Questions to Be Asked

Questions to Be Asked

"We should leave for Watch Hill soon," Verin announced the next morning, with sunrise just pearling the sky outside, "so don't dawdle." Perrin looked up from his cold porridge to meet a steady gaze; the Aes Sedai expected no arguments. After a moment, she added thoughtfully, "Do not think this means I will aid you in any foolishness. You are a tricksome young man. Try none of it with me."

Tam and Abell paused with spoons halfway to their mouths, exchanging surprised looks; clearly they had gone their own way and the Aes Sedai theirs before this. After a moment they resumed eating, although with pensive frowns. They left any objections unvoiced. Tomas, his Warder's cloak already packed away in his saddlebags, gave them - and Perrin - a hard-faced stare anyway, as if he anticipated arguments and meant to stamp them out. Warders did whatever was necessary for an Aes Sedai to do what she wanted.

She intended to meddle, of course - Aes Sedai always did - but having her where he could see her was surely better than leaving her behind his back. Avoiding Aes Sedai entanglements completely was all but impossible when they meant to dabble their fingers in; the only course was to try to use them while they used you, to watch and hope you could jump clear if they decided to stuff you headfirst, like a ferret, down a rabbithole. Sometimes the rabbithole turned out to her a badger's sett, which was hard on the ferret.

"You would be welcome, too," he told Alanna, but she gave him a frosty stare that stopped him in his tracks. She had disdained the porridge, and stood at one of the vine-shrouded windows, peering through the leafy screen.

He could not say whether she was pleased with his plans for a scout. Reading her seemed near to impossible. Aes Sedai were supposed to be cool serenity itself, and she was that, but Alanna tossed off flashes of fiery temper or unpredictable humor when least expected, like heat lightning, crackling then gone. Sometimes she looked at him so that if she had not been Aes Sedai he would have thought she was admiring him. Other times he might as well have been some complicated mechanism she meant to disassemble in order to puzzle out bow it worked. Even Verin had the better of that; most of the time she was just plain unreadable. Unnerving, on occasion, but at least he did not have to wonder if she was going to know how to fit his pieces back together.

He wished he could make Faile stay there - that was not the same as leaving her behind, just keeping her safe from Whitecloaks - but she had that stubborn set to her jaw and a dangerous light in her tilted eyes. "I look forward to seeing some of your country. My father raises sheep. " Her tone was definite; she was not going to stay unless he tied her up.

For a moment he came close to considering it. But the danger from Whitecloaks should not be that great; he only intended to look, today. "I thought he was a merchant," he said.

"He raises sheep, too." Spots of crimson bloomed in her cheeks: maybe her father was a poor man and not a merchant at all. He did not know why she would pretend, but if that was what she wanted, he would not try to stop her. Embarrassed or not, however, she looked no less stubborn.

He remembered Master Cauthon's method. "I don't know how much you'll see. Some farms may be shearing, I suppose. Probably no different from what your father does. I'll be glad of your company in any case." The startlement on her face when she realized he was not going to argue was almost worth the worry of her coming along. Maybe Abell had something.

Loial was another matter altogether.

"But I want to go," the Ogier protested when told he could not. "I want to help, Perrin."

"You will stand out, Master Loial," Abell said, and Tam added, "We need to avoid attracting any more attention than we must." Loial's ears drooped dejectedly.

Perrin drew him aside, as far from the others as the room would allow. 151s1821b Loial's shaggy hair brushed the roof beams until Perrin motioned him to lean down. Perrin smiled, just jollying him along. He hoped everyone else believed that.

