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Over the Border
Clinging to her perch at the rear of the jouncing wagon, Nynaeve used one hand for herself and one for her straw hat as she peered back at the furious dust storm dwindling behind them in the distance. The broad brim shaded her face in the morning heat, but the breeze generated by the wagon's rumbling speed was enough to snatch it from her head despite the dark red scarf tied under her chin. Low-hilled grassland with occasional thickets rolled by, the grass sere and thin in the late-summer heat; dust churned up by the wagon wheels obscured her vision somewhat, and made her cough besides. The white clouds in the sky lied. There had been no rain since before they left Tanchico, weeks earlier, and it had been some time since the wide road had borne the traffic of wagons that once kept it hard packed.
No one appeared riding out of that seemingly solid wall of brown, which was just as well. She had lost her anger at brigands trying to stop them this close to escaping the madness of Tarabon, and unless she was angry, she could not sense the True Source, much less channel. Even angry, she had been surprised at being able to raise such a storm; once whipped up, full of her fury, it held a life of its own. Elayne had been startled at the size of it, too, though thankfully she had not let on to Thom or Juilin. But even if her strength was increasing - her teachers in the Tower had said that it would, and certainly none of them was strong enough to best one of the Forsaken as she had - even with that, she still had that limitation. Had any of the bandits appeared, Elayne would have had to deal with them alone, and she did not want that. Her earlier anger was gone, but she was making fine for another crop.
Awkwardly climbing up over the canvas lashed across the load of casks, she reached down to one of the water barrels fastened along the sides of the wagon together with the chests of their possessions and supplies. Immediately her hat was on the back of her head, held only by the scarf. Her fingers could just touch the lid of the barrel, unless she released the rope that she was gripping with her other hand, and the way the wagon was lurching along, that would probably send her off onto her nose.
Juilin Sandar guided the lanky brown gelding he was riding - Skulker was the improbable name he had put on the animal - close to the wagon, and, reached over to hand her one of the leather water bottles slung about his saddle. She drank gratefully, though not gracefully. Hanging there like a bunch of grapes on a windblown vine, she spilled nearly as much water down the front of 858b114i her good gray dress as she did down her throat.
It was a suitable dress for a merchant, high-necked, finely woven and well-cut, but still plain. The pin on her breast, a small circle of dark garnets in gold, was perhaps too much for a merchant, but it had been a gift from the panarch of Tarabon, along with other jewelry, much richer, hidden in a compartment beneath the wagon driver's seat. She wore it to remind herself that even women who sat on thrones sometimes needed to be taken by the scruff of the neck and shaken. She had a little more sympathy for the Tower's manipulations of kings and queens now that she had dealt with Amathera.
She suspected that Amathera had meant her gifts as a bribe to make them depart Tanchico. The woman had been willing to buy a ship so that they would not remain an hour more than necessary, but no one had been willing to sell. The few vessels remaining in Tanchico Harbor that were suitable for more than coasting had been jammed with refugees. Besides, a ship was the obvious way, the fastest way, to leave, and the Black Ajah might well be watching for her and Elayne, after what had happened. They had been sent to hunt Aes Sedai who were Darkfriends, not to be ambushed by them. Thus the wagon and the long trek across a land torn by civil war and anarchy. She was beginning to wish she had not insisted on avoiding the ships. Not that she would ever admit it to the others.
When she tried to hand the water bottle back to Juilin, he waved it away. A tough man, seemingly carved from some dark wood, he was not very comfortable on the back of a horse. He looked ridiculous to her; not because of his obvious ill ease in the saddle, but for the silly red Taraboner hat that he had taken to wearing on his flat, black hair, a brimless, conical thing, tall and flat-topped. It did not go well with his dark Tairen coat, tight to the waist, then flaring. She did not think it would go well with anything. In her opinion, he looked as if he were wearing a cake on his head.
