Joline folded her arms beneath her breasts. “It appears that your reports of this…creature that is chasing you were accurate.” She sounded skeptical. He had lost five good men, and she sounded skeptical. Bloody Aes Sedai.

“And?” he asked. “You know something about gholam?”

“Not a thing,” she said. “Regardless, I need to return to the White Tower. I will be leaving tomorrow.” She looked hesitant. “I would like to ask if you would lend me some horses for the trip. Whatever you can spare. I will not be picky.”

“Nobody in town would sell you any, eh?” Mat said with a grunt.

Her face became even more serene.

“Well, all right,” Mat said. “At least you asked nicely this time, though I can see how hard it was for you. I’ve promised some to Teslyn already. You can have some too. It will be worth it to have you bloody women out of my hair.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice controlled. “However, a word of advice. Considering the company you often keep, you might want to learn to control your language.”

“Considering the company I keep all too often,” Mat said, “it’s bloody amazing I don’t swear more. Off with you, Joline. I need to write a letter to Her Royal bloody Majesty Queen Elayne the prim.”

Joline sniffed. “Are you going to swear at her too?”

“Of course I am,” Mat muttered, turning to go back to Thom’s tent. “How else is she going to trust that it’s really from me?”

Chapter 10

After the Taint

“I agree with those counts,” Elyas said, walking at Perrin’s side. Grady walked on the other side, thoughtful in his black coat. Montem al’San and Azi al’Thone—Perrin’s two guards for the day—trailed behind.

It was still early in the morning. Perrin was ostensibly checking on guard posts, but he really just wanted to be walking. They’d moved the camp to an elevated meadow along the Jehannah Road. It had a good water supply and was near enough to the road to control it, but far enough back to be defensible.

On one side of the meadow, an ancient statue lay before a patch of trees. The statue had fallen on its side long ago, and most of it was now buried, but an arm rose from the earth, holding the hilt of a sword. The blade was thrust into the ground.

“I shouldn’t have sent Gill and the others ahead,” Perrin said. “That let them be snatched up by the first passing force.”

“You couldn’t have anticipated this,” Elyas said. “Nor could you have anticipated being delayed. Where would you have left them? Shaido were coming up behind, and if our battle at Malden hadn’t gone well, Gill and the others would have been trapped between two groups of enemy Aiel.”