A possible Graendal POV

[RobertAlexWillis]

Due to the long running nature of the "Who killed Asmodean" question, and my own views on the subject, I have indulged in a little creative excersize. I have written, from Graendal's point of view, one way that the day might have unfolded. Naturally, it adhere's to my view of matters. But it was fun, and I think at least some people might enjoy it.

 

Of course, I know that while I am attempting to play in his world, I am no Robert Jordan (even though I AM a Robert ... and YES, I know thats not his real name). My writing lacks the same depth, and I do not have either his long experience, or his knowledge as the literal Creator of the Wheel's world. Nevertheless, I enjoyed doing it, and I would welcome both polite comment and polite criticism, either on the piece as writing, or on the substance of the story told. I hope you enjoy!

 

 

One Last Lesson

 

Graendal quickly released saidar as she let go of her gateway. Her gown of streith was an almost misty pale, concealing everything while hiding nothing as she smiled at Rahvin, leaning back in his chair. He was surrounded, of course, by women, four at the moment, and none of them Morgase. None was up to her standards, either. Each bristled at her entrance, but then, women dancing attendance on a man would be jealous of her voluptuous beauty. And men did take their pleasure wherever was most convenient. Rahvin was still a man, Compulsion or nor Compulsion.

 

She ignored the vapid little chits. It seemed her information was correct. “Giving your pet queen a rest, Rahvin?†she smiled, knowingly.

 

Rahvin’s face flickered with annoyance for the barest moment. Graendal might not have seen it if she had not been looking for it, anticipated it. “Morgase will not be joining us,†Rahvin said, just as if he had ordered her away himself. Then his face did form a frown, and he waved at his little pets. “Leave us,†he ordered them, not even looking to see if they obeyed. They did, of course, filing quietly out.

 

Graendal watched Rahvin assess her. He always did seem to think he could see what she was thinking by looking at her face. She waited, cultivating an expression of interested anticipation. Whatever his reason for calling her here, he would tell her soon enough. He was sometimes subtle, but rarely indirect. He indicated an empty chair, and she took it, nodding a polite thanks. She laughed internally considering how they did go through the motions of politeness.

 

“I have had news from Cairhien. This morning.†Rahvin watched her closely, gauging her reaction. Nothing showed on her face, and she said nothing. News from Cairhien meant he had news of al’Thor, which could be anything from momentous to disastrous, considering their plans, but letting him see a reaction would let him know that she had no report from her sources close to al’Thor yet. She was not about to expose that weakness here, in his territory.

 

“There was an attack on al’Thor this morning. At the docks in Cairhien. An attack using the Power.†Rahvin stopped to await her reaction again.

 

This time she responded, sounding idly amused, although her thoughts were racing. “Lanfear will not be pleased. Should I expect her to be joining us?†She looked around slightly as if seeking an opening gateway. A goblet of wine floated itself to her, and she smiled as she accepted it. Then set it on the small table next to her.

 

Rahvin half-smiled at her, almost smugly this time. “I doubt that,†he said. “She was the attacker.â€

 

A quickly suppressed moment of panic slid through her emotions. Nothing showed on her face. Lanfear had attacked al’Thor? Openly enough for Rahvin to have news this quickly? Her mind ran through the ramifications in moments. She must have confronted him somehow, and finally concluded that he would never return her love for him. She was emotionally dispassionate on every point but that one. When it came to Lews Therin, though, she could be as irrational as a young girl sighing over her first man. She suddenly wondered if it had been Rand al’Thor that had rejected Lanfear, or Lews Therin. She knew that al’Thor could be mad, that he could be hearing Lews Therin Telamon’s voice, sharing his memories. If he was more than just a farmboy. She hated not knowing. That would make him much more dangerous, more unpredictable. It would also give him knowledge. These primitives were quite capable of producing enough surprises on their own, as Be’lal and Ishamael had discovered. If enough knowledge seeped through from the Kinslayer …

 

“I’m sure you see what this means, Graendal,†Rahvin interrupted her thoughts. He looked as if he couldn’t decide whether to smile at her lack of knowledge or grimace at the unraveling of their plan. The fool.

