the same with fumbling attempts to wield the saidin I brought to the Circle. Each failure made her more and more frustrated until anger welled up and with the last try she made a bright but flickering flame. She shouted victoriously, arms in the air, then somehow smothered me with a hug though she only stood as tall as my chest. I magnanimously did not mention her embarrassment when she left my arms, her cheeks rosy in the setting sun.

Saven 10, 998 NE (May 20th)

Ever since I woke up on the 8th of Saven with the second group of Weaves now crystal clear in my head, I had anticipated our next 'picnic'. Moiraine had me working on the Torchlight weave in my room on her nights. I would try to make the smallest, least powerful light I can, as training for dexterous uses for the One Power. She told me that soon she would have me doing the same exercises that Egwene does with saidar. But today, after having a quiet breakfast with Egwene and a frowning Nynaeve and a Perrin who had gotten used to my coming and going at the beck of the Aes Sedai and Warder pair, seeing me at breakfast and lunch only. Mat did not eat with us, preferring the company of the soldiers Egwene told me he diced with, and presumably still upset with me. I was too busy to care. Then Moiraine approached the table, and we were off, heading south this time to a rocky outcropping an hour from Fal Dara, composed of a jumble of squarish boulders the size of houses. Faint carvings lingered on them, designs I recognize as flowers and animals. Moiraine called them ruins. A ruin for giants maybe.

I shifted, eager to seize saidin and see what the weaves in my head could do. I knew there were some really useful ones in there, more useful than lights or an admittedly deadly arrow of Power.

"Which one do you wish to dabble in first?" She looked calm, but I could feel the bubbles of excitement stirring. I was excited as well.

"The white net of Spirit, with its rainbow of the four other Elements forming the shape of an eye, calls to me. I know it would do something to an object but not what," I told Moiraine.

"Let us try it on a stick or rock first, then your sword, then on me if it seems safe."

The stick was Seen as a stick, but Moiraine and the sword was where the weave revealed its secrets. My father's sword was Seen as a 'Power-Wrought Blademaster Sword', able to be infused with the saidin, and currently at 97% durability, while Moiraine was Seen as a rank 13 Female Channeler on the Jordanian Scale, whatever that meant. I was Seen as a rank ++1 Male Channeler on the Jordanian scale. I decided to call it the Seeing Eye weave, to give it a slightly more colorful name then Moiraine's offer of 'Identify'.

"What if we tried it with my angreal?" Moiraine asked, excited about what we discovered. She sat in a Circle with me, watching as I worked the flows of Spirit into the required net, eagerly dissecting it so that she could make one herself.

"I would think that would be a great thing to check, if I knew what an angreal was."

"Ah. I had forgotten you don't remember eavesdropping on that conversation. An angreal and sa'angreal are objects of Power, created to use more of the One Power than someone could normally channel safely. Ter'angreal are object with one purpose, like the Oath Rod and your Bonder."

"Then this Seeing Eye would be a perfect weave to test it."

The small ivory statuette of a robed woman with bare feet seemed to soak in the Weave and returned a bevy of information to me. It was a Personal Saidar Angreal looking to connect with a new Owner, identified me as a Male Channeler and denied my attempt to connect. I guess the weave counted? It was used to store sounds and images, and offers an increase of 4 to the Jordanian Scale rank of any female owner, and 2 to temporary female Users.

Moiraine muttered to herself. "It surprised me, having never heard of it before, but the scale of users of the One Power is of course something lost in the Breaking. And a personal angreal has an owner. That was never known by the White Tower. How many other angreals lie useless because we simply did not know how to add an owner? What other secrets do the ones we use hold?" She then addressed me. "Show me the weave one more time, I wish to work on this now." We spent an hour as she carefully wove similar weaves to the Seeing Eye while we sat in near silence.

The second Weave was a similar structure but quite different application. "Another net, put together of Spirit, Air, and a touch of Fire. I get the sense it's supposed to be used on the head, and it healssomething but I do not know what. Headaches I guess?" I was unsure.

