Chapter 23 Chapter 18 The Message of the True Dragon

"That's enough, Royal," Rand said firmly, twisting the tobacco from the sheepskin pouch into the short-stemmed pipe.It was Tire leaf, which had a slightly oily taste after roasting, but that was all he had now.Thunder rolls overhead, slow and dull. "Answering your question made me hoarse." They were sitting at a long table in one of the great rooms of Lord Ogarin's estate, and the remainder of their lunch had been pushed to one end of the table.The servants here are all very old, and their movements have become more sluggish since Ogarin set off for the Black Tower.The heavy rain outside the house seemed to be getting smaller, but the strong wind still carried huge raindrops, knocking on the six yellow window panes.There are a lot of air bubbles in these window panes. In some places, there are too many air bubbles, which makes it impossible to see the scenery outside the window at all. The tables and chairs in the room are only simple carvings, which are no different from the furniture in many farmhouses.Under the high roof with exposed beams, the yellow lintel is also simple and plain, and the large fireplaces at both ends of the room are only made of simple stone blocks.Lord or not, Ogarin was not rich.

Putting the tobacco bag in his pocket, Rand strode to a fireplace, used small brass pokers to pull out a burning oak log from the fireplace, and lit the pipe.He hoped that no one would find it strange that he did this. Now he always tries to avoid unnecessary channeling, especially when others are around. It is difficult to hide the dizziness he produces when channeling, but so far no one mentioned it to him.A strong wind brought a series of high-pitched noises, as if branches were scraping against the panes of the windows.This is just imagination, the nearest trees are still half a mile away in the fields.

Royale took a chair from the Ogier's room, and when he sat on it, his knees were perfectly level with the table, so he had to bend down hard to read his leather-bound notebook. write on.To him, this book is not big, just enough to fit in his coat pocket, but in Rand's view, it is still equivalent to any large tome of human beings.Royal has a few tiny beards on his upper lip and the tip of his chin, and he's growing a beard, which he's only had for a few weeks, though he doesn't appear to be very successful in his efforts. "But you hardly told me any valuable material." The Ogi muttered in disappointment, his voice was like a dull drumbeat, and his furry ears drooped.Still, he began to polish the nib of his glossy wooden fountain pen, which was thicker than Rand's thumb but slim and slender to match Royal's fingers. "You only tell about other people's heroic deeds, never about your own, and you talk about them like everyday chores. Listening to you talk about the capture of Illian is like watching a weaver weave Boo. And what about the source of purification? You bond with Nynaeve, and you start channeling, surrounded by others fighting the Forsaken. Even Nynaeve told me more than you, and She also said she had little recollection of what happened at that time."

Nynaeve, wearing all her jeweled ter'angan and strange bracelet and ring relics, squirmed in her chair in front of another fireplace, then turned to look at Alivia again.Now and then she glanced toward the window and tugged at her thick braids, but most of the time her focus was on the blond-haired Seanchan woman.Alivia stood by the door like a guard, a smile flickering across her lips, and the ex-slave knew Nynaeve was watching her, and her eagle blue eyes remained intent.It had seldom been out of her eyes since her shackles were undone in Caemlyn.Two Maidens of Spears were squatting beside her, playing a rope game, one was Harilin from the Iron Mountain Clan of the Tadade Tribe, and the other was Anela from the Calais Clan from the Charing Tribe, and they were also exuding their own spirits. momentum.Hair scarves are around their heads, black veils are hung on their chests, and three or four short spears are stuck in the bow case belt on each person's back, and cowhide bucklers are placed on the floor beside them.There were fifty Maidens of the Maiden on the estate, several of them from Shaido Aiel, and they were all ready to dance with spears, perhaps against him.They seemed both happy to be able to defend him and resentful that he had been avoiding them.

As for Rand himself, as long as he saw them, the names of the women who died because of him or were killed by him would appear in his mind one by one.Mouri Daotri, her name is always the first to appear, this name is carved on his skull with flames, Liai of the Cosida clan of the Chalin tribe, Sendella of the Iron Mountain clan of the Tadade tribe , Lemele of the Yanshui clan of the Mijakob Horse tribe, Antilin of the Red Salt clan of the Gaoxin tribe, Desola of the Musala clan of the Rennes tribe... so many names.Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night chanting the list.Ming would hug him and whisper to him, like comforting a child.He would always tell her that he was fine and just wanted to sleep.But after he closes his eyes, instead of going to sleep, he will keep reading the list.Sometimes Lews Therin chatted with him.