 

“Of course I can,†she let a little irritation show. He would know she was feeling that, at least, and if he didn’t see it he would know that she was hiding much more. “I’m hardly a fool. Does Sammael know?†She disliked having to ask anything, but asking in this case was preferable to not knowing.

 

“Not from me,†he replied. “When I called him he was …. occupied. But you can believe that he soon will, if he does not already. Perhaps he does, and that is why he would not come. Perhaps … bajad drovja …†he cut off with a snarl. And she heard lightning smash outside, nearby, in the city.

 

The pieces suddenly fit in her mind. “He’s here, isn’t he? He just set off one of your traps.†The flicker on his face was all she needed. He knew, and he knew that she knew.

 

“Yes.†He had regained his calm, as he stood. “Link with me, and we will meet him as planned.†Now he smiled again. “It is fortunate that I wanted to share the news with you.â€

 

“This is not the plan. The plan was for three of us to take him from behind while he was occupied with Sammael. I’m not here to defend you.†She had no intention of risking al’Thor’s strength head on. Between Asmodean to teach him, and Lews Therin to remember for him, such a confrontation was far too risky. If he had beaten Lanfear … “I think I will go home now.†She embraced saidar.

 

Rahvin stepped forward, really snarling now, and took hold of her wrist. “We agreed Graendal. There is no time for your games. Link with me now and we can take him.†He looked as if he actually expected her to do it, too.

 

She let her face go dead cold. “Do you want to start a fight with me? You seem to have a lot on your plate already.†She gestured outside, just as lightning crashed again. This time it seemed to strike a shield, instead of the ground. This al’Thor knew far too much for her comfort. “I am leaving now.†A gateway opened beside her, the edge nearly clipping Rahvin.

 

He released her, sneering now. “Go, then. Flee like the Spider. But when I finish al’Thor, I will come for you.†Typical.

 

“I’ll be sure to prepare you a gift, Rahvin.†She let her real feelings creep into that one, but his sneer only deepened. He was turning as she stepped through her gateway, ready to counter any parting gifts of his own he might send after her.

 

But nothing came. As she let the gateway close, she indulged in a shiver. She had long since learned to acknowledge her emotions, even ones she did not show, and what she felt now was very close to sheer terror. How much did al’Thor know? Had he gotten information from Lanfear? How could he have killed her? Every indication was that he had a weakness for women, and he had been unable to confront or kill her before. Was this an indication that Lews Therin was in control? Or was it just that Lanfear had forced the issue this time?

 

One of her pets, a Seanchan girl of heart stopping beauty, offered her a glass of wine, perfectly chilled. She frowned, sending the girl gliding away, gracefully but quickly, as she sat in her most comfortable chair. Her thoughts were spinning. How much did he know? Most importantly, did he know enough to come for her? She had made preparations to leave Arad Doman, but she did not want to give up her plans here for nothing. She did not want to face al’Thor either. Or Lews Therin. And what if Rahvin won? She did not give him much chance though. Ishamael had been mad, but he had always been powerful. And Aginor had been as strong as Rahvin was. And Lanfear was as strong as any, and dangerous. If he had beaten them he would beat Rahvin. He would beat any of them who tried to face him directly.

 

She needed information, more than anything right now. She stood, and spun another gateway, this one to a room in Cairhien. I must find out what happened on those docks this morning, she thought, and for once, I know al’Thor is busy.

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

 

Perhaps two hours later, Graendal smiled, as a gate opened again in Caemlyn, this time into an unoccupied room in the servant’s quarters. Her time in Cairhien had been profitable. The right questions asked, the lightest tweaking of a mind, had given her knowledge on which to act. It seemed al’Thor was still himself, at least for the time being. And it seemed he had been aimed at Rahvin by something else … the timing of Lanfear’s attack was coincidental. It seemed an impossible chance, yet … al’Thor was ta’veren at the least, if not Lews Therin returned, and the unlikely was to be expected. Still, she had no indications that he knew anything more about her. Which was anything at all. She would not have to leave Arad Doman yet.

