#tpod

PERSPECTIVE: Perrin and a small party are near Bethal in Ghealdan to meet with Queen Alliandre, thanks to a letter Rand received. Several days ago, the channelers with them, both male and female, felt a lace of the One Power streak across the sky, but nobody knew what it meant. With both saidin and saidar involved, Perrin assumes it must be Forsaken work at a grand scale, and sleeps uneasily.(1)

Both Faile and Berelain want to be the ones to make contact, and the Wise Ones and Aes Sedai all have opinions, but Perrin chooses Berelain and Annoura. He can smell Faile's disappointment, and makes to apologize to her, but she dismisses herself from the business. Perrin dwells on how she was calm as a summer day until he started apologizing.(2)

As they move away from Bethal, Aram spots a disturbance at an abandoned farm ahead. A group of men are setting upon a smaller group that includes three women. The core of Perrin's group rides to scare them off, even the Wise Ones channeling things to scare the attackers, who scatter quickly.

When the attackers scatter, one of the women, on horseback, red-gold of hair and with a face as regal as any queen's,(3) races out of the farmyard. Perrin chases her down, shouting they don't mean to harm her. She comes back and the older woman tells her off, asking "Maighdin" what she was thinking.

Interrogating one of the Prophet's men who was doing the attacking, it comes about that they saw one of the men chasing after Maighdin, and since the Prophet has decreed that rapists will face punishment, they only meant to do justice. When Lini protests this assumption of the situation, Perrin tells the man that this raiding and disproportionate punishment will end, says he's Perrin Aybara sent by the Lord Dragon himself and the man can take that right back to Masema, then lets the man go.

Perrin offers the attacked group hospitality in his camp, to find out what their story is. Maighdin recognizes Aes Sedai, which Perrin finds curious for the country woman she appears to be. In addition to Maighdin he finds that the older woman is named Lini, and he recognizes two of the men. He wonders if it's ta'veren at work, bringing them here.(4)

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