At Aringill, Mat and Thom find horses and a hayloft to sleep in. Mat rescues an Illuminator, and in thanks she gives him a set of fireworks.
The Gray Gull finally pulls into Aringill, much to Captain Mallia’s relief. The riverboat captain seems indifferent to Thom, but glad to be rid of Mat. The gambler has filled more purses by relieving the captain of his coin, and the ship needs to restock their pantry on account of his ravenous appetite.
Mat seems to think that people are trying to kill him because of the letter he bears from Elayne to Queen Morgase, so he opens it. Finding nothing of consequence, he’s left scratching his head. Why would anyone want to kill me? I’m such a lovable guy. Yes, dude, you are — but remember that time the Amyrlin said the Horn of Valere wouldn’t work for anyone else until you’re dead?!? Gosh, I don’t know — could that maybe have something to do with it?
The Aringill docks are a crowded mess of refugees who have been streaming across the border from Cairhien. Mat and Thom have to visit five inns before finding one where they can finagle their way into sleeping in the stable’s hayloft. They bed down for the night, but a woman enters the stables pulling a cart; a man and his companions arrive shortly thereafter.
The woman’s name is Aludra, and she is being pursued by Tammuz. They weren’t worth mentioning at the time, but we saw these characters in The Great Hunt when Rand wandered into the Illuminators’ compound outside Cairhien and lit the whole fucking place on fire. Aludra took the blame for it, so she was expelled from the guild. Illuminators are known to resort to murder to protect their secrets, and Tammuz means to ensure she doesn’t see another sunrise.
Mat leaps from the hayloft and lays out Tammuz and his goons. In thanks, Aludra gives Mat a roll of fireworks and quickly moves on. Mat and Thom do the same, taking to the horses they bought from the innkeeper.
Well — that was unexpected and slightly awkward to see those characters pop up again, but this chapter clearly has a goal: put a huge bundle of fireworks into the hands of the series’ biggest prankster. You know what this means, right? Stay tuned, because Mat is definitely gonna blow some shit up!