 

Now, it was time to discover what had occurred in Caemlyn. She came well disguised, an inverted Mask of Mirrors making her appear as a time-worn, somewhat dumpy old servant. She wore a most unremarkable face, and had concealed her ability to channel. There was some information that she needed firsthand. And an opportunity.

 

She had never liked the idea of al’Thor having a teacher, even one as pathetic as Asmodean. The boy was dangerous already, and had possible sources of information and knowledge that made him more so. It was foolhardy to leave him any teacher. She was sure Lanfear had only done it to humor the boy, because she was sure that she could snare him for herself. And he would be a stronger ally to her, taught. Well, Lanfear was gone, now, and Graendal had no intention of allying with al’Thor. She would not even risk taking him as a pet. But Asmodean had come here with him.

 

Servants can move almost unnoticed even in times of crisis. And this crisis was apparently winding down, with al’Thor the victor. She saw his Aiel … amusement drifted through her awareness, their ancestors would be appalled … securing various areas of the Royal Palace. As she moved through the halls, observing, the very lightest touches of inverted weaves were sufficient to remove the interest of anyone who did not ignore her, as most did, with her disguise.

 

Walking along the halls, her saidar enhanced hearing picked up many bits of conversation. Some she understood, others she filed away for later consideration. Some made chilling sense suddenly, as she noticed a gash in the stone wall near her, perfectly smooth, smoother than any hand could work. Balefire. That was something she was sure she wished al’Thor did not know. Turning to look out a nearby window into the Palace gardens, she saw a lovely Aiel girl … almost lovely enough … who could channel with decent strength, it seemed, and a young man, with a wide brimmed hat pulled low, sitting on the coping.

 

And Asmodean.

 

Smiling to herself, she quickly ensured that no one was in this short hall with her. Then again, she thought, there is sometimes a time for balefire. Not enough to remove Asmodean’s teaching of course … even removing a full day’s worth of thread from the Pattern required quite a bit of the Power, and would not go unnoticed, but a tiny web, inverted … Graendal smiled as Asmodean moved away from the pair, tucking his harp under his arm. Coming right toward her.

 

She prepared herself, reveling in what would be a rare pleasure. The chance to act, and no one, not even that so-called Aiel girl, would know what had happened. Al’Thor would surely wonder. Had Asmodean left? Had he found a way to break his shield? She allowed herself a heartfelt smile. A silent, anonymous blow. Asmodean was no threat, shielded as Lanfear had described. And if she could not remove the teaching, at least she would stop al’Thor from learning more from this source. One last lesson for the reluctant teacher, she thought.

 

Moving into position, she watched the door opening. Asmodean took one step through, and she dropped the Mask. He looked up and saw her, smiling a death cold smile. He had to know he was doomed.

 

“You? No!â€

 

The word still hung in the air as death took him. The thinnest inverted web, a tiny incandescent thread of balefire that she cut off just as it touched him. Enough to kill, removing almost nothing from the pattern, but leaving no body for al’Thor to puzzle over. Her smile widened as he reversed colors, and became drifting motes that quickly vanished into nothing. One fewer to deal with.

 

She had learned enough here. Rather than replace her disguise, she simply opened a gateway, inverted of course, the girl outside would certainly feel it otherwise, and stepped into it, leaving nothing but silence in the hall behind her.

[RobertAlexWillis]

I'm bumping this, in the hopes that someone will actually take the time to read it.

[Guest Egwene]

Hey, give us a minute to get to it...lol.

 

Ok... first question: when are you going to start doing a theory story on a Memory of Light? Tomorrow would be good :D

 

Totally loved it. I thought the end was a bit rushed. Asmo's facial expression, something about his emotions, should be in there. Send me a PM alert if you're doing any more... it's almost a mini WoT fix *g*

 

...though I still feel Moiraine is the more likely candidate. Wish I had your talent and could write her PoV. Thanks for the treat :P

.

[RobertAlexWillis]

That would be a DIFFICULT exercise in creativity.

 

I like a challenge ...

