Chapter 17: An Arrival
Summary: Moiraine is frustrated after three months of searching. She is consoling Jurine Najima, a woman who has just lost her husband and male children in a supposed accidental fire. Moiraine also thinks of the fighting over the Sun Throne in Cairhien. Jurine mentions that Josef, her husband, as always considered very lucky. Moiraine is impatient to go, but relieved that their small child was born in the wrong place to be the one she searches for. She goes out into the streets of Canluum and notices two Aes Sedai on her way to The Gates of Heaven, her inn. There are five sisters staying at the inn, much to Moiraine's dismay. They think she is a wilder, just as there is a true wilder at the in, a Mistress Asher.
As she is making her way up the steps to her room, she is confronted by Larelle Tarsi, who has taught Moiraine before, and Merean. Felaana, a Red, who was the first to confront Moiraine, deflects them. She also mentions how the rules for novice ages have been bent a time or two. Before they can get much further in discussion, Cadsuane Melaidhrin appears at the top of the stairs and orders Merean and Larelle to "Bring the girl" while leading them to a private sitting room. The two Aes Sedai sit while Moiraine is told to stand, and Cadsuane circles around the three. Moiraine is angry at being ordered around, but tries to suppress her anger. Cadsuane asks what she is doing out here and in disguise and Moiraine implies she is searching for a Warder. Cadsuane asks the two sitting sisters about Moiraine and they mention she is a quick learner, but has a fondness for pranks. Merean mentions that Siuan and Moiraine were caught trying to sneak mice into Elaida's bed and were punished for it.
Moiraine bursts out that she needs to pack for her trip to Chachin. Cadsuane tells her to pour them wine and that Moiraine will leave when Cadsuane says she can. Cadsuane mentions she may not have long to live, stunning the three other sisters. She mentions that Meilyn is older than her. Then Kerene is the strongest after Cadsuane and Meilyn. Larelle flinched at the mention of Kerene. The next five strongest will be Siuan and Moiraine when they reach their potential, plus three others, one of which is in retirement. Cadsuane mentions how the Tower dwindles, which interests Moiraine. Then she orders Larelle and Merean to escort Moiraine to Chachin, for her protection. The two Aes Sedai reluctantly agree to watch Moiraine and leave. Moiraine angrily says she "agreed to nothing" and Cadsuane says she will check her bed to make sure Moiraine hasn't left. She also threatens to make Moiraine "weep as you did for those mice" if she doesn't comply. Moiraine is left wondering what she can do now and if Cadsuane is one of Tamra's searchers.
I didn't mention all the rumors about what Cadsuane is said to have done over her long life, but those may be of interest. Moiraine has been on the hunt for three months and she mentions she has crossed off about nine names in her book with hundreds left. It is nice to see she is realizing just what a task it is she has taken on. It eventually ends up taking her almost 20 years to find the boy she is looking for. In other news, she really needs to learn to hold her tongue. The mention of sisters and strength will be important in a chapter or two. Cadsuane gives her some good advice at the end of the chapter, but I don't believe Moiraine follows it very well.
Chapter 18: A Narrow Passage
Summary: Moiraine exits the sitting room into the common room, wishing that Siuan were around to get her out of this mess. Then she notices a young woman peek into the common room twice. It is Siuan and she motions for Moiraine to meet with her outside. As she follows Siuan, Moiraine worries about what it means that her friend is here. She catches up to Siuan in an alley. Siaun is agitated and hopes that Moiraine has found the boy. Siuan starts weeping and mentions that Tamra's searchers are all dead, apparently in accidents. Siuan and Moiraine sit while she explains that she hid under Meilyn's bed to warn her, only she fell asleep and woke up in the morning, finding that nobody had slept in the bed. At breakfast, Chesmal Emry announces that Meilyn had died in her bed in the night. Putting together this death, apparently caused by the Power, with Tamra's and the others, they deduce that it was the Black Ajah. Moiraine tells her about Cadsuane and Siuan remarks that she could be Black, or any of the other sisters. They can trust only themselves.
