Moiraine and Siuan receive their yearly stipend of 1,000 gold pieces. Moiraine sees her banker and realizes she has to escape Tar Valon before she is used as a puppet in Cairhien politics, so she drags Siuan with her to buy dresses.
Siuan and Moiraine eagerly attend their very first meal in the Aes Sedai dining hall. Upon arriving in their resplendent Blue shawls, they find that it is not the norm for Aes Sedai to take their meals wearing the color of their Ajah. But they stick out like the fresh-faced noobs that they are: Siuan shrugs off the looks and smiles, and Moiraine… blushes and looks down to make sure she wasn’t in one of those dreams where she forgot to put on clothes.
After a luxuriant table service experience, Eadyth summons the two friends to give them their yearly stipend of 1,000 gold pieces. Siuan is over the moon, never having seen that amount of wealth before in her life, and promptly decides to deposit it in the White Tower’s bank.
Moiraine, on the other hand? We’ve been told that she is a member of one of the noble houses in Cairhien, but to see the way she yawns at the trifling sum of 1,000 gold pieces is a superior demonstration that she was indeed born with a silver rod shoved up her ass. So naturally, staying true to her entitled roots, Moiraine hires a litter to bear her to a bank in Tar Valon where she has apparently been stashing her considerable wealth.
At the bank, we see that Moiraine is on friendly terms with Mistress Dormaile, the proprietress of the branch, whom I will forthwith refer to as Door Mail. As the two ladies are making chit-chat, Moiraine learns that the White Tower has most definitely not forgotten about wanting to transform her into their very own puppet Queen of Cairhien: a man had been by nine days prior bearing a letter — supposedly from the Amyrlin Seat herself — ordering Door Mail to hand over information about Moiraine’s finances. Naturally, Door Mail is far too discreet to have complied, but Moiraine realizes that she needs to redouble her efforts to escape the White Tower.
MOIRAINE: Siuan, listen, we need to buy some dresses so we can get the fuck out of here!
SIUAN: Don’t we have enough already?
MOIRAINE: No! No, we don’t. Now get in this litter. We’re going to see the Mistress Alkohima.
SIUAN: Are you crazy? They’re charging a silver penny each! We’ll walk. I’m the leader, remember?
MOIRAINE: Not when I’m spooked, you’re not. Now I’m the bloody leader. Get in the litter!
At the seamstress’ workshop, Moiraine consults with Tamore about requirements for her dresses.
MOIRAINE: Let’s see… I’m going to need twenty dresses.
SIUAN: Twenty dresses! Where are you going to put them all? How will you carry them? Blood and ashes, is this the price tag? Is that in gold or silver?
MOIRAINE: Listen, bitch. You’re in my world now. You want it cheap? You’ll get it cheap. And much like Cairhien nobility, Aes Sedai do not wear cheap things.
With that out of the way, Moiraine feels better.