Mat hears a rumor about Whitecloaks invading the Two Rivers. He finds Perrin already preparing to make the journey, but is strangely incapable of volunteering to come with.
Mat is hanging out in a tavern trying to forget how he nearly died during the Trolloc raid. Even with a glass of wine, he isn’t doing a very good job of it. Between that and his thoughts drifting back to the redstone doorframe, he’s not in a great headspace at the moment.
A bit of conversation from a nearby table registers in Mat’s ear: something about the Two Rivers. The man who spoke it turns out to be a merchant who is not counting on receiving a shipment of Two Rivers tabac this year, on account of the Whitecloaks. Rumor has it they’ve gone into the Two Rivers, hunting the Dragon Reborn and a Darkfriend with yellow eyes.
Mat races back to the Stone and into Perrin’s room. Perrin, who has heard the rumor too, is getting ready to leave in the morning. Mat, on the other hand, seems to be physically incapable of saying he wants to go with Perrin.
MAT: Burn me, Perrin. Burn me! I want to g-g–See? I can’t even say it!
Perrin chalks it up to fate and promises to look after Mat’s family.
After leaving Perrin’s room, Mat encounters Berelain in the hallway. He tries to flirt with her, but she breezes past without so much as a word. He’s indignant at first, but then realizes he’s just trying to distract himself from the uncomfortable truth: the Pattern is pulling at him. And if I were a gambling man like Mat, my money would be on it pulling him toward a certain redstone doorframe in the bowels of the Stone.