The Wheel of Time

by Robert Jordan

  “You haven’t answered my question,” Rand said.

  “But I have,” Moiraine replied fondly. “It just was not the answer you wanted.”

  Rand knelt, then threw his head back and laughed. “Light, Moiraine! You haven’t changed, have you?”

  “We all change day by day,” she replied, then smiled. “Me more than some, lately. Stand up. It is I who should be kneeling before you, Lord Dragon. We all should.”

  Rand rose and stepped back to allow Moiraine farther into the pavilion. Perrin caught another scent, and smiled as Thom Merrilin slipped into the tent behind her. The old gleeman winked at Perrin.

  “Moiraine,” Egwene said, stepping forward. “The White Tower welcomes you back with open arms. Your service has not been forgotten.”

  “Hmmm,” Moiraine said. “Yes, I should think that having discovered a future Amyrlin would reflect well upon me. That is a relief, as I believe I was on a path to stilling, if not execution, before.”

  “Things have changed.”

  “Obviously.” Moiraine nodded. “Mother.” She passed Perrin, and gave him a squeeze on the arm, eyes twinkling.

  One by one, the Borderlander rulers took swords in hands and bowed or curtsied toward her. Each one seemed to know her personally. Many of the others in the tent still looked baffled, though Darlin obviously knew who she was. He was more … thoughtful than confused.

  Moiraine hesitated beside Nynaeve. Perrin couldn’t catch Nynaeve’s scent right then. That seemed ominous to him. Oh, Light. Here it comes …

  Nynaeve enfolded Moiraine in a powerful embrace.

  Moiraine stood for a moment, smelling distinctly shocked, hands out to the sides. Finally, she returned the embrace in a somewhat maternal way, patting Nynaeve on the back.

  Nynaeve released her, pulling back, then wiped a tear from her eye. “Don’t you dare tell Lan about this,” she growled.

  “I would not dream of it,” Moiraine said, moving on to stand in the center of the pavilion.

  “Insufferable woman,” Nynaeve grumbled as she wiped a tear from the other eye.

  “Moiraine,” Egwene said. “You’ve come at just the right time.”

  “I have a knack for that.”

  “Well,” Egwene continued as Rand stepped back up to the table, “Rand … the Dragon Reborn … has decided to hold this land for ransom to his demands, refusing to do his duty unless we agree to his whims.”

  Moiraine pursed her lips, taking up the contract for the Dragon’s Peace as Galad set it on the table for her. She scanned it.

  “Who is this woman?” Roedran said. “And why do we— Would you stop that!” He raised a hand as if he’d been smacked by a thread of Air, then glared at Egwene—however, this time one of the nearby Asha’man was the one who smelled satisfied.

  “Nice shot, Grady,” Perrin whispered.

  “Thank you, Lord Perrin.”

  Grady would know her only by legend, of course, but tales of Moiraine had spread among those who followed Rand.

  “Well?” Egwene said.

  “‘And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered,’ ” Moiraine whispered. “‘The Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age, and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man. Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth. Neither shall anything stand nor abide.’ ”

  The people shuffled their feet. Perrin looked questioningly at Rand.

  “‘Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow,’ ” Moiraine said more loudly. “‘Born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end! The Dragon shall be Reborn, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth. In sackcloth and ashes shall he clothe the people, and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind!

  “‘Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us, yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle, and his blood shall give us the Light. Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation!’ ”

  “Aes Sedai,” Darlin said, “pardon, but that is very ominous.”

  “At least it shall be a salvation,” Moiraine said. “Tell me, Your Majesty. That prophecy commands you to shed tears. Are you to weep because your salvation comes with such pain and worry? Or, instead, are you to weep for your salvation? For the man who will suffer for you? The only one we know for certain will not walk away from this fight?”

  She turned to Rand.

  “These demands are unfair,” Gregorin said. “He requires us to keep our borders as they are!”

  “‘He shall slay his people with the sword of peace,’ ” Moiraine said, “‘and destroy them with the leaf.’ ”

  It’s The Karaethon Cycle. I’ve heard these words before.

