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"I should ride ahead," Vanin said, scowling again. He was fond of scowls. "If that is Mount Sardlen, there should be a village of fair size an hour or two further along. I might be able to spot it from the next rise. "
"Go, then," Mat said. They had advance scouts out, of course, but none of them were as good as Vanin. Despite his size, the man could sneak close enough to an enemy fortification to count the whiskers in the camp guards beards and never be seen. Hed probably make off with their stew, too.
Vanin shook his head as he regarded the map again. "Actually," he muttered, "now that I think about it, maybe thats Favlend Mountain. . . . " He set off at a trot before Mat could object.
Mat sighed, heeling Pips to catch up to Talmanes. The Cairhienin shook his head. He could be an intense one, Talmanes. Early in their association, Mat had assumed him to be stern, unable to have fun. He was learning better. Talmanes wasnt stern, he was just reserved. But at times, there seemed to be a twinkle to the noblemans eyes, as if he were laughing at the world, despite that set jaw and his unsmiling lips.
Today, he wore a red coat, trimmed with gold, and his forehead was shaved and powdered after Cairhien in fashion. It looked bloody ridiculous, but who was Mat to judge? Talmanes might have terrible fashion sense, but he was a loyal officer and a good man. Besides, he had excellent taste in wine.
"Dont look so glum, Mat," Talmanes said, puffing on his gold-rimmed pipe. Whered he gotten that, anyway? Mat didnt remember him having it before. "Your men have full bellies, full pockets, and they just won a great victory. Not much more than that a soldier can ask for. "
"We buried a thousand men," Mat said. "Thats no victory. " The memories in his head—the ones that werent his—said he should be proud. The battle had gone well. But there were still those dead who had depended on him.
"There are always losses," Talmanes said. "You cant let them eat you up, Mat. It happens. "
"There arent losses when you dont fight in the first place. "
"Then why ride to battle so often?"
"I only fight when I cant avoid it!" Mat snapped. Blood and bloody ashes, he only fought when he had to. When they trapped him! Why did that seem to happen every time he turned around?
"Whatever you say, Mat," Talmanes said, taking out his pipe and pointing it at Mat knowingly. "But somethings got you on edge. And it isnt the men we lost. "
Flaming noblemen. Even the ones you could stand, like Talmanes, always thought they knew so much.
Of course, Mat was now a nobleman himself. Dont think about that, he told himself. Talmanes had spent a few days calling Mat "Your Highness" until Mat had lost his temper and yelled at the man—Cairhienin could be such sticklers for rank.
When Mat had first realized what his marriage to Tuon meant, hed laughed, but it had been the laughter of incredulous pain. And men called him lucky. Well why couldnt his luck have helped him avoid this fate! Bloody Prince of the Ravens? What did that mean?
Well, right now he had to worry about his men. He glanced over his shoulder, looking along the ranks of cavalrymen, with crossbowmen riding behind. There were thousands of both, though Mat had ordered their banners stowed. They werent likely to pass many travelers on this backwater path, but if anyone did set them, he didnt want their tongues wagging-
Would the Seanchan chase him? He and Tuon both knew they were
on opposing sides now, and shed seen what his army could do.
Did she love him? He was married to her, but Seanchan didnt think like regular people. Shed stayed in his possession, enduring captivity, never running. But he had little doubt that shed move against him if she thought it best for her empire.
Yes, shed send men after him, though potential pursuit didnt trouble him half as much as the worry that she might not make it back to Ebou Dar safely. Someone had offered a very large pile of coin for Tuons head. That Seanchan traitor, the leader of the army Mat had destroyed. Had he been working alone? Were there others? What had Mat released Tuon into?
The questions haunted him. "Should I have let her go, do you think?" Mat found himself asking.
Talmanes shrugged. "You gave your word, Mat, and I think that rather large Seanchan fellow with the determined eyes and the black armor wouldnt have reacted well if youd tried to keep her. "
"She could still be in danger," Mat said, almost to himself, still looking backward. "I shouldnt have let her out of my sight. Fool woman. "
"Mat," Talmanes said, pointing at him with the pipe again. "Im surprised at you. Why, youre starting to sound downright husbandly. "
That gave Mat a start. He twisted around in Pips saddle. "What was that? What does that mean?"
"Nothing, Mat," Talmanes said hurriedly. "Just that, the way youre mooning after her, I—"
"Im not mooning," Mat snapped, pulling the lip of his hat down, then adjusting his scarf. His medallion was a comfortable weight around his neck. "Im just worried. Thats all. She knows a lot about the Band, and she could give away our strengths. "
Talmanes shrugged, puffing his pipe. They rode for a time in silence. The pine needles soughed in the wind, and Mat occasionally heard womens laughter from behind, where the Aes Sedai rode in a little cluster. For all the fact that they didnt like one another, they usually got along just fine when others could see them. But, as hed said to Talmanes, women were only enemies with one another as long as there wasnt a man around to gang up on.
The sun was marked by a blazing patch of clouds; Mat hadnt seen pure sunlight in days. He hadnt seen Tuon in as long either. The two events seemed paired in his head. Was there a connection?
