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Quote: “Where are we?” (Lan)
Hours went by while Moiraine, Lan, Rand, and Lanfear continued their path through the Ways. The Aes Sedai had managed to fight off her fatigue, presenting herself as strong as ever. Only Lan knew about her fight, throwing glances at her. He didn’t trust her not to collapse in the end. Sweet Lan.
No one talked. Walking around with a Forsaken was… terrifying. But it wasn’t just that. The Ways reminded Moiraine, Lan, and Rand about their last time walking through the darkness, and the memory wasn’t pleasant.
Moiraine had her own way of dealing with the situation. Her mind was racing while they walked through the darkness, planning their next steps and trying to find a solution for their Lanfear-problem.
The daughter of the night wouldn’t disappear once they reached Falme. Lanfear had come to rescue Rand, and she wanted him in Falme for a reason. But what did she want from him? – Except for giving in to the dark. She hadn’t even fought with him about not killing Moiraine. Why did she allow Moiraine to continue breathing and even traveling with her?
“You two are being very quiet back there.” Lanfear’s voice pulled Moiraine out of her spiraling thoughts, and she exchanged a glance with Lan. No one had spoken a word for hours, but the daughter of the night wondered about her and Lan not talking? What did she expect of them? That they all would have a joyful journey through the ways? “Should I worry?”
The amusement in Lanfear’s voice told Moiraine that the Forsaken wasn’t worried in the least. What was she planning? How long would they have to travel with her? And what was waiting for them in Falme?
Suddenly, the daughter of the night stopped, facing a passage that seemed to go nowhere. Was it possible they had already reached Falme? Had they traveled that long? It was hard for Moiraine to imagine they had been long enough in the Ways to reach Falme already. Something didn’t feel right.
“This is it? The Waygate to Falme?” Yet, Lanfear nodded, smiling. Well, if she wanted to play, Moiraine would go with it. “Open it.” Carefully, the Cairhien woman walked closer to the Waygate, placing herself between the Forsaken and the Waygate. She wanted Lanfear to believe she wasn’t scared of her. Well, and she didn’t trust that woman not to try something. It could be a trap to separate the Aes Sedai and the Dragon Reborn.
“Why don’t you?” Lanfear shot back.
“Ishamael took my power from me.” Moiraine hoped Lanfear hadn’t seen her channeling in Cairhien. She didn’t know how long the daughter of the night had watched them before she attacked Siuan but doubted Lanfear had miraculously appeared just in time to knock out the Tairen woman.
Besides, the father of lies probably had told his companion about his victory at the Eye of the World. Lanfear had to know about the shield.
“Oh, you’re so good at twisting your words in knots. I know you’ve got it back. I can see it in you.”
When Lanfear moved closer, Moiraine’s first instinct was to run. She was no match for a Forsaken but didn’t want Lanfear to win, so she stood her ground.
Luckily, Lan saw the danger and placed himself beside his Aes Sedai, creating a line between the Waygate and the Forsaken. Light, even Rand moved closer, though he didn’t interfere in their argument. Would he stop Lanfear from killing Moiraine and Lan? Did he have the power to stop her a second time?
The black-haired woman threw a glance at the uncrowned king of Malkier before her attention returned to the Cairhien woman. “You’re alive only because I allow it. Because you have a role to play still.” Lanfear moved her fingers, then the Waygate opened with a loud thunder.
Shocked, Moiraine swirled around. How had Lanfear opened…? Blood and ashes! That woman could channel with using almost no hand movement. This wasn’t good. Lanfear could kill them all with a simple flick of her wrist!
“When the time comes, raise the banner.”
Confused, the woman of the Blue Ajah furrowed her forehead. The banner? What banner should she rise? When? And why was Lanfear telling her that now? Didn’t she go with them to Falme?
Before Moiraine could start asking her questions, the daughter of the night lifted her hand and began to blow. A strong wind hit the Aes Sedai and Warder, sending them flying through the air, right through the Waygate.
But they didn’t land on hard ground. Instead, water splashed when they landed, soaking their clothes while they quickly got back on their feet. The Waygate was closed.
“Don’t!”
Rand’s yell echoed in Moiraine’s ears while she took a look around. Where were they? Lanfear had said that it would be the Waygate to Falme, yet Falme was nowhere to be seen. They were surrounded by water, seeing the shore in the distance and feeling the hot sun burning from above. Blood and ashes! Where were they? What had Lanfear done to them?!
“Where are we?”
Even without the bond, it seemed like Moiraine and Lan still shared a brain. But the Cairhien woman started wading through the water instead of answering the man from the Borderlands because she didn’t have an answer for him.