"I want you to keep an eye on Alanna," he said in a near whisper. Loial gave a start, and he caught the Ogier's sleeve, still smiling like a fool. "Grin, Loial. We are not talking about anything important, right?" The Ogier managed an uncertain smile. It would have to do. Aes Sedai do what they do for their own reasons, Loial." And that might be what you least expected, or not at all what you believed it was. "Who knows what she might take into her head? I've had surprises enough since coming home, and I don't want one of hers added to it. I don't expect you to stop her, only notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Thank you for that," Loial muttered wryly, ears jerking. "Do you not think it best to just let Aes Sedai do what they want?" That was easy for him to say; Aes Sedai could not channel inside an Ogier stedding. Perrin just looked at him, and after a moment, the Ogier sighed. "I suppose not. Oh, very well. I can never say being around you is not... interesting." Straightening, he rubbed a thick finger under his nose and told the others, "I suppose I would draw eyes at that. Well, it will give me a chance to work on my notes. I have done nothing on my book in days."

Verin and Alanna shared an unreadable look, then turned twin unblinking gazes on Perrin. There was simply no telling what either thought.

The pack animals had to be left behind, of course. Packhorses would surely occasion comment, speaking of long travel; no one in the Two Rivers traveled very far from home in the best of times. Alanna wore a slight, satisfied smile while watching them saddle their mounts, no doubt believing the animals and wicker hampers tied him to the old sickhouse, to her and Verin. She was in for a surprise, if it came to that. He had lived out of a saddlebag often enough since leaving home. For that matter, he had lived out of his belt pouch and coat pockets.

He straightened from tightening Stepper's saddle girth and gave a start. Verin was watching him with a knowing expression, not vague at all, as if she knew what he was thinking and was amused. It was bad enough when Faile did that sort of thing; from an Aes Sedai, it was a hundred times worse. The hammer lashed with his blanket roll and saddlebags seemed to puzzle her, though. He was glad there was something she did not seem to understand. On the other hand, he could have done without her being so intrigued. What could be fascinating to an Aes Sedai about a hammer?

With only the riding animals to prepare, it took no time at all to be ready to go. Verin had a nondescript brown gelding, as plain to the untrained eye as her garb, but its deep chest and strong rump suggested as much endurance as her Warder's ferocious-eyed gray, tall and sleek. Stepper snorted at the other stallion until Perrin patted the dun's neck. The gray was more disciplined - and just as ready to fight, if Tomas let it. The Warder controlled his animal with his knees as much as his reins, the two seeming almost one.

Master Cauthon watched Tomas's horse with interest - wartrained mounts were not much seen in these pails - but Verin's earned an approving nod at first glance. He was as good a judge of horseflesh as there was in the Two Rivers. No doubt he had chosen his and Master al'Thor's rough-coated animals, not so tall as the other horses, but sturdy, with gaits that spoke of good speed and staying power.

The three Aiel glided ahead as the party started north, with long strides that carried them out of sight quickly in the woods, early-morning shadows sharp and long in the brightness of sunrise. Now and then a flash of gray-and-brown was visible through the trees, probably on purpose, to let the others know they were there. Tam and Abell took the lead, bows across the tall pommels of their saddles, with Perrin and Faile behind, and Verin and Tomas bringing up the rear.

Perrin could have done without Verin's eyes on his back. He could feel them between his shoulder blades. He wondered if she knew about the, wolves. Not a comfortable thought. Brown sisters supposedly knew things the other Ajahs did not, obscure things, old knowledge. Perhaps she knew how he could avoid losing himself, what was human in him, to the wolves. Short of finding Elyas Machera again, she might be his best chance. All he had to do was trust her. Whatever she knew she would likely use, certainly to help the White Tower, probably to help Rand. The only trouble was that helping Rand might not bring what he wanted now. Everything would have been so much simpler without any Aes Sedai.

Mostly they rode in silence except for the sounds of the forest, squirrels and woodpeckers and occasional birdsong. At one point Faile glanced back. "She will not harm you," she said, her soft tone clashing with the fierce light in her dark eyes.

Perrin blinked. She meant to protect him. Against Aes Sedai. He was never going to understand her, or know what to expect next. She was about as confusing as the Aes Sedai sometimes.

