New Spring: The Novel (wheel of time) Read online

  The first sister they saw, Natasia, a slim Saldaean with dark tilted eyes and high cheekbones who was a lenient teacher, gave them directions to Eadyth's rooms with a twist of distaste on her full lips. Moiraine wondered whether Natasia had some dislike for Eadyth, which it surely would be odd for her to display openly, but Eadyth herself imitated the expression with near exactness as she showed them to tall, cushioned chairs before her sitting room's broad fireplace, where flames danced. And then she stood warming her hands as though reluctant to speak. There was no offer of tea or wine, or any sort of welcome. Siuan fidgeted impatiently on the edge of her chair, but Moiraine schooled herself to stillness. With difficulty, but she did it. The tightness of the Three Oaths was particularly harsh, sitting. Be quiet, listen, and observe.

  Eadyth's sitting room was larger than theirs, with a cornice carved in rolling waves, and two tapestries, of flowers and brightly colored birds, on the walls, though her stand-lamps were as plain. The massive furnishings were of dark wood inlaid with ivory and turquoise, except for one delicate little table that appeared to be carved ivory or bone. However long Eadyth had occupied these rooms, she had added few personal touches here, just a tall vase of glistening yellow Sea Folk porcelain, a wide bowl of hammered silver, and a pair of crystal figures, a man and a woman each reaching a hand toward the other, on the mantel above the fireplace. All of which told her nothing except that the white-haired sister had good taste and restraint. Be silent, listen, and observe.

  Squirming on her seat cushion, Siuan appeared about to stand when Eadyth finally turned to face them. Folding her arms beneath her breasts, she took a deep breath. "For six years you have been taught that the second greatest rudeness is to speak directly of someone's strength in the One Power." Her mouth twisted again briefly. "In truth, I find it difficult to do so now, necessary though it is. For six years, you have been strongly discouraged from thinking of your own strength in the Power or anyone else's. Now, you must learn to compare your strength to that of every sister you meet. In time, it will become second nature, and you will do it without thought, but you must be very careful until you reach that point. If another sister stands higher than you in the Power, whatever her Ajah, you must defer to her. The higher she stands above you, the greater your deference. Failure in that is the third greatest rudeness, and third only by a hair. The most common reason for new sisters to be given penance is a misstep of that sort, and since the penance is set by the offended sister, it is seldom light. A month or two of Labor or Deprivation is the least you can expect. Mortification of the Spirit and Mortification of the Flesh are not unheard of."

  Moiraine nodded slowly. Of course. That explained Elaida's deference to Meilyn, and Rafela yielding to Leane. And Cabriana; Cabriana was not very strong at all. That thought came very hard. When the White Tower wanted to strongly discourage something, it was well and truly discouraged. Light, the Tower rooted something out of you, then made you use that very thing to determine precedence. What a tangle. At least she and Siuan were near identical in strength, and likely would be as they gained their full potential. They had moved in lockstep so far. It would have seemed unnatural if Siuan had been forced to defer to her.

  "Do we have to obey them?" Siuan asked, finally giving in and standing, and Eadyth sighed heavily.

  "I thought I was quite clear, Siuan. The higher she stands above you, the greater your deference. I truly dislike talking about this, so please don't make me repeat myself. It works the other way around as well, of course, but remember that it doesn't apply if your Ajah or the Tower has set someone above you. If you're attached to an embassy, for example, you obey the Tower's emissary as you would me, if she was barely allowed to test for Accepted. Now. Do you have that clear in your heads? Good. Because I myself feel an urgent need to clean my teeth." And she hustled them from her rooms as if she really did intend to rush for the salt and soda.

  "I was scared half out my wits," Siuan said once they were back in the corridor, "but that wasn't so bad. I thought we'd have to start at the bottom, but we're not so far from the top already. In another five years, we'll be close." Whether or not they thought about it, everyone knew when they would reach their full strength; the length of time could vary considerably from woman to woman, but it was always a smooth climb in a straight line.