  “The seals, Moiraine,” Egwene said. “He’s planning to break them. He defies the authority of the Amyrlin Seat.”

  Moiraine did not look surprised. Perrin suspected she’d been listening outside before entering. It was very like her.

  “Oh, Egwene,” Moiraine said. “Have you forgotten? ‘The unstained tower breaks and bends knee to the forgotten sign…’ ”

  Egwene blushed.

  “‘There can be no health in us, nor any good thing grow,’ ” Moiraine quoted, “‘for the land is one with the Dragon Reborn, and he one with the land. Soul of fire, heart of stone.’ ”

  She looked to Gregorin. “‘In pride he conquers, forcing the proud to yield.’ ”

  To the Borderlanders. “‘He calls upon the mountains to kneel…’ ”

  To the Sea Folk. “‘… and the seas to give way.’ ”

  To Perrin, then Berelain. “‘… and the very skies to bow.’ ”

  To Darlin. “‘Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears…’ ”

  Then, finally, to Elayne. “‘… and the soul of fire, love.’ You cannot fight this. None of you can. I am sorry. You think he came to this on his own?” She held up the document. “The Pattern is balance. It is not good nor evil, not wisdom nor foolishness. To the Pattern, these things matter not, yet it will find balance. The last Age ended with a Breaking, and so the next one will begin with peace—even if it must be shoved down your throats like medicine given to a screaming babe.”

  “If I may speak?” An Aes Sedai wearing a brown shawl stepped forward.

  “You may,” Rand said.

  “This is a wise document, Lord Dragon,” the Brown said. She was a stout woman, more direct of tone than Perrin expected from a Brown. “But I see an enormous flaw to it, one that was raised earlier. So long as the Seanchan are exempt from it, it will be meaningless. There will be no peace so long as they conquer.”

  “That’s an issue,” Elayne said, arms folded. “But not the only one. Rand, I see what you’re trying to do, and I love you for it. That does not remove the fact that this document is fundamentally untenable. For a peace treaty to work, both sides must continue to wish for peace because of the benefits presented.

  “This grants no way to settle disputes. They will arise, they always do. Any document like this must give a way to settle such things; you must set up a way to punish an infraction save for the other countries to enter all-out war. Without that change, little grievances will mount and build pressure over years until they explode.

  “As this is, it all but requires the nations to fall upon the first that breaks the peace. It doesn’t stop them from setting up a puppet regime in the fallen kingdom, or even in another kingdom. Over time, I fear this treaty will be viewed as null; what good is it if it protects only on paper? The end result of this will be war. Massive, overpowering war. You will have peace for a time, particularly while those who revere you live. But for every year of peace you gain, you will earn one of greater destruction once the thing falls apart.”

  Rand rested his fingers on the document. “I will make peace with the Seanchan. We will add a provision. If their ruler does not sign, then the document is
voided. Will you all agree to it then?”

  “That fixes the lesser problem,” Elayne said softly, “but not the larger one, Rand.”

  “There is yet a greater issue here,” a new voice said.

  Perrin turned, surprised. Aviendha? She and the other Aiel had not participated in the arguments. They’d only watched. Perrin had almost forgotten they were there.

  “You, too?” Rand said. “Come to walk on the shards of my dreams, Aviendha?”

  “Don’t be a child, Rand al’Thor,” the woman said, striding up to place her finger on the document. “You have toh.”

  “I left you out of it,” Rand protested. “I trust you, and all of the Aiel.”

  “The Aiel aren’t in it?” Easar said. “Light, how did we miss that!”

  “It is an insult,” Aviendha said.

  Perrin frowned. She smelled very serious. From any other Aiel, he’d expect that sharp scent to be followed by a pulled-up veil and a raised spear.

  “Aviendha,” Rand said, smiling. “The others are about to hang me for putting them in it, and you are angry for being left out?”

  “I demand my boon of you,” she said. “This is it. Place the Aiel in your document, your ‘Dragon’s Peace.’ We will leave you otherwise.”