 

We'll see. But you'll definitely be the first to know if it happens, and thanks for your input!

[Cybertrolloc]

Good Jordan style, perhaps add a few more clothing descriptions? (Rahvin and his hangerson) ;)

 

Don't like that the others know about Lanfear's shield: that would raise some tough questions. Also don't like the aspect of Asmo heading right for Graendal to get whacked.

[RobertAlexWillis]

A good point about the shield ... a case of my reader's knowledge slipping in perhaps, since I just glanced back and couldn't find a reference from which Graendal would know. Nevertheless, I think she would be confident of her ability to beat Asmodean when she had the drop on him. The other Forsaken universally regarded him as weak.

 

And yes, I DID forget to mention the pattern of seed pearls on Arymilla's dress (or to mention her by name) or the intricate pattern engraved on Graendal's cup ... <sigh> I guess I'll never be the master :lol:

[havoc110]

Strong work, RAW. And good of you to post it for us to enjoy.

 

Slightly different than my own timeline of events, as we've gone over on the Asmo thread, but very similar. While I don't necessarily believe in the Graendal/Rahvin meeting, it's nevertheless plausible, well done, and entertaining to read.

 

But from "I must find out what happened on those docks this morning...", your Graendal POV versions of FOH chapters 54 thru 56 are very similar to my own take on what Graendal was up to.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Thanks Havoc. I admit the Rahvin meeting is purely speculative, (the whole thing is truthfully, but I find it plausible) I just wanted to watch them spit at each other. If I had taken more than a morning to polish it, I could have worked that up a bit.

[havoc110]

Oh, and regarding Asmo's shield. It was not put forward by Lanfear in the text "on camera". But it is not known whether or not it was revealed "off camera". It would certainly be in character for Lanfear to keep such knowledge hidden. But one can assume there were other meetings regarding the planning of the Illian trap, indeed we only get a small part of the meeting in T'A'R in ch. 34. It might have been necessary for Lanfear to divulge the shield to assuage the more reluctant participants (Sammy).

[RobertAlexWillis]

Yeah, cybertrolloc mentioned that too. She would still have been pretty sure she could take him easily though, he was pretty much universally dismissed by the rest of the Forsaken, strengthwise.

[Guest cwestervelt]

havoc110: Oh, and regarding Asmo's shield. It was not put forward by Lanfear in the text "on camera". But it is not known whether or not it was revealed "off camera". It would certainly be in character for Lanfear to keep such knowledge hidden. But one can assume there were other meetings regarding the planning of the Illian trap, indeed we only get a small part of the meeting in T'A'R in ch. 34. It might have been necessary for Lanfear to divulge the shield to assuage the more reluctant participants (Sammy).

 

She might as well tell them the truth about how she wrapped Asmodean up as a gift for Rand as tell them about the shield. She wanted the others to think Asmodean the betrayor, not the betrayed, so there is no way she would tell them about the shield she put on Asmodean. If the Forsaken knew that Lanfear had already betrayed one of their number to Rand, they would never have gone along with the plan. Trusting her after she revealed that would be tantamount to signing their own death warants.

[havoc110]

Easily remedied by naming Rand as the source of the shield. I did not say the Lanfear would divulge her knowledge of what happened in Rhuidean at the end of TSR, I said she would divulge the fact that Asmo was shielded. I mean, Rand's going to let a full powered Forsaken hang about him with no safeguards?

 

As for the others, I don't think there is any question where Lanfear's priorities are. Don't you think her feelings toward LTT are public knowledge? Graendal says exactly as much in the Prologue. Yet she's in this alliance anyway, and her jealous rage gets the best of her, and with it go Graendal & Co.'s best laid plans.

[Guest cwestervelt]

If Rand could do that already, why would Asmodean's teaching make Rand more of a threat in their eyes? Besides, it would make the other Forsaken see Asmodean as the prisoner he was instead of the traitor Lanfear wanted them to see. All of them understand self-preservation.