"Probably the Male equivalent of the weave used to restore stamina. Aes Sedai always use it on the head, but doesn't work elsewhere. We can test it with Lan on another day." She said, distracted.

The third weave was one I attached to my hands, these funny little screws of Green Earth and White Spirit that slid into the tip of each finger and three for the right, left, and bottom of my palm. The screws turned into small ropes of Earth connected to a cyclone of Fire. I wove the flows until they sat correct. My hands lit with a burning flame that shot out in a cone of about four paces in front of me, charing sand and dirt and engulfing a dry shrub.

The weave held steady as I first slowly, then swiftly moved my hands, burning letters into the sand. A. E. S. Moiraine appeared dumbfounded, shaken to her core at what I was doing. When I noticed, I let the weave go and it disappeared, almost instantly collapsing and the flames gone.

"Are you okay, Moiraine Sedai?" I asked, worriedly. She truly scared me with how surprised she was. I could feel it, spiked with revelation.

"You can channel on yourself," she said, staring wide-eyed.

I nodded, unsure what the issue was. Is it really that extraordinary? "Yes, there's these funny little screws of Earth and Spirit that I had to slide into my hands. I can feel them pulling on the Fire, moving it with my hands and desire."

She gave me her full focus now, her voice full of fervor. "It is vital you show me. Is there another Weave without Fire that features the same 'screws' that allow you to channel on yourself?"

I nodded, "This one is Air based, with the same Earth-Spirit screws on ropes of Earth. I think it makes lightning equivalent to my Flaming Hands."

"Let me into the Circle, now." She was stern, but the bond practically vibrated wjth anticipation and a deep desire.

I opened up to the Circle and let Moiraine in. Like always, she had a white-gold glow about her that almost had her look sacred in my eyes. Disturbingly, it made her even more attractive to me than normal. Egwene is right. I definitely look at her too much. I tore my gaze away. Moiraine waited patiently, not hiding the small smile that lit her face or the satisfaction in the bond. If she wasn't an Aes Sedai I'd swear she'd want me to look at her more.

I shook my head, then channeled my emotion into a better use; wielding saidin to form screws of Spirit and Earth, steadily if clumsily twisting the threads together, the green of Earth stretching out to the bird's nest of Yellow Air, a slap dash of Air threads that seemed to somehow all be the same length yet appeared very different to the eye.

What followed was lightning that immediately arced out in a half a dozen paces, cutting into the stone blocks with soot-black trenches and burning through three lonely bushed before I stopped it. It had scared me, how powerful it was.

Moiraine gazed at me icily, I could feel her disappointment, in me I assumed and though her disappointment hurt I was also afraid. I could have killed Moiraine if she was closer. I needed to be smarter about testing these. She was right to be disappointed.

"Shadowspawn only," I finally said. Moiraine had calmed herself by then and steeled herself as she approached me.

"We shall test the rest of your weaves while I sit on the far side of this ruin, atop a boulder. I had forgotten how powerful you are again, acting like I was training with a woman. But I must realize I am training a man, and men are dangerous from the moment they can channel," she said, more to herself than me. "Please be careful with the remaining weaves. I will not be close enough to save you."

The next two were relatively simple, one an Elemental version of Spirit Sword, the other a thick blade of Air that cut through a thick branch like a knife through silk, while the last weave was another Moiraine made me do over again so she may watch.

This weave had the Earth Spirit twist, "like a rope harness," Moiraine explained as she saw it in the Circle. And at the waist a big hollow circle of yellow Air. When I jumped with it I floated back down, and testing it off the top of a block saw me float gently down like a feather, so that is what I called it; Gentle Feather weave. Moiraine was even more ecstatic, seeing the weave as a prototype for a flying weave. She's pretty cute when she sounds like Loial, muttering about history and knowledge, I decided.

