Dawn and Reincarnation Part 7

Dawn couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed in the Taren Ferry folk as she watched the townsfolk turned refugees leave the town via the air bridge she’d created over the river. On the one hand she could sympathize with the people that had taken the coin she’d offered for their land and burned out buildings but on the other, if Emond’s field had been torched they would be clearing the buildings and trying to figure out what they could save the next day.

Of course with nearly three quarters of the town a straight up loss by the time they managed to put the fires out and more than half the people dead, she knew she shouldn’t blame them and yet she couldn’t help it as she’d had to crosscheck everything with several people to make sure the thieves weren’t trying to sell land they didn’t own.

Dawn spit on the ground as she watched the last of the people leave. “Assholes.”

A woman in her twenties shook her head. “More like rats fleeing a sinking ship. With the ferry burned and the ferry master dead, it will be a while before regular trade resumes. There are hundreds of trollocs that need to be burned, graves to dig, and houses to clear. All of that sounds like a lot of work for a town that might get attacked again. I can’t really blame them for leaving.”

Dawn turned to look at the woman in her forties. “You stayed.”

“I was lucky, my house wasn’t burned to the ground and I can afford to wait to see what you’re planning on building here. Besides, I’m from Watch Hill, we don’t quit when things get tough.”

Dawn smiled, happy that someone actually had a backbone. “Fair enough. Do you think you can get the rest of the survivors to start dragging the trolloc corpses to the fires?”

“It will be my pleasure,” the woman said as she headed toward the small group of folk that had decided to stay.

Dawn rubbed her temples, not sure why she’d stuck her nose into things. She’d spent most of the night trying to contain the fires sweeping through the town or at least keep people from rushing back in to grab things. Sadly, thatch burned extremely well and wooden walls weren’t much better. It might have been different if the mayor had survived or the village wisdom but her innocent offer of buying a widow’s burned out shop so that she could afford to start a new life with her two small children had opened the floodgates of the townsfolk seeing a way to profit from the experience.

Dawn turned her attention toward the opposite shore where the last of the villagers were leaving. ‘Best of luck elsewhere.’ She waited until the last person had stepped off the bridge then cut the threads she’d tied off, causing the bridge to vanish. She was fairly sure that the villagers would have stuck around for days trying to steal everything that wasn’t nailed down from their dead neighbors if she hadn’t mentioned the fact that more trollocs might show up. 

Dawn slipped into the dream world then jumped back to the camp and slipped back into the real world. “Trollocs suck.”

Moiraine looked up from her bowl of soup and glanced over Dawn’s slightly singed clothes and the dirt on her face. “What happened? We’re almost ready to leave.”

“Are you okay?” Rand asked seeing the state of her clothes.

Dawn yawned. “Not really, I’m still trying to process. Taren Ferry is pretty much gone.”

“What do you mean gone?” Nynaeve demanded.

“The trollocs attacked it last night and burned most of it to the ground,” Dawn answered as she flopped down next to Giles.

“How many survivors?” Nynaeve asked in disbelief.

“A couple hundred children, maybe a hundred adults. I healed everyone I could and helped put out the fires though we lost most of the village despite my best efforts, thatch is annoyingly flammable.”

Thom spoke up, “That’s one of the reasons they tend to use tile in the cities.”

“I’ll keep that in mind when I rebuild,” Dawn said as she reached over and scratched Giles between his ears.

“When you rebuild?” Egwene asked.

“I ended up buying most of the town from the survivors with the gold I got from the Whitecloaks,” Dawn admitted a touch sheepishly.

Mat snorted. “You realize they’re going to come back and cause trouble eventually, right?”

“I’m well aware,” Dawn muttered. “A lot of them tried to sell land they didn’t own. It took a fair amount of cross checking to make sure I wasn’t getting cheated too much.”

“Start at the beginning, why did you go there in the first place?” Moiraine asked, trying to figure out how Dawn had known about the attack.

“I had a nightmare about an open waygate so I went to check. If I’d been thinking about it I probably wouldn’t have jumped blindly but I was still sort of freaked out about the dream. I slipped back to the real world and found a large group of trollocs and a fade getting ready to march on Emond’s Field. After I’d killed most of the trollocs, the fade taunted me that I’d never stop the other group of shadowspawn in time and that they’d burn the entire Two Rivers region to the ground starting with Taren Ferry. I killed him then jumped north to a bit south of Taren Ferry and did my best to kill the army of shadowspawn. Sadly, the fires had already started so we still basically lost the town.”