  "I was frightened, too," Moiraine said with a sigh, "but it is not so simple as you make it sound. At what point does deference become obedience? Even if she did not call it so, that is what she meant. We must observe the other sisters closely, and until we know for certain, we must err on the side of prudence. A month from now, I mean to be leagues from Tar Valon, not sweating on a farm across the river."

  Siuan snorted. "So we step carefully. What else have we been doing for six years? But it still could be worse. What say I bring my tray to your rooms and we breakfast together."

  Before they reached their rooms, however, another Aes Sedai intercepted them, a tall, square-faced woman in sky-blue silk with her steel-gray hair in a multitude of blue-beaded braids that hung to her waist. Moiraine had been certain that every Blue in the Tower had been at the welcome, but she did not recall seeing this sister ever before. She made herself aware of the woman's ability, her strength, and realized that it was nearly as great as her own and Siuan's would be eventually. Surely more than simple deference was required here. Should she curtsy? She settled for waiting politely with her hands folded at her waist.

  "I am Cetalia Delarme," the sister said in a strong Taraboner accent, eyeing her up and down. "By your description, the pretty little porcelain doll, you are Moiraine."

  Moiraine stiffened. A pretty little porcelain doll? It was all she could do to keep her face smooth, to keep her hands from clutching her shawl in fists. The thought of that farm helped.

  But Cetalia's attention had already left her. "Which makes you Siuan, no? I am told you are a great solver of puzzles. What do you make of this little puzzle?" she said, thrusting a thin stack of pages at Siuan.

  Siuan frowned as she read, and so did Moiraine, reading past her friend's shoulder. Siuan riffled through the pages too quickly for her to catch everything, but it seemed to be nothing but the names of playing cards, in no particular order she could see. The Ruler of Cups was followed by the Lord of Winds, the Ruler of Flames by the Lady of Rods, but then it was the Five of Coins followed by the Four of Cups. A puzzle? It was nonsense.

  "I'm not certain," Siuan said finally, handing the pages back. Which settled it. If the thing were a puzzle, she would have seen the solution.

  "Oh?" That word held a world of disappointment, but after a moment, Cetalia went on, the beads in her braids rattling softly as she tilted her head thoughtfully. "You don't say you do not know, so you have the glimmer of something. Of what are you uncertain?"

  "There's a game I've read about," Siuan said slowly, "a game wealthy women play with cards, called Arrays. You have to put the cards in descending order in one of a set of patterns, but only certain suits can be played on others. I think someone wrote down each card as it was played. In a winning game."

  Cetalia arched one eyebrow. "You have only read of the game?"

  "Fishermen's daughters can't afford playing cards," Siuan replied dryly, and Cetalia's eyes took on a dangerous look. For a moment, Moiraine thought a penance hovered.

  But all the Taraboner sister said was "I'll wager Moiraine has played the Arrays, yet I suspect she would have called it just the nonsensical list of playing cards or some such. Most would. But you, who have only read of the game, deduced the correct answer. Come with me. I have some more puzzles I wish to test you on."

  "I haven't had my breakfast yet," Siuan protested.

  "You can eat later. Come." Obviously, Cetalia thought more than mere deference was due.

  Watching a reluctant Siuan follow Cetalia up the corridor, Moiraine let herself glare at the woman's back. Surely that behavior at least skirted rudeness. Apparently there were gradations. Well, nuance was everything in t
he Sun Palace, too. They would only have to bear it a short time, though. Inside the week, they would be gone, and she for one did not intend to return until she was at her full strength. Except to let Tamra know where the boy-child was, of course. Actually being the ones to find him would be wonderful.

  Her own breakfast porridge still held enough warmth to be edible, and she settled gingerly onto a plump-cushioned chair at the table, but before she could take a second bite, Anaiya walked in. Anaiya was nearly as strong in the Power as Cetalia, so she set down her silver spoon and stood.

  "I'd tell you to sit down and eat," the motherly woman said, "but Tamra sent a novice to fetch you. I told the child I'd carry her message because I wanted to offer you Healing. It can help with the tightness of the Oaths in some cases."