Min looked up from the volumes on the table. It was a book by Horrett Fey, which she read voraciously, bookmarked by the note Horrard had sent Rand.Horrett said in the note that Min was so beautiful that she always distracted him, that her blue jacket had white flowers embroidered on the cuffs and collar, and that it was cut to fit nicely. Her breasts, cream silk blouse and a bit of cleavage could be seen at the open collar of her coat, her large dark brown eyes and shoulder-length black curly hair all shone with a joyful gleam.Through bondage, Rand could feel her joy.She loved being seen by him, and Yue Fu had no doubt told her how much he loved seeing her.Oddly enough, Yobo was telling Rand at the same time that Min loved watching him, too.is he beautifulHe thought to himself while rubbing his earlobe.Ming is beautiful, and has been firmly chained to him.She, and Elayne and Aviendha.How should he keep them safe now?Rand forced himself to smile at Xiangming with his pipe in his mouth, but he didn't know how successful his performance would be.There was a little annoyance coming from her end of the bondage.Why does she get angry every time he worries about her?Light, does she just want to protect him?

"Rand isn't very talkative, Royal." Min wasn't smiling anymore, and there was no anger in her musical voice, but what was being said in the bondage was something else entirely. . "In fact, sometimes his mouth is as tight as a mussel." Her gaze made Rand sigh, and it seemed that when they were alone, they would have something to talk about. . "I can't tell you much myself, but I am sure that Cadsuane and Vaelin will tell you all you want to know, and others will give you a lot of material. If you want to hear more than just It's a 'yes' or a 'no', then go ask them."

The pudgy Vaelin was sitting in the chair next to Nynaeve doing female red, and when she heard her name mentioned, she seemed to be taken aback, blinking her eyes for no reason, as if wondering what had happened. What's up.Sitting at the other end of the table with her open sewing basket beside her, Cadsuane just lifted her eyes from the embroidery hoop in her hand and glanced at Royal, many gold pendants dangling from her iron-gray chignon. Come down and sway slightly with the movement.It was just such a simple glance, she didn't even frown, Royal's ears were already twitching, Aes Sedai always put a lot of pressure on him, especially Cadsuane.

"Oh, I will, Ming, I will," said the Ogier, "but Rand is at the heart of my book." He didn't have a sand jar at hand, so he could only gently tip the pages of the book he had just written. Blow air on the writing to let the ink dry as soon as possible.But Royal is Royal after all, and while he was blowing, he was still saying: "You never tell me the details, Rand, you make me have to take things out of your mouth piece by piece .If Ming hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t even know you were imprisoned in Famedin. Leaving that aside, what did the Council of Nine say when they handed you the laurel crown? You’re changing it What did it say about the name? I don't think they'd like that name. What did you look like at your coronation? Was there a big feast? Was there a parade? In Shadaragoth, there were a few Forsaken Who attacked you? Who was it? What did the purge look like when it was over? What was it like? Without details, my book could not be written well. I hope Matt and Perrin can give me some better The answer." He frowned, his long eyebrows hanging down to his cheeks. "Hope they're all safe."

Brilliant colors began to hover in Rand's mind, like two rainbows hovering in the water, he knew how to suppress them, but this time, he didn't do it.A rainbow turned into Matt riding through the woods, followed by a horse team carrying people and supplies, a little dark-skinned woman was walking alongside him, and they seemed to be arguing.Mat took off his hat, glanced in, and put it back on top of his head.The vision lasted only a moment, before it was replaced by Perrin again.Palin was sitting in what looked like a hotel lobby or a tavern, with wine glasses on the table in front of him, and a man and a woman sitting with him, wearing the same red coat with intricate blue embroidery on the hem. Yellow and yellow trim -- a strange outfit.Perrin's face was as cold as death, and the two men looked alert, right?

