Egwene, Verin, Elayne, Nynaeve, Mat, and Hurin travel toward Tar Valon, urgently needing to secure the Horn and heal Mat. When Dain Bornhald and a group of Whitecloaks accosts them, Egwene handles the situation in the worst imaginable way.
In this chapter, Perrin — does nothing! Wolf Boy slides back into obscurity, where he belongs. I looked ahead, and I hope he’s comfortable on that shelf, because he’s going to be there until chapter thirty-three. Instead, we’re with Egwene, who is traveling to Tar Valon with Verin, Elayne, Nynaeve, Mat, and Hurin. Mat is in bad shape, carried on a litter.
The group encounters a troop of Whitecloaks, led by Dain Bornhald. This is the same snide little fart we met in Baerlon back in The Eye of the World, who tried to stop them from leaving the city. You might think that he would recognize Egwene, Nynaeve, and Mat — but this guy probably bullies so many people every day that they wouldn’t stick in his memory.
What Dain does have fresh in his memory is Jaret Byar’s report that his father died fighting against “Tar Valon witches” in the battle at Falme, so he’s none too pleased to see Aes Sedai. It’s a tense situation, owing to Mat’s worsening condition and the fact that the Horn of fucking Valere is nestled between his heels.
Verin is in the middle of talking her way past him when Egwene reminds us what a dumbass she is by making the ground in front of Bornhald’s horse explode. Honestly, what is it with her and blowing up the ground? The same thing happened in Falme after she was freed. Keep this up, and she’ll be known as the human land-mine. Nynaeve and Elayne quickly follow suit, and Bornhald’s men run away faster than King Arthur fled from the Rabbit of Caerbannog.
Verin is furious, and berates the three acolytes for acting so irresponsibly with the Power. Egwene attempts to apologize to Bornhald, but instead executes a masterstroke of dumb-fuckery when she tells him they have come from Toman Head. Well done, Egwene! Most people have a fully formed theory of mind at your age, but yours seems to have stunted around the age of five.
The group continues on their journey to Tar Valon as Dain Bornhald hurls threats of revenge at their backs.