Chapter 41 Chapter 35 Stripping

Elayne yawned and lay on her bed watching Nynaeve, her head propped on one hand, her black hair hanging down her arms.It's ridiculous that people who don't enter Te Arran Riod must stay awake.Elayne didn't know how long Nynaeve had been in the dream world, but she had been lying there waiting for more than two hours, with nothing to read or needle to do except stare at the Outside of women, she has nothing to do to pass the time.There was no point in continuing to study the shackles, she thought she had figured out every bit of its character as well as she could.She even tried a little healing on the sleeping woman, using nearly all the healing techniques she knew.Nynaeve hadn't consented to it when she was waking—she didn't think Elayne was capable of it, and maybe she would know now—and the dark circles under her eyes had disappeared.In fact, it was the most complicated treatment Elayne had ever had, exhausting all of her abilities.She has nothing to do, if she has some silver maybe she can try to make a pair of shackles.Silver wasn't the only metal needed to make the shackles, but she had to melt quite a bit of coin to get enough of it.In that case, the woman on the opposite bed would only be annoyed to find another pair of handcuffs.If Nynaeve would tell Tom and Zeling about their entry into Tel'aran Rhiod, at least she could invite Tom in for a chat.

Every conversation with Tom made Elayne very happy. It felt like a father was passing on his knowledge to his daughter.Elayne had never imagined before that the Noble Game would be so entangled in Andor, but thankfully, Andor wasn't the worst of it, more prevalent elsewhere.From Tom's point of view, only the Borderlands were completely immune to its effects, since they bordered the Goblins directly to the north, and Trolloc raids were almost routine, and they had no time for strategizing and plotting.She had had many delightful conversations with Tom, and now Tom was convinced that she would never want to be in his arms again.Thinking of the scene at that time, she couldn't help but feel hot. She really thought about it once or twice, but luckily she didn't get too deep.

"'Even a queen stumbles, but a wise woman steps carefully,'" she recited softly.Lini is a sensible woman.Elayne didn't think she would make this mistake again. She knew she had made many mistakes, but rarely repeated them.Maybe one day, she'll be perfect enough to take the mother's throne as she deserves. Suddenly, sitting up, she saw tears rolling down Nynaeve's closed eyes, and what Elayne had taken for snoring (Nynaeve did snore, however much she argued) was actually from A low wail from the back of her throat.It wasn't supposed to happen, and if Nynaeve was hurt, the wounds should be there, though she wouldn't feel the pain until she woke up.

Maybe I should wake her up.Yilan stretched out her hand, still hesitating in her heart.It is not easy to wake up a person in Te Jaran Ryodri, simple shaking, or even pouring cold water sometimes does not help.And Nynaeve, who had already had dark circles under her eyes by Sairandin, definitely didn't want to add more bruises to her face.What the hell happened?I should ask Selandin.Whatever happened, Nynaeve should be able to walk out of the dream world by herself.Unless... Egwene said that the Wise Ones can force a person to stay in Tel Aran Rhiod, but even if the Wise Ones had taught Egwene that trick, Egwene hadn't taught her the trick yet and Nynaeve.If someone was holding Nynaeve right now and was hurting her, it couldn't be Birgitte, or the Wise Ones.Well, it might be the Wise Ones, if they saw Nynaeve wandering around the dream world without their permission.But besides the wise men, there is another possibility...

She grabbed Nynaeve's shoulders and shook them desperately.If that didn't work, she'd freeze the water in the jug on the table until it was frozen, and splash Nynaeve in the face, or just slap her.At that moment, Nynaeve's eyes snapped open. Almost as soon as she opened her eyes, Nynaeve began to cry, the sound of despair Elayne had never heard. "I killed her, oh Elayne, my stupidity and pride killed her, I thought I could..." The rest of the words were drowned out by continuous crying. "Who did you kill?" Nynaeve could not have said of Moghedien, the Forsaken's death would not have caused her so much grief.Elayne tried to put her arms around Nynaeve, to comfort her, when she heard a knock at the door.