"They're all fine," Rand said, calmly ignoring Cadsuane's piercing gaze.She doesn't know everything, and Rand has reservations about her.On the surface, he was puffing out smoke rings without any haste, but in his heart, he couldn't restrain his anxiety.where are they?He thought angrily, pressing down another swirling patch of color that was now as easy as breathing for him.I need them, and they're off to Anzarin Gardens for the holidays. Another image popped into his mind, the face of a man.He suddenly held his breath.This time, it appeared without any dizziness, and it was the first time he could see it clearly before it disappeared.Or, for the first time in a long time, he could see it clearly.It was a square-jawed, blue-eyed man, maybe a few years older, the stranger who had saved his life when he was looking for Sammael in Shadarrogos, but the bad thing was… … He noticed me too, said Lews Therin, sounding like a normal person.Sometimes Lews Therin wasn't that crazy, although he would end up being one anyway.How could a face in my head detect me? How can I know if you don't know?Rand thought, but I can see him too.It was a strange feeling, as if… in some way… touching that person, only not physically, but a feeling of inactivity, as if no matter which direction he was headed, if he moved the slightest, I'll run into him again.I think he saw my face too. Talking to another voice in his head didn't seem like a strange thing, in fact, the feeling was already familiar to him.And now?Now he could see Mat and Perrin whenever he thought of them, or heard their names.There was another face that would come to his mind uninhibited, and that was obviously more than one face.Talking in the head was nothing compared to that, and the man was aware of him as much as he was aware of the man. There must have been some connection between us when our fires collided in Shadarrogos, I can't think of any other explanation, that was the only time we ever met.He was using what they call true power, must have been, and all I could see and feel then was his fire.It was no longer strange to feel that he had some knowledge from Lews Therin, like remembering his father's farm, he could remember Anzarin Gardens destroyed in the War of Shadows.His knowledge was flowing to Lews Therin, too, the madman who sometimes talked of Emond's Village as if he had grown up there.Does this mean anything to you? Oh light, why is there this voice in my head?Lews Therin moaned, why can't I die?Oh, Irina, my dear Irina, I want to go to you.His voice trailed off into sobs.He always does when referring to the wife he killed in madness. it does not matter.Rand muffled the man's cries, making him a noise on the edge of hearing.He believed his speculation, but who was this person?The Darkfriends, of course, but not the Forsaken, and Lews Therin knew their faces as well as his own.A sudden thought made him turn pale.How much does that man know about him?The time axis can be found through a twist in karma, but only the Forsaken knows how to find it, and Lews Therin never mentioned that he knew that way.Their "conversations" were brief, and he never volunteered any information, nor did thoughts flow from him about it.At least, Lanfel and Ishmael knew how to find the time axis, but since their death, no Forsaken has looked for him again.Could the man find him by contacting him?If so, everyone here will be in danger, far beyond the danger he expected. "Rand, are you okay?" Royal asked worriedly.He was screwing the leaf-carved silver cap onto the inkwell, whose thick glass walls probably wouldn't shatter if dropped, but Royal held it as carefully as if it were thin. Porcelain like a piece of paper, of course, in his big hands, that inkwell does look fragile. "I think the cheese has changed, but you still eat a lot." "I'm fine," Rand said.Of course he was fine, but Nynaeve didn't listen to what he was saying. She got up from her chair, flung her blue skirt behind her, and walked quickly across the room.As she embraced the shari and put her hands over Rand's head, goosebumps appeared all over Rand's body, and in the blink of an eye, a shiver ran through him.The woman never bothered to ask him a question, and sometimes she must have thought she was still the sage of Emmon's Village, and Rand was still the kid who would go back to the farm the next morning. "You're not sick." She seemed relieved.The rotten food had caused various diseases among the servants, some of them so severe