"That will not be necessary," Edelle said after a moment. "Boys running off are a bother, but only a bother." Her tone had slid a little further from "my Lady" than Daise’s, and plump Elwinn added a smile suitable for mother to young daughter.

"As long as we’re here, my dear, we really might as well mention something else. Water. You see, some of the people are worried."

"It hasn’t rained in months," Edelle added, and Daise nodded.

This time Faile did blink. They were too intelligent to think Perrin could do anything about that. "The springs are all still flowing, and Perrin has ordered more wells dug." Actually he had only suggested it, but it had come to the same thing, fortunately. "And long before planting time, the irrigation canals from the Waterwood will be done." That was her doing; half the fields in Saldaea were irrigated, but no one here had ever heard of the practice. "Anyway, the rains have to come sooner or later. The canals are only in case." Daise nodded again, slowly, and Elwinn and Edelle. But they knew all this as well as she.

"It isn’t the rain," Milla muttered. "Not exactly, anyway. It isn’t natural. You see, none of us can Listen to the Wind." She hunched her shoulders under the others’ sudden frowns. Plainly she was saying too much, and giving away secrets besides. Supposedly all the Wisdoms could predict the weather by Listening to the Wind; at least, they said that they all could. But even so Milla plowed on doggedly. "Well, we can’t! We look at clouds instead, and how the birds behave, and the ants and caterpillars and…" Drawing a deep breath, she straightened, but still avoided the other Wisdoms’ eyes. Faile wondered how she managed to deal with the Women’s Circle in Taren Ferry, much less the Village Council. Of course, they were as new at it as Milla; that village had lost its whole population when the Trollocs came, and everyone there now was new. "It isn’t natural, my Lady.