They broke out of the Westwood perhaps four or five miles north of Emond's Field with the sun standing its own height above the trees to the east. Scattered copses, mainly leatherleaf and pine and oak, lay between them and the nearest hedged fields of barley and oats, tabac and tall grass for hay. Strangely there was no one in sight, no smoke rising from the farmhouse chimneys beyond the fields. Perrin knew the people who lived there, the al'Loras in two of the big houses, the Barsteres in the others. Hardworking folk. If there had been anyone in those houses, they would have been at their labors long since. Gaul waved from the edge of a thicket, then vanished into the trees.

Perrin heeled Stepper up beside Tam and Abell. "Shouldn't we stay under cover as long as we can? Six people on horses won't go unnoticed." They kept their mounts at a steady walk.

"Not many to notice us, lad," Master al'Thor replied, "as long as we stay away from the North Road. Most farms have been abandoned, close by to the woods. Anyway, nobody travels alone these days, not far from their own doorstep. Ten people together wouldn't be noticed twice nowadays, though mostly folk travel by wagon, if at all."

"It'll take us most of daylight to reach Watch Hill as it is," Master Cauthon said, "without trying to cover the distance through the woods. Would be a little faster along the road, but more chance of meeting Whitecloaks, too. More chance somebody might turn us in for the rewards."

Tam nodded. "But we have friends up this way, too. We figure to stop at Jac al'Seen's farm about midday to breathe the horses and stretch our legs. We will make it to Watch Hill while there's still light enough to see."

"There will be enough light," Perrin said absently; there was always light enough for him. He twisted in his saddle to peer back at the farmhouses. Abandoned, but not burned, not ransacked that he could make out. Curtains hung at the windows still. Unbroken windows. Trollocs liked smashing things, and empty houses were an invitation. Weeds stood tall among the barley and oats, but the fields had not been trampled. "Have Trollocs attacked Emond's Field itself?"

"No, they have not, " Master Cauthon said in a thankful tone. "They'd have no easy time if they did, mind. People learned to keep a sharp eye out Winternight before last. There's a bow beside every door, and spears and the like. Besides, the Whitecloaks patrol down to Emond's Field every few days. Much as I hate to admit it, they do keep the Trollocs back."

Perrin shook his head. "Do you have any idea how many Trollocs there are?"

"One's too many," Abell grunted.

"Maybe two hundred," Tam said. "Maybe more. Probably more." Master Cauthon looked surprised. "Think on it, Abell. I don't know how many the Whitecloaks have killed, but the Warders claim they and the Aes Sedai have finished off nearly fifty, and two Fades. It hasn't lessened the number of burnings we hear about. I think it has to be more, but you figure it out for yourself. " The other man nodded unhappily.

"Then why haven't they attacked Emond's Field?" Perrin asked. "If two or three hundred came in the night, they could likely burn the whole village and be gone before the Whitecloaks up at Watch Hill even heard about it. Still easier for them to hit Deven Ride. You said the Whitecloaks don't go down that far."

"Luck," Abell muttered, but he sounded troubled. "That's what it is. We've been lucky. What else could it be? What are you getting at, boy?"

"What he's getting at," Faile said, closing up beside them, "is that there must be a reason." Swallow was enough taller than the Two Rivers horses to let her look Tam and Abell in the eye, and she made it a firm look. "I have seen the aftermath of Trolloc raids in Saldaea. They despoil what they do not bum, kill or carry off people and farm animals, whoever and whatever is not protected. Entire villages have disappeared in bad years. They seek wherever is weakest, wherever they can kill the most. My father -" She bit it off, drew a deep breath, and went on. "Perrin has seen what you should have." She flashed him a proud smile. "If the Trollocs have not attacked your villages, they have a reason."

"I have thought of that," Tam said quietly, "but I can't think why. Until we know, luck is as good an answer as any."

"Perhaps," Verin said, joining them, "it is a lure." Tomas still hung back a little, dark eyes searching the country they rode through as relentlessly as any Aiel's. The Warder was watching the sky, too; there was always the chance of a raven. Barely pausing, Verin's gaze brushed across Perrin to the two older men. "News of continued trouble, news of Trollocs, will draw eyes to the Two Rivers. Andor will surely send soldiers, and perhaps other lands as well, for Trollocs this far south. That is if the Children are allowing any news out, of course. I surmise Queen Morgase's Guards would be little happier to find so many Whitecloaks than they would to find Trollocs."

