Winter's Heart: Chapter 12
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Author: Val a'Shain
Chapter Icon: A Dragon
Outline
Elayne, Min and Aviendha bond Rand as a Warder and Elayne is left alone with him. Min, Aviendha and Birgitte decide to get drunk together. Nynaeve and Alivia leave Caemlyn.
Summary
Elayne's Point of View:
Setting: Royal Palace in Caemlyn
Characters: Elayne, Min, Aviendha, Rand, Nynaeve, Lan, Birgitte
Elayne is walking through the palace with Min, Aviendha and two of her new female guards Birgitte is training, on her way to see Rand. She is angry at him for trying to sneak out again without seeing her and nervous about seeing him again. Min and Aviendha, who have just now met for the first time are still feeling each other out but at least they are not flashing knives any more. Elayne hopes Birgitte is too distracted by her new duties to pay attention to what she is about to do. Asking an Aes Sedai how to mask a bond was humiliating for Elayne but it will be necessary.
Arriving at Nynaeve and Lan's quarters Elayne orders the guards to stay outside and let no one in. The three women confront Rand now. Astounded Nynaeve and Lan listen to the four of them confessing their love for each other. Elayne says there is something else they need to discuss and that they shouldn't impose on Lan and Nynaeve any more. After promising he will see Nynaeve again before he leaves Rand follows them to Elayne's quarters.
When they arrive there Elayne tells him all three of them want to bond him their Warder. Rand doesn't think this is a good idea, he protests for a while before eventually agreeing to it. The women learn Alanna got there before them and are very upset about that. It's not enough to stop them though. When the bonding is complete Elayne realizes Rand does love her. Min and Aviendha leave Rand and Elayne as agreed. There is something Rand hasn't shared with her yet that he has with the other women. Furiously blushing Elayne asks Rand to help her take off her dress.
Min's Point of View:
Setting: Royal Palace in Caemlyn
Characters: Elayne, Min, Aviendha, Rand
Min and Aviendha leave Elayne's quarters. The guards are obviously under the impression Elayne is alone with a lover now. While Min and Aviendha go find some place to get to know each other better Min becomes aware of what exactly Rand and Elayne are doing. The trick of masking the bond doesn't work for her. Aviendha suggests they find some oosquai. Before they get very far they run into a very upset Birgitte. First she had Elayne disappear from her head when she masked the bond but now she also is aware of what Elayne is up to. She accuses Aviendha of helping Elayne do it. Min is stunned when she realizes this is Birgitte Silverbow, the Hero she saw at Falme. Birgitte wants to go see Elayne right away. Min tries to stop her. Just before the argument becomes violent Aviendha suggests oosquai again. The three of them go and get drunk together.
Elayne's Point of View:
Setting: Royal Palace in Caemlyn
Characters: Elayne
The next morning Elayne wakes feeling good. Rand is already gone and left a lily in full bloom on her pillow. She weaves a keeping around it so it'll remind her of him when she sees it. Then the world catches up with her though. Alivia is gone, as is Nynaeve and a few power related objects. Nynaeve's note does little to comfort Elayne.
Notes
This section contains Notes on this Chapter which may contain spoilers. Please expand to view.
Visions and Prophecies
- Min's Viewings
- (About Elayne) "She should have drunk that heartleaf tea. She'll get with child from this. Two of them; a boy and a girl; both healthy and strong."
- (About Aviendha) "Min wondered whether to tell her what she had seen while they were all together. Aviendha would have Rand's babies, too. Four of them at once! Something was odd about that, though. The babies would be healthy, but still something odd."
- (About Birgitte) "Auras danced around her and images flickered, more than Min had ever seen around anyone, thousands it seemed, cascading over one another." And later, "And what did she mean, Silverbow was dead? The woman was standing right in front of her! Besides, those multitudes of images and auras flashed by too quickly for her to make out any clearly, but she was certain they indicated more adventures than a woman could have in one lifetime. Strangely, some were connected to an ugly man who was older than she, and others to an ugly man who was much younger, yet somehow Min knew they were the same man."