Moiraine has Siuan go ahead and start for Chachin, giving her half the money she has. As Siuan goes, Moiraine wishes she were Green and had several Warders guarding her back. She thinks anyone she meets could be a Darkfriend and heads back for her inn. She sees a sister talking with a tall man in the doorway of the inn and is suspicious. Moiraine enters the inn, but can't see who the sister was. She is met by the innkeeper, who informs her she must share he room now that there are three more Aes Sedai at the inn. She is treated differently by the innkeeper and her new roommate as they apparently believe she will become a novice soon. In the common room, during supper, Moiraine hears all about what people think novice life is like and she tries to escape by going to bed early. Mistress Palan follows her soon afterwards and won't stop talking until she fell asleep. Cadsuane makes her visit in the morning, and Moiraine is so stressed out that she embraces the Source and holds her limit of the power. Cadsuane leaves and Moiraine waits a bit before packing what she can and leaving the room. She reluctantly leaves behind many of her things.
Welcome Siuan! Lots of bad news all in one go. Not only have some of the strongest sisters just been killed off, but the existence of the Black Ajah is confirmed (for them at least) and they are alone in their search for the boy. Chesmal gets a mention here, and of course she'll be important later. She is likely the one to have done some of the recent killing, we know she was involved with Meilyn and Tamra at least. So, Black Ajah has killed off some of the stronger Aes Sedai and dealt a major blow to the Light. We'll also learn what else they are up to by the end of the story. For the record, I don't think Cadsuane is Black, but she certainly does whatever it is she wants to do to further her own agenda.
Chapter 19: Pond Water
Summary: Moiraine leaves the inn through the empty common room and heads for the stables. As the groom saddles Arrow, she wonders if Cadsuane has paid the servants to keep track of her movements. She regrets the necessity of leaving her packhorse behind, but heads off towards the gate hoping her ruse holds. She is surprised to see she isn't the first person at the gates waiting to leave. Three men are ahead of her, and one is the man she saw at The Gates of Heaven. When the gates open, Moiraine allows a few merchant's wagons to go between her and the men, but keeps the men in sight since they are going the same way. They set a hard pace and she follows, stopping briefly to get some food and inquire about one of the women on her list. She catches up to the men again and tries to decide the best way to approach them. It is getting late and the men stop in the road briefly before two of them ride off and the other, Lan, heads off of the road to make camp. Moiraine decides to follow him, as one man will be easier to handle than three.
She finds a trail that even a child could follow, which leads to Lan sitting near a lake. Moiraine decides to catch Lan by surprise, but is surprised herself when he turns quickly and throws her into the lake. He pulls her out of the lake, easily resisting her effort to pull him in. He then offers to put up blankets and a fire for her to dry. Ryne wants a peek at Moiraine naked, but Lan draws his sword to bar his way. Things look tense until Bukama has them play a game called "sevens" where they sit across from each other and draw swords.
Moiraine asks to be escorted to Chachin, and gives the men coins, unaware that she has insulted them. She is unable to get any information from them and they go to sleep for the night, with one man always on watch. She uses flows of Spirit to keep track of the men's movements. In the middle of the night, she hears a comment that angers her and creates a cyclone which drenches Lan and gets the others wet. They think it is Shadowspawn, but she tells them it was her and that they should hold respect for Aes Sedai. They get settled again and go back to sleep, while Moiraine uses her Spirit wards again. She has trouble getting to sleep and thinks about the men.
I love all of the misunderstandings in these scenes, which become more apparent when we get some Lan viewpoints. Moiraine thinks she knows so much, yet her ability to read this men isn't very good. For instance, she doesn't understand why Lan won't look her in the eyes, although to be fair, many don't seem to understand Malkieri custom in the Borderlands. She also needs to work on her anger problems, and perhaps not walking into such an obvious set-up next time. The cyclone... well, she expected to humble Lan with that and is surprised when he is on his feet and has his sword ready. This is where he catches her attention, although her last thoughts in this chapter are about Ryne.
Chapter 20: Breakfast in Manala
Summary: Moiraine wants the men to call her "Lady Alys" when she wakes up. Lan thinks that she was awake every time he went on guard duty. Lan doesn't believe that Moiraine is Aes Sedai since he saw childish glee on her face when she did the water thing and disappointment when it failed to faze him. Lan also thinks Moiraine may have been sent by Edeyn to watch him and Bukama is angry that Lan won't give his oath to protect her as the old man has. Ryne is flirting with Moiraine, and Lan understands, as she is beautiful. He wants nothing to do with an Aes Sedai or a Cairhien. They reach the village of Manala and Moiraine calls a halt. Lan thinks they could have eaten and slept here last night if not for Moiraine.
