The Aes Sedai went on smoothly as if the other woman had not spoken. "The Amyrlin Seat must be told what has happened, and I cannot count on finding one I can trust who has messenger pigeons. Or that the Amyrlin will see any message I send by pigeon. It is a long journey, and hard. I would not send you alone if there were anyone to send with you, but I will see you have money, and letters to those who might help you on your way. You must ride quickly, though. When your horse tires, buy another – or steal one, if you must – but ride quickly."

"Let Uno take your message. He's fit; you said so. I am going after Rand."

"Uno has his duties, Min. And do you think a man could simply walk up to the gates of the White Tower and demand an audience with the Amyrlin Seat? Even a king would be made to wait days if he arrived unannounced, and I fear any of the Shienarans would be left kicking their heels for weeks, if not forever. Not to mention that something so unusual would be known to everyone in Tar Valon before the first sunset. Few women seek audiences with the Amyrlin herself, but it does happen, and it should occasion no great comment. No one must learn even as much as that the Amyrlin Seat has received a message from me. Her life – and ours —could depend on it. You are the one who must go."

Min sat there opening and closing her mouth, obviously searching for another argument, but Moiraine had already gone on. "Lan, I very much fear we will find more evidence of his passing than I would like, but I will rely on your tracking." The Warder nodded. "Perrin? Loial? Will you come with me after Rand?" From her place against the wall, Min gave an indignant squawk, but the Aes Sedai ignored it.

"I will come," Loial said quickly. "Rand is my friend. And I will admit it; I would not miss anything. For my book, you see."

Perrin was slower to answer. Rand was his friend, whatever he had become in the forging. And there was that near certainty of their futures being linked, though he would have avoided that part of it if he could. "It has to be done, doesn't it?" he said finally. "I will come."

"Good." Moiraine rubbed her hands together again, with the air of someone settling to work. "You must all ready yourselves at once. Rand has hours on us. I mean to be well along his trail before midday."

Slender as she was, the force of her presence herded all of them but Lan toward the door, Loial walking stooped over until he was through the doorway. Perrin thought of a goodwife herding geese.

Once outside, Min bung back for a moment to address Lan with a too-sweet smile. "And is there any message you want carried? To Nynaeve, perhaps?"

The Warder blinked as if caught off guard, like a horse on three legs. "Does everyone know —?" He regained his balance almost immediately. "If there is anything else she needs to hear from me, I will tell her myself." He closed the door nearly in her face.

"Men!" Min muttered at the door. "Too blind to see what a stone could see, and too stubborn to be trusted to think for themselves."

Perrin inhaled deeply. Faint smells of death still hung in the valley air, but it was better than the closeness inside. Some better.

"Clean air," Loial sighed. "The smoke was beginning to bother me a little."

They started down the slope together. Beside the stream below, the Shienarans who could stand were gathered around Uno. From his gestures the one-eyed man was making up for lost time with his cursing.

"How did you two become privileged?" Min demanded abruptly. "She asked you. She didn't do me the courtesy of asking."

Loial shook his head. "I think she asked because she knew what we would answer, Min. Moiraine seems able to read Perrin and me; she knows what we'll do. But you are a closed book to her."

Min appeared only a little mollified. She looked up at them, Perrin head and shoulders taller on one side and Loial towering even higher on the other. "Much good it does me. I am still going where she wants as easily as you two little lambs. You were doing well for a while, Perrin. Standing up to her like she'd sold you a coat and the seams were popping open."

"I did stand up to her, didn't I," Perrin said wonderingly. He had not really realized he had done that. "It was not so bad as I'd have thought it would be."

"You were lucky," Loial rumbled." 'To anger an Aes Sedai is to put your head in a hornet's nest.' "

"Loial," Min said, "I need to speak to Perrin. Alone. Would you mind?"

"Oh. Of course not." He lengthened his stride to its normal span and quickly moved ahead of them, pulling his pipe and tabac pouch from a coat pocket.

Perrin eyed her warily. She was biting her lip, as if considering what to say. "Do you ever see things about him?" he asked, nodding after the Ogier.

She shook her head. "I think it only works with humans. But I've seen things around you that you ought to know about."

"I've told you —"

"Don't be more thickheaded than you have to be, Perrin. Back there, right after you said you'd go. They were not there before. They must have to do with this journey. Or at least with you deciding to go."

After a moment he said reluctantly, "What did you see?"

"An Aielman in a cage," she said promptly. "A Tuatha'an with a sword. A falcon and a hawk, perching on your shoulders. Both female, I think. And all the rest, of course. What is always there. Darkness swirling 'round you, and —"

"None of that!" he said quickly. When he was sure she had stopped, he scratched his head, thinking. None of it made any sense to him. "Do you have any idea what it all means? The new things, I mean."

"No, but they're important. The things I see always are. Turning points in people's lives, or what's fated. It's always important." She hesitated for a moment, glancing at him. "One more thing," she said slowly. "If you meet a woman – the most beautiful woman you've ever seen – run!"

Perrin blinked. "You saw a beautiful woman? Why should I run from a beautiful woman?"

"Can't you just take advice?" she said irritably. She kicked at a stone and watched it roll down the slope.

Perrin did not like jumping to conclusions – it was one of the reasons some people thought him slow-witted – but he totaled up a number of things Min had said in the last few days and came to a startling conclusion. He stopped dead, hunting for words. "Uh... Min, you know I like you. I like you, but... Uh ... you sort of remind me of my sisters. I mean, you..." The flow stumbled to a halt as she raised her head to look at him, eyebrows arched. She wore a small smile.

"Why, Perrin, you must know that I love you." She stood there, watching his mouth work, then spoke slowly and carefully. "Like a brother, you great wooden-headed lummox! The arrogance of men never ceases to amaze me. You all think everything has to do with you, and every woman has to desire you."

Perrin felt his face growing hot. "I never... I didn't..." He cleared his throat. "What did you see about a woman?"

"Just take my advice," she said, and started down toward the stream again, walking fast. "If you forget all the rest," she called over her shoulder, "heed that!"

He frowned after her – for once his thoughts seemed to arrange themselves quickly – then caught up in two strides. "It's Rand, isn't it?"

She made a sound in her throat and gave him a sidelong look. She did not slow down, though. "Maybe you aren't so boneheaded after all," she muttered. After a moment she added, as if to herself, "I'm bound to him as surely as a stave is bound to the barrel. But I can't see if he'll ever love me in return. And I am not the only one."

"Does Egwene know?" he asked. Rand and Egwene had been all but promised since childhood. Everything but kneeling in front of the Women's Circle of the village to speak the betrothal. He was not sure how far they had drifted from that, if at all.