Chapter 34 Chapter 29 Another Plan

In the "Wandering Woman" hotel, the basement with beams visible was quite large, and there were only five people here, but it was as crowded as Tom and Zeling's room.An oil lamp on a barrel filled the place with swaying shadows, and the place farther away from the oil lamp was completely in darkness. The aisle between the rows of storage shelves and the rough stone wall was just wide enough for the barrel to roll. In the past, but it wasn't the shelves that made Matt feel crowded. "I ask for your help, but I don't want to put shackles on my neck." Julien said coldly.After a week of Saitale's loving care and Enid's cooking, the Aes Sedai looked less haggard than ever.The shabby clothes she had been wearing when Mat first met her had been replaced by a high-quality blue wool dress with a high collar and a bit of lace at the cuffs and neckline.Under the flickering light, the anger on her face was not hidden by the shadows, and her eyes seemed to drill two holes in Mat's face. "If anything happens! I will be helpless!"

This meant nothing to Matt.Help others out of kindness, no matter how kind it is, and don't care what you get in return.He dangled the manacles under Jolian's nose, and the silver cord twisted in his hands like a silver snake, glistening in the dim light.Collars and bracelets bumped against the rocky ground.Julien tightened the hem of her dark skirt and stepped back, avoiding the shackles.She stared at what Mat was holding, her lips twisted as if staring at a poisonous snake.Mat didn't know if the shackles would fit Joleen, the collar seemed much bigger than Jolene's slender neck. "As soon as we're out of town, Setal will take it for you," he said sternly. "You trust her, don't you? She's hiding you here at the risk of being beheaded. I tell you, this It's the only way to take you out!"

Julien raised her chin stubbornly.Saital muttered angrily. "She doesn't want to wear something like that," said Fern in a stiff voice behind Mat. "If she doesn't want to wear it, then she doesn't have to." Bririck stood next to Fern, his voice hardening. Jolyon's two dark-haired warders are as alike as two peas in a pod.Fern had black eyes upturned at the corners and a jaw hard enough to chip away at stone, and he was a little shorter than Blyrick, maybe a little stronger in chest and shoulders, but they had no trouble getting into each other's clothes.Fern's black hair fell almost to her shoulders straight, and the blue-eyed Blyrick had it cropped to a lighter shade.Blierik is a Shaner. To avoid being noticed, he shaved off the top of his head and grew it back, but he didn't like it.Fern was a Saldaean, and he didn't seem to like anything other than Jolyon.They all liked Julien very much.The two of them talk alike, think alike, and act alike.Now they wore scruffy shirts and the plain woolen vests of workmen's that hung down to their thighs, but even in this dim light only a blind man would take them for ordinary coolies .During the day, they work in the stables set up by Saitale... Light!It seemed to Mat that they were looking at him like a lion looking at a goat baring at them.Mat shifted his position to keep them completely out of his sight, taking comfort in the dagger hidden in his clothes.

"If you won't listen to him, Joline, you'll listen to me." Setale folded his hands on his hips, looking down at the slender Aes Sedai, hazel eyes full of anger. "I will let you go back to the White Tower, even if it requires me to push you back step by step! Maybe in this journey, you will show me that you understand what an Aes Sedai is. Now, I just hope to see A sensible adult woman, but what I see is a junior student who only knows how to cry and fight and lose his temper in bed!" Julien stared at her, her big brown eyes almost widened to the limit, as if she couldn't believe her ears.In fact, Matt wasn't sure if he had heard it wrong.The landlady didn't grab the Aes Sedai by the throat.Fern snorted, and Blyrick murmured something that probably wasn't very nice.

"You just need to get out of the sight of the guards at the city gate." Mat hurriedly said to Saitale, hoping to divert her attention before she broke out completely. "Be sure to take off the hood of the cloak..." Light, he must find that grotesque cloak for Saitale!Anyway, if Zeling could steal a pair of shackles, he could also steal a cloak. "...The guards will only treat you as a slave master. You can return before dawn, and no one will find out, unless you must wear your marriage dagger." He laughed twice for his own words.But Saital didn't laugh. "Do you think I can stay in a place that turns women into livestock? Just because they can guide?" Saital walked straight to Maite, "Do you think I will let my family stay in Here?" Her eyes stared at Mat like two hot balls of fire.Matt certainly didn't think about this kind of problem, he wanted to save the slave.But why did Saital react so strongly to this incident?But Saitale's idea is wise.Her hand was twiddling the long, curved dagger hilt at her waist. An Eboudan would not tolerate being bullied, and Setale was a pure Eboudan in that regard. "Two days after the Seanchan arrived, once I saw what they were like, I started planning to sell 'The Wandering Woman'. I should have handed over everything here to Liddell a few days ago. Elonid. I'll stay here only because there's an Aes Sedai hidden in the basement. If you're ready to go, I can hand over the keys here and go with you Liddell can't wait any longer." When she said the last sentence, she turned her head and looked at Julien meaningfully.