As I made each weave they seemed to settle into my brain permanently, and I knew them in totality, enough to clumsily make until I trained them to be quick and instinctual. I anticipated the morning when the third batch would come into focus. I was excited to see what kind of Weaves I would ge. Hopefully less deadly weapons and more useful things, like flying and sending mind letters if that's possible.

I told Moiraine as much, and she smiled, saying with mock graciousness, "I will allow you to try one weave tomorrow night that you do not think is dangerous." Or at least I think it is mock graciousness.

She continued more seriously, "If you uncover something else from the Age of Legends, the White Tower will need it. It will be my duty to puzzle out a version made of saidar before we travel to Tar Valon. I need as many days to work as possible."

The rest of the morning we worked my various Weaves to a basic competence, then after lunch I worked with Air in the afternoon. Moiraine had me try to do the various winds that she called out from atop her building block. Far too often I just made a thunderclap or a savage gust of wind that'd tear into the ground kicking up sand or nicking blocks of stone, sometimes snapping a distant bush in half. A stiff breeze is what I ended with, sweating profusely, head pounding with pain I did not know possible.

Moiraine took my face into her cool hands and looked at my sweaty gross deep red face with dirt smears and gravel scrapes, and smiled, the warm affection lingering in the bond surprising me."You did very well today Rand, very well indeed. Take this," and the icy shock of saidar healing me to my bones almost startled me out of her hands. She laughed and said "Better get used to the feeling." Her face was a calm smile, but the bond poked and prodded like teasing. I slept like a babe in my bed that night.

Saven 11, 998 NE (May 21st)

I woke up nearly half an hour before dawn, feeling rested since Moiraine let me go to bed early with all my successes on the previous day. I would have sat up but she still lay in bed, arm wrapped around my middle, and I did not wish to wake her delicate sleeping face. If she wants to look at mine then I can look at hers. She seemed truly as young as me in these quiet moments while she slept, with her eyes so full of earned wisdom closed. So I had time to consider my newly revealed weaves. Within the minute I knew which weave Moiraine would be frothing at the bit for: Traveling.

It had to be Traveling. It was a simple weave composed of a door made of Fire and Spirit, that led to a different location, as far as my intuition told me. That's like by definition traveling. Moiraine would lose her mind.

"What are you thinking so furiously about," came the sleepy mumble into my chest from Moiraine.

I smiled. "Oh, nothing. Just Traveling."

"Traveling?" Moiraine replied with annoyed tiredness. "Wait." Her head popped up and the bond was nigh feverish with hope. "Traveling?!"

I nodded. "At least, a simple weave of the Spirit and Fire that forms into a doorway to a different location."

Moiraine nodded seriously, now awake. "I'm canceling your Gaidin training for today, and we are going out after breakfast to work on this. This is absolutely vital, even if it turns out to be a lesser form of Traveling that only men use." She got out of bed and quickly changed out of her shift for a new one. I tried to not watch and mostly succeed. She may technically be my wife, but she does not hold me in her heart. Not yet, at least. Better not to stare.

We were back in the clearing with the pond. Moiraine stood on the far side of the pond. I stood on the opposite side of the clearing preparing the Weave. It was so simple, it merely needed power. I channeled a dense knot of Spirit and a twist of Fire that tugged on the Pattern, thinking of the boulder strewn ruins we had visited yesterday.

In front of me the air dimpled before tearing open to form a door to a pitch-black realm, but not to the ruins. Bizarrely enough I could see the front of Bela's cart, like I could step through the door and begin riding it.

"Did it work? I only see a black doorway," Moiraine called out.

"It's holding steady and there's a cart inside, but I just see a black void." I replied.

"Let us both step through, I cannot risk you getting lost alone."