  “You don’t speak for all of them, Aviendha,” Rand said. “You can’t—”

  All of the tent’s Wise Ones stepped up behind Aviendha, as if in rhythm together. Rand blinked.

  “Aviendha carries our honor,” Sorilea said.

  “Do not be foolish, Rand al’Thor,” Melaine added.

  “This is a thing of the women,” Sarinde added. “We will not be satisfied until we are treated equally with the wetlanders.”

  “Is this thing too difficult for us?” Amys asked. “Do you insult us by implying we are weaker than the others?”

  “You’re all insane!” Rand said. “Do you realize that this would forbid you from fighting one another?”

  “Not from fighting,” Aviendha said. “From fighting without cause.”

  “War is your purpose,” Rand said.

  “If you believe that, Rand al’Thor,” she said, voice cold, “I have trained you poorly indeed.”

  “She speaks wisdom,” Rhuarc said, stepping up to the front of the crowd. “Our purpose was to prepare for your need of us at this Last Battle—our purpose was to be strong enough to be preserved. We will need another purpose. I have buried blood feuds for you, Rand al’Thor. I would not take them up again. I have friends now that I would rather not kill.”

  “Madness,” Rand said, shaking his head. “All right, I’ll put you in.”

  Aviendha seemed satisfied, but something bothered Perrin. He didn’t understand the Aiel—Light, he didn’t understand Gaul, who had been with him for so long. Still, he’d noticed that the Aiel liked to be doing something. Even when they lounged, they were alert. When other men gamed or diced, the Aiel were often quietly doing something of use.

  “Rand,” Perrin said, stepping up, taking him by the arm. “A moment, please?”

  Rand hesitated, then nodded to him and waved his hand. “We’re sealed off; they can’t hear us now. What is this about?”

  “Well, I just noticed something. The Aiel are like tools.”

  “All right…”

  “And tools that aren’t used grow rusty,” Perrin said.

  “Which is why they raid one another,” Rand said, rubbing his temple. “To keep up their skills. That is why I exempted them. Light, Perrin! I think this is going to be a disaster. If we include them in this document…”

  “I don’t think you have a choice, now,” Perrin said. “The others will never sign it if the Aiel are left out.”

  “I don’t know if they’ll sign it anyway,” Rand said. He looked longingly at the sheet on the table. “It was such a beautiful dream, Perrin. A dream of good for humanity. I thought I had them. Right up until Egwene called my bluff, I thought I had them.”

  It was a good thing others couldn’t smell Rand’s emotions, or everyone there would have known that he’d never refuse to go against the Dark One. Rand showed not a hint of it on his face, but inside, Perrin knew he had been as nervous as a boy at his first shearing.

  “Rand, don’t you see?” Perrin said. “The solution.”

  Rand frowned at him.

  “The Aiel,” Perrin said. “The tool that needs to be used. A treaty that needs to be enforced…”

  Rand hesitated, then grinned widely. “You’re a genius, Perrin.”

  “So long as it’s about blacksmithing, I suppose I know a thing or two.”

  “But this … this isn’t about blacksmithing, Perrin…”

  “Of course it is,” Perrin said. How could Rand not see that?

  Rand turned, no doubt ending his weave. He strode up to the document, then held it up toward one of his clerks in the back of the pavilion. “I want two provisions added. First, this document is void if not signed by either the Seanchan Daughter of the Nine Moons or the Empress. Second … the Aiel—all but the Shaido—are to be written into the document as enforcers of the peace and mediators of disputes between nations. Any nation may call upon them if they feel abused, and the Aiel—not enemy armies—will provide redress. They can hunt criminals across national borders. They are to be subject to the laws of the nations in which they reside at the time, but they are not subjects of that nation.”

  He turned to Elayne. “There is your enforcement, Elayne, the way to keep your small pressures from building.”

  “The Aiel?” she asked skeptically.

