Chapter 5

Egwene, sweltering in the Stone of Tear, frets over Moiraine’s absence while Aviendha stands watch. With Elayne summoned away, Egwene and Nynaeve resume questioning their two Black Ajah prisoners in a bright audience room rather than the dungeons: the shielded Joiya Byir and the stilled Amico Nagoyin.

Amico, cowed and broken, repeats her limited tale: she overheard Liandrin and Temaile speak of something in Tanchico, dangerous both to Rand and to whoever uses it, able to bind him even though he can channel. Nynaeve demands new details, but Amico insists she knew only a few names within the Black Ajah and nothing more of the Tower’s infiltrators.

Tension flares between Egwene and Nynaeve over control of the interrogation. Egwene binds Amico with flows of Air and notes Aviendha’s unease around channeling. Aviendha observes Amico’s face has lost some Aes Sedai agelessness; Nynaeve explains the little-known, grim realities of stilling and its typically fatal despair, highlighting why few study it.

Turning to Joiya, the women confront her professed repentance. Joiya, icily composed, offers a different plot: Liandrin intends to free the captured false Dragon, Mazrim Taim, proclaim him as Rand al’Thor, and unleash atrocity in Rand’s name so nations unite to crush the true Dragon before Tarmon Gai’don. She argues even proof of two men would not quell fear and suspicion.

Egwene finds Amico’s vague warning easier to face yet knows both threats matter; the women cannot pursue both leads at once. At the height of uncertainty, Moiraine strides in with Elayne. Moiraine’s rare, open fury signals urgent news that will likely force immediate decisions about which danger to confront.