PoV Moiraine
It is quite fortunate that I managed to finish Lan's set of stealth suit with Kari's help before we started on this, Moiraine mused to herself.
Moiraine waited on a sparsely wooded hill outside Falavin's Rest, a tiny village with maybe fifty homes, the fifth such village they scouted for presence of the Red Sisters. Well, more accurately Lan scouted well after nightfall, in his new stealth suit. Moiraine going in would have been an unnecessary risk.
Not all female channelers have the same sensitivity to another woman who could channel, Moiraine herself could sense the ability in another woman at thirty feet, which is on the higher end of the range, Siuan could barely feel it at half that, I should ask her if that's changed since our bond.
Women can feel whether a woman is born with the Spark, or even if a woman can be taught to Channel, of course the later took days if not weeks of observation. Aes Sedai could just test for it, of course, both the in born ability or the ability to learn.
It is custom more than anything that let even a woman who can't channel don the Novice White, if they wanted, at least for a time, when they sought out the Tower. To reward such a woman an excellent education for making the effort. After all, less than quarter of the time a Novice spent at the White Tower is dedicated to teaching channeling, the remainder is spent dedicated to teaching the most comprehensive curriculum on the continent, something even nobleborn can only dream of. True, that practise hasn't been taken much advantage of in the last century, another sign that the White Tower and Aes Sedai have grown distant from the world they were supposed to be serving.
Anyway, going into the villages herself is an unnecessary risk, Lan can find out if any Aes Sedai are here easily enough, just find the village inn, look for any horses that are too well-bred for a village such as this, they might belong to a wealthy merchant or a noble, but those usually travel in well appointed coaches with several guards and servants.
Horses would be enough of a trail for them, Lan would find what he could and return to her, and they will decide whether to scout the village during the day or to move on.
Even if they don't find the Red Sisters here or elsewhere, finding the man they Gentled will be easy enough. No, the thing that most worried Moiraine is what happens after. She will obviously take the man to the White Tower, Siuan decided to add to the boiling pot by informing the Amyrlin about the Black Ajah and their killings just a day before Moiraine reached the White Tower with the man. That way Amyrlin might leap to the assumption of the Black Ajah having to do something with the Red Ajah's unsanctioned Gentlings.
The Amyrlin will have to start an open investigation, that in turn means raised tensions between Red Ajah and everyone else and stoking of the flames of hatred that Red Ajah held towards Blue Ajah. And a deeper scrutiny on what Moiraine has been doing this past year.
I could just say something to imply I have been on this trail all this time, I suppose, in a way, I have been, after all, all these Gentlings and murders have been happening because of the flailing of the Black Ajah to find the Dragon Reborn and I have been on that hunt this entire time. I just have to careful enough not be cornered using the Oath of truthfulness.
I miss the al'Thor farm.
Lan started to draw nearer.
"They are here", Lan stated without any preamble.
"You are sure?", Moiraine asked with a trace of anxiety, Of course, he is sure, you fool, this is Lan.
"The horses are Borderland bred, I recognized the brand, I personally know the family who breed them and they almost exclusively supply the White Tower and the nobles of Borderlands. Its not easy, to train a horse for war, much less for battle against Shadowspawn. And they did not take all of their saddlebags, I did not rummage them for the fear of any Warding Weaves on them, but I recognize the style of their making, there are very few things that come out of Tar Valon, without carrying some mark of that city", Lan answered.
"Do you think this the village then?", Moraine asked.
"Probably. Unpacked saddlebags, they want out of here in a rush, that could mean they are in a hurry to reach their destination, but why would they be? Their quarry doesn't know he is being hunted. They came in late, no more than an hour before we got here, I wager. The horses still stink of sweat. They would want an audience, won't they, day starts early in these places, half the people will be on their fields or their pastures herding their livestock by the time sun fully rises. So best to do their deed early and be out of here immediately", Lan answered with a miniscule shrug.
Moiraine sighed, "Tomorrow then."
"Most probably, your Red Sisters will gather the people to the village square, put on a show, then exit. I scouted out a location from where you would have a good view. You have a little bit of a climb and few hours of staying still ahead of you I am afraid", Lan said with a faint tilt to his lips.
Moiraine felt the first warm rays of the awakening dawn on her back, and let herself sink into a meditative state, for what is about to happen she needed utter stillness of body and calm serenity of mind. She had already informed Siuan to sequester herself somewhere quiet and out of reach of anyone, this is not the time for Siuan channeling and outing me accidentally.
Lan was already down there, very near the village square. He just stood in a shadow cast by the inn itself and went completely still. Moiraine couldn't see anything there, not even a hazy outline, only his sense of position through the bond told her he is there, not even her bond enhanced eyes could see him, he just melded with the shadows.
She did not have to wait too long, the village is already awake, the inn across from the village square, directly opposite where she herself is situated on a slate rooftop is already bustling, with smoke coming out of its chimney. Several villagers already broke their fast in the inn and going out to their fields already.
Few more minutes later, three women exited the inn, cloaked in red but with their hoods down, their faces clearly had Aes Sedai look of agelessness, but more importantly, she recognised all three faces, she only knew the name of one, Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan, oh Elaida. The other two, she vaguely remembers seeing multiple times on the White Tower grounds. One a Taraboner woman with honey colored hair in small countless braids, with tanned skin and pert mouth and another a Saldean woman with some grey in hair and that Saldean bold nose dominating her all other features.
She memorized their features to the last detail, they were already embracing the True Source and linked in a Circle, with a Shielding Weave ready, Elaida seems to be melding the flows.
Elaida deftly wove another Weave, to enhance her voice and proclaimed in a stentorian voice that easily covered the entirety of the village, while looking at one distracted seeming young man that just started to cross the village square towards the inn, "Owen Merrilin," the young man started and nearly jumped and looked towards Elaida, just as horror started to dawn across Owen's face, she continued, "you stand accused of being a man who could channel."
Owen started to turn around and run just as the Shielding Weave slammed on to him, and another far simpler Weave of Air wrapped around him, dragging and depositing him on his knees in front three stone faced Aes Sedai.
Elaida looked down upon the unfortunate young man, with a sneer curling on her mouth, turning the handsome womans face truly ugly, and proclaimed, "You are a man who could channel, I can feel you scrabbling against the Shield in an attempt to draw upon the tainted Saidin. For your crime there is only one Judgement."
And she wove another Weave, this one with only a small variation on typical Shielding Weave, there is an edge of sharpness to it, a feel of a blade poised at one's neck, the Shielding Weave and body bind dissolved just as this new Weave slammed down.
And Owen Merrilin, screamed, he screamed like his firstborn was being murdered and he could do nothing, he screamed in soul rending agony. And continued to scream as a weeping young woman ran to gather him in her arms. And he screamed as though he lost any hope of salvation.
And the women who did the deed mounted their horses and rode away without ever looking back. And the gathered villagers started to turn into a mob that's losing any sense of reason and compassion, fast.