Matt thought of his gold, and he was annoyed to ask the question.Would Liddell let him take that big pile of gold from under the kitchen floor?But something else made him stop breathing suddenly.It seemed to him suddenly that he saw Setale's entire family behind him, including her married children and grandchildren, and perhaps a few aunts and uncles and cousins.There may be dozens or even hundreds of them.Saital may not be a local, but her husband has many relatives in the city.Blyrick's expression remained unchanged.Damn Guardian!Damn Aes Sedai!And the most damned hotel proprietress!

"Sittale," Mat said cautiously, "I couldn't take too many people with me when I left Ebouda." He hadn't told Setale about Luca's circus, and he might not be able to convince that guy, and the more people he asked Luca to take with him, the less likely Luca would help him. "Come back after you've sent us out of town. If you must go, you can take your husband's fishing boat. But I suggest you wait a few days, maybe a week. When the Seanchan find that two criminals Slave is missing, they will definitely ban everyone from the city." "Two?" asked Julien sharply. "Teslyn and who?"

Mat shuddered. He hadn't planned to tell her about it yet, but looking at the Aes Sedai in front of him, he just thought she was a bad-tempered, willful and spoiled woman.If Joline was allowed to run wild, and made her suspect that his plan was going to fail, she might decide to carry out her own crazy plan, which would ruin everything.If she tried to escape by herself, she would surely be caught, and she would certainly fight back.Once the Seanchan knew there were free Aes Sedai in the city, right under their noses, they would surely intensify their search for Maras Damani again, further increasing the patrols on the streets.Of course, this is not to search for the "lunatic killer". The worst thing is that they are likely to strengthen the supervision measures for going out of the city.

"Edesina Ezedin," Mat said reluctantly, "I only know her name." "Edesina," Julien said slowly, her brows furrowed slightly, "I heard that she has..." She stopped suddenly, her eyes gleaming sharply. "Are they still imprisoning other sisters? If Teslin is also fighting for freedom, I will not leave other sisters here either!" Matt tried not to let out a sigh.Joline wasn't just bad-tempered and headstrong, Mat now thought she was as much a lioness as Blyrick and Fern. "Trust me, I wouldn't leave an Aes Sedai in those dens unless she wanted to." Mat tried to make his voice more pleasing.Would the woman at least have a strong will to persist in rescuing the other two Aes Sedai like Pura?Light, he really shouldn't be meddling in the Aes Sedai business.He needs no ancient memory to warn of this!His own memory is enough.

Fern poked the back of Mat's left shoulder with a hard finger and warned him, "Don't be so glib." Bririck poked Matt's other shoulder: "Who are you talking to!" Joline snorted, but she didn't poke Mat.Mat felt a knot loosen at the back of his neck, where the executioner's ax had fallen.Aes Sedai were good at getting their words misinterpreted, but they certainly didn't like it being used against them. Matt turned to Sai Tale: "Taler, you take your husband's boat, it's more—" "Perhaps you are right," the proprietress interrupted him. "It was Jasfield who left three days ago with all ten of his ships and all our relatives. I believe that if he comes back, the guild will He'll be found, he's not supposed to have passengers in his ship. They're going to Irian, and waiting for me there. I don't really mean to go to Tar Valon, you know."

