[{Table style='width:100%' | [{Image src='Chapter Icons/btar_lft.gif' link='Wiki.jsp?page=TFoH,Ch20'}] | %%(display:block; text-align:center;) [{Image src='Chapter Icons/cairhien_bw.gif' align='center' link='Wiki.jsp?page=Cairhien Chapter Icon'}] ''[TFoH|The Fires of Heaven]: The Gift of a Blade'' %% | [{Image src='Chapter Icons/btar_rgt.gif' link='Wiki.jsp?page=TFoH,Ch22' align='right'}] }] %%tabs ! __Rand__ POV [Rand|Rand alThor] is riding [Jeade'en|JeadeEn (Rand)]. The [Aiel] quickly make camp near [Taien] in the mouth of the [Jangai Pass]. [Moiraine|Moiraine Damodred] and [Lan|al'Lan Mandragoran] see that [Kadere|Hadnan Kadere]'s wagons are settled. The %%ot [gai'shain|Aiel]%% set up the tents for [Amys], [Bair] and [Melaine]. [Melaine] and [Bael] were married three days ago; [Melaine] and [Dorindha|Dorindha (Roofmistress)] are now first-sisters.[1] [Egwene|Egwene alVere] and [Aviendha] ride up on [Mist]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] dismounts from [Pips] and continues to study the town. He often talks about odd things now. [Rand|Rand alThor] wonders again what happened to him in [Rhuidean], but [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] will only say that he got the [foxhead medallion|Foxhead Medallion] and the %%ot [ashandarei]%%. [Melindhra] watches [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] until [Sulin] sends her on an errand. [Rand|Rand alThor] goes to find [Asmodean] who is playing his harp. [Rand|Rand alThor] asks him about the ruins above. [Asmodean] says they could possibly be his hometown of [Shorelle|Age of Legends], which was a port. As he walks to his tent, [Rand|Rand alThor] [channels|True Source] through the [little fat man] to sets wards against [Shadowspawn] around the entire camp. He does not need to actually touch the %%ot [angreal|Angreal]%% to use it. [Adelin] and a dozen other [Maidens|Maidens of the Spear][2] guard his tent. [Aviendha] meets him there with a dead [bloodsnake|Aiel Waste Creatures] and they go into the tent. Still trying to cancel her debt to him, [Aviendha] gives [Rand|Rand alThor] a gift, the jewel encrusted sword of King [Laman|Laman Damodred]. It is a small gift among [Aiel] because it is a sword. [Rand|Rand alThor] accepts only the blade, giving the scabbard and hilt back to her. [Aviendha] is furious because the jewels, separated from the sword, are now worth a fortune.[3] Dinner is [bloodsnake|Aiel Waste Creatures] stew, but that does not bother [Rand|Rand alThor] nearly as much as the %%ot [gara|Aiel Waste Creatures]%%. After dinner, [Rand|Rand alThor] asks about [Melaine]'s and [Bael]'s wedding. [Bael] had to fight his way through a hundred of their relatives and then fight [Melaine] before he carried her off. [Aviendha] also tells [Rand|Rand alThor] that a man who wants a [Maiden|Maidens of the Spear] will sometimes let himself be taken %%ot [gai'shain|Aiel]%% so he can be near her. The [Maidens|Maidens of the Spear] will then teach him to sing for them. [Rand|Rand alThor] wonders again about [Aviendha]'s necklace. [Lan|al'Lan Mandragoran] told him the pattern is [Kandori|Kandor], so it might have come from a raid up north where the [Reyn] are from. He asks her where she got it, but she still will not tell him.[4] [Rand|Rand alThor] wards his dreams, then goes to sleep wondering about the necklace. He dreams of [Aviendha], [Elayne|Elayne Trakand] and [Min|Min Farshaw]. \\ \\ More [Rand POV] %% %%collapsebox-closed ! Notes (Possible Spoilers) [#1] There is no hint of the first-sister ceremony and bonding seen in [WH,Prologue]. \\[#2] [Maira] and [Enaila] are two of the others. ([TFoH,Ch23], [TFoH,Ch30]) \\[#3] [Aviendha] will eventually make good use of the jewels. ([TPoD,Ch20]) \\[#4] [Egwene|Egwene alVere] gave it to her. ([TFoH,Ch7]) %% ---- More [Category Chapters|Category.Chapters], [Cairhien Chapter Icon]