Moiraine POV#

After bed check, Moiraine packs and heads to the stable. Master Helvin keeps a log book with descriptions of all the horses. The stableman Kazin saddles Arrow but she leaves her pack horse behind. Cadsuane might have set servants watching for her to show a sign of leaving. She rides to the city gate. She sees three men leave before her, a younger and older Malkier and the Arafellin she saw leaving The Gates of Heaven. Wanting to question him, she follows them on the road north. They pass through a village and Moiraine asks after Avene Sahera.

As evening approaches, she almost gives up on following the men, but one abruptly leaves the road.[1] She is a good tracker and follows the lone man. She finds him sitting beside a pond alone. She tries to take his sword but he is too fast. He grabs her and throws her in the pond. This shocks her out of saidar but she immediately recovers. While she is drying, the other two men arrive. They are Lan, Ryne and Bukama. Lan and Ryne play a sword game which Ryne wins every time.[2] Moiraine asks for their escort to Chachin and they agree. Ryne is handsome and friendly while Bukama and Lan are taciturn. She never gets a chance to ask Ryne about The Gates of Heaven. As they bed down, she weaves wards of Spirit around them so she will know if they move. At one point when they change guards, she hears Lan say he does not trust Aes Sedai. Angry, she weaves Air, Water and a touch of Earth and dumps a bunch of the pond on him. They think it must be Shadowspawn but then she reveals that she is Aes Sedai. Ryne looks at her with awe and fear.[3] She goes to sleep thinking about him.

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