Stepping through the Door with Moiraine into what I ended up calling the Darkspace was strange. I felt nothing. No heat, no cold, no sound came from the open Door. I initially worried it would be like the Ways, both oppressive in their darkness, but instead the cart simply rolled forward at speed. I could not tell how fast we were going, and we simply kept traveling in the direction I felt as 'right'. Moiraine was busy taking notes in her little notebook, the scratch of her charcoal pencil loud in the perfect silence, as we did not dare speak for fear of attracting attention of anything that dwelt in this realm.

It took merely two minutes before I felt we were at the 'right' location in the Darkspace and I wove another Door, dimpling the black and tearing open revealing an empty collection of sand, burnt scrubgrass, dirt and giant stone blocks, one carbon scored from my Storm Hands. Moiraine held me back from stepping right through, waiting. After a minute she let me go and we stepped through the Door. It was like entering a loud room, or jumping into a cold pond, the wash of light and feeling and sound pushing on me but I quickly adjusted.

We stood amongst the ruins. "You took us an hour's travel in merely a minute or two. Rand, do you know how useful this will be?" She looked at me with an excited expression, eyes beaming and the bond bubbling with excitement and feather-light touches of affection. "You are a miracle, Rand al'Thor. When I learn how to do this, the White Tower will change forever. I could kiss you."

I blushed as the song in my dreams from days ago came back. Waste the days, waste the nights, trying to downplay being uptight. Oh, you're right, I believe a kiss is all we need. I shook the song away. "I'm happy for you, Moiraine Sedai. This should make it much easier to travel to Illian. Perhaps we can visit the Two Rivers with everyone? Or at least Perrin and Egwene and Nynaeve, since they already know about me being me?" It was hard to say the words Dragon Reborn sometimes. Strange to think that I am him. I'd like to see Tam, to meet my father again, at least one last time.

Moiraine looked at me, annoyed, tinging the bond sour. "I am fine with you visiting your father, but the others… Rand. That is not smart. Ba'alzamon has known where you live for three years. Who knows what spy he has, or whom amongst the villagers amongst the Two Rivers he turned to the Shadow. People talk. If there is anything I learned in nineteen years of searching for you, its that people always talk, regardless of the secret. If any Forsaken learns you can Travel in some form, they would not let you go so easily…" She let the words float in the air. I shivered. "But let us not think of such dark things. I will consider your proposal, both of them. Now, let us travel to a few more locations, to get a feel. First the old Ogier Grove, where we left the Ways."

A minute later we watched as Loial stared worriedly at the black Door that dimpled and tore open in the air near the entrance to the Ways. He seemed to not see us waving or hear us speaking, so I stepped through first. Moiraine followed primly beside me, our hands together. It was worrying to feel no warmth in the Darkspace but I liked to think we both found some comfort in handholding. She certainly laced our fingers quickly enough.

Loial let out a terrific shout. "Light burn you, Rand al'Thor, you terrified me! I thought the Machin Shin or some horrible creature of the Shadow was about to emerge." It shook the branches of the tree nearest to him, disturbing a bluebird, who tweeted annoyance before flying off. He peered closer at us, and blushed, looking between us and our hands.

His ears twitched as he spoke in a quiet rumble, though there was no one else for miles. "I had heard the rumors, but I thought they were fancies of servants and the lying gossip of nobles… Moiraine Sedai, I do not wish to be rude, but I thought Aes Sedai did not take lovers or husbands publicly."

She nodded with a regal grace. "We do not. Tales of heartbreak and loss are common amongst the few Aes Sedai that try to live as women do and most of us have learned to fear love. Rand is different, of course. He will share my age, he is powerful in his own right, and he listens well enough. Twenty years is no difference when we reach a century or two."

"Ah, but... Yes." Loial paused, realizing something I did not. "I see. Yes, you must have read the same books as I've been perusing lately. I shall keep that secret quiet for now," He said with an obvious wink towards Moiraine. "Would you both like some tea? I've got a pot of mint getting ready to steep while I rest from Singing," he said, exaggeratedly changing the subject.

