Rand POV#

Rand wakes late, still with a headache, and goes down to the kitchen for breakfast. Sara, the cook, is confronting Master Fitch about her cat, Cirri. Guests complained about the cat leaving rats lying around with broken backs. Ciel, a serving girl, gets Rand some food while Thom performs the Great Hunt of the Horn in the common room. Perrin is still in bed recovering from the same bad dream Rand had. Rand goes out, passing Mutch in the stable, and sits outside the inn. Min walks up. She knows Moiraine's real name, having met her on the way to Emond's Field. Moiraine heard about her from other Aes Sedai.[1] Min describes her viewing to Rand. She sees the following:

• The whole group - "Sparks swirling around you, thousands of them, and a big shadow, darker than midnight. The sparks are trying to fill the shadow, and the shadow is trying to swallow the sparks. You are all tied together in something dangerous."
• Egwene - "She's part of it. You're in love with her. She loves you, too, but she's not for you, or you for her. Not the way you both want.[2] When I look at her, I see the same as when I look at Mistress Alys. She won't refuse it."[3]
• Lan - "Seven ruined towers around his head, and a babe in a cradle holding a sword."[4]
• Thom - "A man—not him—juggling fire,[5] and the White Tower."[6]
• Perrin - "A wolf,[7] and a broken crown,[8] and trees flowering all around him."
• Mat - "A red eagle,[9] an eye on a balance scale,[10] a dagger with a ruby,[11] a horn,[12] and a laughing face."
• Rand - "A sword that isn't a sword,[13] a golden crown of laurel leaves,[14] a beggar's staff,[15] you pouring water on sand,[16] a bloody hand and white-hot iron,[17] three women standing over a funeral bier with you on it, black rock wet with blood, lightning around you, some striking at you, some coming out of you. You and I will meet again." [18]

Rand goes for a walk and runs into Padan Fain. Fain acts fearful and elusive. Rand tells him where they are staying and when they are leaving, then Fain runs away. Rand runs into Mat. He had the same nightmare. They agree not to tell Moiraine about them. Rand feels very light headed.[19] He tells Mat about Min's viewings. They see three Whitecloaks. Mat thinks they look like Eward Congar with his nose always in the air. Mat plays a trick loosing barrels that splash mud on the Whitecloaks. The leader is Lord Dain Bornhald. In a manic mood, Rand laughs at the Whitecloaks then stands his ground, angering them.[19] The Town Watch appears and the Whitecloaks leave. Rand is suddenly back in his right mind. They head back to the inn and meet Thom on the way. They tell him about Ba'alzamon and the dream. Thom tells them those names are dangerous and they should forget them. The Eye of the World is a legend in the Borderlands. Thom counsels them to tell no one. Back at inn, they meet Perrin who agrees to keep quiet. Nynaeve is there.[20] She followed them and made Hightower row her across river. She is meeting with Moiraine. They all enter the inn.