Lan passed into the area where the Shienaran lancers cared for their horses. A figure emerged from them and rode up beside Lan. King Easar was a compact man with a white topknot, recently arrived from the Field of Merrilor following a long day making battle plans. Lan began a horseback bow, but stopped as King Easar bowed to him.
"Your Majesty?" Lan asked.
"Agelmar has brought his plans for this battlefront, Dai Shan", King Easar said, falling in beside him. "He would like to go over them with us. It is important that you are there; we fight beneath the banner of Malkier. We all agreed to it".
"Tenobia?" Lan asked, genuinely surprised.
"In her case, a little encouragement was required. She came around. I also have word that Queen Ethenielle will leave Kandor and come here. The Borderlands fight together in this battle, and we do it with you at our head".
They rode on in the fading light, row upon row of lancers saluting Easar. The Shienarans were the finest heavy cavalry in the world, and they had fought—and died—upon these rocks countless times, defending the lush lands to the south.
"I will come", Lan agreed. "The weight of what you have given me feels like three mountains".
"I know", Easar said. "But we shall follow you, Dai Shan. Until the sky is rent asunder, until the rocks split underfoot, and until the Wheel itself stops turning. Or, Light send its blessing, until every sword is favored with peace".
"What of Kandor? If the Queen comes here, who will lead that battle?"
"The White Tower rides to fight the Shadowspawn there", Easar said. "You raised the Golden Crane. We were sworn to come to your aid, so we have". He hesitated, and then his voice grew grim. "Kandor is beyond recovery now, Dai Shan. The Queen admits it. The White Towers job is not to recover it, but to stop the Shadowspawn from taking more territory".
They turned and rode through the ranks of lancers. The men were required to spend dusk within a few paces of their mounts, and they made themselves busy, caring for armor, weapons and horses. Each man wore a longsword, sometimes two, strapped to his back, and all had maces and daggers at their belts. The Shienarans did not rely solely upon their lances; an enemy who thought to pin them without room to charge soon discovered that they could be very dangerous in close quarters.
Most of the men wore yellow surcoats over their plate-and-mail, bearing the black hawk. They gave their salutes with stiff backs and serious faces. Indeed, the Shienarans were a serious people. Living in the Borderlands did that.
Lan hesitated, then spoke in a loud voice. "Why do we mourn?"
The soldiers nearby turned toward him.
"Is this not what we have trained for?" Lan shouted. "Is this not our purpose, our very lives? This war is not a thing to mourn. Other men may have been lax, but we have not been. We are prepared, and so this is a time of glory.
"Let there be laughter! Let there be joy! Let us cheer the fallen and drink to our forefathers, who taught us well. If you die on the morrow, awaiting your rebirth, be proud. The Last Battle is upon us, and we are ready!"
Lan wasn’t sure, exactly, what had made him say it. His words inspired a round of "Dai Shan! Dai Shan! Forward the Golden Crane!" He saw that some of the men were writing the speech down, to pass among the other men.
"You do have the soul of a leader, Dai Shan", Easar said as they rode on.
"It is not that", Lan said, eyes forward. "I cannot stand self-pity. Too many of the men looked as if they were preparing their own shrouds".
"A drum with no head", Easar said softly, flicking his horse’s reins. "A pump with no grip. A song with no voice. Still it is mine. Still it is mine".
Lan turned, frowning, but the King gave no explanation for the poem. If his people were a serious people, their king was more so. Easar had wounds deep within that he chose not to share. Lan did not fault him in this; Lan himself had done the same.
Tonight, however, he caught Easar smiling as he considered whatever it was that had brought the poem to his lips.
"Was that Anasai of Ryddingwood?" Lan asked.
Easar looked surprised. "You have read Anasai’s work?"
"She was a favorite of Moiraine Sedai. It sounded as though it might be hers".
"Each of her poems was written as an elegy", Easar said. "This was for her father. She left instructions; it can be read, but should not be spoken out loud, except when it was right to do so. She did not explain when it would be right to do so".
They reached the war tents and dismounted. No sooner had they done so, however, than the horns of alarm began to sound. Both men reacted, and Lan unconsciously touched the sword on his hip.
"Let us go to Lord Agelmar", Lan shouted as men began to yell and equipment to rattle. "If you fight beneath my banner, then I will accept the role of leader gladly".
"No hesitation at all?" Easar said.
"What am I?" Lan asked, swinging into the saddle. "Some sheepherder from a forgotten village? I will do my duty. If men are foolish enough to put me in charge of them, I’ll send them about theirs as well".
Easar nodded, then saluted, the corners of his mouth rising in another smile. Lan returned the salute, then galloped Mandarb through the center of the camp. The men at the outskirts were lighting bonfires; Ashaman had created gateways to one of the many dying forests in the south for soldiers to gather wood. If Lan had his way, those five channelers would never waste their strength killing Trollocs. They were far too useful otherwise.
Narishma saluted Lan as he passed. Lan could not be certain that the great captains had chosen Borderlander Ashaman for him on purpose, but it seemed not to be a coincidence. He had at least one from each Borderlander nation—even one born to Malkieri parents.
We fight together.
CHAPTER 8
That Smoldering City
Atop Moonshadow, her deep brown mare from the royal stables, Elayne Trakand rode through a gateway of her own making.
Those stables were now in the hands of Trollocs, and Moonshadow’s stablemates had undoubtedly found their way into cookpots by now. Elayne did not think too hard about what else—who else—might have ended up in those same pots. She set her face in determination. Her troops would not see their queen look uncertain.
She had chosen to come to a hill about a thousand paces to the northwest of Caemlyn, well out of bow range but close enough to see the city. Several mercenary bands had made their camp in these hills during the weeks following the Succession War. Those had all either joined the armies of Light or had disbanded, becoming rov
