“Let us proceed,” Easar said. “Ethenielle?”

“Very well,” the woman said. “I will say this, Rand al’Thor. Even if you do prove to be the Dragon Reborn, you have much to answer for.”

“You may take your price from my skin, Ethenielle,” Rand said softly, sliding Callandor back into its sheath. “But only once the Dark One has had his day with me.”

“Rand al’Thor,” Paitar said. “I have a question for you. How you answer will determine the outcome of this day.”

“What kind of question?” Cadsuane demanded.

“Cadsuane, please,” Rand said, holding up his hand. “Lord Paitar, I see it in your eyes. You know that I am the Dragon Reborn. Is this question necessary?”

“It is vital, Lord al’Thor,” Paitar replied. “It drove us here, though my allies did not know it from the start. I have always believed you to be the Dragon Reborn. That made my quest here even more vital.”

Min frowned. The aging soldier reached down to his sword hilt, as if ready to draw. The Maidens grew more alert. With a start, Min realized Paitar was still standing close to Rand. Too close.

He could have that sword out and swinging for Rand’s neck in an eyeblink, she realized. Paitar placed himself there to be ready to strike.

Rand didn’t break his gaze from the monarch. “Ask your question.”

“How did Tellindal Tirraso die?”

“Who?” Min asked, looking at Cadsuane. The Aes Sedai shook her head, confused.

“How do you know that name?” Rand demanded.

“Answer the question,” Easar said, hand on his hilt, body tense. Around them, ranks of men prepared themselves.

“She was a clerk,” Rand said. “During the Age of Legends. Demandred, when he came for me after founding the Eighty and One…She fell in the fighting, lightning from the sky…Her blood on my hands…How do you know that name!”

Ethenielle looked to Easar, then to Tenobia, then finally to Paitar. He nodded, then closed his eyes, letting out a sigh that sounded relieved. He took his hand from his sword.

“Rand al’Thor,” Ethenielle said, “Dragon Reborn. Would you kindly sit down and speak with us? We will answer your questions.”

“Why have I never heard of this so-called prophecy?” Cadsuane asked.

“Its nature required secrecy,” King Paitar said. They all sat on cushions in a large tent in the middle of the Borderlander army. It made Cadsuane’s shoulders itch, being surrounded like this, but the fool boy—he would always be a fool boy, no matter how old he was—looked perfectly at peace.

Thirteen Aes Sedai waited outside the tent, which wasn’t large enough for them all. Thirteen. That hadn’t made al’Thor blink. What man who could channel would sit amid thirteen Aes Sedai and not sweat?

He’s changed, Cadsuane told herself. You’re just going to have to accept that. Not that he didn’t need her anymore. Men like him grew overly confident. A few little successes, and he’d trip over his own feet and land in some predicament.

But…well, she was proud of him. Grudgingly proud. A little.

“It was given by an Aes Sedai of my own family line,” Paitar continued. The square-faced man sipped a small cup of tea. “My ancestor, Reo Myershi, was the only one who heard it. He ordered the words preserved, passed from monarch to monarch, for this day.”

“Speak them to me,” Rand said. “Please.”

“I see him before you!” Paitar quoted. “Him, the one who lives many lives, the one who gives deaths, the one who raises mountains. He will break what he must break, but first he stands here, before our king. You will bloody him! Measure his restraint. He speaks! How was the fallen slain? Tellindal Tirraso, murdered by his hand, the darkness that came the day after the light. You must ask, and you must know your fate. If he cannot answer…”

He trailed off, falling silent.

“What?” Min asked.

“If he cannot answer,” Paitar said, “then you will be lost. You will bring his end swiftly, so that the final days may have their storm. So that Light may not be consumed by he who was to have preserved it. I see him. And I weep.”

“You came to murder him, then,” Cadsuane said.

“To test him,” Tenobia said. “Or so we decided, once Paitar told us of the prophecy.”

“You don’t know how close you came to doom,” Rand said softly. “If I had come to you but a short time earlier, I’d have returned those slaps with balefire.”

“Inside the Guardian?” Tenobia sniffed disdainfully.

“The Guardian blocks the One Power,” Rand whispered. “The One Power only.”

What does he mean by that? Cadsuane thought, frowning.

“We knew well the risk,” Ethenielle said proudly. “I demanded the right to slap you first. Our armies had orders to attack if we fell.”

“My family has analyzed the words of the prophecy a hundred times over,” Paitar said. “The meaning seemed clear. It was our task to test the Dragon Reborn. To see if he could be trusted to go to the Last Battle.”

“Only a month earlier,” Rand said. “I wouldn’t have had the memories to answer you. This was a foolish gambit. If you had killed me, then all would have been lost.”

“A gamble,” Paitar said evenly. “Perhaps another would have risen in your stead.”

“No,” Rand said. “This prophecy was like the others. A declaration of what might happen, not advice.”

“I see it differently, Rand al’Thor,” Paitar said. “And the others agreed with me.”

“It should be noted,” Ethenielle said, “that I didn’t come south because of this prophecy. My goal was to see if I could bring some sense to the world. And then…” She grimaced.

“What?” Cadsuane asked, finally sipping her tea. It tasted good, as it usually did near al’Thor these days.

“The storms,” Tenobia said. “The snow stopped us. And then, finding you proved more difficult than we’d assumed. These gateways. Can you teach them to our Aes Sedai?”

“I will have your Aes Sedai taught in return for a promise,” Rand said. “You will swear to me. I have need of you.”

“We are sovereigns,” Tenobia snapped. “I’m not going to bow to you as quickly as my uncle did. We have to speak about