"War," Abell muttered. "What we have is bad enough, but you are talking war."

"It might be so," Verin said complacently. "It might be." Frowning in a preoccupied manner, she dug a steel-nibbed pen and a small cloth-bound book from her pouch, and opened a little leather case at her belt that held an ink bottle and sandshaker. Wiping the pen absentmindedly on her sleeve, she began jotting in the book despite the awkwardness of writing while riding. She seemed completely oblivious of any unease she might have caused. Perhaps she really was.

Master Cauthon kept murmuring "War," wonderingly, under his breath, and Faile put a comforting hand on Perrin's arm, her eyes sad.

Master al'Thor only grunted; he had been in a war, so Perrin had heard, though not where or how, exactly. Just somewhere outside the Two Rivers, where he had gone as a young man, returning years later with a wife and a child, Rand. Few Two Rivers folk ever left. Perrin doubted if any of them really knew what a war was, except by what they heard from peddlers, or merchants and their guards and wagon drivers. He knew, though. He had seen war, on Toman Head. Abell was right. What they had was bad enough, but it did not come near war.

He held his peace. Maybe Verin was right. And maybe she just wanted to stop them speculating. If Trollocs harrying the Two Rivers were bait for a trap, it had to be a trap for Rand, and the Aes Sedai had to know it. That was one of the problems with Aes Sedai; they could hand you "if's and "might"s until you were sure they had told you flat out what they had only suggested. Well, if the Trollocs - or whoever sent them, rather; one of the Forsaken, maybe? - thought to trap, Rand, they would have to settle for Perrin instead - a simple blacksmith instead of the Dragon Reborn - and he did not mean to walk into any traps.

They rode on silently through the morning. In this region farms were scattered, with sometimes a mile or more between. Every last one lay abandoned, fields choked with weeds, barn doors swinging in any errant breeze. Only one had been burned, and of that nothing stood except the chimneys, soot-black fingers rising from ashes. The people who had died there - Ayellins, cousins of those who lived in Emond's Field - had been buried near the pear trees beyond the house. Those few who had been found. Abell had to be pressed to talk about it, and Tam would not. They seemed to think it would upset him. He knew what Trollocs ate. Anything that was meat. He stroked his axe absently until Faile took his hand. For some reason she was the one who seemed disturbed. He had thought she knew more of Trollocs than that.

The Aiel managed to stay out of sight even between copses, except when they wanted to be seen. When Tam began angling eastward, Gaul and the two Maidens shifted with them.

As Master Cauthon had predicted, the al'Seen farm came in sight with the sun still shy of its full height. There was not another farm in view, though a few widely separated gray plumes of chimney smoke rose both north and east. Why were they hanging on, isolated like this? If Trollocs came, their only hope was Whitecloaks chancing to be near at the same time.

While the rambling farmhouse was still small in the distance, Tam reined in and waved the Aiel to join them, suggesting they find a place to wait until the rest of them left the farm. "They won't talk about Abell or me," he said, "but you three will set tongues wagging with the best will in the world."

That was putting it mildly, with their odd clothes and their spears, and two of them women. A rabbit apiece dangled beside their quivers, though Perrin could not see how they had found time to hunt while keeping ahead of the horses. They seemed less tired than the horses, for that matter.

"Well enough," Gaul said. "I will find a place to eat my own meal, and watch for your going." He turned and loped away immediately. Bain and Chiad exchanged glances. After a moment Chiad shrugged, and they followed.

"Aren't they together?" Mat's father asked, scratching his head.

"It is a long story," Perrin said. It was better than telling him Chiad and Gaul might decide to kill each other over a feud. He hoped the water oath held. He had to remember to ask Gaul what a water oath was.

