Rand returns to The Queen’s Man and tells Master Gill and Loial all about his adventure. They’re interrupted when the Whitecloaks arrive looking for Perrin and Egwene, but Master Gill gets rid of them. A serving maid announces Moiraine’s arrival, and the gang finally reunites — just in time for Mat to fully commit to being demonically possessed. Let the exorcism begin.
Rand hurries back to The Queen’s Man and finds Master Gill playing stones with Loial.
RAND: Master Gill, you won’t believe where I’ve been. I accidentally trespassed on palace grounds, and I ended up meeting Queen Morgase and her children! Elaida was there, too.
MASTER GILL: Holy shit, boy. I told you to stay away from that harpy, not go say hello. You’ve got to get the fuck out of here.
LOIAL: Can I come with you?
RAND: Dude, I already told you no.
LOIAL: Pleeeeeease?
RAND: Ok, fine!
SERVING MAID: Master Gill, there are Whitecloaks in the common room.
MASTER GILL: Fuck my life.
Rand peeks into the common room after Master Gill. The Whitecloaks are hunting a Darkfriend boy from the Two Rivers. Someone needs to tell this guy to take a fucking number. Gill doesn’t blink — with his own guards at his back, he lays into the Whitecloaks and tells them to piss off.
Gill barely catches his breath before the serving girl reappears — now with news of a lady in the kitchen asking for Rand and Mat by name. Figuring it can only mean one thing, Rand rushes into the kitchen and is reunited with Moiraine, Lan, Nynaeve, Egwene, and Perrin.
Everyone heads upstairs ahead of Moiraine to see Mat, who is now operating in full Exorcist mode, rasping out utterances that Beetlejuice would be proud of. It’s all ‘Pretty Nynaeve,’ ‘Pretty Egwene,’ and ‘My, my, Perrin—your eyes have changed.’ But let’s be real — if Jordan weren’t running this novel like it’s a family-friendly theme park, Mat’s comments would have made HBO blush.
Moiraine instantly senses the evil energy when she comes into the room and orders everyone to stand away from Mat. She touches Mat’s knee, and he lashes out with the ruby handled dagger, coming within inches of Moiraine’s face — before Lan snags his wrist mid-swing. Moiraine explains that the dagger is why the Darkfriends had such an easy time finding Rand and Mat on their journey to Caemlyn. Lan adds that it’s why Trollocs are massed outside — either waiting to pounce when they leave or burn Caemlyn to the ground if they stay.
For the time being, Moiraine whips out her angreal and tells everyone to clear out — because the exorcism is about to begin.