  Moiraine reddened. Of course everyone knew by now. Light! "Thank you," she said, both for the Healing-the tightness did not loosen by a hair, but it was much more comfortable, after-and for the clue. If she did not have to stand for Anaiya, she surely did not have to obey her. Unless Anaiya was simply being courteous, of course. She very nearly sighed. More observation was in order before she reached any conclusions.

  Leaving the Blue quarters with her shawl wrapped firmly around her shoulders-she did not mean to go without that just yet; for one thing, it helped with the chill-she wondered what Tamra wanted with her. Only one possibility came to mind. Now that she and Siuan were full sisters, Tamra might mean to put them among her searchers. After all, they already knew. Nothing else made sense. Her steps quickened eagerly.

  – Ťť-Ťť-Ťť-

  "But I don't want a job," Siuan protested, her belly rumbling with hunger yet again. She felt wrung out after hours in Cetalia's rooms, so full of books and stacked boxes of papers that they seemed to belong to a Brown. And the woman seemed never to have heard of a chair cushion. Her chairs were hard as stone!

  "Don't be ridiculous," the gray-haired sister said dismissively, crossing her legs. She tossed the last pages she had given Siuan carelessly onto a writing table already littered six-deep with others. "You didn't do too badly for a beginner. I have need of you, and that is that. I expect you here at Second Rise tomorrow morning. Now go get something to eat. You are Aes Sedai, now; you cannot go around sounding like the leaky drain pipe."

  There was no point in protesting again. The bloody woman had already made it clear that two protests in succession came dangerously close to rudeness in her book. Bloody, bloody woman! She let nothing of anger touch her face, a lesson learned long before Tar Valon. On the fishing docks, displaying anger or fear either one could lead to trouble. Sometimes it could lead to a knife in your back.

  "As you say, Cetalia," she muttered, earning yet another raised eyebrow, and just managed not to stalk out of the woman's apartments. Outside, she did stalk, and the Dark One take anyone who did not like it!

  Burn her, why had she been fool enough to let the woman goad her? Moiraine had counseled caution, and instead, she had tried to wipe the doubt from bloody Cetalia's bloody voice by thinking like Moiraine. Unskilled hands on the tiller put the boat aground when they did not capsize it. Her unskilled steering meant she would not be leaving the Tower any time soon. Not for years, until she was strong enough to tell Cetalia what she could do with her job. At least the woman had not gotten her claws on Moiraine. With her mind, she would have been a wonder as Cetalia's assistant.

  Hungry or not, she went in search of Moiraine rather than dinner, to let her know she would be searching by herself. The sight of Moiraine always made her smile. Cetalia had been wrong in one particular. She was not a pretty little porcelain doll; she was a beautiful little porcelain doll. On the outside, anyway. Inside, where it counted, was another matter. The first time Siuan saw her, she had been sure the Cairhienin girl would crack like a spindle-shell in a matter of days. But Moiraine had turned out to be as tough as she herself if not tougher. No matter how often she was knocked down, she climbed back to her feet straightaway. Moiraine did not know the meaning of "give up." Which was why it was a surprise to find her slumped in a chair in her sitting room, her shawl slung over the chair back, with a sulky expression on her face. A green-glazed teapot on a tray gave off the smell of hot tea, but the white cups looked unused.

  "What happened to you?" Siuan asked. "You haven't earned a penance already, have you?"

  "Worse," Moiraine replied disconsolately. Her voice usually minded Siuan of silver bells, but Moiraine hated hearing that. "Tamra has put me in charge of distributing the bounty."

  "Blood and bloody ashes!" Siuan tested the words on her tongue. There would be no switchings now for speaking like herself. She had heard Aes Sedai who could have made any dockman blush. She did seem to sense a faint taste of soap, though. "Does she suspect? Is she trying to make sure you can't interfere?" Maybe that was why Cetalia had latched hold of her. No, she had done well on the bloody woman's tests, the more fool her.

  "I think not, Siuan. I was taught to manage an estate, though I only did it for a few months before coming to the Tower. She said that gave me all the skills I needed." Her mouth twisted wryly. "I was 'lying around loose,' as she put it, and I suspect she decided to give an onerous task to a Blue as a way of being fair. What about you? What sort of puzzles did Cetalia want you to look at?"