The al'Seen farm was just about as big as farms went in the Two Rivers, with three tall barns and five tabac curing sheds. The stone-walled cote, full of black-faced sheep, spread as wide as some pastures, and rail-fenced yards kept white-spotted milk cows separate from black beef cattle. Pigs grunted contentedly in their wallow, chickens wandered everywhere, and there were white geese on a good-sized pond.

The first odd thing Perrin noticed was the boys on the thatched roofs of the house and barns, eight or nine of them, with bows and quivers. They shouted down as soon as they saw the riders, and women hustled children inside before shading their eyes to see who was coming. Men gathered in the farmyard, some with bows, others with pitchforks and bushhooks held like weapons. Too many people. Far too many, even for a farm as big as this. He looked a question at Master al'Thor.

"Jac took in his cousin Wit's people," Tam explained, "because Wit's farm was too close to the Westwood. And Flann Lewin's people after their farm was attacked. Whitecloaks drove the Trollocs off before more than his barns were burned, but Flann decided it was time to go. Jac is a good man."

As they rode into the farmyard, and Tam and Abell were recognized, men and women crowded around with smiles and a babble of welcome while they dismounted. Seeing that, children burst out of the house, followed by the women who had been minding them and others, fresh from the kitchen, wiping hands on aprons. Every generation was represented, from white-haired Astelle al'Seen, bent-backed but using her stick to thump people out of her way more than to walk with, down to a swaddled infant in the arms of a more than stout young woman with a bright smile.

Perrin looked past the stout, smiling woman; then his head whipped back. When he had left the Two Rivers, Laila Dearn had been a slim girl who could dance any three boys into the ground. Only the smile and the eyes were the same. He shivered. There had been a time when he had dreamed of marrying Laila, and she had returned the feeling somewhat. The truth was, she had held on to it longer than he had. Luckily, she was too entranced with her baby and the even wider fellow by her side to pay much attention to him. Perrin recognized the man with her, too. Natley Lewin. So Laila was a Lewin now. Odd. Nat never could dance. Thanking the Light for his escape, Perrin looked around for Faile.

He found her idly flipping Swallow's reins while the mare nuzzled her shoulder. She was too busy smiling admiringly at Wil al'Seen, a cousin from Deven Ride way, to notice her horse, though, and Wil was smiling back. A good-looking boy, Wil. Well, he was a year older than Perrin, but too good-looking not to appear boyish. When Wil came down to Emond's Field for dances, the girls all used to stare at him and sigh. Just the way Faile was now. True, she was not sighing, but her smile was decidedly approving.

Perrin went over and put an arm around her, resting his other hand on his axe. "How are you, Wil?" he asked, smiling for all he was worth. No point in letting Faile think he was jealous. Not that he was.

"Fine, Perrin." Wil's eyes slid away from his and bounced off the axe, a sickly expression oozing over his face. "Just fine. " Avoiding looking at Faile again, he hurried off to join the crowd around Verin.

Faile looked up at Perrin, pursing her lips, then took his beard with one hand and gently shook his head. "Perrin, Perrin, Perrin," she murmured softly.

He was not sure what she meant, but he thought it wiser not to ask. She looked as if she did not know herself whether she was angry or- could it possibly be amused? Best not to make her decide.

Wil was not the only one to look askance at his eyes, of course. It seemed that everyone, young or old, male or female, gave a start the first time they met his gaze. Old Mistress al'Seen poked him with her stick, and her dark old eyes widened in surprise when he grunted. Maybe she thought he was not real. Nobody said anything, though.

Soon enough the horses had been led off to one of the barns - Tomas took his gray himself; the animal did not appear to want anyone else to touch the reins - and everybody except the boys on the rooftops had crowded into the house, just about filling it. Adults lined the front room two deep, Lewins and al'Seens interspersed in no particular order or rank, children in their mothers' arms or relegated to peering through the legs of grown-ups packing the doorways to peer in.

