Morgase nodded, stepping off to the side of the camp. Tallanvor followed. A short distance away, she turned to look at him. “Well?”
“My Lady,” he continued in a softer voice. “The Andoran court is certain to hear that you still live, now that Aybara’s entire camp knows. If you don’t present yourself and explain that you’ve renounced the throne, the rumors of your survival could erode Elayne’s authority.”
Morgase didn’t reply.
“If the Last Battle truly is coming,” Tallanvor said, “we can’t afford—”
“Oh, hush,” she said curtly. “I’ve already given Lini and the others the order to pack up. Didn’t you notice what they were doing?”
Tallanvor flushed as he noticed Gill hauling a chest over and setting it on the cart.
“I apologize for my forwardness. With your leave, my Lady.” Tallanvor nodded to her and turned to go.
“Must we be so formal with one another, Tallanvor?”
“The illusion has ended, my Lady.” He walked away.
Morgase watched him go, and felt her heart twist. Curse her stubbornness! Curse Galad! His arrival had reminded her of her pride, of her royal duty.
It was bad for her to have a husband. She’d learned that from Taringail. For all of the stability her marriage to him had brought, each and every advantage had come with a threat to her throne. That was why she’d never made Bryne or Thom her official consort, and Gaebril only proved that she had been right to worry.
Any man who married her could, potentially, be a threat to Elayne as well as Andor. Her children, if she had any more, would be rivals to Elayne’s. Morgase couldn’t afford to love.
Tallanvor stopped a short distance away, and her breath caught. He turned, then walked back to her. He drew his sword and bent down, placing it reverently at her feet as she stood in weeds and scrub.
“I was wrong to threaten to leave, before,” he said softly. “I was hurt, and pain makes a man stupid. You know that I will always be here, Morgase. I’ve promised it to you before, and I mean it. These days, I feel like a biteme in a world of eagles. But I have my sword and my heart, and both are yours. Forever.”
He stood to go.
“Tallanvor,” she said, almost in a whisper. “You’ve never asked me, you know. If I would have you.”
“I can’t put you into that position. It wouldn’t be right to force you to do what we both know you must, now that you have been exposed.”
“And what must I do?”
“Turn me down,” he spat, obviously growing angry. “For the good of Andor.”
“Must I?” she asked. “I keep telling myself that, Tallanvor, but still I question it.”
“What good am I to you?” he asked. “At the very least, you should marry to help Elayne secure the loyalty of one of the factions you offended.”
“And so I go to marriage without love,” she said. “Again. How many times must I sacrifice my heart for Andor?”
“As many times as required, I suppose.” He sounded so bitter, clenching his fists. Not angry at her, but at the situation. He always had been a man of such passion.
She hesitated, then shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not again. Tallanvor, look at that sky above. You’ve seen the things that walk the world, felt the Dark One’s curses strike us. This is not a time to be without hope. Without love.”
“But what of duty?”
“Duty can bloody get in line. It’s had its share of me. Everyone’s had their share of me, Tallanvor. Everyone but the man I want.” She stepped over his sword, still lying in the cockleburrs, then couldn’t stop herself. In a blink, she was kissing him.
“All right, you two,” a stern voice said from behind. “We’re going to see Lord Aybara right now.”
Morgase pulled away. It was Lini.
“What?” Morgase tried to regain some composure.
“You’re getting married,” Lini declared. “If I have to pull you to it by the ears.”
“I will make my own choice,” Morgase said. “Perrin tried to get me to—”
“I’m not him,” Lini said. “This is best done before we return to Elayne. Once you’re in Caemlyn there will be complications.” She turned her eyes on Gill, who had the trunk stowed. “And you! Unpack my Lady’s things.”
“But Lini,” Morgase protested, “we’re going to Caemlyn.”
“Tomorrow will be soon enough, child. Tonight, you celebrate.” She eyed them. “And until the marriage is done, I don’t think it’s safe to trust you two alone.”
Morgase flushed. “Lini,” she hissed. “I’m not eighteen anymore!”
“No, when you were eighteen, you were married proper. Do I need to seize your ears?”
“I—” Morgase said.
“We’re coming, Lini,” Tallanvor said.
Morgase glared at him.
He frowned. “What?”
“You haven’t asked.”
He smiled, then held her close. “Morgase Trakand, will you be my wife?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Now let’s find Perrin.”
Perrin tugged on the oak branch. It broke off, powdery wood dust puffing out. As he held the branch up, sawdust streamed out of the end onto the brown grass.
“Happened last night, my Lord,” Kevlyn Torr said, holding his gloves. “The entire stand of hardwood over there, dead and dried in one night. Nearly a hundred trees, I’d guess.”
Perrin dropped the branch, then dusted off his hands. “It’s no worse than what we’ve seen before.”
“But—”
“Don’t worry about this,” Perrin said. “Send some men to harvest this wood for fires; looks as if it will burn really well.”
Kevlyn nodded, then hurried off. Other woodsmen were poking through the trees, looking disturbed. Oak, ash, elm and hickory trees dying overnight was bad enough. But dying, then drying out as though dead for years? That was downright unsettling. Best to take it in stride, though, not let the men grow afraid.
Perrin walked back toward camp. In the distance, anvils rang. They’d bought up raw materials, every bit of iron or steel they could get from Whitebridge. The people had been eager to trade for food, and Perrin had obtained five forges, with men to move them and set them up, along with