“How many trollocs?” Thom asked warily.

“Four hundred, give or take a couple.”

“You killed four hundred trollocs?” Rand asked, looking at his sister in disbelief.

Dawn shook her head. “No, I killed a couple dozen trollocs then killed the fades, thankfully they’d bound the trollocs so the army basically fell over dead. After that, I helped put out the fires and healed the wounded.”

“Are you too tired to ride?” Moiraine asked knowing that she’d be exhausted if she’d had to heal a couple dozen people in addition to fighting a small army of trollocs.

“Probably,” Dawn admitted reluctantly. “Besides, Mat’s right, if I don’t stick around Taren Ferry, they’ll try to steal it back. There’s something else you should know, it might be nothing but the fade claimed that Aginor ordered the Two Rivers destroyed.”

“The Forsaken are bound in Shayol Ghul,” Nynaeve snapped.

“What did he say?” Moiraine asked warily.

“He said Aginor and Balthamel were already free along with Ishamael. I’m inclined to believe him,” Dawn admitted.

“Why?” Lan asked, knowing the fade would say anything to cause trouble.

“Which makes more sense, the fades suddenly deciding to travel through the Ways to destroy an unimportant farming village or someone showing up that could give them orders?” Dawn asked warily.

“Bloody ashes,” Mat swore.

“All the more reason for you to come to the Tower where you’ll be safe,” Rand argued.

Dawn shook her head. “Now that the waygate is closed, the trollocs are going to have to cross the river to attack the region. The harder I can make that, the better.”

“So you’re leaving?” Egwene asked, unhappy that her friend was leaving.

Giles whined then reached over and licked Dawn’s face.

Dawn sputtered then wiped the slobber off her face with her sleeve. “Hey!”

Giles stuck out his tongue then rested his head on his paws. 

Dawn gave Giles a dirty look then looked at Egwene. “Just for a couple days, I can catch up at Whitebridge or Caemlyn.”

“You better,” Tara said, not looking forward to dealing with the Tower on her own.

Rand sighed as he realized that Dawn wasn’t going to change her mind. “Just be careful, the folk from Taren Ferry pride themselves on their ability to haggle.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dawn assured her brother. “I’m planning on recruiting some people from Watch Hill to help, they’re honest enough. Give me a couple of days to get everything up and running and I’ll come find you.”

Moiraine nodded. “We should reach Whitebridge in three or four days, there is an inn called The Wayfarers' Rest, it’s not the cleanest of places and don’t mention Aes Sedai but we’ll check for messages on our way through.”

“If that doesn’t work, I’ll figure something out.” Dawn turned to look at Giles. “Take care of Egwene and Rand.”

Giles snorted as if to say, ‘What else were you expecting?’

Dawn reached out and scratched between her dog’s ears then grabbed her saddlebags. “I’ll see you in a couple days.” 

Egwene pulled Dawn to her feet then into a hug. “You better stay safe.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of trouble,” Dawn assured her.

“You’re almost as bad as Mat,” Egwene teased.

Dawn snickered as she hugged her friend back then slipped into the world of dreams. “Just need to make a quick stop then I can sleep.” She jumped to the village green in Watch Hill then stepped back to the real world and headed for the White Boar, figuring the innkeeper would know if anyone wanted some honest work.

0o0o0

Dawn yawned as she woke up, feeling almost human again after what was probably several hours of sleep judging by the direction of the light coming through the shutters. “First order of business, get up before I freeze to death,” she grumbled as she rolled out from under the old worn blanket that she’d used to ward off the worst of the cold. She glanced at the small kitchen area then walked into the main part of the empty shop and glanced around, half surprised that the merchant hadn’t taken the cheap looking shelves considering they’d looted the rest of the building to the ground, including a section of the floor behind the counter that had apparently hidden a secret compartment. ‘At least they’re gone.’

She walked over to the storage room and studied the rather sturdy door and lock. She scowled slightly as she tried to open the door and found it locked. She briefly considered slipping to the dream world and checking to make sure the room was empty then decided that she might as well check to see if her ter’angreal key could open it. 

Dawn pulled the chain with the key over her head then stuck the key in the lock, a touch surprised that it fit. Her surprise changed to delight when she turned the key and unlocked the door then to complete shock when she pushed the door open and revealed a bright sunny courtyard and jungle beyond the forest. “What the fuck?!”