that death would have been certain had it not been for the martyrs and Aes Sedai to heal them.These servants were unwilling to throw food away and waste the lord's limited property. Although Cadsuane, Nynaeve, and the other Aes Sedai repeatedly warned them, they always stuffed food that should have been thrown into the trash. inside.At this time, there was another brief sharp pain from the double wound under Rand's left rib. "It's not getting better." Nynaeve frowned.She had tried to heal those two wounds, but had been less successful than Flynn, and she always seemed to regard them as a blemish on her life. "How can you still stand up? You must be in pain." "He ignored all his feelings." Ming said expressionlessly.Gosh, Ming must have a lot to say about him. "Standing doesn't hurt any more than sitting," he said to Nynaeve, taking her hands gently from his head.The simple truth, that's what Ming said, he couldn't let the pain make him a prisoner. The door of the room was opened, and an old man with white hair walked in. A yellow coat trimmed with red and blue was hanging loosely on his bony body.He half-bowed, not out of disrespect, but really because of his sore joints. "Lord Dragon," his voice was like rusted hinges, "Lord Logan is back." Logan followed the old servant in without waiting for Rand's invitation.He was a tall man with curly black hair that fell to his shoulders and a complexion that was too dark for a Haydan.Women would find him handsome, but there was always a tinge of darkness about him.On the high lapels of his black coat were pinned a silver sword emblem and a gold-red dragon emblem, and a long-handled saber hung from his waist, and he added another ornament to himself-a blue sword on his shoulder. Green round enamel coat of arms with three gold crowns.Is this the coat of arms he designed for himself?The old servant raised his long eyebrows in surprise, and then looked at Rand with inquiring eyes, as if asking whether Logan should be allowed to leave first. "I think the message from Andor should be enough." Logan said, tucking his black riding gloves into his sword belt. He bowed slightly to Rand, almost leaning his upper body slightly forward. "Elayne still controls Caemlyn, Arimira is still outside the city, but because she can't stop food and reinforcements from entering the city, Elayne has the advantage. Don't be sombre, I didn't enter the city, anyway, Black cloaks are not welcome there, and the Borderlanders are still stuck in place. It seems that you are wise to choose not to meddle in the affairs there. There are rumors that those Borderlanders have thirteen Aes Sedai with them, and there are rumors that Said they were looking for you. Bashere hasn't come back yet?" Nynaeve frowned at him, clutching her braids, and walked away from Rand.She was very much in favor of the Aes Sedai binding the Martyr, but not the relative binding. Thirteen Aes Sedai looking for him?He'd been ignoring the Borderlanders because Elayne didn't welcome his help, which she called "unreasonable interference."Now he understood that she had a right to do so, that the Lion Throne needed to be won by her, not by him, and that it might be good for him to stay away from Andor.The kings of the Borderlands were all bound tightly around the White Tower, and there was no doubt that Elaida still longed to hold him in her hand.She had spread her statement widely that anyone could only reach Rand through her, and she was an idiot if she thought that would force Rand to go to her. "Thank you, that's all right, Ethene. Lord Logan?" Rand turned his head and asked.At this time, the old servant glanced at Logan for the last time with a dissatisfied expression before bowing and retreating.Rand believed that if he gave the order, the old man would find Logan out. "The title was his birthright," Cadsuane said without looking up from her embroidery hoop.She knew Logan's past, she was the one who helped the Red Clan catch him when Logan claimed to be the Dragon Reborn, and so did Taim.At this moment, Cadsuane nodded to herself, causing the gold jewelry on her head to jump up and down. "Bah! A little noble with only a small piece of mountain land, his territory is full of steep slopes, but after he became a pseudo-dragon, King Johanning and the Supreme Crown Council deprived him of his territory and title." Logan's cheeks were slightly hot, but his voice was still calm and calm. "They can take away my property, but they can't take away my