She knew Esefin must have instructed his men to keep a close eye on her. He would know of her potential being more than average and he might have heard of Lan and his skill. And the rest of his group would not be that far behind, so if there was to be an escape, they had to get to it fast, so there were only so many men to deal with. It would also not do to alarm anyone from the remaining Whitecloaks.

Wind, Moiraine thought and opened herself to One Power as discreetly as possible. No closing her eyes, no grand gestures. A bigger breath. Inhale, picture a bud inside… It was there at the tips of her fingers. Lan tensed, feeling it and she prayed to the Creator to keep the horses contained. Aldieb was used to her channelling by now, but the black and Edwin were definitely not. The black's ears, however, darted from Lan to the horsemen which tightened their invisible cage around.

"I figure my supposed bride and I will finally have a chance to… spend time privately."

He was goading Lan into action, a rash one. He was close to succeeding. Too late she realised he was also averting their attention. Horses were faster, more vigilant. The black stallion kicked with deadly precision, eliminating the closest man, then jumped forward in a way that landed Lan next to Esefin. In a spot, where it took his rider only a slight move to sink his long knife in the man's chest. Moiraine waved as fast as she could, knocking the last two men down from their horses. Lan had then an easy job of finishing the job with his blade. The whole thing was over quickly and almost without a sound. Moiraine had time even to keep the horses from escaping.

"You knew that young prick?"

"Like he said," she answered, not even trying to mask her disgust. "King Laman set the match to bring the houses together."

"When you were what, fifteen?"

"Eighteen, actually." She could feel Lan confused by her answer. "Yes, shortly before his demise, but when he was still sure he would rule for years on end."

"But you were in the Tower then..."

"It wasn't a problem for him. He didn't care. After cutting down the tree he did many strange things, relationship with the Tower be damned. Tamra decided to overlook it for the sake of both Aes Sedai and people that would be affected by any possible act of her disapproval. The next Amyrlin tried to put me on the Sun Throne so it looked like a rather good idea, but both of those plans failed, as you know."

"By the Light," Lan said and she could feel his disgust join hers.

"That's all in the past," she said and for the first time in her life really felt it. Looking at Esefin's corpse on the ground gave her a perverse pleasure and clarity. "Now we have some pressing issues, don't we."

Lan looked into the bond, checking her over. A trick he had learned very recently. Moiraine stood still, which helped with that assessment.

"His horse is easy to recognize," she said when Lan was finally done. "We should let it go. The rest can be given to someone in need, just not in this area.

They made a quick work of packing their campsite and tying the remaining horses, all without any tack, which they left at the site. Moiraine weaved to bring a mist around before they left. Lan went to check the area and located the remaining Whitecloaks before they set off at a safe distance from them.

They rode through the night and next day, making only short stops to rest, feed and water the horses. They avoided public, well-travelled roads, choosing instead to stick to backwater ones, where no one would question their presence and leading extra mounts. They crossed one of the bigger tracts and used it for a time to take advantage of how easier it was to push at a faster pace.

Moiraine was pretty sure Esefin would not have told the others about her. He would want to appear the hero, so he would want to bring her to his superior alone and not share credit. If the other Children found him and his comrades by now, they would be lost as to what happened. There was no additional excitement at the road, so Lan decided to stay on the public road for as long as there was no big crowd.

Then they felt finally safe again and far away from the site of this accident, they went off the road into a dense forest and Lan took the horses one by one to some poorly looking farms they went by. By dawn they were once again in their group of two people and three horses, setting up camp in small, overgrown ruins close to the main road, preparing for the night.

"What are you doing?" Lan asked, seeing her by the black's flank. "You're not safe this close without me supervising him."

"Don't worry, Lan," she laughed. "He seems to understand I'm making him better."

"I would expect that, after days of taking his tiredness away." He smiled, but did not pull her away until she was done with healing the deep cut she must have missed directly after the fight. "Now go, I made your tea and put your bedroll by the fire."

Moiraine delved the black once more to be sure, but there was thankfully nothing more to be done. She was glad to sit down, drink the warm brew and lie down finally. She sank gratefully into the thick blankets and sighed. Once again they could just relax. She would be glad to stay at some inn as soon as they came upon one.

Lan came to the fire after checking their surroundings for the third time. She could tell he didn't expect her to speak.

"I guess the question about his suitability has been answered," she mumbled.

"It more than has.," Lan admitted. "I was suspicious before, but now I'm sure he had some military training in his life. Someone must have just botched another part of the training after that."

She smiled.

"And you managed to rectify that."

"Some of it, maybe," Lan admitted, snuggling into his own blanket. "There is still so much to do with him."

"I couldn't shake the feeling, this last two days," Moiraine said "that you were really well suited for each other. He somehow acted like another extension of you. Just like your sword is."

Lan didn't answer, but she could feel him smiling. He sat up, against his saddle for comfort, letting himself be warmed by the fire, finally, after those long days.

"Another blade..." she murmured, close to sleep.

"Mandarb," Lan said. "I like the sound of that."

"What?"

"You slipped into the Old Tongue for a moment there."

She was aware that it happened sometimes, especially when she channeled a lot.

"And what did I say?"

"I think I would name him Mandarb."

She smiled, hearing the black stallion snorting from the other side of their small camp. Yes, Mandarb was a really fitting name. And it would probably get even more fitting as time went by and Lan had more time to train him to his standards.

"Mandarb," was the last thing she heard Lan say, just before she let sleep overcome her at last.

THE END