"Tell them to go," Nynaeve slurred, and she curled up on the bed, shivering. Elayne sighed, walked over to open the door, and before she could say a word, Tom had rushed into the car, wearing only a wrinkled shirt and pants not tucked in.He was holding something in his arms, a figure wrapped in his cloak, from which only a woman's bare foot emerged. "She happened to be there." Zeling said behind Tom's back, listening to his tone, it seemed that Zeling didn't believe that the words came out of his mouth.Both men were barefoot, and Zeling was even topless, revealing a thin, hairless chest. "I woke up and suddenly she was there, naked like she was born, and then fell to the ground like a fishnet that had been cut off."

"She's alive," said Tom, laying the cloaked body on Elayne's bed, "but she's dying, and I can barely hear her heartbeat." Elayne frowned, opened the cloak a little, and found that she was staring at Birgitte's face, which had turned a terribly bluish white. Nynaeve scrambled stiffly from the opposite bed and knelt beside the unconscious woman, tears still streaming down her face, but she had stopped crying. "She's alive," Nynaeve gasped, "she's alive." She realized suddenly that she was wearing only a shirt in front of the two men, but she barely glanced at them, just said, "" Throw them away, Elayne, there's nothing I can do with these stupid sheep watching."

Elan hurriedly waved them out.Tom and Zeling turned their eyes to look at each other, shook their heads slightly, but still walked towards the door without saying a word. "She's... a friend," Elayne told them, and now Elayne felt as if she was floating unconscious in a dream.How is this possible? "We'll take care of her." How could this happen? "Don't tell anyone about it." When she closed the door, the eyes of the two men almost made her flush.Of course they know what to do with it, but sometimes guys need reminders about the simplest things, even Tom. "Nynaeve, by the light, what's going on?" Elayne turned around, and immediately shut her mouth, the halo of saidar had surrounded the woman kneeling beside the bed.

"Burn her!" growled Nynaeve, channeling the Power violently. "For what she has done, let her fall into the sea of ​​fire forever!" Elayne recognized the weaving of that energy flow for healing, but the recognition was the limit of her ability, and she could not imitate it. "I will find her, Birgitte," Nynaeve murmured.The power of the soul is dominant in the weaving, and it also incorporates the power of water and wind, and can even vaguely distinguish the power of fire and the power of the earth.The complex feeling is like embroidering on a long dress with both hands and feet at the same time, and the embroiderer is still blindfolded. "I'll make her pay." The light on Nynaeve grew stronger and stronger until all the lights were drowned in it, until Elayne had to squint to see her. "I swear! I swear by the light and my hope of redemption and reincarnation, I will!" The anger in her voice changed, becoming more bone marrow. "It's not working, there's nothing in her that needs healing, she's healthy as normal, but she's dying. Oh Light, I can feel her leaving. Burn Moghedien! Burn her! By the way Let me burn it with her!" But she didn't give up, the weaving continued, and the energy flow with complex structure was continuously injected into Birgitte's body.The woman lay there, her blond braids hanging down the edge of the bed, her bosom slowing down.

"Maybe I can help," Elayne said slowly.This kind of behavior deserves the consent of the other party, although in history, this rule is not set in stone, and this kind of behavior has not been consented as often as it has been.There's no reason why this shouldn't be done to a woman, it's just that she's never heard of it before. "Fusion?" Nynaeve didn't take her eyes off the woman on the bed, nor did she stop pouring the Power into her, "Yes, it has to be, I don't know how to do it, but let me guide. Now I'm in What to do, I don't understand half of it, but I know I can do it, and you can't heal a bruise."

