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| %%(display:block; text-align:center;) [{Image src='Chapter Icons/dice_bw.gif' align='center' link='Wiki.jsp?page=Dice Chapter Icon'}] ''[LoC|Lord of Chaos]: A Different Dance'' %% 
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! __Mat__ POV

[Mat|Matrim Cauthon] and the leaders of his [Band of the Red Hand] are staying at [The Golden Stag] in [Maerone] across the river from [Aringill]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon]'s [Redarms|Band of the Red Hand] defeated the [White Lions|Caemlyn] who were holding [Maerone]. After their defeat they headed east, further into [Cairhien|Cairhien (Country)].[1] Mistress [Daelvin] is the innkeeper of [The Golden Stag]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] is in the common room with his commanders [Talmanes|Talmanes Delovinde], [Daerid|Daerid Ondin] and [Nalesean|Nalesean Aldiaya]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] flirts with [Betse Silvin], one of the serving girls. She admires his [foxhead medallion|Foxhead Medallion] and asks where he got the scar on his neck. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] tells her he was hanged for knowledge.[2] 

[Mat|Matrim Cauthon] dances with her and memories start floating up - Wearing [Barsine|Jaramide] lace and sapphire studs from [Aramaelle] while dancing with the [Wavemistress|Sea Folk] of Clan [Shodein|Sea Folk] in the court of [Shaemal|Coremanda] in [Coremanda]. There will soon be news that [Barsine|Jaramide] has fallen to the [Trollocs]. This was the beginning of the [Trolloc Wars] and the fall of [Coremanda], [Essenia], [Manetheren] and [Eharon]. His memories range from long before the [Trolloc Wars] to the final battle of [Artur Hawkwing]'s rise. The [Band of the Red Hand] is now six thousand strong. He still worries about being linked to the [Horn of Valere]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] asks the girl if she ever heard of the [Daughter of the Nine Moons|Tuon] but she has not. 

[Edorion|Edorion Selorna] enters the common room to remind [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] that it is time for inspections. This day they inspect the town inns. [Maerone] used to be a major thoroughfare of commerce and so has many inns such as [The Fox and Goose], [The Wagoner's Whip|The Wagoners Whip], [The River Gate], [The Erinin Inn], [The Three Towers] and [The Silver Horn]. 

[Edorion|Edorion Selorna] is of House [Selorna|Tear (Country)] and [Nalesean|Nalesean Aldiaya] is of House [Aldiaya|Tear (Country)]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] thinks [Edorion|Edorion Selorna] is cannier than [Nalesean|Nalesean Aldiaya], but House [Aldiaya|Tear (Country)] outranks House [Selorna|Tear (Country)]. [Edorion|Edorion Selorna] heard a rumor that [Rand|Rand alThor] was in town yesterday. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] wonders how he knows. [Rand|Rand alThor] did, indeed, visit [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] yesterday, gating into his room late at night. He ranted about finishing [Sammael] and casually mentioned that [Mazrim Taim] joined him. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] and [Edorion|Edorion Selorna] hear a disturbance down the street. Two [Mindean|Mindea] men from [Murandy], [Paers] and [Culen], are threatening a small boy for touching their horse. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] knocks them down. Their servant, [Padry], moans over their injuries and tells [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] they are [Hunters of the Horn|Horn of Valere]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] tells one of his file leaders, [Harnan], to run them all out of town. The boy says his name is [Olver] and that he is good with horses. The [Shaido] killed his father and his mother died of illness. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] tells [Edorion|Edorion Selorna] to take him back to [The Golden Stag] and get him cleaned up. 

[Estean|Estean Andiama] runs up with news that there is a [Sea Folk] ship at the dock. [Estean|Estean Andiama] takes [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] to the docks. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] can see a delegation disembarking at [Aringill] and recognizes two of them as a clan [Wavemistress|Sea Folk] and her [Swordmaster|Sea Folk]. The ship raises anchor and sails north toward the mouth of the [Alguenya River].[3] [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] returns to [The Golden Stag] and dances some more with [Betse Silvin]. 

After midnight, [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] tells [Talmanes|Talmanes Delovinde], [Daerid|Daerid Ondin] and [Nalesean|Nalesean Aldiaya] that they are leaving at dawn. The next morning [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] rides [Pips] as his captains, [Talmanes|Talmanes Delovinde], [Daerid|Daerid Ondin], [Meresin|Meresin Daganred], [Alhandrin], [Carlomin] and [Reimon] ready their troops. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon]'s banner is a red hand on a white field with his motto, %%ot [Dovie'andi se tovya sagain.|Compleat]%% ("It's time to toss the dice" in the [Old Tongue]). [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] cites strategy from [Madoc Comadrin], a general six hundred years before [Hawkwing|Artur Hawkwing]. He remembers meeting [Comadrin|Madoc Comadrin]. They will be in [Tear|Tear (Country)] in a month. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] thinks that what will happen is different than what anyone but he, [Rand|Rand alThor] and [Bashere|Davram Bashere] suspects.[4]
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! Notes (Possible Spoilers)

[#1] And some of them eventually join [Toram Riatin]. ([ACoS,Ch35])
\\[#2] This is one of Robert Jordan's most direct connections between [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] and Odin from Norse mythology.
\\[#3] The ship is the ''[White Spray]''. The [Wavemistress|Sea Folk] in the delegation is [Zaida din Parede Blackwing]. Her [Windfinder|Sea Folk], [Shielyn|Shielyn din Sabura Night Waters], also accompanies them. They left their ship, the ''Blue Gull'', moored in [Tear|Tear (Country)]. ([KoD,Ch22]) [Harine din Togara Two Winds] is still on board heading for [Cairhien|Cairhien (City)]. ([LoC,Ch28], [WH,Ch11])
\\[#4] This secret plan is finally revealed and executed in [ACoS,Ch41].
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