In Manala, Bel Tine festivities are going on, with dancing around the Spring Pole when they arrive. Everyone is dressed in their best clothes and more people are coming into down from the surrounding area. There are also six stakes with Trolloc heads on them, and Lan notes that everyone has weapons nearby even as they celebrate. "Lady Alys" is unfazed by the sight of the Trollocs and lets slip that she has faced them before. She has Ryne choose them an inn, The Plowman's Blade, where they eat breakfast. The men are discussing her and whether or not they should ask questions about when she wants when they realize that she is gone. Lan and Ryne go out to find her while Bukama stays in the inn. They split up, and Lan doesn't want Moiraine to meet anyone behind his back, worrying about assassins.
Lan finds Moiraine talking to a woman and eavesdrops on them. Moiraine confronts him about it when the woman leaves and Lan is surprised that she was able to hear him. Moiraine tells Lan to forget the name Avene Sahera and mind his own business. Lan goes back to Bukama and tells him about what he learned. Bukama suggests she only wanted their protection until she finds this woman, but Lan points out that this doesn't explain why she followed them for a whole day.
Nice to see Moiraine hasn't changed her alias in all these years. Ryne is acting odd, but we'll learn why that is later on. I love how she could have reached the town that night if she hadn't followed Lan into the trees. Moiraine doesn't even know she is insulting the men half the time, which I find funny. The Trollocs she faced before were in her testing of course. I also skipped a bit about how the inns in the Borderlands tend to be fortified and used as a rallying place during Trolloc raids. Lan continues to doubt Moiraine because she is acting very un-Aes Sedai-like in his opinion, although a few times he almost believes. Still, he believes she is a dangerous woman.
Chapter 21: Some Tricks of the Power
They ride hard on the journey to Chachin, with "Alys" continuing to search for the Sahera woman. She also asks questions of the men, trying to learn about their past, which they deflect. Bukama continues to harp about Lan not offering his pledge. She uses the Power to protect them from two powerful storms out of the Blight. They also see bandits from afar several times. On the fourth day, they are suddenly surrounded by dozens of men. The leader of the bandits wants them to surrender so they can have loot their coin and the lady's jewelry. Lan knows the men would be killed if they surrender. Moiraine used the Power to threaten them with a loud demand and fire above their heads to punctuate it. The leader won't back down, but Lan issues an ultimatum and the bandits begin to scatter to his count.
Moiraine is angry that they let the bandits get away, arguing that if they had attacked, she could have used the Power on them. Lan is plagued by Moiraine. On the first night after the water, she keeps him awake with switches of air. Then she got sand all over this things the next night. The night after the bandits she got ants to bite him. The next night it was blisterleaf. Lan doesn't mentions these incidents to the others. He can't figure out what type of reaction Moiraine wants from him, but thinks she will slowly kill him.
Moiraine can't understand Lan's stubbornness. She wants an apology from Lan and for him to regard her properly as Aes Sedai. The trick with the ants had been a Blue Ajah secret. She continues to plan how to make him yield, but wonders why the men don't say anything. She also thinks the men don't talk much about themselves. She continues to use the Spirit wards. Two days from Chachin, she finds the Sahera woman in Ravinda, a thriving village. Mistress Sahera is using the bounty to build a large inn and plans to call it the White Tower. Unfortunately her child was born at the wrong time and place. Moiraine is not pleased with the Accepted who took down her information.
She is thinking of plans for that night, deciding to use wasps if Lan isn't allergic. She asks him and he turns, then grunts. There is an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. She uses the Power to weave a shield around Lan and then herself. Then Moiraine finds the archer and uses Air to hold him. Ryne and Bukama each put an arrow in the man and she releases the flows holding him, dismayed that they've killed him with her help. The man dies, revealing that "he" hired him to kill her first, but he went for Lan who he thought was the bigger threat. Moiraine wishes she could heal him to get some answers and begins going through the stuff on his person. They get the arrow out of Lan and Moiraine offers healing, which he reluctantly accepts. Moiraine regrets not having searched the assassin's saddlebags before Lan let the horse go, but is surprised by the touch of kindness Lan shows the horse, so decides not to use the wasps that night.