This time, Matt really frowned.According to his original plan, if Luka is determined not to help him, Jasfi's fishing boat will also be an option for him, but this is an extremely dangerous choice, and maybe it is crazy to do so.The sin slave owner on the pier must have wondered why the sin slave was sent aboard the fishing boats, and it was night, but those fishing boats were always on Mat's mind.Well, now he can only try harder to bring down Luka, and he will use all his strength. "You let your family go to sea in this season?" Jolian's tone was mixed with suspicion and contempt. "When the most violent storm is coming?" Saitale turned his back to the Aes Sedai and raised his head proudly. , that is not her pride because of herself. "Jasfi can ride safely between Kimo's teeth. I trust him as you trust your Warders, Green Aes Sedai, or I trust more than you." Suddenly, Qiu Lien frowned, picked up the iron oil lamp, and shone the light on the face of the innkeeper's wife. "Where have we met before? Sometimes, when I can't see your face, your voice sounds familiar." Setale didn't answer the Aes Sedai, but took the shackles from Mat's hand and fumbled for the wide bracelet, which was divided into many small pieces.This bracelet should be assembled from many silver pieces, but its workmanship is so exquisite that people can't find where it is assembled. "We'd better test it first." "Test?" Mat yelled.The hazel eyes cast a cool glance at him. "Not all women can be slave masters, you should know that. I hope I can, but we'd better make sure of this before we start." She frowned, examined the strong bracelet, and put it on Keep turning in the hand. "Do you know how to open this thing? I can't even find the seam." "I know." Matt said weakly.In one small chat with the Seanchan, he had asked how they used Sinlords and Sinservants in battle, and that was the only time he had ever talked about them with a Seanchan.It never even occurred to him how the Sin Masters were chosen, only the possibility of fighting them.Those ancient memories always made him think of wars and battlefields, but he never thought about how to confirm whether a person could be a slave master. "It should be tested." If Saital can't... light! It is a simple matter for Matt to open the mechanism of the criminal handcuffs. The bracelet is especially simple. You only need to press and hold the upper and lower points on the opposite side of the point where the silver cable is connected, and you can operate it with one hand.The bracelet bounced off with a crisp metallic sound.The mechanism of the collar is a bit more complicated and requires two hands to open.He pressed the two points on both sides of the silver cord connection point on the collar, pressed down hard, and then staggered the pressing force in two directions.Nothing happened.He staggered the strength in the opposite direction, and the collar opened right next to the connection point of the silver cable, and the sound of metal impact when it bounced off was much harsher than when the bracelet bounced off.this is very simple.Of course, in order to figure out this mechanism, Matt tossed and tossed with Zeling in the palace for nearly an hour.But here, no one praised him, and no one even showed a little bit of amazement after seeing him solve this difficult problem! Setal clasped his wrist with a bracelet, wrapped the silver cord around his forearm, and picked up the open collar.Joleen stared at the collar with a look of disgust on her face, her hands clutching the hem of her skirt. "Do you still want to escape?" the proprietress asked in a low voice. After a while, Julien stood up, her chin raised. With a crisp metal clang, Setale fastened the collar around the Aes Sedai's neck.Matt felt that he must have misjudged the size of the collar. It was tightly wrapped around Julien's high collar, and Julien's lips were slightly twisted.Mat could almost feel the tension in Brerick and Fern behind him, and he held his breath. The two women took a step at the same time, walking past Mat.Matt regained his breath.Julien frowned uncertainly, and they took the second step. With a cry, the Aes Sedai fell to the ground, convulsed with pain, unable to utter a word, only groaning louder and louder.She curled up in a ball, her arms, legs, and even her fingers trembling and twisted at odd angles.When Julien fell to the ground, Saital also fell to her knees.Her hands reached for the collar around Joline's neck, but Blyrick and Fern were faster than her.The actions of the two guardians also became a little strange.Blyrick knelt down, picked up the