  “Will you agree to this, Rhuarc?” Rand asked. “Bael, Jheran, the rest of you? You claim to be left without purpose, and Perrin sees you as a tool that needs to be worked. Will you take this charge? To prevent war, to punish those who do wrong, to work with the rulers of nations to see justice served?”

  “Justice as we see it, Rand al’Thor,” Rhuarc said, “or as they see it?”

  “It will have to be according to the conscience of the Aiel,” Rand said. “If they call for you, they will have to know that they’ll receive your justice. This will not work if the Aiel simply become pawns. Your autonomy will be what makes this effective.”

  Gregorin and Darlin began to complain, but Rand silenced them with a look. Perrin nodded to himself, arms folded. Their complaints were weaker now than they had been before. He smelled … thoughtfulness from many of them.

  They see this as an opportunity, he realized. They view the Aiel as savages, and think they’ll be easy to manipulate once Rand is gone. Perrin grinned, imagining their defeat should they attempt that course.

  “This is very sudden,” Rhuarc said.

  “Welcome to the dinner party,” Elayne added, still staring daggers at Rand. “Try the soup.” Oddly, she smelled proud. Strange woman.

  “I warn you, Rhuarc,” Rand said. “You will need to change your ways. The Aiel will have to act together on these matters; the chiefs and Wise Ones will need to hold council to make decisions together. One clan cannot fight a battle while other clans disagree and fight for the other side.”

  “We will speak of it,” Rhuarc said, nodding to the other Aiel chiefs. “This will mean an end to the Aiel.”

  “A beginning as well,” Rand said.

  The Aiel clan chiefs and the Wise Ones gathered separately to one side, and spoke in soft voices. Aviendha lingered, with Rand staring away, troubled. Perrin heard him whisper something, so soft Perrin’s ears barely made it out.

  “… your dream now … when you wake from this life, we will be no more…”

  Rand’s clerks, smelling frantic, came forward to begin working on the document’s additions. The woman Cadsuane watched all events with a stern expression.

  She smelled extremely proud.

  “Add a provision,” Rand said. “The Aiel can call upon other nations to aid them in their enforcement if they decide that their own numbers will not be enough. Give formal methods by which nations can petition the Aiel for r
edress or for permission to attack a foe.”

  The clerks nodded, working harder.

  “You act as if this were settled,” Egwene said, eyes on Rand.

  “Oh, it is far from that,” Moiraine said. “Rand, I have some words for you.”

  “Are they words I will like?” he asked.

  “I suspect not. Tell me, why do you need to command the armies yourself? You will be traveling to Shayol Ghul where you will no doubt be unable to contact anyone.”

  “Somebody needs to be in command, Moiraine.”

  “On this point, I believe all would agree.”

  Rand folded his arms behind his back, smelling troubled. “I have taken responsibility for this people, Moiraine. I want to see that they’re cared for, that the brutalities of this battle are minimized.”

  “I fear that is a poor reason to lead a battle,” Moiraine said softly. “You do not fight to preserve your troops; you fight to win. This leader need not be you, Rand. It should not be you.”

  “I won’t have this battle turn into a tangle, Moiraine,” he said. “If you could see the mistakes we made last time, the confusion that can result when everyone thinks they are in control. Battle is turmoil, but we still need an ultimate commander to make decisions, to hold everything together.”

  “What of the White Tower?” Romanda asked, stepping—half shoving—her way up beside Egwene. “We have the resources for efficient travel between battlefronts, we are coolheaded in times that would crush others, and we are trusted by all nations.”

  That last bit prompted a raised eyebrow from Darlin.

  “The White Tower does seem the optimal choice, Lord Dragon,” Tenobia added.

  “No,” Rand said. “The Amyrlin is many things, but a leader of war … I do not think it a wise choice.”

  Egwene, oddly, said nothing. Perrin studied her. He’d have thought that she’d jump at the chance to lead the war herself.

  “It should be one of us,” Darlin said. “Chosen from those who would go to battle here.”

  “I suppose,” Rand said. “So long as you all know who is in command, I will cede this point. You must meet my other demands, however.”

  “You still insist that you must break the seals?” Egwene said.