Hard to summarize a summary of their travels. Moiraine still fond of pulling pranks, although by the end of the chapter she is ready to give Lan a reprieve, for the night. She does pretty well in the first ambush with the assassins, and Lan wonders why she thinks she can take on fifty men herself. She still has the restrictions of the Three Oaths though, so I think Lan's handling of the situation was best. The assassin situation was lucky for them, although I don't believe we ever learn who sent the assassin. Moiraine remarks that her death cost the same as a silk dress in Tar Valon. The assassin should have listened to the man who hired him. Incidentally, the assassin was Caniedrin, a soldier under Lan's command during the Aiel War. He did it for the money.
Chapter 22: Keeping Custom
Summary: Lan wants to be rid of Alys as soon as they get to the heavily fortified city of Chachin. He gives some advice and rudely rides away towards the Aesdaishar Palace, where Edeyn will be if she is in the city. The three men slowly make their way to the palace and Lan tries to banish thoughts of Lady Alys and focus on the reason he is here: Edeyn. Guards hold him at the gate of the Visitor's Yard and Lan says his name. An officer who campaigned with him in the south recognizes him and greets him warmly. Lan does not like his greeting, thinking that he is "swimming in a sea of other people's expectations" and that he could drowned. Bukama and Ryne are shown simple rooms and Lan is pleased that his three rooms are suitable for his station, rather than the rooms of a visiting king.
Lan talks with his two serving women while they unpack his clothes, learning that Lady Edeyn Arrel is in residence. Many of his clothes show hard wear, but he is able to dress fairly well for the confrontation to come. "He had small experience in the kind of battle he needed to fight now." He sent the serving women to guard the door and assumed the ko'di, waiting for his chance to make a public meeting with Edeyn; she had all the advantage in private as his carneira. Edeyn sends two demands that he meet her in private, which he refuses. Lan is relieved when Mistress Romera arrives to take him to see the Prince Consort. In the large formal hall, many men and women who had decided to now remember Malkier watch Lan as he is presented. Brys welcomes him and mentions that his luck must have rubbed off on his son, Diryk, who fell fifty feet onto paving stones and survived with merely bruises.
The boy asks him many questions, some of which Lan has time to answer, before his father sends him back to his studies. Brys escorts Lan over to Lady Edeyn, who firmly announces that she swears fealty to Lan, King of Malkier. He whispers that there is no King of Malkier, to which she replies that a majority of the Great Lords are present, should they ask to see how they will cast the rods? A crowd forms around him, wishing to swear fealty, but Prince Brys takes Lan to his private balcony and apologizes for the incident. They talk about various other things on the walk and eventually Lan goes back to his apartments. Edeyn is in his sitting room and orders him to bring her his daori. It is his hair woven in a cord, a token of what Lan owes his carneira. She suggests that he marry her daughters, Iselle, which scandalizes Lan, but he can think of no way to avoid it.
Malkieri customs are somewhat strange, although from this chapter and previous ones, we get some basic ideas about them. Women choose their first lover and hold power over them. Edeyn says she can marry him off, as his carneira, since he has no living female relatives. Lan pretty much assumes he will have to lead men into the Blight now, and that he will be married to Iselle. Perhaps the most interesting thing here is how differently this contrasts with his actual marriage much later on and the gathering of an army to at least follow him into the Blight. We haven't seen how he reacts to that yet, but it will be interesting to compare that to this. The private walk Brys leads him to and the conversation about luck are important, as we shall see very soon.
Chapter 23: The Evening Star
Summary: Moiraine is pleased at the impression she left on Lan, but further impressions will have to wait while she searches for Siuan in the rougher districts. She rides to the poorer section of the city and begins checking inns. At the first stop, a woman tries to steal her horse, which Moiraine has set a ward on to alert her if anyone tried to move the horse, and furthermore, hobbled the horse with flows of air. She has a quick confrontation with the horse-thief before moving on to the next inn. She has no luck at the other inns on the street either, until she gets to the last one. The innkeeper greets her and says she has a woman of that description staying there. Moiraine is suspicious when the woman hands her a mug of wine, which none of the other inns could afford. She uses one of the Blue's secret weaves, which induces fear. She interrogates the innkeeper, learning that the woman would drug unsuspecting female patrons and then sell them. Moiraine makes her drink the wine. When the woman falls down, drugged, Moiraine leaves with some of the other patrons, thinking that "sometimes justice came from other than laws or swords."