Elayne bit her lip, but didn't contradict Nynaeve's assessment of her. "Not a fusion." The Power that Nynaeve channeled was already amazing, and if she couldn't heal Birgitte with such a powerful force, even adding Elayne would be of no use.After the two of them are fused, they will be stronger, but they will not be as strong as the combined strength of the two of them.Moreover, she was not sure that she could fuse, she had only done it once, and that time was when an Aes Sedai wanted to demonstrate to her the state after fusion, but the Aes Sedai didn't teach her the specific method at that time. "Stop, Nynaeve, you said it wasn't working. Stop, let me try, and if what I do doesn't work, you can..." What could she?If the treatment had worked, Birgitte would have been out of danger long ago, and if it hadn't... it wouldn't make sense to try again. "Try what?" Nynaeve called, but moved awkwardly to make room for Elayne.The healing weave weakened, but Nynaeve's light remained undimmed. Elayne didn't answer Nynaeve, she put a hand on Birgitte's forehead.Like healing, it required physical contact to do it, and she had seen it twice in the White Tower, each time the Aes Sedai placed his hand on the man's forehead.The flow of soul power she weaved was very complicated, although it was much simpler than Nynaeve's weaving just now.She didn't quite know what she was doing, but she had secretly watched Aes Sedai's weaving very intently, for she had heard stories about it and had foolish romantic dreams about it as a child.After a while, she sat down on the other bed and let go of saidar. Nynaeve frowned at her, then leaned over to check on Birgitte's condition. The unconscious woman's complexion seemed to be a little better than before, and her breathing was a little stronger. "What did you do, Elayne?" Nynaeve was still scrutinizing Birgitte, but the halo was slowly fading from her body. "It's not therapy. I think I can imitate your braid now, but it's not therapy." "Will she survive?" Elayne asked weakly.There was no obvious connection between her and Birgitte, no power flow, but she could feel the woman's weakness, terrible weakness.The moment Birgitte dies, she'll know right away, even if she's asleep, or hundreds of miles away. "I don't know, she's not gone, but I don't know." Nynaeve's voice softened with fatigue, and there was a strong pain in it, as if she was suffering the hurt with Birgitte.Shrunken, she stood up, unfolded a blanket with red stripes, and covered the unconscious woman with it. "what have you done?" Elayne didn't speak for a long time, and finally Nynaeve came and sat awkwardly on the bed beside her. "Binding," Elayne said finally, "I... bound her and turned her into a Warder." Seeing the disbelief on Nynaeve's face, Elayne hurriedly said, "Since the cure doesn't No, I can only do something else, you know the advantages that the Warden can get from bondage, one of them is strength, great energy. When ordinary people are mortally wounded, exhausted, and die, the Warden can still live Come down, and even keep fighting, that's all I can think of." Nynaeve took a deep breath. "Well, at least it's more effective than what I've done, a female Warder, I wonder what Rand would think of this. There's no reason she can't be a Warder, she's the best suited to be." Guardian woman." Shivering again, Nynaeve crossed her legs and turned to look at Birgitte again. "You must keep this a secret, and if anyone learns that an apprentice has bound a Warder, under any circumstances—" Elayne shivered too. "I understand." She said simply and eagerly.She wouldn't be silenced for such a mistake, but any Aes Sedai approach to her would make her prefer to be silenced. "Nynaeve, what happened?" For a long time, the companion beside Elan was silent, but her lips and chin were trembling constantly, making Elan feel that she might cry at any moment.But when she spoke, her voice was as hard as iron, and her expression was filled with endless anger and tears.She told Elayne everything that had happened in the dream world, briefly, almost hastily, until when Moghedien appeared in the camp, she dragged out all the painful details. "I should have welts all over my body." In the end, she stroked her clean and intact arm and said bitterly. Although she couldn't see any scars, her palms still trembled uncontrollably when they touched the skin. "I don't understand why there are no scars at all, I can feel the pain clearly, but I deserve it, it's punishment for my stupidity and pride, and it's punishment for being so scared that I can't use my ability .I should be hung in the smokehouse like a ham, if there is any justice in the world, I should continue to be hung in Te Jalan Ryaudry now, and Birgitte should not be lying here, let us do it for Worrying about her life and death. If I know more, if only I have five minutes to have the knowledge of Moghedien, I can cure her, sure." "If you're