identity." Cadsuane seemed to be focusing only on her embroidery needles, and she chuckled.Vaelin's embroidery needle stopped, examining Logan as a plump sparrow examines a bug.Alivia also turned her attention to this person.Harelin and Anela seemed to be just absorbed in their game.Ming seemed to be still reading.Rand didn't know how much he could trust Logan, he just had to make full use of the tools in his hand. "Is that all?" Royal opened his inkwell again as soon as Logan entered. "Most members of the Black Tower are active in Aladoman and Illian. According to your order, except for those who came here, I sent all the people who bound the Aes Sedai." Logan said, walking to At the table, he picked up a blue-glazed earthenware jug containing wine from among the dishes, and filled the green-glazed bottle with wine.There are few pieces of silver in the estate. "You should ask me to bring more people here, there are too many Aes Sedai here." Rand hummed, "Since part of this result is also caused by you, you should accept this situation, and others must also accept it. Continue." "Dobran and Rurak will send a soldier to deliver a message as soon as they find someone with jurisdiction over more than one village. The Merchant Council declared that the ruler of Aladoman was still King Assalam, but could not let him appear. I can't tell where he is, and those businessmen seem to want to kill all the other councilors. More than half of Banda Alban has been destroyed, and the rest is in the hands of the mob." Logan looked at the wine in his glass frown. "There are only some armed gangs who can maintain the most basic order. They extort food, money, and everything they want from those they claim to protect, including women." Suddenly there was a white heat in the bondage Nynaeve let out a roar from her throat. "Rulak dispatched troops to suppress the riots. When I left, his suppression had turned into a war." Logan shut his mouth when he said this. "The mob can't resist the Aiel. If Dobran can't find someone who can manage that country, then he will take this responsibility, at least for the time being." With the greatest possibility now, if Asalam has dead, he must appoint a plenipotentiary in Aladoman, but who can he appoint?Must be someone acceptable to the Aladomans. Logan took a long sip of wine and said, "Tam is very upset because I took so many people from the Black Tower without telling him where he was going. I thought he would not obey your orders. He Trying my best to find out where you are, oh he can't wait to find out, I could see fire in his eyes. I'm not stupid enough to meet him alone and give him a chance to catch and interrogate me. He's content with one thing, though, that I haven't taken any of his cronies—it's clearly written on his face." Logan gave a small smile, a somber one. , there is no joy to speak of. "By the way, he now has forty-one cronies. In the past few days, he has awarded dragon emblems to more than a dozen people, and there are more than fifty people in his 'special training class', most of whom are recent Freshly recruited. He's planning something, and I doubt you'll like his plan." I told you, kill him when you get the chance.Lews Therin laughed maniacally.I told you.It's too late, too late. Rand exhaled a puff of blue-gray smoke angrily. "Stop talking." His words were aimed at both Logan and Lews Therin. "Camp Taim built the Black Tower to rival the White Tower in numbers, and it grows every day. If he's the Darkfriend, as you say, why would he do it?" Logan looked him straight in the eye. "Because he can't stop it all. According to the rumors I've heard, from the time when the Black Tower was first built, people who could use divine movement were a little reluctant to cling to Taim's feet. He has no reason to monopolize all the conscription work, but He does hide a tower inside the Black Tower that is his only. The people in that tower are loyal to him, not you. He revised the list of deserters and apologized for his 'unintentional mistake' .But you can be confident that your list is spot on." How loyal is Logan?If one pseudo-dragon is unwilling to follow the reincarnated real dragon, why would the other pseudo-dragon be willing to do so?Logan has more reasons than Taim, as a pseudo-dragon, he is more famous and successful than Taim.He raised an army, and swept across Heidan, nearly reaching Lugard on his way to Tyr, and half the known world trembled under Logan's name.And when Marim Taim took