The party discovers the remains of a massacre at Imre Stand, which the Aiel initially refuse to attribute to Shadowspawn. Mat discovers his “filled” memories include extensive military history and fluency in the Old Tongue. He is approached by the suspicious gleeman Jasin Natael, who is overly interested in Rhuidean. The chapter ends with a sudden Trolloc and Fade attack that shatters the Aiel’s belief that the Waste is safe from the Dark One’s reach.
Imre Stand is a town built into the desert landscape. Even with daylight remaining, Rand’s procession stops there because it has a freshwater spring. But as they approach, scouts hurry back to report that nobody is present in town. Only a few goats remain. Inside one of the buildings they discover the walls are painted with blood. Mat remarks that it looks like the work of Trollocs, but the Aiel are quick to dismiss the possibility.
AVIENDHA: Trollocs do not come into the Three-fold land, wetlander. We hunt Trollocs. They do not hunt us.
Ah, how nice it must be to feel such certainty in one’s convictions.
In a disturbingly short amount of time, the blood-splashed room turns into a haunted house of sorts. Practically everyone in the camp comes through to gawk; even Kadere’s whore voluptuous female companion emerges from her wagon to see the spectacle. When Isendre’s attention lingers too long on Rand, Aviendha doubles down on reminding him that he “belongs to” Elayne. It sounds annoying, and I can’t blame Rand for stalking off and trying to lose her.
Mat after seeing the fox-people
Meanwhile, Mat has noticed that his memory is no longer full of holes. Instead of having his original memories back, he has memories of long-dead army generals and tacticians. When he sees the merchants trying to trade a crossbow to the Aiel, Mat instantly knows the upsides and downsides of the weapon and how it would fit on a battlefield. Sometimes he catches himself analyzing a piece of land and deciding how he would place men on it for an ambush. And then there’s how he is suddenly fluent in the Old Tongue. The fox-people did fill the holes in his memory, but perhaps they haven’t been filled the way he wanted.
When Mat begins muttering in Old Tongue, the gleeman traveling with the merchants introduces himself. He is Jasin Natael, and with a name like that, his parents definitely attended the Mr. Garvey school of child naming. Jasin expresses great interest in Rhuidean. He says he wants to create stories from Mat’s experience there, and he presses Mat to tell every detail he can remember about the place.
When the sun sets, the Aiel ask the gleeman for some entertainment. The request seems to take Jasin by surprise, and he has to go retrieve his harp. The gleeman is an awkward fellow, possessing none of Thom’s grace in the art of entertaining. The song he sings is of an ancient battle, but Mat can’t even enjoy it because the story it tells clashes with his new memories.
Trollocs suddenly burst into the camp. It would have been satisfying to see the dumb look on Aviendha’s face. The ensuing battle is quick and it fizzles out unremarkably. Unfortunately, so does the end of this chapter. Look, I know everyone is exhausted from the battle, but Trollocs just showed up right where everyone said Trollocs will never show up! And just this morning, a merchant showed up unescorted and headed straight for Rhuidean. Does anyone think that maybe something fishy is going on here? Nope! Apparently not, because all they can think about is bed.