Padan Fain rolls into town and stirs things up with news of wars and false Dragons. Egwene’s hair is braided. Thom Merrilin finally wakes up.
In this chapter we’re introduced to the titular Padan Fain, peddler extraordinaire. Not only does Mr. Fain bring all manner of wondrous items to sell, but he’s also a dyed-in-the-wool Darkfriend! Remarkably, the townsfolk don’t seem to notice that he’s a creep. Or perhaps they don’t want to notice that he’s a creep, because who else is going to bring goods and gossip to Emond’s Field?
Rand and Mat meet up with their friend Perrin as the crowd closes in to hear what news Padan Fain brings from the outside world.
PADAN FAIN: Greetings, Emond’s Field. You simple-minded plebeians think you’ve had it rough?
PADAN FAIN: Wolves are eating your sheep?
PADAN FAIN: Oh, somebody call the whaaaambulance. Fuck your wolves. Your wolves are nothing! Men are going to war under the standard of the Dragon.
BRAN AL’VERE: A false Dragon, I’m sure.
CENN BUIE: No it isn’t. Beware — the sky is falling!
PADAN FAIN: He’s right! False or not, this man can wield the One Power, so the Aes Sedai are being sent to deal with him when he’s defeated. If he is defeated.
Bran realizes that things are getting out of hand, so he invites Fain to converse privately with the Village Council.
The crowd disperses, but the three boys linger in the village green, bandying about all kinds of hearsay, from the Dragon to the Dark One. Nynaeve, the Wisdom of Emond’s Field, is not happy to overhear talk of this nature. Then again, if you go by what everyone has been saying, Nynaeve doesn’t seem to be happy about much of anything. Egwene — Bran al’Vere’s daughter and Rand’s crush — is with her, pointedly crossing her arms beneath her breasts to show solidarity with Nynaeve’s remonstrations. Upon learning that the Village Council (idiots, by her estimation) has taken to questioning Padan Fain in private, she storms off to intervene.
Mat and Perrin give Rand and Egwene some space. Egwene reveals that the Women’s Circle has deemed her old enough to braid her hair, and that she’s thinking of studying under Nynaeve to become a Wisdom, possibly for another village. She is rightfully indignant when Rand strongly implies moving away and seeing the world is a silly fantasy. Mat and Perrin choose that moment to come back — talking about silver coins and seeing men on horseback — and suddenly Egwene has all the ammunition she needs to scold Rand in turn himself for being ridiculous.
Before their argument can escalate any further, Thom Merrilin bursts out of the inn.
Crossed arms: 1 x Egwene