Mat POV#

It is the morning after TDR,Ch20. Mat wakes and servants bring him another huge meal. His goal is still to escape, so instead of getting back into bed, he gets dressed and goes out to the White Tower grounds. He still wants to say goodbye to Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne before he leaves. He asks till he finds a bridge guard and sure enough the man recognizes him. As he walks along he sees Else Grinwell and tries to talk to her. She avoids his touch, coolly asks what he is doing out of bed, and hurries on.[1]

Hearing the clacking of swords, he walks to the Warder training yard and watches the students practice. He recognizes Galad and Gawyn from Elayne's descriptions. They recognize him from Egwene's descriptions and talk with him during a break. Gawyn asks Mat about Rand. Their talk develops into a wager, Mat with a quarterstaff against both of them with their practice swords. Their trainer, Hammar, watches closely. Mat thumps both of them but nearly faints from hunger during the fight. After the fight, Hammar announces that Jearom, the greatest swordsman ever, only lost once, to a farmer with a quarterstaff. Gawyn is impressed with Mat's skill, but Mat tells him that his father, Abell, is the best and Rand's father, Tam, is not far behind. When Hammar talks with Mat, Mat slips and speaks in the Old Tongue, then says he is from Manetheren. Confused and hungry, Mat heads back to the White Tower. But he keeps the quarterstaff.