still hanging there," Elayne said frankly, "you'll wake up in a little while and shield me. I don't doubt that Moghedien will make you angry enough to channel, Remember, she knows us too well. And I don't think I'd ever be suspicious until you shielded me, and I definitely don't want to be taken to Moghedien, and I'm sure you are too." Nynaeve didn't look at her. "It must be a fusion too, Nynaeve, like the shackles, so she spares you, but makes you miserable." Nynaeve still just sat scowling. "Nynaeve, Birgitte is alive, and you have done all you could for her. As the light wishes, she will live, and it was Moghedien who hurt her, not you. A soldier who sacrifices and blames himself is only a fool, you and I are soldiers on the battlefield, but you are not a fool, don't do such a fool." Nynaeve finally turned her eyes to Elayne, who frowned, then turned her face away. "You don't understand." Her voice almost turned into a whisper, "She... used to be one of the heroes connected to the Wheel of Time, and her mission was to be reborn again and again to create new legends. But this time she came The way of the world is not birth, Elayne, she was forcibly stripped from Te Arran Rhiod. Is she still connected to the wheel of time? Or is this connection broken too? Because of my pride, Stubborn and foolish, for I made her hunt Moghedien, and deprived her of all that her courage had won." Elayne had hoped that Nynaeve would not think about these questions, at least not until she recovered a little. "Do you know how badly Moghedien was wounded? Perhaps she is dead." "I hope not," Nynaeve said, almost growling. "I'm going to make her pay..." She took a deep breath, but instead of cheering her up, it made her sink. "I can't take it for granted that she's dead. Birgitte didn't shoot her in the heart. In her condition at that time, it was a miracle that she could shoot Moghedien. If I was thrown so far, I wouldn't even be able to stand." I can't get up, even if Moghedien did only that to me. No, Moghedien is still alive. We better believe that she can heal her wounds in no time, and tomorrow morning Start chasing us." "She still needs time to rest, Nynaeve, you know that. And how would she know where we are? From what you've said, she doesn't have time to see any clues other than that it's a circus." "What if she does see more clues?" Nynaeve rubbed her brow, as if struggling to think. "What if she knew exactly where we were? She could send Darkfriends to follow us, or Send a message to the Darkfriends in Samara." "Eleven circus troupes have arrived in the city, and three more are waiting to cross the bridge. Valan is already livid from this incident. Nynaeve, after suffering like that, even if she can find the black ancestors Riders or other Forsaken to heal her, it will take a few days for her to regain her strength, and then she will spend more time searching fifteen circuses. Maybe there are more behind us or Atra The circus is heading here. Whether she's sending Darkfriends or a message to Samara, we're ready and we've got a few days to find a boat and go downriver." She paused for a moment to think. , "Can you get some herbs to dye your hair? I bet you braided your hair in Tejaran Raodri, where I kept getting it back to its original color. If you are as loose as you are now Cutting out our hair and dyeing it in another color makes it harder for us to be found." "Whitecloaks are everywhere," Nynaeve sighed. "Galad, the Prophet, and no boats, everything seems to compel us to stay here and wait for Moghedien. I am so tired, Elayne, I'm too lazy to be afraid of who's waiting for us on the corner, too lazy to be afraid of Moghedien, I just can't seem to figure out what to do next. My hair? Nothing can make me change the color it is now." "You need sleep," Elayne said firmly, "sleep without that ring, give it to me!" Nynaeve hesitated, but Elayne still held out her hand and waited, so she had to pull it from the leather strap around her neck. He took out the speckled stone ring from inside and placed it in Elayne's hand.Yilan put the ring in her pocket and said, "Now, lie down and sleep, I will take care of Birgitte." Nynaeve stared at the limp woman on the opposite bed. After a while, she shook her head. "I can't sleep. I...need to walk alone." She stood up, her posture stiff as if she had been beaten.She took her dark cloak from the hook and draped it over her shirt, pausing as she reached the door. "If she wants to kill me," she said sadly, "I don't know if I can stop her." After she finished speaking, she walked into the night with bare feet and a sad expression. Elayne hesitated, wondering which of the two women needed her more.Finally, she sat back on the bed.Nothing she said now would make Nynaeve feel any better, but she had faith in the woman's resilience.Time would solve all problems in her mind, and then she would believe that Moghedien was to blame, not herself.She will.