She continues her search, looking in various rough areas of Chachin. At the inns, she is unable to find Siuan, but was offered wine under strange circumstances several more times. She reluctantly does not repeat her previous performance for fear that other Blues would learn of it. She does use the secret weave to fend off two attempts be armed men to pull her from Arrow and steal the horse. Seven times, people tried to steal Arrow while she was inside inns. As it began to get dark, Siuan found her and warns her that these aren't the quarters for her. Siuan takes her to a perfectly respectable inn, The Evening Star. Moiraine is surprised that she would stay in a place that cost this much, but they quickly get down to business. Ines Demain, the woman on their list, had a boy child and "named him Rahien because she saw the dawn come up over Dragonmount." The only problem is that the woman is in the Aesdaishar Palace.
Moiraine says they will have to deal with that in the morning and asks if Siuan has learned anything about the Black Ajah. Siuan mentions strange gossip going around the city. Specifically how a young blacksmith was killed recently. The man became a speaker, getting his guild to raise money for the poor. He was carrying some money back to his guild house when somebody killed him by breaking his back. Not a coin of the money he carried was taken. Moiraine can't see how that is connected to the Black Ajah, but Siuan thinks there might be something important to the story. They focus back on what that will do to get into the Palace and Moiraine must spend half the night getting Siuan to agree to the plan.
Lots of Moiraine taking care of herself here, although her whole assumption that her friend would be in these rougher places, based upon prior experience, is completely wrong. One would think a story about a woman in silks, riding around the rougher quarters of the city and avoiding all sorts of mischief would circulate, even after just a day of it. Moiraine still seems to think she is invincible, when she clearly isn't. Still, she does okay for herself on her little adventure through the slums. Nice to see Siuan again, now with heightened intelligence gathering skills. She is correct about the blacksmith. Something is definitely going on there, but we don't get the whole picture until later. Nice hook at the end of this chapter, lets go see what Moiraine has in mind.
Chapter 24: Making Use of Invisibility
Summary: In the morning, Siuan goes back to arguing about the plan, complaining that Moiraine is taking all the risks. When they are dressed, the two head for the common room, where Siuan wants to eat a big breakfast, but Moiraine insists they grab rolls to eat on the way. Moiraine hires two of the inkeeper's men to escort herself and Siuan to a bank. They arrive at the bank, which looks like a small palace, and get an interview with the banker herself. She uses one of her letter-of-rights to get ten purses filled with gold. They head back to the inn with their guards and deposit most of the coins in the inn's strongroom. They inquire about the best seamstress in the city, who turns out to be Silene Dorelmin. Moiraine breaks most of the rules of propriety between a woman and her seamstress, picking out fabrics and colors quickly and mentioning price. The woman balks at her demand to have the dresses tomorrow, so she dumps out thirty gold coins and tells the seamstress as much again when the dresses are ready. Moiraine also says she will take away six coins from the second thirty for each day it takes.
Two days after Moiraine arrived in Chachin, a yellow carriage pulled by a team of four grays arrived at the Aesdaishar Palace. The Lady Moiraine Damodred was received by a high raking servant and shown to suitable apartments. She also had two maids and an errand boy assigned to her. They paid no attention to her maid, Suki, as they unpacked her things. Moiraine tells Siuan she should make use of her invisibility to find out about the Lady Ines. They want to be gone by tomorrow, if possible, since Gorthanes will surely learn of her visit and the palace would be a good place for an assassination. Siuan learns that the Lady Ines is in seclusion for a month, as her elder husband recently died. Moiraine is summoned to see Lord Brys and Siuan mentions that she may have a way into the Lady Ines' apartments.
And now we know what we had that whole seamstress scene in Tar Valon. Although, I must admit that I did find the first scene fairly interesting at the time. Kudos to Robert Jordan there. He makes these things so believable within the Wheel of Time world. Also, Siuan as Suki the Lady's maid is pretty funny, especially since she doesn't seem to know the first thing about court etiquette or the proper behavior for a maid. We get similar scenes with Elayne and Nyneave much later on, of course. The odd thing about this all is the sense of urgency Siuan and Moiraine have to get the information and get out. I can understand now that they've revealed Moiraine's location, but why did they have to rush into the palace in the first place? I guess it was the whole Black Ajah thing, but their search takes nearly two more decades and even when they find the boy, they don't really know what to do with him. What were they planning to do if Lady Ines' boy had been the Dragon Reborn? They really don't think these things out.
