It was hard to make one, lying on her back mere paces from the front lines. Saidar had fled her, and she probably couldn’t take hold of it again if her life depended on it. “Yes,” she said. “I should . . . should check on Bashere.”
“Very wise,” Birgitte said, waving for the guard to help Elayne back onto her horse. She hesitated, then. “You did well here, Elayne. They know how you fought. It was good for them to see.”
They began a hurried trip through the back lines. Those were very shallow; most soldiers were committed to the fight. They needed to win before that second Trolloc army arrived, and that meant throwing everything they had at this force.
Still, Elayne was surprised at the depleted reserves, the small number that could be spared to rotate from the front and rest. How long had it been?
The clouds had enveloped the open sky that often accompanied her. That seemed a bad sign. “Curse those clouds,” she muttered. “What time of day is it?”
“Maybe two hours from sunset,” Birgitte said.
“Light! You should have made me return to camp hours ago, Birgitte!”
The woman glared at her, and Elayne vaguely remembered attempts to do just that. Well, no use arguing about it now. Elayne was recovering some of her strength, and forced herself to sit straight-backed on her horse as she was led to the small valley between hills near Cairhien where Bashere gave battle orders.
She rode right up to the command post, not trusting her legs to be able to support her walking, and remained in the saddle as she addressed Bashere. “Is it working?”
He looked up at her. “I assume I can’t count on you any longer on the front?”
“Too weak to channel for now. I’m sorry.”
“You lasted longer than you should have.” He made a notation on his maps. “Good thing. I half think you were the only thing that kept the eastern flank from collapsing. I’ll need to send more support that direction.”
“Is it working,?”
“Go have a look,” Bashere said, nodding toward the hillside.
Elayne gritted her teeth, but nudged Moonshadow up to where she could find a vantage. She lifted her looking glass with fingers that shook far more than she would have liked.
The Trolloc force had hit their bowed line of defenders. The natural result of this had been the infantry falling back, the bowl inverting as the Trollocs pushed forward. This had let the Shadowspawn feel as if they were gaining the advantage, and had stopped them from realizing the truth.
As they pressed forward, the infantry line had wrapped up and surrounded the Trolloc sides. She’d missed the most important moment, when Bashere had ordered the Aiel to attack. Their quick sweep around to hit the Trollocs from behind had worked as hoped.
Elayne’s forces had the Trollocs completely surrounded. An enormous circle of writhing Shadowspawn fought with her encircling force, pressing them together to constrict their movements and their ability to fight.
It was working. Light, it was. The Aiel beat against the back flanks of Trollocs, slaughtering them. The noose had been drawn.
Which of them was blowing those horns? Those were Trolloc horns.
Elayne searched through the Shadowspawn, but could not find the ones sounding the horns. She did spot some dead Myrddraal near the Aiel ranks. One of Aludra’s dragons—attached to its cart and pulled by a pair of horses—was with the Band’s horsemen. They had been positioning the carts on different hilltops to fire down into the Trollocs.
“Elayne . .” Birgitte said.
“Oh, sorry,” Elayne said, lowering the looking glass and handing it to her Warder. “Have a look. It’s going well.”
“Elayne!”
With a start, she realized how worried the Warder was. Elayne spun, following the woman’s gaze south, far beyond the city’s walls. Those horns sounding . . . they’d been so soft, Elayne hadn’t realized they were coming from behind.
“Oh, no . . .” Elayne said, hastily raising her looking glass.
There, like black filth on the horizon, approached the second Trolloc army.
“Didn’t Bashere say they weren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow?” Birgitte said. “At the earliest?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Elayne said. “One way or another, they’re here. We need to get ready to turn those dragons the other way! Send the order to Talmanes, and find Lord Tam al’Thor! I want the Two Rivers men armed and ready. Light! The crossbowmen too. We have to slow that second army, any way possible.”
Bashere, she thought. I have to tell Bashere.
She spun Moonshadow, moving so fast she became dizzy. She tried to embrace the Source, but it wouldn’t come. She was so tired, she had trouble gripping the reins.
Somehow, she made it down the hill without tailing off. Birgitte had left to convey her orders. Good woman. Elayne rode into camp to find an argument in progress.
“—won’t listen to this! ” Bashere yelled. “I will not stand by and be insulted in my own camp, man!”
The object of his scorn was none other than Tam al’Thor. The steady Two Rivers man glanced at Elayne, and his eyes opened wider, as if he was surprised to see her there.
“Your Majesty,” Tam said. “I was told you were still out on the battlefield.” He turned back to Bashere, who grew red-faced.
“I didn’t want you going to her with—”
“Enough!” Elayne said, riding Moonshadow between them. Why was Tam of all people arguing with Bashere? “Bashere, the second Trolloc army is almost upon us.”
“Yes,” Bashere said, breathing deeply. “I just had word. Light, this is a disaster, Elayne. We need to pull out through gateways.”
“We exhausted the Kinswomen on our push up here, Bashere,” Elayne said. “Most can barely channel enough now to warm a teacup, let alone make a gateway.” Light, and I couldn’t warm the tea. She forced her voice to remain firm. “That was part of the plan.”
“I . . . That’s right,” Bashere said. He looked at the map. “Let me think. The city. We’ll retreat into the city.”
“And give the Shadowspawn time to rest, gather together, and assault us?” Elayne asked. “That’s what they’re probably trying to force us to do.”
“I don’t see any other choice,” Bashere said. “The city is our only hope.”
“The city?” Talmanes said, hurrying up, panting. “You can’t be talking about pulling back into the city.”
“Why not?” Elayne asked.
“Your Majesty, our infantry have just managed to surround a Trolloc army! They’re going at it tooth and claw! We have no reserves left, and our cavalry is exhausted. We’d never manage to disengage from that contest without sustaining heavy losses. And then our survivors would be holed up in the city, trapped between two armies of the Shadow.”
“Light,” Elayne whispered. “It’s like they planned it.”
“I think they did,” Tam said softly.
“Not this again,” Bashere bellowed. He didn’t seem like himself at all, though she knew that Saldaeans could have tempers. Bashere almost seemed like a different person. His wife had stepped up to his side, arms folded, and both confronted Tam.
“Have your say, Tam,” Elayne said.
“I—” Bashere began, but Elayne held up a hand.
“He knew, Your Majesty,” Tam said softly. “Its the only thing that makes sense. He hasn’t been using the Aiel to scout.”
“What?” Elayne said. “Of course he has. I read the scout reports.”
“The reports are faked, or at least tampered with,” Tam said. “I talked to Bael. He said that none of his Aiel had been sent on scouting duty the last few days of our march. He said he thought my men had been doing it, but they hadn’t. I talked to Arganda, who thought Whitecloaks had been doing it, but Galad said that it was the Band.”
“It wasn’t us,” Talmanes said, frowning. “None of my men have been used for scout details.”