wailing Joline, leaned her against the box, and massaged her neck.Fern rubbed her arms.The collar came loose, and Saital stood up.Julien was still weeping and convulsing.Her Warders were still massaging her, as if to erase all discomfort from her body, and they stared at Mat coldly, as if it was all his fault. Mat watched his well-designed plan come to naught, not paying attention to the eyes of those guardians. He didn't know what to do next, where to start again.Tylin might be back in two days, and he had to leave before then. He patted Saitale on the shoulder and murmured, "Tell her we'll try something else." What?Obviously, only those who truly possess the power of a sin slave master can control the sin shackles. He went down the stairs leading to the kitchen and took up his hat and cloak.There was no embroidery on this stout, plain wool cloak, a man doesn't need embroidery, and he certainly doesn't miss it.And that lace!He doesn't like those! At this time, the proprietress of the inn caught up with him. "Any other plans?" Mat couldn't see her face in the dark, but the silver cords of the shackles glimmered even here.She was fumbling for a bracelet on her wrist. "I'll always have a backup plan," Mat lied, taking the bracelet off her wrist. "At least you don't have to risk getting your head beheaded now. As long as I take Julien away from you Come on, you can go to your husband." Saitale just snorted, and Mat suspected she knew he had no backup plan.Wanting to avoid the hall full of Seanchan, he walked through the kitchen and into the stable yard, where the carriage gates entered Mohaira Square.He wasn't afraid that the Seanchan would notice him and wonder why he had come to this inn.When he stepped through the door of the Wandering Woman, the Seanchan in the hall thought the modestly dressed young man was just a servant running errands for the landlady.But there were three slave masters in that hall, two of them leading slaves, and Mat just didn't want to see them.He was terrified that he would eventually have to leave Teslyn and Edsina behind, still in shackles.Damn it, he just promised Teslyn would do her best! The sun that has lost its heat is still hanging high in the sky, but the sea breeze has gradually strengthened. The strong smell of sea salt and the chill indicate that it will rain again soon.Except for a team of death guards composed of humans and Ogiers who were still walking steadily in the square, everyone in Mohaira Square quickened their pace, trying to finish their work before the heavy rain came.A hand fell on Mat's shoulder as he reached the foot of the tall, bare-breasted statue of Queen Narini. "I didn't recognize you at first. Where's your beautiful dress, Matt Cawthorne?" Mat turned around and found that standing in front of him was the very burly Irian servant he had met the day he met Julien. This was not a pleasant encounter.The guy with the round face looked really weird with half the beard and half the hair left on his head.What was even more strange was that he was only wearing a shirt on his upper body and was shivering in the cold wind. "You know me?" Matt asked cautiously. The big man grinned and smiled at him: "Lucky found me, I know you, you have had an unforgettable voyage on my ship. The starting point of the voyage is Trolloc and Shadaro Goss, in the middle is Moldao and the burning Whitebridge Town. Lord Matt, I am Bel Domon. Do you remember?" "I remember." Matt did remember, in a special way.Most of that voyage had become very blurred in his mind, filled with holes filled with other people's memories. "If we had time, we should sit down, have a cup of mulled mulled wine and talk about the past." If Mat had found Bell first, this should never have happened.The voyage he remembered seemed to give him a strange revulsion, like a fatal disease.Of course, he had been seriously ill, a strange serious illness, which was another unpleasant memory. "It's fine now." Bell smiled and stretched out a thick arm, wrapped it around Matt's shoulder, and led him back to the "Wandering Woman" hotel. It seemed impossible to avoid the strong man without using violence, so Mat had to follow him.A fight would definitely get Seanchan's attention, and Mat wasn't confident of winning. Bell looked fat, but beneath his fat was hard muscle.Either way, you shouldn't have a problem getting a drink.Moreover, Mat vaguely remembered that Bell was a smuggling captain, and he might have a secret route in and out of Ebouda.With a few smart questions, maybe Mat could get the route out of Bell, especially with the help of good wine.In Mat's