A lengthy journey brings the group to Baerlon, where a bribed gatekeeper is happy to let them in. We learn that the Children of the Light have set up camp outside the city. Moiraine and Lan have arranged lodging at an inn called the Stag and Lion.
Everyone settles down to rest at the campsite Lan prepared ahead of time. Moiraine does some hocus pocus on her traveling companions, and everyone is completely refreshed after sleeping for only an hour.
The next stop on their journey is Baerlon, but it takes them a week to get there because of the meandering route Lan chooses for them. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this segment could belong to a zombie apocalypse book for how careful he is to avoid contact with anything humanoid. Along the way, cue a musical montage as Moiraine continues her sessions with Egwene, Lan attempts to impart some knowledge about combat to the boys, and Thom even teaches juggling.
Baerlon finally comes into view, and the Emond’s Fielders realize that they’ve never seen a real city until now. Moiraine assumes her old pseudonym, Lady Alys, and she tells everyone that Lan is to be known as Andra.
LAN: Listen up, you three. When we’re in Baerlon, don’t mention Trollocs, Fades, Darkfriends or anything like that. Comprende?
RAND/MAT/PERRIN: Got it, chief.
The gatekeeper who lets them into Baerlon will not shut up. He lets Moiraine know that the Children of the Light have a camp set up outside of the city, but the mayor refuses to let more than ten of them inside the walls at once. The Children of the Light, for those who do not know, is a military organization that is sort of what you would get if you crossed the Ku Klux Klan with the Spanish Inquisition and adjusted the religious backstory to be universe-appropriate. Like most religious zealots, they specialize in advancing their own agenda under the guise of acting in the interest of a greater good.
As they walk through the streets of Baerlon, Rand and Thom chitchat about the gatekeeper’s news. A false Dragon raising an army to march on Tear? Rand wonders aloud how the prophecy involving the fall of the Stone of Tear is even achievable.
Their conversation is cut short when they reach their accommodations for the night: the Stag and Lion.