The Shadow Rising/Chapter 9

==Summary==
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Mat attempts to find anyone in the Stone who will still want to dice or play cards with him. But for three days the lords ignore him or make excuses. The maids even make excuses or just tell him that it is not safe to be alone with him. Thom all but disappears on him and Perrin seems involved with his own problems, but Moiraine always seems to be where he is. He visits the Great Holding once, but turns away, muttering about the foolishness of his actions. Whatever holds him against leaving doesn't stop him from going to the Maule, the port district, or the inns in the Chalm.
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Perrin also visits taverns, sometimes crossing paths with Mat, but he doesn't engage his friend. Instead, he seeks something that will catch Faile's interest so she will leave Tear, and the danger that comes with being near him. Old rumors of the Seanchan and the Horn of Valere have reached Tear, each telling more preposterous than the last. He also hears of riots in Ghealdan, outbreaks of mass madness in Illian, famine in Cairhien, and Trolloc raids increasing in the Borderlands. These situations are all too dangerous to send Faile into so he dismisses them. The guilt of hiding his comings and goings from Faile start to burden him, but he continues the effort of sending her away before he gets her killed.
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Egwene and Nynaeve spend more time interrogating Joiya and Amico without making any progress on finding the truth behind the supposed Black Ajah plots to free Mazrim Taim and to bind the Dragon Reborn with some device in Tanchico. Amico seems fearful and eager to please while Joiya is only calm and mocking. No messages have come from Tar Valon in response to Moiraine's pigeons about Mazrim Taim. Egwene and Aviendha spend more time with one another, as Nynaeve is too busy spending time with Lan while Elayne continues pursuing Rand. Aviendha has a drastically different worldview; she believes Elayne should simply challenge Berelain to a duel and kill her, or Egwene could do it for her. Aviendha is also shocked to find Egwene with her body submerged in a bathtub full of water, as the Aiel would never waste water in such a fashion.
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Elayne spends three days improving her relationship with Rand. The Maidens cooperate with her, letting her know when Rand is alone. He even asks her advice in the governing of a nation, and often even takes that advice, making her love him all the more. She enjoys these days immensely but knows they cannot last.
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Rand continues making decrees to the High Lords. He senses their boldness and devises a way to use them so they won't have the time to plot his assassination. He refuses to start a war, regardless of Moiraine's demands. Forming those plans took the bulk of his days, that and long walks with Elayne. He conducts a meeting with Meilan Mendiana and Sunamon Haellin about his treaty with Mayene and the First, Berelain. Their actions spark his temper and he burns the treaty in Meilan's hands with saidin, promising to hang the two of them if they do not obey him and meet with Berelain to draft a fair treaty. Alone, he studies the herons on his palms, quoting the prophecies that predicted them, and muses about the dragons that he must bear that the same prophecy predicts and wondering what they might be.
A voice interrupts his thoughts. He spins toward a young woman with dark hair, the Lady Selene. She comments about how much harder he has become, and that she will claim him as her own. She admits that she is Lanfear, one of the Chosen. At first, Rand thinks it a poor joke until he cannot reach the True Source through her shield. He backs toward Callandor and hits a wall of Air blocking him from the sword. She shows him what she claims is her true appearance, and Rand marvels how she can be older, yet more beautiful than Selene. He asks if she will kill him. She laughs, admitting that she wants him for her own. Rand responds that she actually loves power, shocking them both.
Lanfear regains her confidence and lays out her plans for him, to give him a teacher before the other Chosen strike. She says that Asmodean is willing to teach him. She claims that the Chosen fear that the Great Lord of the Dark will place Rand higher than them. Rand notices a man in drab clothing slipping through the doors with a knife in his hands. By instinct, Rand pushes Lanfear behind him and finds his shield gone as he kills the Gray Man with his flaming sword. He questions why Lanfear would bother sending a Gray Man to kill him but she does not use the Soulless and says it must have been another Chosen. Rand then remembers the Aiel guards outside who would not have let a Gray Man slip past them, and questions Lanfear about them. She says that she did not do anything to them and warns him to stay inside the room for safety. He leaves Lanfear and steps out into madness.
==Characters==
*Mat
*Perrin
*Egwene
*Elayne
*Rand
*Nynaeve
*Joiya Byir
*Amico Nagoyin
*Aviendha
*Meilan Mendiana
*Sunamon Haellin
*Lanfear
===Referenced===
*Thom
* Moiraine
*Artur Hawkwing
*Faile
*Mazrim Taim
*Siuan - as Amyrlin
*Berelain
* Lan
*Morgase
*Sammael
* Torean Andiama
*Lews Therin
*Aginor
*Balthamel
*Rahvin
* Moghedien
*Asmodean
==Places==
*Stone of Tear
*Tear
===Referenced===
*Spine of the World
*Maule
*Aryth Ocean
*Ghealdan
*Illian
*Cairhien
*Borderlands
*Saldaea
*Tar Valon
*Tanchico
*Tarabon
*Mayene
*Shayol Ghul
==Items==
*Callandor
===Referenced===
*Horn of Valere
==Culture==
===Sword Forms===
*The Wind Blows Over the Wall
*At least one edition has the wheel icon for this chapter.