Chapter 25: An Answer
Summary: The shatayan is "frosty" over having been made to wait for Moiraine, but leads her along the hallways. Moiraine is wondering if Siuan will really sleep with a footman to learn what they need. Then she sees Ryne and Bukama practicing in a courtyard and thinks that she will have to avoid them and Lan, if he is here. She meets Lord Brys and gets a warm greeting, but her neck starts to ache from looking up, as everyone there is taller than her. Moiraine is having difficulty putting on a show of interest in the small talk. "She cared little for music and less for whoever played the instruments; in Cairhien, musicians were hired and forgotten." She is relieved when the children of Lord Brys are introduced, as it means the audience is at an end. Diryk mentions that "Lan is the King of Malkier," which gets Moiraine's attention. Brys explains that Lan could be King if he wished it.
Moiraine is visibly shaken at hearing that Lan is here and that she might meet him. She feigns sickness and says she will go back to her rooms and rest. On the way back, she runs into Merean. The other Aes Sedai comments on Moiraine still hiding her ring and answers Moiraine's blurted question of whether or not she was alone with: "Larelle decided to go her own way. South, I believe. More, I don't know." Moiraine says she meant Cadsuane, and Merean says she will not relish her next meeting with the Green, who was rather unhappy that Moiraine ran. Moiraine thinks that Cadsuane might be Black, and realizes that members of the Black Ajah can lie. Merean says they will talk later, before heading off.
Thinking about Larelle, Moiraine wonders if the woman ended up dead like Tamra and the others or if she is Black. The servant blurts out that Moiraine is Aes Sedai too, and promises not to tell anyone. Moiraine orders her to take her to Lan's apartments. As they walk, Moiraine puts on her Great Serpent ring. Moiraine is announced at the door to his apartments, but refused entrance. She forces her way into the room anyways. She finds Lan practicing the forms in the middle of the room and he stops to say he has no time for her games and that he is waiting for somebody. Moiraine says his "lady love" need not fear, since she isn't interested in Lan.
Instead, Moiraine asks for Lan's help, citing an ancient pledge between the Tower and Malkier. Lan says he will help if she can answer a question he has. She moves a chair to the middle of the room with the power and sits, trying to get advantage. Unfazed, Lan asks why the Tower didn't come to Malkier's aid when the Trollocs came flooding in and Malkier died. Moiraine hesitates, as the information is forbidden for outsiders, but goes ahead and reveals what she knows anyway. The Tower sent over a hundred Aes Sedai to aid Malkier, but the arrived too late. She also told him she regretted that the Tower chose to keep it secret.
Moiraine asks him to have somebody watch Merean Redhill and report on her movements and actions. Lan says he has stayed to his room of late, but Moiraine suggests he have a Malkieri, somebody he can trust, do it. He says he will have Ryne and Bukama do it, but Moiraine says only Bukama, and to not reveal why. He agrees and she heads back to her apartments to find Siuan entertaining a young woman. The Lady Iselle wishes to go to the White Tower, but her mother wants her to marry. She is unwilling to marry Lan, saying she will marry one of her Warders, as a Green, if she does marry. Moiraine tells her to go if she wants to, that she doesn't have time to coddle the young woman. She gets Lady Iselle out of the room and Siuan and herself think that Iselle would never make it.
Siuan tells Moiraine that she learned that Cal, the footman, was a good kisser, but not much else. Moiraine looks at her oddly, but Siuan retorts that it has been a while since she kissed a pretty young man. Moiraine shifts the topic and Siuan is distraught that she went to see Lan, more so than learning Merean was had arrived. Moiraine mentions that they have to risk something to gain something and Siuan goes out to learn what she can. When she returns, she says Bukama approached her and told her that Merean was with Brys most of the day. She also learned that Rahien was born within the ten day period after Gitara died, the day after she died, in fact. Siuan packs her things, revealing that she was invited to sleep with the Lady Ines' servants, having implied that she was fired by Moiraine. Siuan mentions that "one of these days, you're going to find yourself ready to do more than dream about some man, and I hope I'm there to see it!" Moiraine puts the thought of men out of her mind and wonders what Merean is up to, worrying that they are missing something.
