The Path of Daggers: Chapter 28

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Author: Val a'Shain

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Crimsonthorn


Chapter Icon: A serpent twisted through a square

Points of View: Elayne, Daved Hanlon

Outline

Adeleas and Ispan are killed presumably by someone from the group. Elayne's party finally reaches Caemlyn and meets with Dyelin. They discuss how Elayne intends to take the Lion Throne. Daved Hanlon, a darkfriend, arrives in Caemlyn.

Summary

Elayne's Point of View:

Setting: Andor

Characters: Elayne, Adeleas, Reanne, Kirstian, Nynaeve, Lan, Ispan, Vandene, Dyelin

Elayne is traveling with an explosive mix of Kin, Windfinders and Aes Sedai towards Caemlyn. In the town of Harlon Bridge, Adeleas brings one of the Kin before her recognizing her as a runaway novice. The law of the Tower is clear, she must be put back in white and punished. Before Elayne knows it, lots of people gather and another woman confesses she ran away from the Tower three centuries earlier! Some of the Kin are opposed to handing the two over to the Aes Sedai. There are many more members of the Kin than Aes Sedai present and the situation becomes threatening. Reanne manages to control it. The tension between the groups remains though.

Eight days later, about ten miles from their destination Caemlyn, Kirstian comes to get Elayne to see something only she and Nynaeve can handle apparently. When they get there Lan is already at the scene. Elayne finds Adeleas dead on the floor with her throat cut and Ispan dead on a cot with a stake driven through her. When Nynaeve arrives the first thing she does after studying the scene is check the content of the teapot. The tea contains a large quantity of crimsonthorn. Enough to kill. The victims would have been conscious for hours after taking it though.

Vandene takes the death of her twin sister well it seems, she remains very calm. After discussing the matter they agree that Adeleas wouldn't have accepted the tea from a stranger. The killer must be among them. Vandene asks to be alone with her sister for a while. A cry of mourning follows Nynaeve and Elayne out.

Because of the snow it takes the party two more days to reach Caemlyn. Elayne doesn't like the sight of Aiel in the streets occupying the city. She approaches the palace alone and the guards let her in when she announces herself. In the throne room she sees the monstrosity of a throne she has seen in the World of Dreams is no longer there and that the Lion Throne has been put back on its place. The loss of her mother still hurts Elayne.

Dyelin finds Elayne in the throne room. She asks if Elayne has come to accept the throne from the Dragon Reborn. Elayne replies she has come to claim it in her own right. Where does Dyelin stand? Since Elayne claims the throne by her own right Dyelin will support her claim. They quickly go over the political situation. It seems Dyelin herself could claim the throne if she wants to. Even with her support though, Elayne is a long way from being crowned. Dyelin wants to know what Elayne means to do about Rand. She tells Dyelin she means to marry him and bond him as her Warder but that has nothing to do with her crowning. She starts explaining how she intends to gain the throne.




Daved Hanlon's Point of View:

Setting: Andor, Caemlyn

Characters:Daved Hanlon, Shiaine, Jaichim Carridin, Falion

Daved Hanlon enters Caemlyn with very clear instructions. The kind he doesn't dare to disobey. He is a bit worried. He has followed orders but his past mission can't be called a success. As ordered he goes to see Lady Shiaine. He is lead into the basement to meet her. Two people are being held prisoner there. She tells him she asked Moridin for a replacement for Jaichim, one of the two prisoners. She kills Jaichim in front of Hanlon by pouring a large quantity of brandy down his throat. Hanlon doesn't know who Moridin is or Jaichim for that matter but his orders came from Moghedien herself so he had better be careful.

The other prisoner is an Aes Sedai named Falion. She apparently failed this Moridin in some way too. She gets the same treatment as Jaichim but is allowed to live. For the moment. After this rather elaborate reminder of the price of failure Shiaine explains what she wants Hanlon to do. It seems his next mission involves a Queen. That is something Hanlon hasn't laid his hands on yet.


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