We sat around the small fire he had made, near the new growth he had sung, and let him speak of the work he had done, cleaning the soil and preparing it for growth with food scraps mixed with dirt and worms that he had sitting in wooden boxes. Apparently, over weeks, it would turn the soil into good soil that was eager for new growth. I had never heard of such a thing, but Loial seemed sure. When he sang again, a brief Song that grew a patch of blue wildflowers, I was swept in by the music once more. I could not say it had any lyrics, but it resonated with something in my heart of hearts, and I considered it the Song of the Creator writ small. I needed to learn it, whispered some tiny greedy part of me. Idly I made a flower crown to distract myself from my greed, like Egwene had taught me the other day in Lord Agelmar's personal gardens, and gently profered it to Moiraine.

She considered it with mock seriousness that seemed nearly real, sitting tall and regal despite her delicate stature. "Hmm. Good color, and the spontaneity is certainly considered romantic, though the construction is shoddy." It was indeed not the best made flower crown as I was still learning, one blossom I had accidentally torn half the petals of, and another fit awkwardly amongst the rest. "I shall deign to wear it, since my husband crafted it for me." She shot me a quick smile before laying it on her head, and that soft affection rose again. She actually likes it? My face pinked, but I smiled back and stared like a fool.

Loial interrupted sighed a happy sigh, sounding as loud as an old man's snore that it made me start. "Young love! An Aes Sedai and her young husband, on picnic, pink-cheeked and smiling." He giggled, high pitched for his enormous size. "Ah, Rand, I thought the rumors were still exaggerations, but I see they are not. Congratulations, the both of you." He clapped loudly.

I squirmed, protesting. "They are exaggerations! This is not.. I'm not.. Egwene is who I love.—I winced at the sudden cold calm from Moiraine—They're rumors meant to protect me from Moiraine's Sisters, to distract them. They're not, you know, true. There is no way they could be." She let go of my hand .

"It seems Rand has had enough relaxation. It is time for us to continue our training, Loial. If you wouldn't mind us leaving the same way we came, of course?" Loial looked at me ruefully.

"May I speak with Rand for a moment, before you leave? There's some things I wish to tell him." I worried, my thoughts racing. He is going to tell me he cannot be around me anymore, because I'm the Dragon Reborn, I thought, irrationally.

Moiraine nodded while ignoring me, which hurt a little and swiftly left the small fire to wait by the entrance to the Ways. The bond muted somehow, and any read I had on her was she was far enough away, Loial whispered carefully, buzzing like a bee the size of a mastiff.

"Even I, as young as I am and unfamiliar with the ways of women, know what you did wrong." He told me sternly. "When you are out with a woman you care for, you would do well not to bring up other women, especially her rival of the heart. Nor do you claim your love of this other woman. That was 'wool-headed', as Egwene would say. You will have to apologize. You obviously hurt her feelings, Rand!"

"I don't think you understand, she might as well have told me that our relationship is fake, meant to help me as… who I am. How can she be hurt by my mentioning my love for Egwene?" I was truly confused. Does she actually care in that way? No, no. This is merely some Aes Sedai ploy to tie me even closer and Loial stumbled into it. It's too early for anything else. It would not make sense for her to love me.

"'What an Aes Sedai does not say is more important than what they do', Maelis Silvarn, Meditations on the Tower," Loial quoted, before advising me once more. "Apologize, Rand. My father always told me it is simply easier, and my mother loves him dearly, so he must be doing something right."

I refused, my stubbornness taking over me. I shook my head. "Our relationship is not even real yet.I don't need to apologize. If she's upset about something she should tell me."

Loial gazed at me as if I was mad, then at the Aes Sedai with her back towards us. "Rand…" He peered longer, as my face grew stubborn and my shoulders hunched. "As you wish. Good luck with the rest of your day. I'm certain it will be cold."

"Fool ox-brained sheepherder, 'fake relationship' my left eartuft," I heard him muttering loudly, then quietly laughing to himself as I walked off.

