Battle Won, War Lost? - Chapter III: At Knifepoint

Date: November 2001
Category: Wheel of Time AU fanfic
Characters: Liandrin, Egwene
Disclaimer: As everyone well knows, The Wheel of Time setting and its characters belong to Robert Jordan. This story is fan fiction and therefore was written purely for enjoyment, not for personal gain.



Liandrin scowled once again at the closed door in the men's quarter and then turned abruptly away. She had spent the whole morning trying to track down these boys. But always they had already left or no one seemed to knew where to find them.

But more ways were open to her. With new determination she went to the women's quarters.



Egwene looked into the gardens where Lan and Rand had met for the lessons. She had watched them and even her untrained eye had seen Rand's talent and especially the fierce determination he showed in his training. She was still thinking about it and wondering.

Rand had changed. Egwene was relieved that he seemed to have snapped out of his lethargy. But he wasn't the same as before. In the few days since his recovery he had trained almost obsessively with Lan. Between the sword lessons he appeared often withdrawn, with a far-away look in his eyes and more close-mouthed than ever. He wouldn't talk to her about his moods, and that angered and hurt her. Didn't he trust her anymore?

Moraine just said that such a battle like the one he survived left scars and those you can't see were the deepest.

"You can't expect him to be untouched by all this," Moraine admonished her, "He almost died and such experiences - all of our experiences, be they good or bad - change us." For once Nynaeve had agreed with the Aes Sedai.

"When you think back before Bel Tine, are you the same now? I know that I am changing too..." Here a slight blush crept into her face and Egwene had suppressed a knowing smile. "... because I, we both are learning everyday something new."

They were right, Egwene knew. Nonetheless she couldn't stop worrying about Rand. They had always been close, but this new Rand unsettled her.

She was startled out of her thoughts when she heard someone entering.



Author's note: This chapter was an attempt to continue the story. I still know what should happen in this chapter. But the problem was that I didn't know how the story should go on then. I had no outline or even an idea about the end. In hindsight it was a rather foolish thing to make my first writing steps with an AU of a whole novel or more.