Robert Jordan - The Fires of Heaven

"A good thing we did go," he told her instead in a tight voice. "Samara's a school of silverpike around a chunk of bloody meat. There are mobs on every street hunting Darkfriends and anybody else who isn't ready to hail the Prophet as the one true voice of the Dragon Reborn."

"It started three hours or so ago, near the river," Thom put in, giving in with a sigh to Elayne's bathing his face with a damp cloth. He appeared to be ignoring her mutters, which must have taken some doing, since Nynaeve could clearly hear "foolish old man" and "need someone to take care of you before you get yourself killed" among other things in a tone easily as exasperated as it was fond. "How it began, I don't know. I heard Aes Sedai blamed, Whitecloaks, Trollocs, everybody but the Seanchan, and if they knew the name, they'd blame them, too." He winced at Elayne's pressure. "The last hour we were a little too personally involved in getting clear to learn much."

"There are fires," Birgitte said. Petra and his wife noticed her pointing and stood to stare worriedly. Two dark plumes of smoke rose above the canvas wall in the direction of the town.

Juilin rose and looked Nynaeve in the eyes with a hard gaze. "It is time to go. Maybe we'll stand out enough for Moghedien to find us, but I doubt it; there are people running every direction they can run. In another two hours, it won't be a pair of fires, it will be fifty, and avoiding her won't do much good if we're torn to pieces by a mob. They'll turn to the shows once they have smashed what can be smashed in the town."

"Don't use that name," Nynaeve said sharply, with a frown for Elayne that the younger woman did not see. Letting men know too much was always a mistake. The trouble was, he was right, but letting a man know that too quickly was a mistake, too. "I will consider your suggestion, Juilin. I would hate to run away for no reason, and then learn that a ship had come right after we left." He stared at her as if she were mad, and Thom shook his head despite Elayne's holding it still for her washing, but a figure making his way through the wagons brightened Nynaeve. "Perhaps it's come already."

Uno's painted eyepatch and scarred face, his topknot and the sword on his back, attracted casual nods from Petra and the various Chavanas and one shiver from Muelin. He had made each of the evening visits himself, though with nothing to report. His presence now had to mean there was something.

As usual he grinned at Birgitte as soon as he saw her, and rolled his lone eye in an ostentatious stare at her exposed bosom, and as usual she grinned back and eyed him up and down lazily. For once, though, Nynaeve did not care how reprehensibly they behaved. "Is there a ship?"

Uno's grin faded. "There's a bloo— a ship," he said grimly, "if I can get you to it whole."

"We know all about the rioting. Surely fifteen Shienarans can get us safely through."

"You know about the rioting," he muttered, eyeing Thom and Juilin. "Do you fla— do you know Masema's people are fighting Whitecloaks in the streets? Do you know he's bloo— he's ordered his people to take Amadicia with fire and sword? There are thousands across the blo— aagh! — the river already."

"That's as may be," Nynaeve said firmly, "but I expect you to do as you said you would. You promised to obey me , if you recall." She put just a slight emphasis on the word, and gave Elayne a meaning look.

Pretending not to see, the woman stood, bloodied washcloth in her hand, and directed her attention to Uno. "I have always been told that Shienarans are among the bravest soldiers in the world." That razor edge to her voice had suddenly become regal silk and honey. "I heard many stories of Shienaran bravery when I was a child." She rested a hand on Thom's shoulder, but her eyes remained on Uno. "I remember them still. I hope I shall always remember them."

Birgitte stepped closer and began massaging the back of Uno's neck while she looked him straight in the eye. That glaring red eye on his eyepatch did not seem to upset her at all. "Three thousand years guarding the Blight," she said gently. Gently. It had been two days since she had spoken to Nynaeve like that! "Three thousand years, and never a step back not paid for ten times over in blood. This may not be Enkara, or the Soralle Step, but I know what you will do."

"What did you do," he growled, "read all the flaming histories of the flaming Borderlands?" Immediately he flinched and glanced at Nynaeve. It had been necessary to tell him she expected absolutely clean language out of him. He was not taking it well, but there was no other way to prevent backsliding, and Birgitte should not frown at her. "Can you talk to them?" he directed at Thom and Juilin. "They're fla— fools to try this."

Juilin flung up his hands, and Thom laughed out loud. "Did you ever know a woman who listened to sense when she didn't want to?" the gleeman replied. He grunted as Elayne pulled his compress away and began dabbing at his split scalp with perhaps a bit more force than was strictly necessary.

Uno shook his head. "Well, if I'm to be cozened, I suppose I'll be cozened. But mark this. Masema's people found the ship — Riversnake , or something like — not an hour after it docked, but Whitecloaks seized it. That's what started this little row. The bad news is the Whitecloaks still hold the docks. The worse is, Masema may have forgotten the ship — I went to see him, and he wouldn't hear of ships; all he can talk about is hanging Whitecloaks, and making Amadicia bend knee to the Lord Dragon if he has to put the whole land to the torch — but he hasn't bothered to tell all of his people. There's been fighting near the river, and may still be. Getting you through the riots will be bad enough, but if there's a battle at the docks, I make no promises. And how I'm to put you on a ship in Whitecloak hands, I don't begin to know." Letting out a long breath, he scrubbed sweat from his forehead with the back of a scarred hand. The strain of so long a speech without cursing was plain on his face.

Nynaeve might have relented on his language at that moment if she had not been too stunned to speak. It had to be coincidence. Light, I said anything for a ship, but I didn't mean this. Not this! She did not know why Elayne and Birgitte were staring at her with such blank expressions. They had known everything she had, and neither had brought up this possibility. The three men exchanged frowns, obviously aware that something was going on and just as obviously unaware what it was, for which thank the Light. Much better when they did not know everything. It just had to be coincidence.

In one way, she was more than happy to focus on another man making his way through the wagons; it gave an excuse to pull her eyes away from Elayne and Birgitte. In another way, the sight of Galad made her stomach settle right to her shoes.

He wore plain brown and a flat velvet cap instead of his white cloak and burnished mail, but his sword still rested on his hip. He had not been to the wagons before, and the effect of his face was dramatic. Muelin took an unconscious step toward him, and the two slender acrobats leaned forward, mouths open. The Chavanas were plainly forgotten, and scowling for it. Even Clarine smoothed her dress as she watched him, until Petra took his pipe from his mouth and said something. Then she went over to where he sat, laughing, and snuggled his face to her plump bosom. But her eyes still followed Galad over her husband's head.

Nynaeve was in no mood to be affected by a handsome face; her breath hardly quickened at all. "It was you, wasn't it?" she demanded before he even reached her. "You seized the Riversnake , didn't you? Why?"

" Riverserpent ," he corrected, eyeing her incredulously. "You did ask me to secure you passage."