Chapter summary - Edit 1
Before modification by Sidious at 25/09/2009 10:54:48 AM
The audio clip is 48 minutes long, and it's kind of impressive to listen to. It's the first time that I've listened to an audio chapter and it's rather appealing. That said, if you don't feel like listening to it, here is the chapter summary...
It starts off with Egwene is Silviana's study. She has been beaten again, and she wipes off the tears and looks in the mirror and smiles. Silviana wonders whether her punishment is useless and looks at the lash hopelessly. She marks Egwene down for further punishment, citing that Egwene will probably not show the proper manners when leaving anyway. Egwene says that she's been invited to have dinner with Elaida, which shocks Silviana.
Egwene leaves and is met by Katerine and Barasine, who give her another dose of forkroot. Katerine is amusingly wearing red slashed with black. Egwene notices the halls of the Tower and sees Sisters walking quickly in groups of the same ajah - some even holding on to saidar. She refuses to be early for Elaida because that will show deference, so she decides to hang around outside the Mistress of Novice's rooms and wait. She wants to see if Alviarin will show up. While doing this she asks Katerine and Barasine how they can tolerate the Tower being in such a state of desrepair. Katerine is dismissive and tells her to report to the Mistress tonight again, but Barasine looks troubled. The Mistress's door closes, and Egwene thinks that Silviana has been listening to her rant about the Tower, and she smiles to herself. Egwene tells the two Reds that they should be harsh on Elaida because her legacy will be the Reds'.
The three of them walk off to Elaida's rooms, but on the way the passage is suddenly blocked by a wall, and Egwene says that the Tower is changing on a daily basis, with new passages forming - a sure sign that the Dark One is stirring. She notices a painting of a previous Amyrlin who settled a dispute several centuries previously - but the Amyrlin's face is covered in blood and the people have become dead bodies. Egwene says it is the first time that the Pattern is actually altering reality in things like paintings. She muses on rumours she's heard in the Tower - of how Rand escaped the Aes Sedai, of how Ash'aman captured the Aes Sedai and bonded them.
She reaches Elaida, and Meidani opens the doors. Egwene struggles as to how she'll be with Elaida. She decides to face Elaida head on, but decides that will lead to her execution or imprisonment, making it difficult to win the Tower. She thus decides to be meek and subservient and make Elaida think there is no battle. This proves to be difficult because everything Elaida does enrages Egwene. Egwene notices that Elaida's shawl doesn't contain the Blue ajah, and she thinks that she herself would have chosen Green if she hadn't been made Amyrlin. Elaida's rooms are extravagant and richly decorated, and Egwene muses on how Siuan would have been different. She bows to Elaida and feels the agony of it. Elaida laughs and tells her she expected a fight, after what she heard.
Elaida starts to torment Meidani, who Egwene knows to be a spy. She knows that Elaida knows too. Elaida has forced Meidani to read up on traitors in the Tower's history, and she jokes that maybe Meidani should lose the shawl because she's dimwitted. Meidani is horrified, and Egwene too. Elaida then says that the rumours of the Seanchan are nonsense, and Egwene is very angry about this. She says that her dreaming makes it certain that the Seanchan will hit the Tower soon. Egwene wishes that Elaida knew the pain of the a'dam, and Egwene says that she still has problems with freedom and struggles with her history as a damane. Elaida says that the biggest problem facing the Tower isn't the Seanchan - it's the lack of Aes Sedai obedience. Elaida says she plans to incorporate a 4th Oath - to obey the Amyrlin Seat without question. This causes Egwene such shock she drops the soup she is serving on to Elaida's expensive carpet, and nearly onto Elaida.
Elaida curses and runs to get servants to clean the carpet, but orders Meidani to help Egwene, citing that the carpet cost more than Emonds Field. Lol. Egwene uses this opportunity to tell Meidani to send for her to tuition so that they can chat. Meidani says that she won't be ordered by a novice, but Egwene says that she's the Amyrlin and she better remember that. Meidani realises Egwene's game, and says she'll send for her. Elaida returns and orders Egwene out, and tells her to get beaten, healed, and beaten again - and to return later in the week to serve her.
Egwene goes to the kitchen to eat. The novices have put her cushion on the seat for her sore butt, but she eats alone because it is so late. She washes her plate and catches Laras's eye. Egwene then muses on how Rand is going through the world unguided (which is ominous if you ask me). She then returns to Silviana and notices that she's reading a book on how Amyrlins were raised in the past. Silviana starts beating her after she says what Elaida told her about a 4th Oath. Egwene starts to laugh, and Silviana becomes concerned that her mind is broken. She says she's laughing because they think they can harm her body when the agony of seeing the Tower in such a state is far worse. She plants some seeds in Silviana's mind, and says she has much work to do.