It was clumsy scrambling the rest of the way forward with the leather bottle in one hand and her hat flapping, and she did it muttering imprecations for the Tairen thief-catcher - Never thief-taker, not him! - for Thom Merrilin - Puffed-up gleeman! - and for Elayne of House Trakand, Daughter-Heir of Andor, who ought to be shaken by the scruff of the neck herself!
She meant to slide onto the wooden driver's seat between Thom and Elayne, but the golden-haired girl was pressed tightly against Thom, her own straw hat hanging on her back. She was clutching the white mustached old fool's arm as if afraid of falling off. Tight-mouthed, Nynaeve had to settle for Elayne's other side. She was glad she had her hair in one proper braid again, wrist-thick and hanging down to her waist; she could give it a tug instead of thumping Elayne's ear for her. The girl had used to seem reasonably sensible, but something seemed to have addled her wits in Tanchico.
"They aren't following us anymore," Nynaeve announced, pulling her hat back into place. "You can slow this thing down now, Thom." She could have shouted that from the back and not needed to clamber over the casks, but the image of herself bouncing about and calling for them to slow had stopped her. She did not like making a fool of herself, and liked even less others seeing her in a foolish light. "Put your hat on," she told Elayne. "That fair skin of yours will not appreciate this sun for long."
As she had half-expected, the girl ignored her friendly advice. "You drive so wonderfully," Elayne gushed as Thom drew back on the reins, pulling the four-horse team to a walk. "You were in control every minute."
The tall, wiry man glanced down at her, bushy white eyebrows twitching, but all he said was, "We have more company ahead, child." Well, maybe he was not such a fool.
Nynaeve looked, and saw the snowy-cloaked mounted column approaching them over the next low rise, perhaps half a hundred men in burnished mail and shining conical helmets, escorting as many heavily laden wagons. Children of the Light. She was suddenly very conscious of the leather thong hanging around her neck beneath her dress, and the two rings dangling between her breasts. Lan's heavy gold signet ring, the ring of the Kings of lost Malkier, would mean nothing to the Whitecloaks, but if they saw the Great Serpent ring...
Fool woman! They aren't likely to, unless you decide to undress!
Hastily she ran an eye over her companions. Elayne could not stop being beautiful, and now that she had let go of Thom and was retying the green scarf that held her hat, her manner looked more suited to a throne room than a merchant's wagon, but aside from being blue, her dress was no different from Nynaeve's. She wore no jewelry; she had called Amathera's gifts "gaudy." She would pass; she had done so fifty times since Tanchico. Barely. Only, this was the first meeting with Whitecloaks. Thom, in stout brown wool, could have been any of a thousand gnarled, white-haired men who worked wagons. And Juilin was Juilin. He knew how to behave, though he looked as though he wished he were sure footed on the ground, with his staff or the slotted sword-breaker he wore at his belt, rather than on a horse.
Thom drew the team over to one side of the road and halted as several Whitecloaks broke away from the head of the column. Nynaeve put on a welcoming smile. She hoped they had not decided that they needed another wagon.
"The Light illumine you, Captain," she said to the narrow-faced man who was obviously the leader, the only one not carrying a steel-tipped lance. She had no idea what rank the two golden knots signified on the breast of his cloak, right below the flaring sunburst they all wore, but in her experience men would accept any flattery. "We are very glad to see you. Bandits tried to rob us a few miles back, but a dust storm appeared like a miracle. We barely esc -"
"You are a merchant? Few merchants have come out of Tarabon in some time." The man's voice was as harsh as his face, and that looked as though all joy had been boiled out of it before he left the cradle. Suspicion filled his dark, deep-set eyes; Nynaeve did not doubt that was, permanent, too. "Bound to where, with what?"
"I carry dyes, Captain." She worked to maintain her smile under that steady, unblinking stare; it was a relief when he shifted it to the others briefly. Thom was making a good job of appearing bored, just a wagon driver who would be paid stopped or moving, and if Juilin had not snatched off that ridiculous hat as he once would have, at least he seemed no more than idly interested, a hired man with nothing to hide. When the Whitecloak's gaze dropped to Elayne, Nynaeve felt the other woman stiffen, and hurried on. "Taraboner dyes. The finest in the world. I can get a good price for them in Andor."