I had to point out Moiraine's thought about musicians, because, well, it is highly amusing when taken with what we learn later about her and Thom. Hopefully we get some sort of reunion of those two, in the next book perhaps? Also, that quote of Siuan's seemed appropriate. Hey, if Siuan can get married, so can Moiraine. (Although, I don't think they got married yet, just an agreement to get married. Can't remember for sure.) So yes, we have Merean showing up here without Larelle. The consensus is that Larelle was killed at some time, since she was so eager to go to Chachin, yet never showed up as far as we know. More on that later. Moiraine spilled the beans about Malkier and we have the watching of Merean. Lots of set up for the end of the book. Way to ratchet up the tension, is this the boy? Go have some fun Siuan!
Chapter 26: When to Surrender
Summary: Lan slips through the corridors of the Aesdaishar Palace, wrapped in the ko'di and avoiding everyone. His serving women take orders from Edeyn, and he can't be sure that any servants he sees don't take orders from her as well. Edeyn mentioned she would announce his marriage to her daughter soon, and the only thing keeping him in the Palace was Bukama and a dream. He hides behind a statue as Merean and Iselle come out of a corridor ahead of him. Merean sends Iselle away, then follows after her. Lan pays little attention to her behavior and hurries on to talk to Bukama. If he ran, many dreams would end.
Turing to head down a set of stone steps, Lan was suddenly falling. He went limp, falling to the bottom of the stairs. Servants appeared to help him up and he thinks that something had jerked his ankles at the top of the stairs. An Aes Sedai had tried to kill him! A palace guard comes to tell him that Bukama is hurt. Lan runs after the guard, but he is too late. Bukama has been stabbed in the back and is dead. He wonders how anyone could have gotten close enough to Bukama to kill him like this. Lan thinks this is what happens when you get enmeshed in Aes Sedai schemes and starts running.
Moiraine hears a crash and gets up from her armchair. Lan bursts into the room as she embraces Saidar, and he closes the door behind him. He tells her that Bukama is dead and that somebody tried to kill him with the Power. He doesn't think Merean saw him, but Moiraine says he would be surprised what sisters can notice. She says that maybe she shouldn't have had Bukama watch Merean. She is dangerous. He mentions that Iselle was going somewhere with Brys and Diryk and wants to know what she got him into. Moiraine puzzles out a pattern and asks Lan where Brys would go to be alone. He tells her of the walk and wants to alert the guards.
She says no, that Brys will not be happy if Merean is merely talking to him, and if she isn't the guards won't be able to help anyway. Moiraine tells him to take her to the walk and to hurry. They run through the corridors, attracting strange looks. She let the Power fill her to capacity as she ran, trying to decide how she would handle things. They find Merean using the power to hold Brys and Diryk, and Iselle is there too. Ryne is also there and Moiraine sees this as proof that he is a Darkfriend. Moiraine tries to shield Merean, but her attempt fails.
Merean shows no surprise at the attack, binding and gagging Iselle before ordering Ryne to kill Lan as he killed Bukama. Lan and Ryne begin to fight as Merean tries to shield Moiraine. Moiraine desperately defends herself, stopping it just in time, but she is unable to successfully free the captives as Merean meets her every attempt. Merean wishes to know why she keeps showing up so often ans starts using dangerous weaves. Moiraine fights for her life while trying to free the captives, but she can barely defend herself. Merean is too strong and has too much experience with the Power. Lan and Ryne are still fighting, but it appears Ryne is the better swordsman.
Merean is impatient for the fight to end so she lifts Diryk over the rail and drops him. Moiraine tries to catch the boy with flows if Air, but Merean stops her and shields her while she is distracted. Moiraine is groggy from the shielding, and unable to stand. Merean thinks Moiraine will keep while she kills the others. The Black lifts Brys and drops him while Moiraine staggers to her feet. Iselle is lifted next and Moiraine thinks this must end. The Blue drove her belt knife into Merean's back and they fell. Moiraine is free of her the shield and Iselle falls onto the stone railing. She scrambles over the dead woman's body to grab Iselle. She can barely hold onto the girl, let alone pull her back over the rail. Iselle's hand slips in her grip and Moiraine tries desperately to embrace the Source. The young woman's hand slips out of her bloody fingers and Moiraine can only watch as she falls.