How far away were Moiraine and Lan from Falme? How long would it take for them to reach it? But more importantly, what would Lanfear do with Rand in the meantime? Could the young man from the Two Rivers fight against her? He didn’t learn how to use Saidin properly. The boy was still acting on instinct. Yet, he was the Dragon Reborn.
A memory appeared before Moiraine’s eyes. A small cabin up on a hill. Lanfear and Rand in bed, with the daughter of the night sitting on Rand’s chest. The boy was tied to the bed while she was filled with Saidar. The stupid boy hadn’t known how dangerous his ‘lover’ had been.
When the Aes Sedai had seen the daughter of the night channeling, she had acted on instinct. Light, she hadn’t believed she would actually succeed in stabbing Lanfear through the heart and cutting her throat! Had the woman fallen for Rand so deeply that she hadn’t noticed Moiraine entering the cabin?
Maybe the Forsaken weren’t as invincible as everyone thought. Even they had weaknesses, and Lanfear’s biggest weakness was her love for the Dragon Reborn. Could they use that against her? Could they pull one of the Forsaken on their side? What if…?
A shriek escaped Moiraine’s lips when the ground below her feet suddenly moved downwards, and she stumbled to her knees. Water splashed into her face when her hands shot forward to stop her fall, creating a small fountain.
“Moiraine!”
Cursing silently, the woman of the Blue Ajah wiped the salty water out of her face when she felt the Malkieri’s strong arms under her armpits.
“Let me help you.” The man pulled her back to her feet like she weighed nothing, then checked her for injuries. “Did you hurt yourself?”
Moiraine took a step backward to escape his tender examination. She didn’t deserve that. Why didn’t the man hate her for her cruel behavior toward him? Why was he still by her side?
Sadly, Moiraine’s escape simply ended with her stumbling again. This time, the poor woman landed on her butt.
Again, it was Lan who pulled her back on her feet. But this time, he wrapped his arm around her waist as soon as she stood again, pressing her body against his so she wouldn’t fall.
“Easy.”
The Aes Sedai’s body betrayed her once she felt her Warder’s familiar muscles under her fingertips. It ached to be close to him. “I can stand on my own,” she whispered, feeling Lan’s warm breath on her face. Light, she didn’t want him to let go of her!
“Hmm,” the Warder hummed, agreeing, yet didn’t try to let go of her. “Are you hurt?”
“I stumbled because the ground is uneven, and I didn’t expect it. But I didn’t hurt myself by hitting the water.”
Lan waited a moment as if he thought about pushing further, then nodded and released her.
A small, relieved breath escaped Moiraine’s lips when there was some distance between them, but at the same time, her fingers almost reached out to grab the man – keeping him from leaving her. She didn’t want to lose Lan.
“After you.”
There was no indication the uncrowned king of Malkier had noticed her longing, so the Cairhien woman simply nodded, then continued to get out of the water. She hoped Lan hadn’t noticed. Their bond was still masked, so he couldn’t know about her feelings, right?
“How did you know about me being shielded? Before last night, I hadn’t heard or read about it.”
It was still bugging Moiraine that Lan had found out about the shielding while she had known nothing about that forgotten skill. She was the Aes Sedai. She had studied every book in the White Tower. Where had Lan heard about it?
“I wasn’t just watching you in the past six months.” Did she hear some kind of anger in Lan’s voice? “I did my own research. Verin and Adeleas’ library didn’t have the answer, but I found a book in the library of the Sun Palace.”
Moiraine froze, and Lan almost ran into her, but his Warder skills saved him. Carefully, he stepped beside her, then stopped.
“The library of the Sun Palace collects some rare books not even the White Tower has access to.”
“Exactly. Since I had some time to kill before you’d arrive to talk to Siuan, I thought it couldn’t hurt to search there and got lucky.”
“So… it was just a guess,” Moiraine said, furrowing her forehead. “You didn’t know for sure if I had been shielded or stilled.”
Lan smiled slightly. “The book gave me hope, but I needed proof before I wanted to tell you about it. And there was only one person who could help me with that.”
Moiraine’s thoughts were racing. One person? Who could’ve given Lan the proof he had been looking for?
“Before our big disagreement, Siuan had told me you went to the sanitarium to see Logain.” The Aes Sedai turned pale. Who else knew about her visit there? Bloody Celestine! Was there anyone she hadn’t told? “I went there myself. Thanks to Alanna, the head of the sanitarium allowed me to see and talk to Logain.”
“Alanna?” Anger shimmered in Moiraine’s eyes. How much had the Malkieri told the Green Sister? Light, wasn’t it already enough that he had told her about the Dragon Reborn?!
