The Eye of the World - R.J.

"The Wisdom looked at Lan silently for a long time, then poured a cup of tea and brought it to him. When he reached out with a murmur of thanks, she did not let go right away.
"I should have known you would be a king," she said quietly. Her eyes were steady on the Warder's face, but her voice trembled slightly.
Lan looked back at her just as intently. It seemed to Rand that the Warder's face actually softened.
"I am not a king, Nynaeve. Just a man. A man without as much to his name as even the meanest farmer's croft."
Nynaeve's voice steadied. "Some women don't ask for land, or gold. Just the man."
"And the man who would ask her to accept so little would not be worthy of her. You are a remarkable woman, as beautiful as the sunrise, as fierce as a warrior. You are a lioness, Wisdom."
"A Wisdom seldom weds." She paused to take a deep breath, as if steeling herself. "But if I go to Tar Valon, it may be that I will be something other than a Wisdom."
"Aes Sedai marry as seldom as Wisdoms. Few men can live with so much power in a wife, dimming them by her radiance whether she wishes to or not."
"Some men are strong enough. I know one such." If there could have been any doubt, her look left none as to whom she meant.
"All I have is a sword, and a war I cannot win, but can never stop fighting. "
"I've told you I care nothing for that. Light, you've made me say more than is proper already. Will you shame me to the point of asking you?"
"I will never shame you." The gentle tone, like a caress, sounded odd to Rand's ears in the Warder's voice, but it made Nynaeve's eyes brighten. "I will hate the man you choose because he is not me, and love him if he makes you smile. No woman deserves the sure knowledge of widow's black as her brideprice, you least of all." He set the untouched cup on the ground and rose. "I must check the horses." "


By all gods known to man, men are stupid.