control of the Black Tower, Logan was just a martyr.Ming could still see the halo of glory on him, but she never saw how Logan won this glory. Rand took the pipe from his mouth, and the pot burned his heron-branded palm sorely. He must have inadvertently taken a few deep puffs.The trouble with this was that Tym and Logan weren't big problems and had to wait until later, they were tools in his hands.He tried to keep his voice steady: "Tym got their names off the list, that's what matters. If he's really partial, I'll take care of that when I have time, but Xiao The Chenren must be resolved first, and perhaps the Doomsday War." "If he is playing for selfishness?" Logan slammed the glass on the table, and the glass immediately shattered, the wine spilled all over the table, and then dripped from the edge of the table.With a dark face, he wiped his palms on his coat. "You think it's all my imagination?" His voice became more and more violent. "Or am I making up a story? You think I'm jealous of him, Arthur? Do you think so?" "Listen to me." Rand raised his voice above the rumbling thunder. "I told you that I expected you and your friend in black to be courteous to me, my friends, and my guests," Cadsuane said gravely, "and now I decide that you will be courteous to each other." Be well behaved." She was still staring at the embroidery hoop, but she seemed to be wagging a finger in front of their noses. "At least it must be like this when I'm present, that is to say, if you continue to quarrel, I will have to spank both of your butts." Harilin and Anelun laughed at the same time, and even the rope in their hands could not move Tangled up.Nynaeve laughed too, but at least she knew how to cover her mouth with her hand.Light, even Ming is smiling! Logan's hair stood on end, the muscles in his jaw bulged, and Rand suspected he heard his teeth grinding.Rand tried hard not to look angry himself.Cadsuane and her damned rules, the terms Rand had to accept if she wanted her to be his advisor, always pretended they were hers, and added new rules every now and then.These rules were not complicated or unkind, but they were always around him like flies, and Cadsuane mentioned it over and over again, as if she kept poking him with a sharp stick.Rand opened his mouth to tell Cadsuane that he would no longer obey her rules, that their cooperation was over if he had to. "Tym will probably have to wait until the final war, whatever he plans to do," Vaelin said suddenly.Her embroidery rests on her lap, a shapeless blob of pattern that could be anything. "That war is coming soon. From everything I've heard, the signs are pretty clear. Half the servants have encountered dead people in the corridors. They know those people. It's happened too often. Now they Not scared anymore. A dozen people were driving their cattle to the spring pastures and saw a sizable town to the north melt into smoke." Cadsuane looked up, staring at the pudgy Aes Sedai. "Thank you for repeating what you told us yesterday, Verin." Verin blinked, then picked up her embroidery hoop again, frowning at it, as if she didn't know what the pattern on it was. what. Min looked Rand in the eyes and shook his head slowly.Rand sighed. Annoyance and caution came from the bondage. Rand suspected that the emotion behind was a warning to him. Sometimes, Ming seemed to be able to read his mind.Well, Min said he needed Cadsuane, so he really needed her.He just wanted to know what this Aes Sedai would teach him besides making him grind his teeth. "Suggest me, Cadsuane, what do you think of my plan?" "The kid finally knows how to ask people," she murmured, putting the embroidery in the sewing basket beside her. "All his plans are working, at least some of them are not hidden from me. Now, he Ask me at last. Very well, your peace talks with the Seanchan will not be welcomed." "It's a truce," Rand interrupted. "A treaty with the Dragon Reborn only lasts as long as the Dragon Reborn is alive. When I'm dead, everyone can make war with the Seanchan if they want. .” Ming slammed the book on the table and crossed his arms. "You are not allowed to say that!" Her face was flushed with anger, but there was fear in the bondage. "Your prophecy, Ming," Rand said sadly.Not for himself, but for her; he wanted to protect her, her and Elayne and Aviendha, but he would hurt them in the end. "I said, don't say that! The prophecy didn't say you had to die! I won't let you die, Rand Arthur! Elayne, Aviendha, and I