coat pocket was a purse full of gold coins, which Mat would gladly spend if it could make the fellow drunk like a fiddler in the sun.Drunk people always know everything and say everything. Bell led him across the hall, while bowing to the blood of the king and the officers on both sides, and those people hardly looked at him.But he didn't go to the kitchen.Mat thought they could get a bench from Enid and sit in the corner of the kitchen, but Bell led him up the unrailed stairs and into a room at the back of the hotel.Mat thought that Bell had come to this room to get his coat and cloak, and the bright flame in the fireplace made the room very warm, but Mat suddenly felt that it was colder here than outside. Bell closed the door, folded his arms, stood in front of the door, and said solemnly: "In front of you is Ms. Egonin Tamaras, the green general." Then he changed his usual tone: "This is Mat Cawthorne." Mat looked from Bell to the tall woman sitting stiffly in the ladder chair, today she was wearing a pale yellow pleated skirt and a floral-embroidered robe.Matt remembered this woman.Her fair face was stern, and her eagle blue eyes were as sharp and menacing as Tylin's.However, Mat suspected that Egnin did not come to him for a sweet kiss. Her hands were quite slender, but they had thick calluses that swordsmen often had.Mat had no chance to ask her if she knew how to use a sword, and there was no need to ask such a question. "My sage told me that your life is often accompanied by danger, Mr. Cawthorne." Bell had just finished her introduction before she spoke, her slow and long Seanchan accent exuding a condescending and tough aura.Indeed, she is of the blood of kings. "I need men like this to steer my boat, and I'll pay you well, in gold, not silver. If you know anyone else like you, I'll hire them too, but they have to be able to Don't ask me too much. Bell also mentioned two other names to me, Tom Merrillin and Zeling Sander. If they are in Abouda, I can also use their skills. They know me, they know they can give me their lives. So can you, Mr Cawthorne." Mat sat in the second chair in the room and flung the cloak over the back of the chair.He is not qualified to sit on the same level as a low-ranking king.The Seanchan's black hair was shaved into a bowl shape, and the pinkie nails were painted green, all of which indicated that she was of the blood of a lower king.But Matt needs to think about it. "Do you have a ship?" The main purpose of his asking this question is actually to delay time.Egnin opened his mouth angrily, asking questions about the blood of the king is something that should be treated with extreme caution. Domon let out a "hmm" and shook his head. For a moment, Egonin looked even more angry, but her strong face quickly returned to calm, only her gaze was like an awl, as if trying to pierce Matt.She stood up, with her feet spread apart, her hands on her hips, looking directly at Mat, and said in a cold voice: "By the end of spring at the latest, as long as my gold comes from Cantlin, I will have a ship. " Mat sighed. It looked like he still had no chance of taking the Aes Sedai out with the Seanchan ship. "How did you know Tom and Zeling?" Of course Bell would tell her about Tom, but, light, how did she know Zeling? She turned around and said in an unquestionable tone, "You've asked too many questions. I'm afraid I won't be able to use you after all. Bell, let him out." The last sentence was a pure command. Bell didn't walk away from the door. "Tell him," he urged Eignin, "to know the whole situation sooner or later, or he'll put you in greater danger. Tell him." He seemed a little too bossy for an acolyte.The Seanchan are very good at arranging their property, and everyone must know their place.Egnin must be far less powerful than she looks. At this moment, Egnin looked very fierce, striding back and forth, kicking the hem of her skirt back and forth, frowning, staring at Bell, at Mat.Finally, she stopped. "I helped them in Tankik." After she finished speaking, she pondered for a while before continuing: "At that time, there were two other women who walked with them, and their names were Ilan Chuankan and Nai. Nevee Amira." Her eyes were fixed on Matt, as she judged whether Matt knew the two men. Matt's chest tightened, the feeling was not pain, but more like watching the racehorse he bet on sprint towards the finish line, and the other racehorses followed closely behind it, whether it would be the first to run back to the finish line or not? unknown.In the light, what are Nynaeve and Elayne doing in Tankek?Where did they