At a signal from the captain - or whatever he was - one of the other Whitecloaks heeled his horse to the back of the wagon. Slicing one of the ropes with his dagger, he jerked some of the canvas loose, enough to expose three or four casks. "They're branded 'Tanchico,' Lieutenant. This one says 'crimson.' Do you want me to break open a few?"
Nynaeve hoped the Whitecloak officer took the anxiety on her face the right way. Even without looking at her, she could all but feel Elayne wanting to call the soldier down for his manners, but any real merchant would be worried at having dyes exposed to the elements. "If you will show me the ones you want opened, Captain, I will be more than happy to do it myself." The man showed no response at all, to flattery or offers of cooperation. "The casks were sealed to keep out dust and water, you see. If the cask head is broken, I'll never be able to cover it over with wax again here."
The rest of the column reached them and began to pass in a cloud of dust; the wagon drivers were roughly dressed, nondescript men, but the soldiers rode stiffly erect, their long steel lance points all slanted at exactly the same angle. Even sweaty-faced and coated with dust, they looked hard men. Only the drivers glanced at Nynaeve and the others.
The Whitecloak lieutenant waved dust away from his face with one gauntleted hand, then motioned the man back from the wagon. His eyes never left Nynaeve. "You come from Tanchico?"
Nynaeve nodded, a picture of cooperation and openness. "Yes, Captain. Tanchico."
"What word have you of the city? There have been rumors."
"Rumors, Captain? When we left, there was little order remaining. The city was full of refugees, and the countryside of rebels and bandits. Trade hardly exists." That was the truth, pure and simple. "That's why these dyes will fetch particularly good prices. There will be no more Taraboner dyes available for a long while, I think."
"I do not care about refugees, trade or dyes, merchant," the officer said in flat tones. "Was Andric still on the throne?"
"Yes, Captain." Obviously, rumor said someone had taken Tanchico and supplanted the King, and perhaps someone had. But who - one of the rebel lords who fought each other as hard as they did Andric, or the Dragonsworn who had pledged themselves to the Dragon Reborn without ever seeing him? "Andric was still King, and Amathera still Panarch, when we left."
His eyes said she could be lying. "It is said the Tar Valon witches were involved. Did you see any Aes Sedai, or hear of them?"
"No, Captain," she said quickly. The Great Serpent ring seemed hot against her skin. Fifty Whitecloaks, close at hand. A dust storm would not help this time, and anyway, though she tried to deny it, she was more scared than angry. "Plain merchants don't mingle with that sort." He nodded, and she risked adding a question. Anything to change the subject. "If you please, Captain, have we entered Amadicia yet?"
"The border is five miles east," he pronounced. "For the time being. The first village you come to will be Mardecin. Obey the law, and you will be well. There is a garrison of the Children there." He sounded as if the garrison would spend all of its time making sure they did obey the law.
"Have you come to move the border?" Elayne asked suddenly and coolly. Nynaeve could have strangled her.
The deep-set, suspicious eyes shifted to Elayne, and Nynaeve said hastily, "Forgive her, my Lord Captain. My eldest sister's girl. She thinks she should have been born a lady, and she can't keep away from the boys besides. That's why her mother sent her to me." Elayne's indignant gasp was perfect. It was also probably quite real. Nynaeve supposed she had not needed to add that about boys, but it seemed to fit.
The Whitecloak stared at them a moment longer, then said, "The Lord Captain Commander sends food into Tarabon. Otherwise, we would have Taraboner vermin over the border and stealing anything they could chew. Walk in the Light," he added before swinging his horse to gallop back to the head of the column. It was neither suggestion nor blessing.
Thom got the wagon moving as soon as the officer left, but everyone sat silent, except for coughing, until they were well beyond the last soldier and out of the other wagons' dust.
Swallowing a little water to wet her throat, Nynaeve pushed the water bottle at Elayne. "What did you mean back there?" she demanded. "We aren't in your mother's throne room, and your mother would not stand for it anyway!"
