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Rand led Mat to a small room built for small meetings. It was much plainer than most of the rooms in the palace, there were no precious artworks or sculptures, and the chairs were made of plain wood, though finely crafted. Mat sat down across from Rand, and the door was closing when a hand firmly blocked it. Mat looked toward the door as Rand twisted to see whom it was. Elayne walked through with a proud and regal bearing, and managed to hold her dignity and be swept up in a kiss from Rand.
Mat smiled amusedly and Rand gestured for one minute and returned Elayne's kiss. While they were kissing, Nynaeve and Lan walked through the door. Mat sighed.
"Has this become a group meeting?" he said, the same time Nynaeve said, "Has this become a dark corner for kissing? Mat, you had better find yourself a woman. You wouldn't want to be alone, would you?" They both glared at each other for their comments, and Nynaeve sniffed and tugged her braid. The silence was broken when Rand decided to go up for air.
"Actually, I really do have some news," he said. Mat asked the question that was burning him since the time he heard the phrase Lord Perrin Goldeneyes.
" What Lord and what Goldeneyes?"
" There was an invasion of the Two Rivers," Rand began. He recounted the tale of Perrin's return, and his battles against the Trollocs, along with his eventual victory, and his marriage to Faile. He also told about the Whitecloaks, and Dain Bornhald. Mat listened to the whole tale without making a single joke, sympathizing with Perrin about his family, inquiring about his father and Rand's, and asking how the town was after the events.
Rand answered the questions as best he could, and also explained the banners of Manetheren and the wolf's head banner that Perrin had adopted. Elayne nodded at this part, looking as if something that was puzzling her had been explained.
After Perrin's story, Rand told them about what had been happening to him since their parting, though he grimaced when he spoke of his imprisonment and Dumai's Wells. He passed over the topic quickly, and it was plain to see the memories were not pleasant. He also told of the various Asha'man's betrayal, and he spoke of what he would do about Taim's treachery.
When it was all through, Rand asked to hear what Mat had been doing. Mat told him about all that had happened, and about Ebou Dar, and even about Tylin and the embarrassments he had suffered. Even Elayne and Nynaeve looked on him with sympathy, and Lan became quite interesting in his pipe and tabac. Mat suspected the man only started because he wanted to hide his laughter. When he mentioned who Tuon was and what had happened with her, Rand looked at him with a knowing glance and nodded.
How much do you know? Curse you, Rand. Blood and bloody ashes! Dozens of curses ran through Mat's mind when he thought of what Rand would think of him. Rand, surprisingly, only smiled. They began to speak of old times, of memories, of fonder times when the two didn't worry about the problems of the world. They spoke of times when they both weren't burdened with the lives of men and the fate of the world.
"I have a mission for you, Mat. I would like you to clean the Seanchan out of Altara." Rand's statement was so calm it almost sounded like it fit into the conversation about memories and better, more peaceful, times. Rand noticed his shock but persisted.
"The Seanchan have too much of a hold, Mat. They hold almost the entire southwest. Though I have thoroughly discouraged any advance into Illian, they could still smash through Ghealdan, or Murandy, or Arad Doman. I cannot let them have such a firm grip of the southwest." Mat actually found himself agreeing with Rand, but he voiced his doubts.
"The Seanchan have massive armies, they number at least a hundred thousand, and they have damane besides! I don't mean to throw troops into the kind of meat grinder that the One Power can create, and I don't mean to go into that myself." He was satisfied that it was a sound argument, even though he knew Rand wouldn't relent.
"I can give you a party of Asha'man, Mat." When Mat shook his head furiously, Rand continued on more fervently.
"You have nothing to fear, Mat. The taint is gone. Gone. I can give you at least sixty thousand troops with no problems, with Shen an Calhar and the Legion you already have that much. If I also marshaled some of Illian's forces, you could match the Seanchan for manpower. And their damane will have a fairly tough meat to grind if Asha'man are with you." Mat could see the decision was as good as made, and he sighed heavily.
"You're right." He muttered some oaths, and then said in the Old Tongue, "It's time to roll the dice."
***
Mat was ready to ride the next day, and Rand made it clear that he himself would be with Mat's army when it challenged the Seanchan. Mat gave him a curt approval, and Rand clapped him on the shoulder like he did in the hall. Elayne asked if Rand would be back in time for the event, which was only several months distant, and Rand smiled and said yes. The two of them rode out of Caemlyn with the Legion of the Dragon and thirty Asha'man. The Legion numbered nearly thirty thousand, as did the Band of the Red Hand.
When Rand asked if he needed more, Mat said he was confident he could succeed with the army he had. It was an army not seen since Hawkwing's time, and before Rand had found out he was the Dragon Reborn it would have been one of the largest armies in the land. They marched out on a clear morning, and when they were a mere half-mile from the city Rand and the other channellers opened up gateways for the army to Travel through. Their first stop was Lugard, where the Band was, and then Ebou Dar.
The plan, devised by Mat and Davram Bashere, called for a brief attack upon Ebou Dar. It had to look, however, like a siege force. When the superior Seanchan forces attacked them, they would hold for a few hours and then retreat. The Seanchan, as far as Mat could see and learn from Tuon, were an arrogant people. Their Ever Victorious Army would pursue to completely crush the enemy, rather than be content that their city was protected. Even better, their most experienced general had died in the battles with Rand's forces. A young, inexperienced general would head the armies, eager for victory.
When they had retreated a significant distance from Ebou Dar, they would set up battle lines and set up battle lines as if to fight. By then the two armies were to be very far away from the cities. The Asha'man would open up gateways and the army would Travel again, to Ebou Dar, and take the city while its army was days away. The Seanchan would find they had been lured away and locked out of their own city, and without the siege weapons to successfully retake the city.
Rand had agreed the plan was very clever, but he also said that the Seanchan army was to be destroyed, not just thrown out into the countryside. Mat reassured him that the Seanchan would run immediately back to the city to try to retake it, and they could break the Seanchan host on the walls. You need at least three times the number of warriors in the besieging army compared to the defenders, and the Seanchan wouldn't have those numbers. Even better, the fact that half of Mat's command was crossbowmen would make the siege even harder. Archers were the perfect soldiers to hold a castle or city, as they could fire from the walls and constantly sting a besieging army.
Mat and Rand arrived in Lugard and Mat resumed command of the Band of the Red Hand. A comparatively small command of Tairen soldiers joined them, boosting their numbers further. The Band and the Legion formed up and stood silent and precise as the gateways began to open toward Ebou Dar. Some quickly made siege machines had been assembled and were pulled by teams of men as the army began to march through the gateways. The horde, nearly seventy thousand strong with the Tairens, marched onto the grasses that surrounded the city of Ebou Dar.
The catapults were hurriedly set up and began to throw stones. Massive boulders flew toward the city, slamming into the walls with building-shattering force. The siege, false as it was, had begun.
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