Rand could feel her, of course, through the bond. Her spike of alarm let him know that she’d received this information. Should he go to her? Perhaps he could send Min. She had gotten up, and was moving away from the tent where he’d left her. And—
He blinked. Aviendha. She was here, at Merrilor. She hadn’t been here moments ago, had she? Perrin glanced at him, and he didn’t bother to wipe the shock from his face.
"We can’t let Elayne leave", Rand said.
"Not even to protect her homeland?" Perrin asked, incredulous.
"If the Trollocs have already taken Caemlyn, then it’s too late for Elayne to do anything meaningful. Elayne’s forces will focus on evacuation. She doesn’t need to be there for that, but she does need to be here. Tomorrow morning".
How could he make certain she stayed? Elayne reacted poorly to being told what to do—all women did—but if he implied . . .
"Rand", Perrin said, "what if we sent in the Asha’man? All of them? We could make a fight of it at Caemlyn".
"No", Rand said, though the word hurt. "Perrin, if the city really is overrun—I’ll send men through gateways to be certain—then it’s lost. Taking back those walls would take far too much effort, at least right now. We cannot let this coalition break apart before I have a chance to forge it together. Unity will preserve us. If each of us goes running off to put out fires in our homelands, then we will lose. That’s what this attack is about".
"I suppose that’s possible . . Perrin said, fingering his hammer.
"The attack might unnerve Elayne, make her more eager to act", Rand said, considering a dozen different lines of action. "Perhaps this will make her more vulnerable to agreeing with my plan. This could be a good thing". Perrin frowned.
How quickly I’ve learned to use others. He had learned to laugh again. He had learned to accept his fate, and to charge toward it smiling. He had learned to be at peace with who he had been, what he had done.
That understanding would not stop him from using the tools given him. He needed them, needed them all. The difference now was that he would see the people they were, not just the tools he would use. So he told himself.
"I still think we should do something to help Andor", Perrin said, scratching his beard. "How did they sneak in, do you think?"
"By Waygate", Rand said absently.
Perrin grunted. "Well, you said that Trollocs can’t Travel through gateways; could they have learned how to fix that?"
"Pray to the Light they haven’t", Rand said. "The only Shadowspawn they managed to make that could go through gateways were gholam, and Aginor wasn’t foolish enough to make more than a few of those. No, I’d bet against Mat himself that this was the Caemlyn Waygate. I thought she had that thing guarded!"
"If it was the Waygate, we can do something", Perrin said. "We can’t have Trollocs rampaging in Andor; if they leave Caemlyn, they’ll be at our backs, and that will be a disaster. But if they’re coming in at a single point, we might be able to disrupt their invasion with an attack on that point". Rand grinned.
"What’s so funny?"
"At least I have an excuse for knowing and understanding things no youth from the Two Rivers should".
Perrin snorted. "Go jump in the Winespring Water. You really think this is Demandred?"
"It’s exactly the sort of thing he’d try. Separate your foes, then crush them one at a time. It’s one of the oldest strategies in warfare".
Demandred himself had discovered it in the old writings. They’d known nothing of war when the Bore had first opened. Oh, they’d thought they understood it, but it had been the understanding of the scholar looking back on something ancient, dusty.
Of all those to turn to the Shadow, Demandred’s betrayal seemed the most tragic. The man could have been a hero. Should have been a hero.
I’m to blame for that, too, Rand thought. If I’d offered a hand instead of a smirk, if I'd congratulated instead of competed. If I’d been the man then that I am now. . .
Never mind that. He had to send to Elayne. The proper course was to send help for evacuating the city, Asha’man and loyal Aes Sedai to make gateways and free as many people as possible—and to make certain that for now, the Trollocs remained in Caemlyn.
"Well, I guess those memories of yours are good for something, then", Perrin said.
"Do you want to know the thing that twists my brain in knots, Perrin?" Rand said softly. "The thing that gives me shivers, like the cold breath of the Shadow itself? The taint is what made me mad and what gave me memories from my past life. They came as Lews Therin whispering to me. But that very insanity is the thing giving me the clues I need to win. Don’t you see? If I win this, it will be the taint itself that led to the Dark One’s fall".
Perrin whistled softly.
Redemption, Rand thought. When I tried this last time, my madness destroyed us. This time, it will save us.
"Go to your wife, Perrin", Rand said, glancing at the sky. "This is the last night of anything resembling peace you shall know before the end. I’ll investigate and see how bad things are in Andor". He looked back at his friend. "I will not forget my promise. Unity must come before all else. I lost last time precisely because I threw unity aside".