She had somehow masked the bond when she left us, returning to chilly calm when I walked up to her.

"Do you remember the small hollow within the trees where we rested after Taren Ferry? Let us travel there next." She said, cool and crisp. I winced at the lack of any warmth or affection at all, immediately missing it. I am a fool, I thought sourly, but did not apologize. If she wanted something more than she would simply tell me.

Saven 18, 998 NE, (May 28th)

"Rand!" came a bellowing whisper from Loial in the library of the Fortress. It was as militant as the rest of the city, simple, solid stone bookshelves carved into walls, narrow high slits letting in light, while lamps sat on tables to provide reading light, chained to the tables themselves.

It was the first time I had seen Loial since the meeting with Lord Agelmar and our chance meeting at the Grove. "Rand," he whispered quieter this time, the rumble of a bee the size of a cat, "I am sorry, I have been so busy. Between singing new growth into the old Grove, getting our journey so far down on paper from the other two ta'veren and Egwene, who has been very helpful, and researching chinnar'veren in their homeland I have yet to find any time to speak with you except by accident, my friend." His ears lowered and the tufts of fur twitched in embarrassment. He glanced around the empty library before leaning closer

"I swear, what I learned does not change a thing. I know you are... I knew you three were important, and you only prove it. I swear, I, Loial son of Haran son of BlahBlah will write the true and accurate tale of your rise, Rand. No lies in my book, simply the truth. So I wanted to ask, if I may interview you?"

I was surprised, but from what I knew of Loial it made since; books were his life. He carried half a dozen amongst his pockets at any given time, a thumb as big as a sausage marking his place when he made conversation. Of course he wants to write a book on me, I thought with amusement.

"I will not lie, Loial. I was worried about what you thought. What you and Perrin both thought."

"You are a good man, Rand al'Thor. Your fate does not change that." Loial blushed. "I am sorry for not telling you sooner, especially the other day. I have been distracted. You see…" From there Loial explained all kinds of things he read about the special rituals, and societies that formed amongst the chinnar'veren in the years between the Breaking and the Trolloc Wars, and the tantalizing hints that there were male channelers amongst them who did not go mad.

"So you see Rand, if I can find more proof, more evidence, I believe I will be able to prove it to you, that being a chinnar'veren protects you from the Taint. Moiraine Sedai seemed to realize already, when she claimed you would share centuries."

I actually giggled, embarrassingly enough, at the thought of Loial spending long nights reading when I already knew, delighting in all the information he found. If only we had spoken earlier, but I let my worry control me. "Loial, thank you. It should be helpful to share with others to prove it, but I already knew. It's quite awful really, I have to throw up the Taint every time. The stuff is nasty, deadly and wrong."

Loial started. "Oh." Then he let a barrel-chested laugh, that shook the air. "Oh my, Rand. Well, reading is never a chore and I read such interesting tales as I tracked the threads of rumor and misdirection and metaphor. Would have been easier on me if I asked you about it though."

"That's what I thought! If we had simply spoken… Silly of me, to be worried wasn't it?" I sighed. "Well, I should see how Egwene is doing." I made to stand, but Loial put a meaty hand on my shoulder, and squeezed gently

"Elder Harman always said I was too brash, rushing about, getting my thoughts tangled up. It's something we can both work on." He smiled, in a way that scared me. "I plan on staying by your side, though, Rand al'Thor. You will not escape me and my new book so easily." For the next two hours until dinner, we sat at that table in the library, as the light turned soft orange of the setting sun. I walked through waking up an amnesiac, telling him every detail I could remember until we reached where I bonded with the two women. He had this preternatural ability to pull words from me, and I was mentally exhausted by the time we finished. Moiraine is going to have a field day as she has me weave Torchlights and recite passages, I thought as I trudged back to my room to take dinner alone, waiting, not knowing the revelation of a hidden curse in a gift that awaited me that night.

Author's Note: Uploaded a previous version without a final check and editing pass, because I was high.