 

Knowing he wasn't a traitor would eliminate the prime motive for any of the Forsaken to kill Asmodean. If the shield was common knowledge, then the case against any of them, including Graendal, gets a lot weaker. Rather than killing him, they would have offered him some form of way out. He would jump at the opportunity and whichever Forsaken it was would have a hold on him. All you would leave yourself with is means. You would need to come up with both opportunity and motive.

[RobertAlexWillis]

You know, Asmodean knows all the Forsaken better than we do, and he assumes they'll kill him on sight. HE sure thinks they have a motive. Why would any of them offer him a way out? Unless he was bound as their slave, essentially, and I think he'd rather be Rand's underling than a slave to one of them.

 

And it may well be that Graendal didn't know about the shield. She would still have been pretty sure she could take him, especially dropping in by surprise.

[Guest cwestervelt]

Bound as a slave is pretty much what I had in mind by having a hold on him. Sammael and Graendal both showed the desire to outmanouver the other for advantage in personal schemes.

[Cam]

wowo that is damn good

i read it all...very nice, i like your writing style, lot like rj's

[Zacharias]

Well it was an interesting read.

 

I certaintly never thought i was reading Robert Jordan's writings, it bore very little resemblance to his style - but it was interesting in its own right.

 

I really don't believe Graendal had anything to do with it either, its all a bit farcical...

 

But nice job anyway!

[RobertAlexWillis]

Bound as a slave is pretty much what I had in mind by having a hold on him.

 

I guess I'm just going by what Asmodean thought. He knew the others as well as anyone could, and he was pretty sure they would simply kill him.

 

Well it was an interesting read.

 

I certaintly never thought i was reading Robert Jordan's writings, it bore very little resemblance to his style - but it was interesting in its own right.

 

I really don't believe Graendal had anything to do with it either, its all a bit farcical...

 

But nice job anyway!

 

Thanks for your input. I agree that I'm not remotely the writer Jordan is. Without going into detail (there's another thread for that) who do you think it was?

[Guest cwestervelt]

RobertAlexWillis: I guess I'm just going by what Asmodean thought. He knew the others as well as anyone could, and he was pretty sure they would simply kill him.

 

Asmodean's PoV was colored by the fact that he expected Lanfear to sell him out to the others in an effort to protect her own hide. He knew she wouldn't admit duplicity in him going over to Rand. As such, it is natural for him to think the others would kill him on sight. Had he expected Lanfear to pass on the information he was a prisoner, as some are proposing by her making the shield common knowledge, his PoV would have not necessarily be the same.

[RobertAlexWillis]

Um, she clearly did not make him out as a prisoner, judging by Sammael, Graendal, and Rahvin's reactions. They were pissed that he had "gone over". Graendal was concerned that he was teaching al'Thor. They considered him a "weak ally" of al'Thor's. I dont think they regarded him as a prisoner at all.

 

Which does make it less likely that Lanfear told them of the shield. That is a weakness in my little story as written. However, given their pure unblinking assessments of him as "weak" and "pathetic", any one of them would certainly have felt able to overwhelm him quickly, shielded or not.

[havoc110]

CW, I'm a going to have to half agree/half disagree with you on this one, but it doesn't make perfect sense that Rand would just let Asmo walk around at full strength.

 

Yes, Lanfear has to make Asmo out to be a traitor rather than a traitor/prisoner. But it still doesn't make a whole picture.

 

They did have to plan for contigencies in the Illian plot, and Sammy was scared without any mention of the Dragon's full-strength traitorous teacher coming along. (Although I am dubious as to Asmo's full strength might, I think it nevertheless tips the scales enough to have put it in the planning).

 

The "weak ally as he is" comment indicates either didsain for Asmo at full strength or common knowledge of the shield (or maybe even both).

 

While I am less sure of the knowledge of the shield, note the implied difference in Lanfear's wording compared to something else she could have said in that instance like "weak ally that he is". I know it is a small semantic point, and in some cases "as" and "that" are interchangeable, but also in some cases they indicate subtle differences.

 

In my mind it leaves it ambiguous as if the shield was divulged, and your arguments against it do make sense for it to still be hidden.