need Seanchan help?Tom and Zeling have remained tight-lipped about these details.Anyway, that's not the point now, what Egonin wants is a man who can keep secrets for her and is not afraid of danger.She herself is in danger.Few could threaten the King's Blood, unless it was another King's Blood, or... "The Truthseekers are investigating you," Mat said. Egonin raised his head suddenly, which was enough to prove Matt's guess.Her hand stretched to her waist, as if about to draw a sword.Bell moved his steps, stretched out a pair of big hands, and stared at Mat, his eyes suddenly became more fierce than Egonin's.The big guy didn't look so funny anymore, he looked very dangerous.A thought hits Matt's mind that maybe he won't be able to get out of this room alive. "If you need to escape from the Truthseekers, I can help you," Mat said quickly, "you have to go somewhere out of Seanchan control. As long as you stay where there are Seanchan , the truth-seekers will find you, you'd better get out of here as soon as possible. It's not difficult to get gold, but first you need to make it impossible for the truth-seekers to catch you. Tom told me that the truth-seekers are moving frequently and they are ready Torture rack, red-hot soldering iron." Egonin stared at him expressionlessly, and after a long time, she and Bell looked at each other for a moment. "Maybe we should really leave as soon as possible." She took a breath, her voice immediately became firm again, and the worry on her face disappeared. "I don't think the truth seekers will stop me from leaving this city. They will think that if they follow me, they will find something more important to them than me. They will keep following me until I leave Yagell-occupied territory. If they think I'm going into lands I haven't returned, they'll call in soldiers to arrest me, and then I'll need the skill of your friend Tom Merrylin, Mr. Cawthorne. I Must be able to disappear from the truthseekers' noses. I haven't got the gold from Cantling yet, but I've got enough money to pay you for your help, you can take that for granted." "Call me Matt!" Matt showed Egonin his most touching smile, no matter how rigid a woman was, he would soften her smile.Egnin didn't seem to be softening in any way, she just frowned, but one thing Mat knew was what his smile could do. "I know how to make you disappear now, without waiting, and you know that. The Truthseekers may arrest you tomorrow." It worked.Egnin showed no sign of fear, and Mat suspected that nothing frightened her, but she almost nodded. "There is only one thing to do now, Egnin." The answer he got would probably blow him up like Aluta's fireworks, but he didn't hesitate at all. Sometimes, the dice in his hand had to be thrown go out. "I don't need gold, but I need three slave masters who can hold their tongues. Can you find the right one?" After what seemed like a few hours, Egonin nodded.Mat felt a surge of joy that his horse had reached the finish line first. "Bel Domon." Tom said weakly, smoking his pipe.Lying on his narrow bed, with the thin pillow folded under his head, he seemed to be contemplating the blue smoke rising from his pipe and drifting slowly through the windowless room.The only small lamp in the room cast a flickering light. "And Egonin." "Now she is the blood of the king," Zeling sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the charred pipe in his hand, "I don't know if I like this." "You mean they can't be trusted?" Mat asked, thumbing the tobacco into the bowl nonchalantly.He raised his thumb hastily, cursed softly, and stuffed his thumb into his mouth to relieve the burning pain from the fire.He still had the choice of sitting on the stool or standing, but this time, he didn't mind the stool.The conversation with Egnin ended in the afternoon, but Tom didn't return to Terrassin until dark, and Zeling even later.Matt told them what he had gained, but they were not as elated as Matt had expected.Tom sighed and said that he had just looked carefully at the seals of the orders to leave the city.And Zeling stared angrily at a bag in the corner of the room. Needless to say, that bag contained the clothes of the sin slave master that was no longer needed.After the thumb felt better, Mat continued, "I tell you, the Truthseekers have scared them out of their wits." Maybe he was exaggerating, but they must have been pretty scared. "Egnin may be of the blood of kings, but she didn't even bat an eye when I told her what to do with the slave masters. She said she knew of three slave masters who could meet my needs, tomorrow. Get them ready." "Egnin