After a couple seconds of staring at the impossible sight, Dawn reached down and grabbed a piece of jerky she’d forgotten to feed to Giles then tossed it through the doorway. “Seems real enough.” She stepped through the doorway and stared at the ocean to her left as she enjoyed the warmth that washed over her. It was hard to judge the exact drop to the ocean but she was guessing it was at least a couple hundred feet. She wasn’t an expert but she was fairly sure the massive wall of mist that stretched from the ocean to the clouds about twenty or thirty miles out to sea wasn’t normal either.

She turned to look to her right and stared at the large metal ring set into the courtyard that she could have rode a horse through without having to duck. “Yeah, twenty says you’re a ter’angreal.” She turned and looked at the curiously intact stone wall her door was set in then walked over to the large metal ring and carefully poked it with a finger. “Holy shit!” she blurted as she realized the ring could bring her fears and future adventures to life in a way that was actually useful. “Not sure if this is going to suck or result in amazing shit.”

Dawn took a breath then walked through the ring before she changed her mind. She blinked as she found herself in an unfamiliar wooden house that wouldn’t have been out of place in Emond’s Field. “Weird.”

“Mommy! Toun is being mean!” a tall red haired fourteen or fifteen year old complained as she ran into the room from outside, wearing an almost see through dress.

“What has she done this time Willow?” Dawn found herself asking as she studied the almost familiar glowing girl with no modesty. ‘What the hell is going on? Why can I remember bits and pieces but everything fades when I concentrate on it?’

“Nothing, I just said she’d make an excellent servant,” a dark skinned woman in her early twenties said as she walked into the room.

“My daughter isn’t a servant,” Dawn snapped, her gaze dropping to the silver leash that went from the strange faintly glowing woman’s wrist to the neck of a tall glowing willowy teenage girl with wild brown hair dressed in an unflattering grey dress. ‘Daughter? What the hell?’ She focused on the threads over the silver leash. ‘She’s using a ter’angreal on the girl?’

Toun snorted. “If she is going to insist on dressing like a servant, I should be able to spank her like one.”

Willow glared at Toun. “Just because Drusilla is warped in the head doesn’t mean I’m going to put up with someone other than Mom spanking me and if you try to put a leash on me, Daddy will kill you!”

“Leave me out of this,” Mat called from the other room. “I’m trying to teach William how to lead an army.”

‘Great, is this what would have happened if I hadn’t left?’ Dawn glanced between Toun and Willow. “Behave!” 

“She started it!” Willow complained.

“Fine, I’ll be right back.” Dawn turned and headed into the back room to check on Mat, having recognized his voice. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the scar around his neck, his eyepatch or the fact that he looked to have aged twenty years since the last time she’d seen him. She looked at the glowing seventeen year old young man with bleached white hair sitting at the table playing some type of war game with a map. Her attention jumped to Mat’s foxhead necklace or rather the threads over it. “Where did you get your necklace?”

“My necklace?” Mat looked at Dawn in confusion. “The twisted door, are you feeling okay Dawn?”

“Sorry, I’m just a bit out of it, I think I need some air.”

“Don’t be too long, you need to make dinner, light knows Toun won’t,” Mat grumbled.

“Royalty doesn’t cook, that’s a job for servants,” said sarcastically as he moved a piece on the board while his father was distracted.

“Right,” Dawn muttered sarcastically as she looked at the seventeen year old dressed in leather pants and a black silk shirt. He looked enough like Mat and Willow that he was probably her child or at least Mat’s child, judging by his features. ‘Yeah, you’re going to end up insane eventually,’ she thought, thinking about the taint on the male half of the source. “Are you winning?”

“Have I ever?” William asked in annoyance as he looked at the large pile of tokens on his father’s side of the board. “The dice always roll what he needs.”

“Since when?” Dawn asked in disbelief, thinking about the various times she’d won at cards and dice when her and Mat had played over the years.

Mat stared at Dawn for a couple seconds then took his foxhead necklace off, making sure he was touching it. “Since I left, you stayed to help your father until the Aes Sedai came through then you went off to the Tower, any of this ringing a bell?” he asked as he stood up.

Dawn blinked as he reached out and touched her arm with the necklace and she realized exactly what his necklace was supposed to do, break weaves which meant he was probably checking to make sure she wasn’t an imposter in disguise. “Sorry, Willow told me to do it,” she teased. “The look on your face was perfect.”