But the man from the Borderlands didn’t go with her question. “Finally, Logain admitted that he had seen weaves on you. A knot which kept you from channeling.”
Logain, the False Dragon. He had seen the knot when she visited him yet hadn’t said a word about her condition. “That bloody bastard!”
Angrily, the woman of the Blue Ajah continued to walk, aiming for the nearest part of the sand. Why hadn’t she thought about asking Logain about her condition?
Because you have been too worried about Rand. All you could think about was protecting the Dragon Reborn and helping him in learning how to channel.
Well, that and she had given up on herself – if she was honest. Never had she believed she would touch the One Power ever again.
“You shouldn’t have told Alanna about Rand.”
It wasn’t fair, but Moiraine needed something else to focus her anger on. But Lan stayed calm. Instead, he followed her again through the water.
“I didn’t have a choice. She, Ihvon, and Maksim had been convinced I was a Darkfriend. I didn’t have the time to fight them. Besides, Alanna had used Saidar to tie me up.”
“Why should they believe you’re a Darkfriend?”
When the Aes Sedai stopped hearing Lan’s splashing, she turned around. Her Warder stood frozen a few steps behind her, his eyes locked on the water. His hands turned to fists, then opened before they turned into fists again. Had he ever been that nervous before?
“I took the piece of paper out of your bag when I checked on the horses.” Lan’s voice was so quiet that Moiraine barely heard him. But when he lifted his head to look her in the eye, she saw the pain in them. The man felt bad for stealing from her. “You didn’t give me a choice. No matter what I did, you refused to include me in your plans. So, I took the paper out of your bag, not knowing what it was until I read it days after you left me with Alanna.”
Finally, the Cairhien woman knew what had happened to the poem. She had wondered where it went but had imagined it had been her own mistake. Not once had she thought of Lan taking it from her.
“Alanna found it – or maybe it was Ihvon or Maksim – and they confronted me. I thought about lying but remembered that you consider Alanna a friend.” Slowly, the Malkieri closed the distance. “We’ve been searching for the Dragon Reborn for twenty years. We lost the boy a few times since we met the Emond’s Fielder - just like now. Rand is with a Forsaken now, while we don’t even know where we are. We can’t do this alone, Moiraine. We need help. And I’m not sure if Siuan is still on our side.”
The image of an injured Siuan appeared before Moiraine’s eyes. But she quickly focused on Lan again. There was no time to think about her lover. They had bigger problems right now.
“Is that why you included Verin? Because we need help?” When Lan nodded, Moiraine shook her head in frustration. “Who else knows? Leane? Liandrin? The Sitters of the Hall?”
Lan heard the anger in Moiraine’s voice and grabbed her arm to stop her from rambling. “We can’t do it alone,” he repeated calmly. “I included the two Aes Sedai I hoped you would also inform, should you decide to tell someone. No one else.”
For a moment, the Cairhien woman simply stared at the Malkieri. She didn’t like the fact that other sisters knew about the Dragon Reborn and her mission but understood Lan’s reaction. The man had been desperate and turned to sisters they both trusted.
Sighing, Moiraine turned and left the water behind. Her clothes were heavy from the water, yet it felt wonderful with the burning sun shining from above.
“I hope Alanna and Verin won’t tell anyone about Rand. The Red Ajah will hunt him once they hear about him.”
“I would never tell a Red Sister about the sheepherder,” Lan stated, then stepped beside her.
Together, they let their eyes wander over the landscape. Nothing indicated where they were or in which direction the next civilization lay.
“Where now?”
“We need to know where we are. So, we pick a direction and start walking until we find someone who can help us.”
The uncrowned king of Malkier turned toward the Waygate. “I wish the Ogier would have told me how to read the guidings in the Ways.”
“It would take you centuries to learn. Especially with their tendency to take things slowly.” A small smile appeared on Moiraine’s lips when she remembered Loial’s complaints about humans’ tendency to haste things. “Besides, I can’t open the Waygate. Machin Shin will be waiting for us, making it impossible for us to use the Ways.”
Lan grimaced at her words. Did he remember the last time they dealt with the black wind? When his eyes turned cold, Moiraine grabbed his arm.
“Lan.” The Aes Sedai didn’t like the look in her Warder’s eyes. He still carried Machin Shin’s words in his heart. “Let’s follow the water. Eventually, we will get to a village or even Falme when we’re lucky.”
Moiraine didn’t wait for Lan’s answer. Instead, she started moving, knowing the man would soon follow her. She had lost Rand again, and only the Light knew what Lanfear planned to do to him. How far away were they from Falme? How many days would it take them to get there? Blood and ashes! Moiraine wanted to kill Lanfear again. That woman was a terrible nightmare!