Lan pulls her away from the railing, saying that she should "never watch a death you don't have to." Moiraine walks over to Merean's body, retrieving her belt knife and cleaning it on Merean's skirts. She holds onto an outward show of serenity, as she did during the test. She mentions that Lan was better than Ryne, but Lan says that Ryne was better, but thought Lan was finished with only one arm. "He never understood. You surrender after you're dead." Eventually Moiraine is able to embrace the Source and Heal Lan's injuries. With Lan weak from healing, he won't be able to go anywhere very quickly. She uses the Power to destroy Merean's body. She asks Lan if he will be silent about what happened here. He says she is a "very hard woman." Moiraine thinks of all the other things she must deal with, such as Ryne's body and the blood and that she will be as hard as she must.
You really must read that chapter for yourself. It is very hard to summarize all of that action. So. Merean is Black. A common theory is that she killed Larelle herself, which wouldn't surprise me. This does make one wonder if the Mistress of Novices is often Black as well. Merean. Sheriam. Both "Blues." I don't know, the Mistress of Novices position would be handy for the Black Ajah to keep an eye on potential recruits, and it is a position of some power. The Epilogue goes into a bit of detail about what Merean and the Blacks are up to, so I'll wait for a discussion of that. This battle between Moiraine and Merean is similar to some we've seen before. Very experienced/powerful Channelers don't seem to expect a physical attack once they believe they have the upper hand. Good for our heroes, generally bad for them. I feel like Moiraine does a whole lot of growing up during this fight. The stakes are very high now, very real for her, and she will do what she must to do what she feels is right.
Epilogue
Summary: The Aesdaishar Palace is in mourning. Moiraine returns from destroying Merean's belongings and runs into Edyen Arrel, who rumors say plans to retire from the world after the death of her daughter. Siuan greets her as she enters her rooms and tells her that Rahien was born in the wrong place. Moiraine sits and explains what happened, saying that Merean will never harm anyone ever again. Moiraine explains to Siuan about the luck, mentioning Lan, Diryk, maybe even the blacksmith and Josef Najima. Siuan paces around the room before exclaiming that the Black Ajah knows that the Dragon has been reborn, but not when. They are killing any men or boys they think might be able to channel. They would kill thousands. Moiraine agrees that it make sense and says they have some time, as an infant will not show signs.
Moiraine thinks Cadsuane might be Black, that any sister might be Black. Siuan says they can be on their way to Arafel, but Moiraine tells her to return to the Tower. By working under Cetalia Delarme, Siuan can look for signs of what they seek and the Black Ajah as well. Siuan grumbles about it but begins packing. She mentions that Lan rode out early and Moiraine heads for the door, saying she has unfinished business with him. Moiraine has Arrow saddled quickly and rides quickly through the city. She slows to ask where Lan may have gone outside the city and eventually finds him. Lan says he is buring his past and that he goes to face his death. Moiraine calls him a fool for wanting to die "before he must", and wants him for her Warder. He says he has his own war to fight, but Moiraine says it is the same war and tells him everything. He suddenly gives his oath, and Moiraine uses the Warder bond on him to finish the bonding. Lan can sense what she is thinking and tells her to say a prayer for her dead and ride on. The head south, away from the Blight, to back to Chachin, and then "the world, if need be."
So there you have it. The Black Ajah is searching for the same thing and apparently killing as many "lucky" men as they can find. This actually leads to one of the Black Ajah Heads getting killed, as I recall. Ishamael was not happy about that, not at all. Anyway, our heroes and the Black are searching for the same thing. We don't really know what happens between the end of this book and the beginning of The Eye of the World, but I suspect many adventures, possibly some run-ins with the Black Ajah, and lots of dead ends. I do wonder what happened to Siuan when she got back to the Tower. It probably wasn't very pleasant at all.
Strictly speaking, none of New Spring is necessary for understanding what happens in the main series, but we do get lots of hints about several of the characters and our only look (to date) at the test to become Aes Sedai. I think it is a good primer for what is to come, but my personal opinion is that is should be read after one reads the main series for the first time. I think this will be the third or fourth re-read in which I start with New Spring. And speaking of the re-read, I will see about posting commentary for the first book very soon. Life is just making that very difficult at the moment, and obviously I won't get the commentary done by the end of January. My goal would ideally be several chapters a day, every day, but that is unlikely to happen right now. Rest assured, I'll have The Eye of the World finished by the end of this month. Commentary takes longer because I skim the chapter again for the summary and then pick some interesting things to comment on. I have been feeling a bit rushed on the commentary, just trying to say a few things before getting on to the next summary. I'll think about it.
Stay Awesome and happy reading!