Mat sighed as he realized he’d been had. “That was uncalled for love.”

“Yeah, most likely,” Dawn replied as she memorized the threads over Mat’s amulet that should allow her to alter silver and create a better version of Mat’s weave breaking necklace or at least she was reasonably sure she could make it work. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to grab some supplies before the shops close.”

Mat shook his head as he glanced back at the map and noticed the piece William had moved. “Take Willow, she’s been driving Tuon crazy.”

“Sure,” Dawn agreed as she walked back into the other room. She glanced at the portal that should lead back to the clearing then glanced between the three girls. She glanced between Willow and the messy haired girl. “Which one of you is the bravest?”

Willow raised her hand. “I am.”

“Liar,” Drusilla said, “You’re always running to your mom.”

Dawn reached out and touched the silver leash, curious what it actually did. ‘Yeah, that’s both useful and horrifying. Still, a couple of tweaks and it might actually be useful.’ “Why are you wearing that?”

“Because I need to be kept safe,” Drusilla said after glancing at Tuon.

Tuon sighed. “We’ve been over this, you leave my damane alone and I leave your daughter alone.”

“Right,” Dawn said then lashed out and punched Tuon in the temple, dropping her and Drusilla unconscious. ‘Idiot.’ She turned and looked at Drusilla. ‘Yeah, that’s a bad design flaw.’

Willow winced as she looked down at her stepmom sprawled on the floor. “She’s going to be pissed when she wakes up.”

“Too bad,” Dawn replied sarcastically as she reached down and removed Drusilla’s collar. 

“Have you forgotten who she is?” Willow asked nervously.

“Sure, let’s go with that. Who is she?” Dawn asked sarcastically, not sure why the hell Mat was putting up with someone putting a collar on people or Willow’s dress, not that her dress wasn’t amusing.

“Fortuona, Empress of the Seanchan Empire, dad’s second wife and a sul’dam with a temper and an army at her command when she isn’t here? Any of this ringing any bells?” Willow asked in concern.

“Not particularly,” Dawn replied as she gestured toward the portal on the wall. “Can you see the glowing portal on the wall?”

Willow turned to look at where Dawn was pointing. “I don’t see a gateway, maybe we need to have the healer take a look at your head.”

“Is Nynaeve still the wisdom?” Dawn asked, wondering if she could snag a copy of Nynaeve that had an extra decade of training.

“They got rid of the position of wisdom years ago. Besides, Nynaeve is up north with Lan being queen,” Willow replied warily, starting to seriously wonder about her mother. “You should know that.”

“You’re right, she should,” Mat said from the door where he was holding a dagger in each hand glancing between Fortuona and Dawn. “What’s going on? And don’t give me shit about this being a joke.” He gestured at Tuon. “She’s going to be a pain in the ass to deal with when she wakes up.”

Dawn briefly considered lying then decided to hell with it. “Fine, I used a ter’angreal that lets me look at a possible future.” She gestured around the room. “None of this has happened yet.”

“So you’re not Mom?” Willow asked warily as she look a step away from Dawn.

“I’m Dawn al’Thor, I’m just from an earlier point in time...” Dawn trailed off as Mat bounced a dagger off her leg. “Hey!”

“Sorry, I had to be sure,” Mat replied unrepentantly. “When did you use the ter’angreal?”

“Less than a week after we left Emond’s Field.”

Mat’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t leave with us, at least not in my version of events.”

“I let you and my brother run off and get into trouble without me?” Dawn asked in disbelief.

“You wanted to make sure the trollocs didn’t come back. What happened in yours?” Mat asked curious about the differences.

“We left the Two Rivers with the Thom and headed to Baerlon. From there we headed toward Whitebridge, I had a dream about trollocs burning Taren Ferry to the ground so I jumped there and destroyed the army.”

“You destroyed an army?” William asked in disbelief from his spot behind Mat.

Mat snorted. “That would have been useful. Moiraine didn’t have enough power to wipe out an army or at least not without a sa’angreal, Rand didn’t know he could channel at that point which meant we had to run. We ended up heading to Shadar Logoth hoping to lose the trollocs that kept finding us.”

“Kept finding you, how?” Dawn asked in disbelief. “They track by scent, all you have to do is hit a stream and ride along the edge for a bit before you cross and they’re screwed.”

Mat snorted. “I’m aware, sadly they had Padan Fain. The Dark One twisted something in his soul so that he could find us wherever we went.”

