Nynaeve is angry — at Moiraine for being right all the time, and at Lan for making her feel all funny inside. In Whitebridge, they learn that Thom likely went downriver, and two of the boys went east toward Caemlyn.
Meanwhile, Nynaeve is still stuck traveling with two of her least favorite people in the world. Moiraine and Lan effortlessly push her buttons. Not that it’s hard to push Nynaeve’s buttons — she’s got so many hair triggers that any stray breeze could easily become the target of her vexation. Nynaeve is one of those characters who began the story thinking she had the entire world figured out, so she’s understandably upset when she realizes that she’s out of her depth — and clings to the idea that she must be right, while everyone else has lost their heads.
I think Nynaeve is also angry with herself for being attracted to Lan. It’s pretty inconvenient falling for a man who is magically tethered to another woman. Unless you’re into that sort of thing, which is not the vibe I get from our sheltered Wisdom from Emond’s Field. This guy has been traveling with Moiraine for the last twenty years, and anyone who has read New Spring is well aware that Lan has a thing for Cairhienan women, so let’s not pretend nothing intimate has happened between them. That’s got to add up to a tangled mess of attraction, jealousy, and suppressed gag reflex… unless she’s into that sort of thing. We’ll have to read on to see.
The chapter finds our heroes reaching the White Bridge. Moiraine keeps waving her hands around, searching for traces of the lost AirTags. By the time they are halfway across the bridge, the acrid scent of burned wood makes it clear that something explosive has recently gone down. Several buildings in the town square have been burned to the ground. Moiraine speaks with the townspeople and Nynaeve senses genuine concern and empathy from the Aes Sedai. But we know what’s really bothering Moiraine. That was her destruction to cause, and someone else already checked it off the list!
According to townspeople, a gleeman was chased out of town by a mob of people, and he fled downriver on a boat. That explains where Thom went — I’m guessing his battle with the Fade somehow caused the destruction, and he became the scapegoat. After a meal in the Wayfarer’s Rest, Moiraine believes the two boys who were with Thom must have continued toward Caemlyn. Wasting no time, they get back on the road.