Egwene and Elayne visit Rand under the guise of helping him with channeling. Egwene confesses she doesn’t want to marry Rand, and to her relief the feeling is mutual. Egwene departs, conveniently forgetting to take Elayne with her.
Rand still has his nose buried in a book when Egwene and Elayne drop by.
EGWENE: Hi, Rand. We wanted to try helping you with channeling.
RAND: I’ve got to go remind the High Lords who rules Tear now. I do. The fucking Dragon Reborn. That’s who.
But surely Rand could spare a little time for his childhood friend, right? When Egwene puts it that way, Rand relents. They experiment a little and find that whenever Egwene or Elayne embrace saidar, Rand can vaguely sense it. Then they ask Rand to embrace saidin, but they can’t sense anything. Rand decides to prove he’s channeling by using a flow of Air to pinch Egwene’s butt. Elayne responds in kind. Holy shit. Settle the fuck down, everyone. This is a Robert Jordan novel, remember? Ixnay on the butt pinching, or you’re going to give our more sensitive readers a heart condition.
Egwene goads Rand to do something that isn’t so childish. He’s still feeling literally butt-hurt, so he shields both women from the Power, lifts them into the air, and makes the room erupt into chaos as various inanimate objects spring to life around them. Well then — how’s that for doing something with the One Power, bitch?
By the time it’s over, Egwene is shaken. She had known Rand was strong with the One Power, but she didn’t realize how strong until just now. She decides it is best if they just talk for the rest of the visit, sticking to conversation about how they embrace and control the One Power. Yawn.
Somehow, Egwene segues the conversation into telling Rand that she can’t marry him. After all, Galad makes her feel all gushy inside.
RAND: What a relief! I don’t want to marry you either.
I’ll bet Egwene wasn’t expecting to be cut loose quite so easily. She leaves the room, but Elayne remains seated. Oh boy. This is going to be awkward.