won't let you die!" She stared Looking at Alivia.In her vision, it was this former slave who would hasten Rand's death.Ming's hands began to slide down his arms, toward the cuffs. "Come on, Ming," Rand said.Her hands left the cuffs in a hurry, but she still clenched her teeth tightly, and the bondage was suddenly full of stubbornness.Light, is he starting to worry that Ming will kill Alivia?Ming probably wouldn't succeed, throwing a dagger at the Seanchan woman would be like throwing a dagger at an Aes Sedai, and Ming might injure himself.Besides combat weaving, he didn't know what kind of weaving Alivia could do. "Not popular, I told you," Cadsuane said firmly, raising her voice.She frowned at Ming and turned her attention back to Rand. Her face was calm and composed, just as an Aes Sedai should be, but her dark eyes were as hard as polished gems. "Especially in Tarabonne, Amadisia, and Atla, and the other nations don't want that either. If you agree to let the Seanchan occupy the lands they've captured, what lands will you cede to them next? ? This will be the doubt of most rulers." Rand sat back in his chair, stretching his legs, ankles crossed. "It doesn't matter if it's popular or not. I walked through the ter'angular door in Tyr once, Cadsuane, do you know that ter'angreal?" Cadsuane nodded impatiently, letting her golden The accessories also jumped. "One of the questions I posed to Effien was 'How do I win the final war?'" "That's a dangerous question," Cadsuane whispered. "It has to do with the shadows, and the results you get are likely to be bad. What's the answer?" "North and East must be one, West and South must be one, these two must be one." Rand blew out a smoke ring, and let a new smoke ring fly into the old smoke ring that was growing .That's not the whole answer, he's asking how to win and survive, the second part of the answer is "to survive you have to die".He didn't intend to say such words in front of Ming so soon, and now he would only tell Alivia this sentence.In any case, he must first figure out how to survive death. "At first, I thought that meant I had to conquer everywhere, but that's not what they meant. Could the answer be for the Seanchan to take control of the West and South? Like you just said, they've captured those The land. We need allies in the final war, will the Seanchan be our allies like the others?" "It's only possible," Cadsuane agreed, "but if you're going to make this... treaty...why are you sending troops to Aladorman on such a large scale, and expanding the size of Illian's garrison?" "Because the Doomsday War is coming, Cadsuane, and I cannot fight the Shadows and the Seanchan at the same time. I will make a treaty, or crush them at all costs. The prophecy says I must bind the Daughter of September to me, I just understood the meaning of this a few days ago. As soon as Bashere comes back, I will know when and where I can meet the Daughter of September. The only problem now is how to tie her. She has to answer my question." Rand spoke in the most realistic tone, occasionally pausing and exhaling a smoke ring.Everyone in the room reacts differently.Royal wrote quickly, not missing every word.Harelin and Anela continued their game, and of course they would dance the spear dance at any moment.Alivia nodded vigorously, no doubt hoping to completely defeat those who have put her in handcuffs for five hundred years.洛根已经找到另一只杯子，将酒罐中的最后一点残酒都倒了进去，但他只是拿着杯子，并没有喝，脸上是一副无法解读的表情。维林现在转而专注地审视兰德。但光明在上，为什么明会有深入骨髓的哀伤？还有凯苏安…… “只要敲击足够凶猛，石头也会碎裂。”凯苏安说道。她的脸上只有两仪师冷静的面具。“钢铁同样会碎。橡树与风对抗，难免折断；柳树则随风摇曳，从而生存下来。” “柳树不会赢得末日战争。”兰德对她说。 屋门再次被打开，埃希恩跑进来。“真龙大人，有三位巨森灵来访，得知罗亚尔先生在这里，他们非常高兴，其中一位正是他的母亲。” “我妈妈？”罗亚尔尖叫了一声，那声音就如同大风吹过深邃的洞穴，他跳起来，把沉重的木椅也撞倒在地。他的耳朵不停地抖动着，头转来转去，仿佛在找一条路，能够不经过门口就从这个房间里逃出去。“我该怎么办，兰德？另外两个一定是哈曼长老，我该怎么办？” “科芙芮夫人说，她急于见到您，罗亚尔先生。”埃希恩用那种尖利又沙哑的声音说道，“她非常着急，他们全都被雨水淋湿了，但科芙芮夫人坚持要在楼上的巨森灵起居室内等您。” “我该怎么办，兰德？” “你说过，你想和伊莉丝结婚。”兰德尽可能用和缓的语气说道。除了对明以外，他对任何人都很难让语气温柔下来。 “但我的书呢？我的笔记还没有完成，我还要知道今后会发生什么，伊莉丝一定会带我回曹福聚落的。” “哎！”凯苏安又拿起刺绣箍，以灵巧的动作让绣针在丝布上下穿梭，她绣的是古代两仪师徽记——龙牙和塔瓦隆之焰拼合成一个完整的圆形，黑与白被一道蜿蜒的界线分开。“去见你的母亲，罗亚尔，如果她真的是科芙芮，伊拉之子，菘格之孙，那么让她等你可绝对不是明智之举。我想，这一点你也知道。” 凯苏安的话对罗亚尔来说就像是一个命令，他开始再次擦拭钢笔，盖好墨水瓶，但他每一个动作都很缓慢，耳朵也垂了下来，不时还能听到他发出一声低弱又悲哀的呻吟。“我的书！” “那么，”维林一边说，一边举起刺绣箍仔细端详，“我想，我在这里能做的事都已经做了，我想去找托马斯了。下雨的时候，他的膝盖总是会痛，但他甚至都不会告诉我。”她朝窗户瞥了一眼，“雨好像小一些了。” “我想，我要去找岚了。”奈妮薇说着，拢起了裙摆，“他身边还是有个人会好些。”然后她又猛拉了一下鞭子，瞪了一眼艾丽维娅和洛根。“风告诉我，风暴就要来了。兰德，你知道，我指的不是天气。” “最后战争？”兰德问，“还有多久？”奈妮薇有听风的能力，她能判断一小时之后会落下的雨水，但她的能力也只是局限在天气范畴。 “也许快了，我不知道。记住，风暴就要来了，一场恐怖的风暴。”头顶上方，滚滚沉雷正在接连不断地响起。