The army camp was mostly deserted. Tents sat empty, ground trampled by feet and hoofs, hardly any soldiers remaining behind. Egwene embraced the Source soon after leaving their camp, and she held to it, ready with weaves should someone attack her during the ride. She still didn’t trust that Elaida wouldn’t use a gateway to interfere with the assault. True, the false Amyrlin probably had her hands full with the aftermath of the Seanchan attack. But expectations like that one—assuming that she was safe—were what had gotten Egwene captured in the first place. She was Amyrlin. She couldn’t risk herself. It was frustrating, but she knew that an end had come to her days of solitary action, striking out as she saw fit. She could have been killed, rather than captured, all those weeks ago. The Salidar rebellion would have floundered, and Elaida would have continued as Amyrlin.
So it was that her force rode up to the battle lines outside the village of Darein. The White Tower still smoldered, a wide field of smoke trailing up in a ring from the center of the island, shrouding the white spire. Even from a distance, the scars of the Seanchan attack were evident on the building. Blackened holes, like spots of corruption on an otherwise healthy apple. The Tower almost seemed to groan as she looked at it. It had stood for so long, had seen so much. Now it had been wounded so deeply that it still bled a day later.
And yet it stood. Light bless them, it stood. It rose high, wounded but sound, pointing toward a sun hidden by clouds above. It stood defiant of those who would break it, within and without.
Bryne and Siuan waited for Egwene at the back of the army. A disparate couple they were. The battle-hardened general, with temples of gray and a face like an unyielding piece of armor. Strong, made of lines. And beside him Siuan, the diminutive woman in pale blue, her face lovely, looking young enough to be Bryne’s granddaughter, for all the fact that they were near the same age.
Siuan made a horseback curtsy as Egwene approached, and Bryne saluted. His eyes were still troubled. He seemed ashamed of his part in the rescue, though Egwene bore him no grievance. He was a man of honor. If he had been bullied into coming along to protect foolhardy Siuan and Gawyn, then Bryne was to be commended for keeping them alive.
As Egwene joined them, she noted that Siuan and Bryne were riding close together. Had Siuan finally admitted her attraction to the man? And . . . there was a certain familiar grace to Bryne now. It was slight enough that she could have just been seeing things, but coupled with the relationship between the two. . . .
“You’ve taken another Warder, at last?” Egwene asked Siuan.
The woman narrowed her eyes. “Aye,” she said.
Bryne did seem surprised, and a tad ashamed.
“Do your best to keep her out of trouble, General,” Egwene said, staring Siuan in the eyes. “She has been in quite a bit of it lately. I have half a mind to give her to you to use as a foot soldier. I believe that the military organization might be good for her, and remind her that sometimes, obedience overrides initiative.”
Siuan wilted, glancing away.
“I haven’t decided what to do with you yet, Siuan,” Egwene said in a softer voice. “But my anger has been kindled. And my trust has been lost. You will need to soothe the first and stoke the second if you wish to enter my confidence again.”
She turned from Siuan to the general, who looked sick. Probably from being forced to feel Siuan’s shame.
“You are to be commended for your bravery, letting her bond you, General,” Egwene said, turning to Bryne. “I realize that keeping her from trouble is a nearly impossible charge, but I have confidence in you.”
The general relaxed. “I shall do my best, Mother,” he said. Then he turned his horse, glancing along the rows of soldiers. “There is something you should see. If you will?”
She nodded, turning her horse and riding beside him down the roadway. The village was cobbled here, the population evacuated, the main thoroughfare lined with thousands of Bryne’s soldiers. Siuan accompanied Egwene, and Gawyn followed. Lelaine and Romanda stayed with the other Sitters at a wave of Egwene’s hand. Their newfound obedience was proving useful, particularly sinc
e they had apparently decided that they would now be trying to outdo one another for Egwene’s approval. Likely, they were both vying to be her new Keeper, now that Sheriam was gone.
The general led Egwene to the front lines, and Egwene prepared a weave of Air just in case an arrow was shot in her direction. Siuan eyed her, but said nothing at the precaution. It shouldn’t have been needed—Tower Guards would never fire on an Aes Sedai, not even in a conflict like this one. However, the same couldn’t be said of Warders, and accidents did happen. It would be very convenient for Elaida if a stray arrow took her rival in the throat.
They made their way through the village, finally coming to a stop near the Darein Bridge, a majestic white construction that spanned the river to Tar Valon. Here was the thing Bryne wanted her to see: Gathered just west of the high point of the bridge, bunkered down behind a blockade of stones and large logs, was a force of Tower Guard. They looked to be about three hundred strong. Across the river, more soldiers stood atop the walls. They brought the total to no more than a thousand.
Bryne’s assault force here was ten thousand strong.
“Now, I know it was never numbers that were keeping us from attacking,” Bryne said. “But the Tower Guard should be able to field more men than that, particularly with conscriptions out of the city proper. I doubt they’ve been spending these months carving pegs by the fire and reminiscing about old times. If Chubain has half a mind, he’s been training a new set of recruits.”
“So where is everyone?” Egwene asked.
“Light only knows, Mother,” Bryne said, shaking his head. “We’ll lose some men getting past that force, but not many. It will be a rout.”
“Could the Seanchan have really hurt them that much?”
“I don’t know, Mother,” Bryne said. “It was bad last night. A lot of fire, a lot of men dead. But I’d have pegged the cost at hundreds, not thousands. Perhaps the Tower Guard is clearing out rubble and stopping the fires, but I still think they’d have gathered a larger force when they saw me forming up here. I’ve taken a spyglass to those lads over there, and I’ve noted more than one set of bleary red eyes.”
Egwene sat thoughtfully, glad for the breeze blowing in along the river from downstream. “You haven’t questioned the wisdom of this assault, General.”
“It’s not my habit to question where I’m pointed, Mother.”
“And your thoughts on the matter, if asked?”
“If asked?” Byrne said. “Well, attacking makes tactical sense. We’ve lost Traveling as an edge, and if our enemy can resupply at will and send envoys in and out whenever they want, then what’s the purpose of a siege? It’s time to either attack or pack up and leave.”
Egwene nodded. And yet, she found herself hesitating. That ominous smoke in the sky, the maimed Tower, the frightened soldiers without reinforcements. It all seemed to whisper a warning.