Master Gill gives Rand and Mat a meal before they head up to their room. Cursed people are boring to hang around with, so Rand explores the inn on his own and meets an Ogier named Loial.
Over a scant meal, Rand tells Master Gill a version of how he and Mat came to be in Caemlyn. He doesn’t delve into the parts about the Trollocs and the Fades so much, and just says that some really bad dudes are after them, and that they need to regroup with Moiraine and the rest of their companions so they can seek protection in Tar Valon. Mat is content to sit there and interject pessimistic bullshit into the conversation. Innkeeper duties pull Master Gill away, so the boys finish their meal and are shown to their room. Mat just wants to lie in bed and talk sweetly with his precious dagger, so Rand explores the inn on his own.
The Queen’s Man has a feature that Rand has never seen before — an extensive library, filled with books. It is also filled with a new character. We are in chapter 36, which is roughly 2/3 of the way through the book. The fact that we are still introducing new major characters is testament to the series’ structure and pace. This is a long journey, and as if to prove that we’ve barely even made it out of the opening credits, this chapter introduces us to Loial. As an Ogier, he is massive in size and stature, and his life parallels the Wheel of Time series — it’s really fucking long, and most of it still lies ahead. He tells Rand that he’s “only 90 years old” and technically didn’t have permission from his elders to leave his stedding and go traveling.
A few minutes of conversation with Loial makes it clear that he is very much a student of history. He spent years reading about the world, and seems to know more about the history of Andor than most of its residents do. He asks Rand what brings him so far from home, and Rand finds himself telling Loial everything. The story makes Loial realize Rand and companions are ta’veren — highly influential people who cause major changes in the Pattern. Loial asks to come with them. Rand turns him down because apparently adding a giant to the group would be too obvious. Sure, Rand. It’s the giant that’ll blow your cover—not the best friend with a cursed dagger, the other friend with wolf eyes, the Aes Sedai and her Warder, or your own little habit of randomly channeling the One Power.