Perrin asks Loial to guide him to the Two Rivers through the Ways, and finds that Faile has already tricked Loial into allowing her to come with. Gaul volunteers to help Perrin against the Whitecloaks. Robert Jordan suddenly remembers that the Lan/Nynaeve romance has gone nowhere for the last two books.
In the morning, Perrin heads straight to Loial’s room, eager to leave. To his chagrin, Faile is already there, and she has gotten him to swear an oath to take her through the Ways wherever she wants to go. Holy shit. Normally Loial hates the idea of traveling the Ways. What did she do, suck his dick?
Perrin tells Loial about the Whitecloaks in the Two Rivers, and begs him for guidance through the Ways. Loial wants to help Perrin, but Faile insists that the Ogier’s oath to her comes first. She decrees that Loial will take her to the Two Rivers, and if Perrin wants to come with, he will have to ask her permission. Perrin stubbornly refuses. He will simply follow Loial and Faile through the Ways if he has to, but he refuses to make any concessions. Let me check the cover of the book again, because I’m seriously wondering if I started reading Pride and Prejudice by mistake.
Outside Loial’s room, Perrin encounters Gaul, who volunteers to accompany him to the Two Rivers. Perrin heartily accepts. I guess preschool attitudes only governs male/female interactions in this book.
Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne are also preparing to depart from Tear. It sounds like Elayne wrote a letter pouring her heart out to Rand, and told him not to open it until she leaves.
Suddenly, Robert Jordan remembers that he has completely ignored the Nynaeve/Lan romance subplot for two whole books. That’s right — the last time this flimsy relationship was explored was in The Great Hunt‘s Chapter 8: The Dragon Reborn, when Lan gave Nynaeve his Malkieri signet ring.
Lan storms into the room, and in a rare show of emotion, chides Nynaeve for traveling to a dangerous place like Tanchico. He even insists on coming with to protect her, and Nynaeve has to use her letter from the Amyrlin Seat to force him to stay with Moiraine. It’s not that she doesn’t want him, but she doesn’t want Lan’s bond with Moiraine to stand between them.
Properly rejected, Lan almost starts spouting poetry, then lifts Nynaeve off her feet and kisses her before leaving the room. After witnessing what Nynaeve has accomplished by treating Lan like shit, Elayne decides she needs to start playing hard-to-get with Rand.