Rand and Mat head to The Queen’s Man, per Thom’s instructions. Master Gill, the innkeeper, allows them to stay at the inn while they look for their missing companions.
Let’s stick with Rand and Mat this chapter. Screw everyone else. Almen drops them off as soon as they roll into Caemlyn. Mat is acting way more paranoid and negative than you would expect from a happy-go-lucky goofball, but I guess that’s what carrying around a cursed dagger will do to you. Rand insists that they follow Thom’s parting instructions and seek out an inn called The Queen’s Man.
The innkeeper — Master Gill — turns out to be an old friend of Thom’s. According to him, Thom used to be employed by the Queen’s court right there in Caemlyn. Gill says he was Courtbard, but let’s call things what they are — he was the court jester, and now Danny Kaye is beginning to make a solid (if unconvincing) case for replacing Patrick Stewart for the role of Thom Merrilin. Rand and Mat tell Master Gill that Thom is dead, but Gill says he’ll believe that when he sees a corpse.
Evidently, Thom’s name still carries weight — enough for a meal, a bed, and the rare luxury of not sleeping in a hayloft — so they head to the common room for some food.