“That explains why you had trouble avoiding the trollocs, he decided to attack me, he was dead before we left Emond’s Field.”

“That would have saved me a lot of hassle,” Mat grumbled, thinking of the cursed dagger he’d picked up in Shadar Logoth. “Are we real?”

“I don’t know,” Dawn admitted. “I know I can take people back with me but I’m not sure what would happen to the people that stayed. Maybe they’ll vanish or maybe they’ll go back to their lives. You’re welcome to come with me.”

Mat considered the offer, the chance to go back change things was tempting but he had a feeling it would end badly. “Even if I wanted to fight the Last Battle again, I’m ta'veren or at least I used to be, coming back would probably screw things up for your Mat. Not to mention Rand and Perrin.”

“What happened to Rand and Perrin?” Dawn asked warily.

“Perrin got married and became Lord of the Two Rivers. Rand ended up faking his death by swapping bodies with Ishamael’s second body after the Last Battle which allowed him to retire and live with his three attractive wives.”

“My brother married three people?” Dawn asked in disbelief. “I can’t see Egwene putting up with that.”

Mat shook his head. “She died during the Last Battle taking out Mazrim Taim. The bastard turned traitor and dreadlord for power.”

“Mazrim Taim? Should I know the name?” Dawn asked, not recognizing the name.

“He declared himself the Dragon Reborn and caused a lot of problems up north.”

“Like Logain?” Dawn asked warily thinking about the false dragon running around.

Mat shook his head. “No, Logain actually has honor. He’s one of the instructors for the Black Tower.”

Dawn raised her eyebrows. “They named their school the Black Tower?”

“Mazrim was twisted even back then, Rand just called it the farm to start with.” Mat glanced at Willow. “You’re going to have to help your mother.”

“What?” Willow asked in concern.

“I’m old and broken, I’ve seen too many things fighting in Seanchan for Tuon’s throne, done things I shouldn’t have.” He still wasn’t sure some of the rebels hadn’t had the right idea about leaving the empire. “You’ve heard my stories, you’ve heard the tales Thom spun, some of them are even true,” Mat teased. “Either way, this is a chance to cheat destiny and you’re going to take it.”

“You’re asking us to abandon you,” William complained.

“No, I’m asking you to help Dawn make a better world. If this world is real then you should be able to find it in twenty years with Dawn’s key, if it isn’t then there is no point in you dying when she leaves.”

“You could come with us,” Willow argued.

“I can’t.” He wasn’t sure what would happen if he left with Dawn but he doubted it would end well for him or his alternate. “How much stuff can they take with them?”

Dawn sighed. “Nothing, the ter’angreal won’t let me bring anything out, just people.”

“Annoying,” Mat muttered then focused on Willow. “I need you to be tough Strawberry, can you do that?”

Willow stood up straight. “Yes.”

“Good, I need you to grab all of your friends that can channel and get them through Dawn’s portal.”

“On it!” Willow said as she ran outside.

‘Yeah, Nynaeve’s head is going to explode when she sees that dress,’ Dawn thought with amusement.

“Let me guess, round up the girls in my class?” William asked looking forward to the chance to get into actual battles rather than just skirmishes.

Mat stepped into the living room so that William could walk past him. “Tell Sally, she’ll tell the rest of them. I need you to head to Perrin’s manor and get Darla and Ethan Trakand. You’re going to need their help.”

William winced. “What if they’re busy?”

“Call in a marker or tell Darla you’ll pay her for her time, I don’t care, just get them here.”

“I’ll figure something out,” William said then ran out the door.

“What’s Tuon’s deal?” Dawn asked as she glanced at the unconscious woman.

Mat shifted uncomfortably. “She’s the Empress of the Seanchan empire and my wife, well one of my wives.”

“Seanchan?” Dawn asked, not wanting to know what the hell the other version of her had been thinking letting Mat get involved with a crazy bitch.

“They’re basically an empire from across the ocean that leashes channelers and uses them for war.”

Dawn stared at Mat in disbelief. “Why the fuck hasn’t someone stuck a knife in her back?”

Mat shook his head. “The next emperor would be worse and I love her. We’re trying to fix the empire but it’s massive and old, dating back to Artur Hawkwing’s time. The various nobles have a lot invested in keeping channelers leashed and in their complicated and twisted culture which makes changing it harder than it should be.”

