Everyone enjoys a rare moment of jollity, until Rand encounters a Fade and they have to hightail it out of Baerlon.
That evening, nearly everyone in the party is in the common room at the Stag and Lion. Thom is performing, while Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Moiraine, and even Nynaeve all get swept up in dancing with the other patrons. Their style of dance sounds a lot like line dancing, and it really triggers flashbacks to my elementary school days when square dancing was part of the physical education curriculum. Back then, I hated it for being an entirely too awkward thing to do with my schoolmates — especially the female ones — so I understand the source of Rand’s discomfort when he is briefly partnered with Egwene, Nynaeve and Moiraine. Nevertheless, it seems like they all have a great evening of revelry.
And Lan? Since there is no mention of him dancing, I expect he was standing to the side practicing his “statue” impression and eyeing everyone in the entire room with suspicion.
During all of this, there is a man sitting in the corner whose face is disfigured by a large scar. Both Rand and Mat spot him scowling in their direction during the dances. Lan reports seeing him too, but dismissively says he’s just a spy for the Whitecloaks. At the end of the evening, everyone heads upstairs to sleep and prepare for an early departure, but Rand goes to the kitchen for a glass of milk. On his way back, he encounters a Fade who flees when Lan comes running back downstairs. Uh– if Lan is supposed to be able to sense shadowspawn at a distance, why did he even leave Rand downstairs alone in the first place? Sloppy, Mr. Warder, sloppy.
Since their location is known, leaving immediately is the only option. Back at the Caemlyn Road gate where they entered the city, Lan bribes the guards into opening the gate despite the hour.
DAIN BORNHALD: Well lookie what we have here.
The guards stop opening the gate. Dain Bornhald is one of the Whitecloaks Mat decided to splash with mud, and he has a few fellow Children with him.
BORNHALD: Who but Darkfriends would have cause to leave at such a forsaken hour? If you walk in the Light, you have nothing to hide. And if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Ah, but the Children of the Light can smell the fear. I will take these ruffians to our camp where they may be questioned in the Light.
MOIRAINE: Like hell you will.
You better stay the fuck out of Moiraine’s way!
Moiraine fends off Bornhald’s sword attack with her staff. Her entire body appears to grow in size, providing a distraction for her companions to escape through the partially open gate. She even appears to step over the city walls, although it is implied that this was all an illusion. A glow behind them suggests that the Stag and Lion has gone up in flames, no doubt because the proprietor refused to divulge information about them. And so, our intrepid adventurers strike out East, and Moiraine updates her to-do list.