31 The Far Snows

In the ruined Cairhienin town of Eianrod, Rand seeks a merchant house for a quiet night away from the Maidens. Inside his chosen room, he unexpectedly finds Aviendha bathing without a sweat tent. Panicking at being seen, Aviendha Opens a gateway and flees, stepping into a howling snowstorm.

Without thinking, Rand seizes saidin and blocks her gateway open, then follows with blankets and clothes. He tracks Aviendha through knee-deep snow, melting a narrow path to gain speed. When she vanishes, he discovers a river and drags her by frozen hair from a hole in the ice to shore, fighting his own growing hypothermia.

To keep them alive, Rand fuses sand for a heat marker, bundles Aviendha in every cloth he brought, and constructs a compacted snow hut with the Power. Inside, he carefully warms the air and ground while pressing his own body heat to hers. As Aviendha revives, Rand resolves to send her back to the Wise Ones to end their forced proximity, but she awakens, declares she will run no more, and pulls him into an undeniable intimacy.

Afterward, when warmth returns and the danger has passed, Rand proposes marriage. Aviendha, citing Aiel customs and her new toh to Elayne, refuses; by her view she must choose, and he also “belongs” to Elayne. She insists it will not happen again and pushes Rand to prepare to return.

Rand notes he still holds the weave that blocked Aviendha’s gateway, revealing newfound control over Traveling. As they dress, their dynamic remains charged and complicated, with Aviendha determined, Rand conflicted, and both ready to retrace the still-held gateway back to Eianrod and the waiting Aiel.