  "A lot of old reports," Siuan grumbled, easing down onto a cushioned chair. If only her skin did not feel three sizes too small! Without asking, she poured herself a cup of tea. They never asked about things like that. "She wanted me to puzzle out what happened forty or fifty years ago in Tarabon and Saldaea and Altara." As soon as the words were out of her she wanted to clap a hand over her mouth, but it was too late for that.

  Moiraine sat up straight, suddenly very interested. "Cetalia heads the Blue Ajah eyes-and-ears." It was not a question. Trust her to see straight to the heart right away.

  "Don't even whisper that. The bloody woman will boil me down like an oil fish if she learns I let it slip. She'll probably have it anyway, but I don't want to give her cause before she finds it." She certainly would, if today had been any guide. "Look now, handing out the bounty can't last more than a few months. After, you're free to go. Let me know where you're going, and if I learn anything, I'll try to get word to you." The Blue had an extensive network of eyes-and-ears, as useful for passing messages out as for sending reports in.

  "I do not know that I can afford a few months," Moiraine said in a small voice, dropping her eyes, very unlike herself. "I I have been keeping a secret from you, Siuan." But they never kept secrets from each other! "I am very afraid the Hall means to put me on the Sun Throne."

  Siuan blinked. Moiraine, a queen? "You'd make a wonderful queen. And don't bring up those Aes Sedai queens who came to bad ends. That was a very long time ago. There's hardly a ruler anywhere who doesn't have an Aes Sedai advisor. Who's ever said a word against them except the Whitecloaks?"

  "It is a long step from advisor to queen, Siuan." Moiraine sat up, carefully arranging her skirts, and her voice took on that infuriatingly patient tone she used explaining things. "Obviously, the Hall thinks I could take the throne without bringing mobs into the streets, but I do not want to take the chance they are wrong. Cairhien has endured enough these last two years without that. And even if they are right, no one has ruled Cairhien for long without being willing to stoop to kidnapping, assassination and worse. My great-grandmother, Carewin, ruled more than fifty years, and the Tower calls her a very successful ruler because Cairhien prospered and had few wars under her, but her name is still used to frighten children. Better to be forgotten than remembered like Carewin Damodred, but even with the Tower behind me, I will have to try matching her if the Hall succeeds." Suddenly, her shoulders slumped, and her face broke close to tears. "What can I do, Siuan? I am caught like a fox in a trap, and I cannot even chew off my own foot to escape."

  Setting her teacup on the tray, Siuan knelt beside Moiraine's chair and put her hands on the other woman's shoulders. "We'll find a way out,"
she said, putting far more confidence into her voice than she felt. "We'll find a way." She was a little surprised the First Oath allowed her to say those words. She could imagine no way out for either of them.

  "If you say so, Siuan." Moiraine did not sound as if she believed, either. "There is one thing I can remedy. May I offer you Healing?"

  Siuan could have kissed her. In fact, she did.

  There was still considerable snow close to the mountains that rose up ahead of Lan, and the trampled tracks of a large body of men lay clear beneath the afternoon sun, leading straight across the hills toward the cloud-capped heights that reared higher and higher the deeper you looked. He raised his looking glass, but he could discern no movement ahead. The Aiel must already be into the mountains. Cat Dancer stamped a hoof impatiently.

  "Are those the Spine of the World?" Rakim called in that rasping voice. "Impressive, but somehow I thought they'd be taller."

  "That's Kinslayer's Dagger," a well-traveled Arafellin laughed. "Call them the foothills to the Spine and you won't be far wrong."

  "Why are we just standing here?" Caniedrin demanded, low-voiced enough not be called down for it but loud enough for Lan to hear. Caniedrin liked to press the edges where he could.

  Bukama relieved him of the necessity to answer. "Only fools try fighting Aiel in mountains," he said loudly. Twisting toward Lan in his saddle, he lowered his own voice to a near whisper, and the creases of his permanent scowl deepened. "The Light send Pedron Niall doesn't choose now to paint his face." Niall, Lord Captain-Commander of the Children of the Light, had the command today.