Strong tea and high-backed, rush-bottomed chairs were provided for the newcomers, though Verin and Faile got embroidered cushions. There was considerable excitement over Verin, and Tomas, and Faile. Murmurs filled the room like a gabble of geese, and everyone stared at those three as though they wore crowns, or might do tricks any moment. Strangers were always a curiosity in the Two Rivers. Tomas's sword drew especial comment, in near whispers that Perrin heard easily. Swords were not common here, or had not been before the Whitecloaks came. Some thought Tomas was a Whitecloak, others a lord. One boy little more than waist-high mentioned Warders before his elders laughed him down.

As soon as the guests were settled, Jac al'Seen planted himself in front of the wide stone fireplace, a stocky, square shouldered man with less hair than Master al'Vere, and that just as gray. A clock ticked on the mantel behind his head between two large silver goblets, evidence of his success as a farmer. The babble quieted when he raised a hand, though his cousin Wit, a near twin except for no hair at all, and Flann Lewin, a gnarled, gray-headed beanpole, both shushed their own folk anyway.

"Mistress Mathwin, Lady Faile," Jac said, bowing awkwardly to each, "You are welcome here, for as long as you wish. I have to caution you, though. You know the trouble we have in the countryside. Best for you if you go straightway to Emond's Field, or Watch Hill, and stay there. They are too big to be troubled. I would advise you to leave the Two Rivers altogether, but I understand the Children of the Light aren't letting anyone cross the Taren. I don't know why, but there it is.

"But there are so many fine stories in the country," Verin said, blinking mildly. "I would miss them all if I remained in a village." Without lying once, she managed to give the impression that she had come to the Two Rivers in search of old stories, the same as Moiraine had done, what seemed so long ago. Her Great Serpent ring lay in her belt pouch, though Perrin doubted that any of these people would know what it meant.

Elisa al'Seen smoothed her white apron and smiled gravely at Verin. Though her hair had less gray than her husband's, she looked older than Verin, her lined face motherly. Very likely she thought she was. "It is an honor to have a real scholar under our roof, yet Jac is right," she said firmly. "You truly are welcome to stay here, but when you leave, you must go immediately to a village. Traveling about isn't safe. The same goes for you, my Lady," she added to Faile. "Trollocs are not something two women should face with only a handful of men for protection."

"I will think on it," Faile said calmly. I thank you for your consideration." She sipped her tea, as unconcerned as Verin, who had begun writing in her small book again, only looking up to smile at Elisa and murmur, "There are so many stories in the countryside. " Faile accepted a butter cookie from a young al'Seen girl, who curtsied and blushed furiously, all the while staring at Faile in wide-eyed admiration.

Perrin grinned to himself. In her green riding silks, they all took Faile for nobly born, and he had to admit she carried it off beautifully. When she wanted to. The girl might not have been so admiring had she seen her in one of her tempers, when her tongue could flay the hide off a wagon driver.

Mistress al'Seen turned to her husband, shaking her head; Faile and Verin were not going to be convinced. Jac looked at Tomas. "Can you convince them?"

I go where she tells me," Tomas replied. Sitting there with a teacup in his hand, the Warder still seemed on the point of drawing his sword.

Master al'Seen sighed and shifted his attention. "Perrin, most of us have met you one time or another, down to Emond's Field, We know you, after a fashion. At least, we knew you before you ran off last year. We've heard some troubling things, but I suppose Tam and Abell wouldn't be with you if they were true."

Flann's wife, Adine, a plump woman with a self-contented eye, sniffed sharply. "I've heard some things about Tam and Abell, too. And about their boys, running off with Aes Sedai. With Aes Sedai! A dozen of them! You all remember how Emond's Field was burned to the ground. The Light knows what they could have got up to. I heard tell they kidnapped the al'Vere girl." Flann shook his head resignedly and gave Jac an apologetic look.

"If you believe that," Wit said wryly, "you'll believe anything. I talked to Marin al'Vere two weeks ago, and she said her girl went off on her own hook. And there was only one Aes Sedai."

"What are you suggesting, Adine?" Elisa al'Seen put her fists on her hips. "Come out with it." There was more than a hint of "I dare you" in her voice.