Dawn made a mental note to talk to Willow about the culture once she had time. “Fine, is there anything else I need to know?”

“You have less than three years before the Last Battle or at least we did. The access keys you’ll need to cleanse Saidin are in the Aiel waste in Rhuidean.”

“Saidin was cleansed?” Dawn asked in shock.

“By Rand and Nynaeve. I never asked the specifics, I just know it involved enough power to crack the world like an egg and Shadar Logoth.”

“Where is Rhuidean?” Dawn asked warily.

“In an abandoned sacred city in the Aiel Waste. You’ll also find a twisted door there that leads to a twisted land filled with fox people that can’t be trusted.”

“Personal experience?” Dawn asked.

“They cost me my eye and the scar on my neck. They’ll grant wishes at a price, it is rarely if ever worth it. Moiraine ended up drastically weakened and I lost a friend getting her back. If you have to use it for some light forsaken reason, always make sure the price is set before you agree to a deal.”

“I’ll try to avoid having to use it,” Dawn assured him.

He tossed her the foxhead medallion. “You’re going to need to copy my necklace unless you want Mat dead when the Forsaken escape and start pulling people into dreams.”

“What about Perrin and Rand?” Dawn asked absently as she focused on the silver foxhead.

Mat laughed. “I’d like to see them try, from a safe distance. Egwene said his dreams were impossible to get into and she’d know. Perrin is a wolfbrother which means he can talk to wolves and enter the world of dreams. He’ll figure it out eventually but remind him that he’s as human as he wants to be. His power is a blessing not a curse though there will be times when he’ll see it as a curse.”

“Any cryptic wisdom about the rest of the group?” Dawn asked, figuring she might as well check while she had a chance.

Mat smirked. “Thom used to be the court bard in Andor, Lan is the king of Malkier, Moiraine is actually trustworthy and Egwene was a dreamer and the Amyrlin before she died.”

Dawn snorted. “Now I know you’re messing with me.”

“I wish I was,” Mat admitted as he studied Dawn’s face, his previous good mood fading. “The Aes Sedai didn’t deserve her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Egwene gave everything to that pit of vipers,” Mat said bitterly. “She rediscovered how to create heartstone and they sold trinkets to pay for their civil war, she rediscovered how to travel and they whined that it was too dangerous to use as the other Aes Sedai might learn it. She taught them how to use the sleepwalkers to access the World of Dreams and they treated the world of dreams like they owned it. You can’t let Egwene sign the novice book, train her yourself or have William do it.”

“I wasn’t planning on letting her sign up. Wait, why William and not Willow?”

“William can channel saidar, not saidin, Willow channels saidin rather than saidar. No one is quite sure why they’re channeling the wrong type of Power. You’re probably better not informing the Tower about their abilities or skills.”

“Are any of them trustworthy?” Dawn asked warily, wanting a couple names to investigate in case she needed something from the Tower that she couldn’t just sneak in and borrow or steal.

“If you ever figure out how to duplicate the oath rod, take a copy to Verin Mathwin, she’s a Brown Aes Sedai, she’ll be able to help you start dealing with the Black Ajah. On that note, you might want to just loot the Tower’s entire collection of ter’angreal before the Black Ajah steals a bunch of them.”

“That happened?” Dawn asked warily.

“Shortly after Egwene and Nynaeve got to the Tower, several members of the Black Ajah stole a decent number of ter’angreal from the Tower’s storerooms. The Amyrlin sent a couple novices and an accepted after fully trained Aes Sedai because she didn’t have anyone else she could trust. The only reason Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne didn’t die on that stupid mission was pure blind luck,” Mat complained.

“Verin Mathwin, anyone else?”

“Leane Sharif, the current Keeper of the Chronicles was decent enough for an Aes Sedai,” Mat admitted after a couple seconds of thought.

Dawn dropped her voice to a whisper as she glanced at the door, “Is there anyone that needs to fall down some stairs?”

“Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan, she caused the split in the Tower by murdering the old Amyrlin’s warder and disposing her for basically siding with your brother. Not to mention she had Rand tortured.”

“She what?” Dawn demanded.

“She wanted Rand broken and willing to follow the Tower’s direction so they locked him in a box,” Mat explained, knowing he’d just signed the bitch’s death warrant.

“Hit the highlights that Willow and William can’t explain while I work on duplicating your foxhead,” Dawn ordered as she pulled several silver coins out of her coin purse and got to work duplicating Mat’s foxhead medallion.