is a respectable woman," Tom murmured, puffing out a smoke ring from time to time, "strange, though she's a Seanchan, but it's true, and I think even Nynaeve has some Liked her, not to mention Elayne, and Egonin liked them both, even though they were Aes Sedai. She helped us a lot in Tankek, and it wasn't just ordinary help. I really liked it. Wondering how she came to be King's blood. Anyway, we should be able to trust Egnin, and Bell, he's a funny guy." "A smuggler," Zeling said in a tone full of contempt. "Now he is hers. The saint is not a simple slave. Some kings of the blood have to obey the arrangement of the saint in every word and deed." Tom She raised her fluffy eyebrows at him, which was the only response Ze Ling got.After a while, the thief-catcher shrugged and said reluctantly: "I think Bell is a trustworthy, at least a trustworthy smuggler." Matt snorted.Maybe they're jealous of him, yeah he's Timeline and they have to get used to that. "Tomorrow night, we will act. The only change in this plan is that we have three real sin slave masters, and a king's blood can take us out of the city." "These slave masters will lead the three Aes Sedai out of the city, and then let them go without thinking of raising the alarm." Zeling murmured, "I met Rand Arthur in Tire once, and that I saw the coin being tossed five times and it all fell on the edge of the table and just stood there. Finally we walked away leaving the coin standing on the table. Now I believe that anything is possible occur." "Whether you trust them or not, Zeling, this plan cannot be changed." Matt said angrily, but the thief-catcher just stared at the baggage in the corner.Matt shook his head. "What did they do for you in Tankek, Tom? Damn it, don't look at me like that! You know it, they know it, and I should know it too." "Nynaeve won't let us tell anyone," Zeling said matter-of-factly, "and Elayne won't let us say we promised them. You can think we've sworn to it." Tom shook his head on the pillow. "Things change, Zeling, and anyway, it's not a real oath." He blew three perfect smoke rings, one trapping the other. "They helped us get a pair of male shackles, and we destroyed it, and the Black Ancestor apparently intended to use it on Rand. So you should understand why Nynaeve and Elayne wanted us to hide this If people know that there is such a thing, only the light will know what other stories will happen." "Who cares what stories people talk about?" Male crime.Light, if the Black Zong had locked it around Rand's neck, or the Seanchan had done it... Those brilliant colors swirled in Mat's head again, and he forced himself not to think about Rand. "Words don't hurt... anybody." This time there was no color, as long as he didn't think about it... the colors began to swirl again.Matt clenched his cigarette holder tightly. "No, Mat, stories have power. The same goes for the tales of the minstrels and the epics of the bards, and all the gossip. They spark passions and change the way people see the world. Heard someone say that Rand had sworn allegiance to Elaida, that he was in the White Tower. Mat, that guy believed those rumors. And what if enough Tyrians also believed this rumor? The Tyrians don't like it Aes Sedai, don't you, Zeling?" "Some people don't like it." Ze Ling responded.然后仿佛是被汤姆捏住鼻子一样，他又慢吞吞地说：“大多数提尔人都不喜欢。不过见过两仪师的提尔人并不多，他们应该不会知道这个谣言。提尔的法律禁止导引，去提尔的两仪师也很少，就算是去了，也不会表明身份。” “你没有回答我们的问题，我的喜欢两仪师的提尔朋友，而且你所说的实际上是在支持我。提尔支持兰德，至少提尔贵族是支持他的，因为他们害怕如果不支持兰德，兰德就会回去。但如果他们相信白塔拘禁了兰德，也许兰德就不会回去了，如果他们相信兰德成为白塔的工具，那他们只是多了一个反对兰德的原因。如果让足够多的提尔人相信这两件事，那么兰德能做的可能就只是抽出凯兰铎，然后不得不离开提尔。这还只是一个谣言。这个谣言在凯瑞安、伊利安或其他任何地方都可能造成同样的危害。我有点想知道男性罪铐在一个有转生真龙和殉道使存在的世界上，会造成什么样的谣言。但我太老了，不想去探究这种事了。” 麦特明白，必须让敌人错误判断自己的行动，身处于敌人意想不到的地方，而且敌人一定也会这样对付你。有时候，战争中的敌对双方会因此而陷入混乱，非常奇怪的事情也会在这种混乱中发生，这些事情的解决往往是悲剧。没有人想要城市被烧毁，成千上万的人死去，只因纵火的人相信不存在的事情。庄稼因为同样的原因被烧光，无以计数的人在随之而来的饥荒中被饿死。 “我不会随意提起男性罪铐，”他说道，“不过我想，应该要有人把这件事告诉……他？”色彩闪耀而过。也许他能忽视它们，或者是习惯它们，它们的消失就像出现时一样迅速，而且它们并不会让麦特真的感到有什么不舒服。麦特只是不喜欢他不明白的事情，特别是当这种事也许和至上力有关的时候。藏在他衬衫下面的银色狐狸头也许能为他挡住至上力，但这种保护就像他的记忆一样，有许多漏洞。 “我们与伊兰和奈妮薇很久没联系了，”汤姆说，他的眉毛随着他皱眉的动作略有起伏，“我想，伊兰和奈妮薇如果认为这件事够重要，就应该已经找到办法让他知道了。” “这件事也不一定就很重要，”泽凌一边说，一边弯下腰，哼着拉下一只脚上的靴子，“那东西毕竟已经沉到了海底。”他阴沉着脸把靴子扔到墙角的包袱上。“麦特，你今晚还打算让我们睡一会儿吗？我们明天应该是没觉可睡了，我希望至少能每隔一天睡上一觉。” 那天晚上，麦特睡到泰琳的床上。不是为了纪念些什么，这种想法让麦特有些想笑，不过他的笑声也许要比哭还难听，他选择这里只是因为这里有舒服的羽毛床垫和鹅毛枕头。过了这一晚，他不知道自己什么时候才能再躺在这么一张正经的床上。 但现在最大的问题是，他根本睡不着。他躺在黑暗中，一只手枕在头下，系着徽章的皮绳绕在他的手腕上，让他随时都能向滑过门缝，朝着对他发动偷袭的古蓝甩出那枚徽章。但让他无法入睡的并不是古蓝。他总是不禁要在脑子里把自己的计划重新思考一遍。这是一个很好的计划，也很简单，至少相对于它要达到的目的，已经是非常简单了。只是，任何一场战争都不是按照计划进行的，哪怕是最好的计划。伟大的将军们的名声不是来自于他们制订了辉煌的计划，而是因为他们在所有计划都被破坏之后仍然能赢得胜利。所以，当第一缕曙光照亮窗户时，麦特仍然睁着眼，在手指间翻滚着那枚徽章，竭力思考着行动中还会出现什么问题。