Bloody fool, he thought to himself. Next youll start thinking like her.
reading portents into every little thing, looking for symbols and meaning every time a rabbit runs across your path or a horse lets wind.
That kind of fortunetelling was all nonsense. Though he had to admit, he now cringed every time he heard an owl hoot twice.
"Have you ever loved a woman, Talmanes?" Mat found himself asking.
"Several," the short man replied, riding with pipe smoke curling behind him.
"Ever consider marrying one of them?"
"No, thank the Light," Talmanes said. Then, apparently, he thought better of what hed just said. "I mean, it wasnt right for me at the time, Mat. But Im certain it will work out fine for you. "
Mat scowled. If Tuon was going to bloody finally decide to go through with the marriage, couldnt she have picked a time when others couldnt hear?
But no. Shed gone and spoken in front of everyone, including the Aes Sedai. That meant Mat had been doomed. Aes Sedai were great at keeping secrets unless those secrets could in any way embarrass or inconvenience Matrim Cauthon. Then you could be certain the news would spread through the entire camp in a days time, and likely be known three villages down the road as well. His own bloody mother—leagues and leagues away—had probably heard the news by now.
"Im not giving up gambling," Mat muttered. "Or drinking. "
"So I believe youve told me," Talmanes said. "Three or four times so far. I half believe that if I were to peek into your tent at night, Id find you mumbling it in your sleep. Im going to keep bloody gambling! Bloody, bloody gambling and drinking! Wheres my bloody drink? Anyone want to gamble for it? " He said it with a perfectly straight face, but once again, there was that hint of a smile in his eyes, if you knew just where to look.
"I just want to make sure everyone knows," Mat said. "I dont want anyone to start thinking Im getting soft just because of. . . you know. "
Talmanes shot him a consoling look. "You wont go soft just because you got married, Mat. Why, some of the Great Captains themselves are married, I believe. Davram Bashere is for certain, and Rodel Ituralde. No, you wont go soft because youre married. "
Mat nodded sharply. Good that was settled.
"You might go boring though," Talmanes noted.
&nbs
p; "All right, thats it," Mat declared. "Next village we find, were going to go dicing at the tavern. You and me. "
Talmanes grimaced. "With the kind of third-rate wine these little mountain villages have? Please, Mat. Next youll be wanting me to drink ale. "
"No arguing. " Mat glanced over his shoulder as he heard familiar voices. Olver—ears sticking out to the sides, diminutive face as ugly as any Mat had seen—sat astride Wind, chatting with Noal, who rode beside him on a bony gelding. The gnarled old man was nodding appreciatively to what Olver was saying. The little boy looked astonishingly solemn, and was undoubtedly explaining yet another of his theories on how to best sneak into the Tower of Ghenjei.
"Ho, now," Talmanes said. "Theres Vanin. "
Mat turned to spot a rider approaching along the rocky path ahead. Vanin always looked so ridiculous, perched like a melon atop the back of his horse, his feet sticking out to the sides. But the man could ride, there was no doubting that.
"It is Mount Sardlen," Vanin proclaimed as he rode up to them, wiping his sweaty, balding brow. "The village is just ahead; its called Hin-derstap on the map. These are bloody good maps," he added grudgingly.
Mat exhaled in relief. Hed begun to think that they might end up wandering these mountains until the Last Battle came and went. "Great," he began, "we can—"
"A village?" a curt female voice demanded.
Mat turned with a sigh as three riders forced their way up to the front of the column. Talmanes reluctantly raised a hand to the soldiers behind, halting the march as the Aes Sedai descended on poor Vanin. The rotund man squatted down in his saddle, looking for all the world as though hed rather have been discovered stealing horses—and therefore on his way to execution—than have to sit there and be interrogated by Aes Sedai.
Joline led the pack. Once, Mat might have described her as a pretty girl, with her slender figure and large, inviting brown eyes. But that ageless Aes Sedai face was an instant warning for him now. No, he wouldnt dare think of the Green as pretty now. Begin letting yourself think of Aes Sedai as pretty, and in two clicks of the tongue youd find yourself wrapped around her finger and hopping at her command. Why, Joline had already hinted that shed like to have Mat as a Warder!
Was she still sore at him because hed paddled her? She couldnt hurt him with the Power, of course—even without his medallion, since Aes Sedai were sworn not to use the Power to kill except in very specific instances. But he was no fool. Hed noticed that those oaths of theirs didnt say anything about using knives.
The two with Joline were Edesina, of the Yellow Ajah, and Teslyn, of the Red. Edesina was pleasant enough to look at, save for that ageless face, but Teslyn was about as appetizing as a stick. Sharp of face, the II-lianer woman was bony and scrappy, like an aged cat left too long on its own. But she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, from what Mat had seen, and hed found her treating him with some measure of respect sometimes. Respect from a Red. Imagine that.
Still, from the way each of those Aes Sedai looked at Mat in turn as they reached the front of the line, youd never know that they owed him their lives. That was the way of it with women. Save her life, and shed inevitably claim that shed been about to escape on her own, and therefore owed you nothing. Half the time, shed berate you for messing up her supposed plans.
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