"I didn't say I believed it," Adine protested stoutly, "just that I heard it. There are questions to be asked. The Children didn't latch on to those three by pulling names out of a cap."

"If you listen for a change," Elisa said firmly, "you might hear an answer or two." Adine set herself to rearranging her skirts, but though she muttered to herself, she held her tongue otherwise.

"Does anyone else have anything to say?" Jac asked with barely concealed impatience. When no one spoke, he went on. "Perrin, no one here believes you a Darkfriend, any more than we believe Tam or Abell is." He shot Adine a hard look, and Flann put a hand on his wife's shoulder; she kept silent, but her lips writhed with what she did not say. Jac muttered to himself before continuing. "Even so, Perrin, I think we have a right to hear why the Whitecloaks are saying what they are. They accuse you and Mat Cauthon and Rand al'Thor of being Darkfriends. Why?"

Faile opened her mouth angrily, but Perrin waved her to silence. Her obedience surprised him so, he stared at her a moment before speaking. Maybe she was ill. "Whitecloaks don't need much, Master al'Seen. If you don't bow and scrape and walk wide of them, you must be a Darkfriend. If you don't say what they want, think what they want, you must be a Darkfriend. I don't know why they think Rand and Mat are." That was the simple truth. If the Whitecloaks knew Rand was the Dragon Reborn, that would be enough for them, but there was no way they could know. Mat confused him entirely. It had to be Fain's work. "Myself, I killed some of them." For a wonder, the gasps that rounded the room did not make him cringe inside, and neither did the thought of what he had done. "They killed a friend of mine and would have killed me. I didn't see my way clear to let them. That's the short of it."

"I can see where you wouldn't," Jac said slowly. Even with Trollocs about, Two Rivers people were not used to killing. Some years ago a woman had murdered her husband because she wanted another man to marry her; that was the last time anybody had died of violence in the Two Rivers that Perrin knew. Until the Trollocs.

"The Children of the Light," Verin said, "are very good at one thing. Making people who have been neighbors all their lives suspicious of each other." All the farm folk looked at her, some nodding after a moment.

"They have a man with them, I hear," Perrin said. "Padan Fain. The peddler."

"I've heard," Jac said. "I hear he calls himself by some other name nowadays. "

Perrin nodded. "Ordeith. But Fain or Ordeith, he is a Darkfriend. He admitted as much, admitted to bringing the Trollocs on Winternight last year. And he rides with the Whitecloaks. "

"That's very easy for you to claim," Adine Lewin said sharply. "You can name anybody Darkfriend."

"So who do you believe?" Tomas said. "Those who came a few weeks ago, arrested people you know, and burned their farms? Or a young man who grew up right here?"

"I am no Darkfriend, Master al'Seen," Perrin said, "but if you want me to go, I will."

"No," Elisa said quickly, shooting her husband a meaningful glance. And Adine a freezing one that made her swallow what she had been about to say. "No. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like." Jac hesitated, then nodded agreement. She came over and looked down at Perrin, resting her hands on his shoulders. "You have our sympathy," she said softly. "Your father was a good man. Your mother was my friend, and a fine woman. I know she'd want you stay with us, Perrin. The Children seldom come this way, and if they do, the boys on the roof will give us plenty of warning to get you into the attic. You will be safe here."

She meant it. She actually meant it. And when Perrin looked at Master al'Seen, he nodded again. "Thank you, " Perrin said, his throat tight. "But I have... things to do. Things I have to take care of."

She sighed, patting him gently. "Of course. Just you be sure those things don't get you... hurt. Well, at least I can send you off with a full belly."

There were not enough tables in the house to seat everyone for the midday meal, so bowls of lamb stew were handed out with chunks of crusty bread and admonitions not to drip, and everyone ate where they sat or stood. Before they were done eating, a lanky boy with his wrists sticking out of his sleeves and a bow taller than he was came bounding in. Perrin thought he was Win Lewin, but he could not be sure; boys grew fast at that age. "It's Lord Luc," the skinny boy exclaimed excitedly. "Lord Luc is coming."