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Startled, she touched her cheek, not seeming to know whether to look at the coins or at him. “Get them out, you say. Just like that. Out of the Stone.” Abruptly she stabbed him in the ribs with a finger as hard as a tree stub. “You remind me of my husband, Mat Cauthon. He was a headstrong fool who would sail into the teeth of a gale and laugh, too. I could almost think you'll manage it.” Suddenly she saw his muddy boots, apparently for the first time. “It took me six months to teach him not to track mud into my house. If you do get those girls out, whichever of them you have your eye on will have a hard time training you to make you fit to be let inside.”

“You are the only woman who could do that,” he said with a grin that broadened at her glare. Get them out. That's all I have to do. Bring them right out of the Stone of bloody Tear. Thom coughed again. He isn't going into the Stone like that. Only, how do I stop him? “Mother Guenna, can I leave my friend here? I think he is too sick to go back to the inn.”Advertisement

“What?” Thom barked. He tried to push himself out of the chair, coughing so he could hardly speak. “I am no... such thing, boy! You think... walking into the Stone... will be like... walking into your mother's kitchen? You think you... would make it... as far as the gates... without me?” He hung on the back of the chair, his wheezing and hacking keeping him from rising more than halfway to his feet.

Mother Guenna put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down as easily as a child. The gleeman gave her a startled look. “I will take care of him, Mat Cauthon,” she said.

“No!” Thom shouted. “You cannot... do this to me! You can't... leave me... with this old...” Only her hand on his shoulder kept him from doubling over.

Mat grinned at the whitehaired man. “I have enjoyed knowing you, Thom.”

As he hurried out into the street, he found himself wondering why he had said that. He isn't going to bloody die. That woman will keep him alive if she has to drag him kicking and screaming out of his grave by his mustaches. Yes, but who is going to keep me alive?

Ahead of him, the Stone of Tear loomed over the city, impregnable, a fortress besieged a hundred times, a stone on which a hundred armies had broken their teeth. And he had to get inside, somehow. And bring out three women. Somehow.

With a laugh that made even the sullen folk in the street look at him, he headed back for The White Crescent, uncaring of mud or the damp heat. He could feel the dice tumbling inside his head.

Chapter 53

(Wolf)

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A Flow of the Spirit

Perrin shrugged into his coat as he walked back toward the Star through the evening shadows. A good tiredness soaked through his arms and shoulders; along with more common work, Master Ajala had had him make a large piece of ornamental work, all elaborate curves and scrolls, to go on some country lord's new gate. He had enjoyed making something so pretty.

“I thought his eyes would come out of his face, blacksmith, when you said you would not make that thing if it was for a High Lord.”

He glanced sideways at Zarine, walking beside him, the shadows masking her face. Even for his eyes, the shadows were there, just fainter than they would have been for another's. They emphasized her high cheekbones, softened the strong curve of her nose. He just could not make up his mind about her. Even if Moiraine and Lan still insisted they stay close to the inn, he wished she could find something else to do besides watch him work. For some reason, he had found himself growing awkward whenever he thought of her tilted eyes on him. More than once he had fumbled with his hammer till Master Ajala frowned at him wonderingly. Girls had always been able to make him feel awkward especially when they smiled at him, but Zarine did not have to smile. Only look. He wondered again if she was the beautiful woman Min had warned him against. Better if she is the falcon. That thought surprised him so much that he stumbled.

“I did not want anything I make to get into the hands of one of the Forsaken.” His eyes glowed golden as he looked at her. “If it was for a High Lord, how could I tell where it might end?” She shivered. “I did not mean to frighten you, Fai—, Zarine.”

She smiled broadly, no doubt thinking he could not see her. “You will fall yet, farmboy. Have you ever thought of wearing a beard?”

It is bad enough she's always mocking me, but half the time I do not even understand her!

As they reached the front door of the inn, Moiraine and Lan met them, coming the other way. Moiraine wore that linen cloak with the wide, deep hood that hid her face. Light from the commonroom windows made yellow pools on the paving stones. Two or three carriages rumbled past, and there were perhaps a dozen people in sight, hurrying home for their suppers, but for the most part, shadows populated the street. The weaver's shop was closed tight. The silence was deafening.

“Rand is in Tear.” The Aes Sedai's cool voice issued from the depths of her hood as from a cavern.

“Are you sure?” Perrin asked. “I have not heard of anything strange happening. No weddings, or wells drying up.” He saw Zarine frown in confusion. Moiraine had not been forthcoming with her, and neither had he. Keeping Loial's tongue silent had been more difficult.

“Don't you listen to rumors, blacksmith?” the Warder said. “There have been marriages, as many in the last four days as in half a year before. And as many murders as in a whole year. A child fell from a tower balcony today. A hundred paces onto stone paving. She got up and ran to her mother without a bruise. The First of Mayene, a 'guest' in the Stone since before the winter, announced today that she will submit to the will of the High Lords, after saying yesterday she would see Mayene and all its ships burn before one Tairen country lord set foot in the city. They had not brought themselves to torture her, and that young woman has a will like iron, so you tell me if you think it might be Rand's doing. Blacksmith, from top to bottom, Tear bubbles like a cauldron.”

“These things were not needed to tell me,” Moiraine said. “Perrin, did you dream of Rand last night?”

“Yes,” he admitted. “He was in the Heart of the Stone, holding that sword” — he felt Zarine shift beside him — “but I have been worrying about that so much it is no wonder I dream of it. I had nothing but nightmares last night.”

“A tall man?” Zarine said. “With reddish hair and gray eyes? Holding something that shines so brightly it hurts your eyes? In a place that is all great redstone columns? Blacksmith, tell me that pqdm.com