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The captain of the Marla gave Isein a sad smile, he could see the suspicion in the man's eyes and he did not know if it was the madness that made him distrustful of everyone or just the fact that this man was hunted and hated by all he met. Captain Akan sigh, was he really doing the right thing, what if this man became a madman...a madman with the power to destroy a village with a thought, perhaps even more, destroy a whole city. Akan looked down at his old, wrinkled hands, they where leathery and marked by hard word and having been outside in all kinds of weather, and once they had caressed his son Cadan's face, the now old hands had steadied Cadan when the little boy first learned to walk, they had embraced him when he told his father he had found a woman to marry, and these hands had built his funeral pyre when the Aes Sedai was done with him. No it did not matter what his passenger might become, he would not leave another man to the fate the Aes Sedai intended for him, not if he could help it.
"In the next port town, ask for a man named Cruger, tell him that Akan sent you and that if he get you safely up river then we are even for the help I gave him last autumn. Cruger have a fast ship, The Riverfox, he is you best bet."
With that Akan stood, he had work to do and he did not want to dwell on what he had just done.
"Good day to you, and one more advice stranger before I get back to work. If you are ever cornered and you are about to be captured by the women who are after you, run yourself through with your own blade rather than let yourself be captured, trust me it would be a kinder fate."
Akan's eyes had turned dark as he spoke, he could well remember the hopeless, tormented look, the look of one already dead inside that he had seen in his son's eyes after what the Aes Sedai had done with him, surly death was better than that. Akan looked at this strange passenger for one moment longer then he walked away
The Marla went to port in a small town, there where little to it save the docks and the houses of the men and woman working it as well as a few shops and an inn, the place was little more than a village really. Isein had just begun to negotiate passage when he notices someone following him, and not very skillfully, a lanky young man with light brown hair and blue eyes hid behind some barrels and watched Isein, at least the boy had the decency to abandon his flimsy attempt sneak around once he saw that Isein had seen him. Tedin, the fishing boat captain's grandson where just slightly on the tall side and slender of built, the boy was probably nineteen or twenty years old with intelligence and curiosity in his bright blue eyes.
"My grandfather do not want me to talk with you."
Tedin begin by saying, he lifted one hand and nervously scratched his head.
"I am sorry for sneaking after you but while grandfather do not approve I had to. The way grandfather ordered me not to have anything to do with you is very strange, but what is stranger is that I found him bellow deck looking at the sketch a street artist once did of my father, grandfather never look at that drawing anymore so you must have reminded him of him for some reason. Stranger listen, I only remember my father a little, he died when I was so young, but I know he was hunted and I know something horrible happened to him...and I...if you remind my grandfather of my father I...I don't know I wanted to talk with you, perhaps you could shed some light of what happened to my father for no one is telling me anything."
***
Viera stood watching as her ship docked, she had kept the Marla in her sights for hours now but she did not want to confront a male channeler on the river, to much could go wrong, no it would be better to wait until he was on dry land. Hopefully this man was not experienced so that she could handle him alone, for what she was doing was woefully dangerous, if the man could control his powers than more likely than not he would swat a sister alone away like a fly and probably not be to amused by the attempt to capture him. Well be that as it may, her fate was up to the Wheel and the Creator, Viera had sent doves to the Tower informing them on what direction the male channeler was heading and as much of a description as she had, if she failed, they would find him eventually, though Viera hoped that if she failed it would not mean her death.
As soon as Viera put her foot on the shore she begun to plot how to find and deal with this man, she did not like to do it where there was people around, but it was better than doing it on a ship. Yes, she would have to be discreet and hurry, she if she could find him and then shield him and once he was shielded it would be easy to bind him in air and then get some herbs to give him to make him sleep until she could get help from more of her sisters to safety transport him to Tar Valon...the first step however was to find him. With that in mind Viera begun to walk towards the docks.