Elayne emptied the rest of the leather bottle before deigning to reply. "You were crawling, Nynaeve." She pitched her voice high, in a mock servility. "I am very good and obedient, Captain. May I kiss your boots, Captain?"
"We are supposed to be merchants, not queens in disguise!"
"Merchants do not have to be lickspittles! You are lucky he didn't think we were trying to hide something, acting so servile!"
"They don't stare down their noses at Whitecloaks with fifty lances, either! Or did you think we could overwhelm them all with the Power, if need be?"
"Why did you tell him I could not keep away from boys? There was no need for that, Nynaeve!"
"I was ready to tell him anything that would make him go away and leave us alone! And you -!"
"Both of you shut up," Thom barked suddenly, "before they come back to see which of you is murdering the other!"
Nynaeve actually twisted around on the wooden seat to look back before she realized the Whitecloaks were too far off to hear even if they had been shouting. Well, maybe they had been. It did not help that Elayne did the same.
Nynaeve took a firm hold on her braid and glared at Thom, but Elayne snuggled herself against his arm and practically cooed, "You are right, Thom. I am sorry I raised my voice." Juilin was watching them sideways, pretending not to, but he was wise enough not to bring his horse close enough to become part of it.
Letting go of her braid before she pulled it out by the roots, Nynaeve adjusted her hat and sat staring straight ahead over the horses. Whatever had gotten into the girl, it was high time to get it out again.
Only a tall stone pillar to each side of the road marked the border between Tarabon and Amadicia. There was no traffic on the road but them. The hills gradually became a little higher, but otherwise the land remained much the same, brown grass and thickets with few green leaves except on pine or leatherleaf or other evergreens. Stone-fenced fields and thatch-roofed stone farmhouses dotted the slopes and dells, but they had a look of abandonment. No smoke rising from chimneys, no men working crops, no sheep or cows. Sometimes a few chickens scratched in a farmyard near the road, but they scurried away, gone feral, at the wagon's approach. Whitecloak garrison or no, apparently no one was willing to risk Taraboner brigands this close to the border.
When Mardecin appeared, from the top of a rise, the sun still had a long way to climb to its zenith. The town ahead looked too big for the name of village, nearly a mile across, straddling a small bridged stream between two hills, with as many slate roofs as thatched, and considerable bustle in the wide streets.
"We need to buy supplies," Nynaeve said, "but we want to be quick about it. We can cover a lot of ground yet before nightfall."
"We are wearing out, Nynaeve," Thom said. "First light to last light every day for nearly a month. One day resting will not make much difference in reaching Tar Valon." He did not sound tired. More likely he was looking forward to playing his harp or his flute in one of the taverns and getting men to buy him wine.
Juilin had finally brought his mount close to the wagon, and he added, "I could do with a day on my feet. I do not know whether this saddle or that wagon seat is worse."
"I think we should find an inn," Elayne said, looking up at Thom. "I have had quite enough of sleeping under this wagon, and I would like to listen to you tell stories in the common room."
"One-wagon merchants are little more than peddlers," Nynaeve said sharply. "They cannot afford inns in a town like this."
She did not know whether that was true or not, but despite her own desire for a bath and clean sheets, she was not going to let the girl get away with directing the suggestion at Thom. It was not until the words were out of her mouth that she realized that she had given in to Thom and Juilin. One day won't hurt. It's a long way to Tar Valon yet.
She wished she had insisted on a ship. With a fast ship, a Sea Folk raker, they could have gotten to Tear in a third of what it had taken them to cross Tarabon, as long as they had good winds, and with the right Atha'an Miere Windfinder that would have been no problem; she or Elayne could have handled it, for that matter. The Tairens knew that she and Elayne were friends of Rand's, and she expected that they still sweated buckets for fear of offending the Dragon Reborn; they would have provided a carriage and escort for the journey up to Tar Valon.
"Find us a place to camp," she said reluctantly. She should have insisted on a ship. They might have been back in the Tower by now.
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