Rand and Mat narrowly avoid another Fade and hitch a ride that finally gets them to Caemlyn.
How many chapters have we been stuck with Rand and Mat now? Four in a row. What happened with Perrin and Egwene after they fell into the clutches of the Whitecloaks? Where the hell is Moiraine and company?
ROBERT JORDAN: Who the fuck cares? They aren’t the Dragon Reborn. Let’s continue on with the Rand (and Mat, I guess) show!
Waking up in a haystack one day after almost being murdered in the stables, Rand and Mat see that droves of people are headed to catch a glimpse of Logain. Walking the entire day, dusk finds them in the last town before Caemlyn. Outside the village inn, two men stand conversing in shadows. Rand realizes with a start that one of them is actually a Fade.
The Fade departs, and we learn that the man (and Darkfriend) he was speaking with is the innkeeper, Raimun Holdwin. An elderly man who is preparing his cart nearby, Almen Bunt, comments that Raimun keeps strange friends. Raimun says that his friend is a rich merchant whose heron-mark sword was stolen by two young Darkfriends. Almen doesn’t give him much credit, and is more focused on preparing for a journey through the night into Caemlyn.
When Raimun disappears inside, Rand approaches Almen and asks for a ride. Almen yammers the whole way there. He rambles about Andoran royalty — how the Daughter-Heir, Elayne, will go to study at the White Tower, while her brother Gawyn will train with the Warders. We learn that Moiraine’s half-brother, Taringail Damodred, is Elayne and Gawyn’s father. Also, Elaida is no longer at the White Tower, and is serving as Queen Morgase’s advisor.
Rand soon grows tired of listening to this huge lore dump, and nods off to sleep. He wakes up to Caemlyn’s walls rising in the dawn light — an actual city, after four chapters of barns, hedgerows, and haystacks. About damn time. If the next chapter starts in a stable, I’m calling the Dark One myself.