[{Table style='width:100%'

| [{Image src='Chapter Icons/btar_lft.gif' link='Wiki.jsp?page=TEotW,Ch32'}] 
| %%(display:block; text-align:center;) [{Image src='Chapter Icons/heron_mark_bw.gif' align='center'}] ''The Dark Waits'' %% 
| [{Image src='Chapter Icons/btar_rgt.gif' link='Wiki.jsp?page=TEotW,Ch34' align='right'}]
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__[Rand|Rand alThor]__ POV - [Rand|Rand alThor] and [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] are getting a ride from a farmer named [Hyam Kinch|../characters/h/hyam_kinch]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon]'s eyes are getting better and [Rand|Rand alThor] seems to be feeling better, although it has not been mentioned yet when he was sick. A group of the [Queen's Guard|../geography/andor/index] pass by going the other way. [Hyam Kinch|../characters/h/hyam_kinch] tells them the [Queen's Guard|../geography/andor/index] rarely goes further than [Breen's Spring|../geography/andor/breens_spring/index]. He is surprised that neither [Rand|Rand alThor] nor [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] recognizes them. The farmer finally stops and lets the boys off when he reaches his road home telling them they are two days from [Caemlyn]. The next village is [Carysford|../geography/andor/carysford/index]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] acts suspicious of the farmer as he drops them off.

The time shifts back to the night at [The Dancing Cartman|../geography/andor/four_kings/dancing_cartman]. They stagger away from the inn and find some bushes to hide in. They both fall asleep soon. [Rand|Rand alThor] starts dreaming:

He is back at [Four Kings|../geography/andor/four_kings/index]. He goes inside [The Dancing Cartman|../geography/andor/four_kings/dancing_cartman]. [Howal Gode|../characters/h/howal_gode] is there, only recognizable from his clothes. His face is charred. [Rand|Rand alThor] realizes [Gode|howal_gode] is dead. Then [Ba'alzamon|Ishamael] appears and the two start talking. [Ba'alzamon|Ishamael] sends [Gode|howal_gode] away to his fate. His final words to [Rand|Rand alThor] are "You are mine, youngling, alive or dead. The [Eye of the World] will never serve you. I mark you as mine." A ball of flame explodes in [Rand|Rand alThor]'s face.

[Rand|Rand alThor] wakes up and notices [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] is having a nightmare. [Rand|Rand alThor] wakes [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] up. They do not sleep the rest of the night. They start walking at daybreak. They pass through a village and then past that, [Alpert Mull|../characters/a/alpert_mull] gives them a ride in his wagon. Times are so hard he must buy hay from [Old Bain|../characters/op/old_bain]. He lets them get off just as he heads off the main road, and gives each of the boys a woolen scarf. At dusk, the boys arrive at [Market Sheran|../geography/andor/market_sheran/index]. There is only one inn. They go in and are greeted by the innkeeper, [Rulan Allwine|../characters/r/rulan_allwine]. [Rand|Rand alThor] and [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] are shocked at the price he is charging. The next day they have breakfast in the common room when a boy comes in and sits at their table. His name is [Paitr|Paitr Conel]. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] figures out that he is a [Darkfriend|Darkfriends]. [Paitr|Paitr Conel] tries to get them to wait, but [Rand|Rand alThor] and [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] get up to leave. [Paitr|Paitr Conel] then yells out "You won't get away. No matter how strong you are, the [Great Lord of the Dark|../characters/s/shaitan] is stronger. The Shadow will swallow you!" An old man inside the inn hears [Paitr|Paitr Conel] and [Paitr|Paitr Conel] flees. [Rand|Rand alThor] and [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] also leave quickly. They get six rides during that day and they hear rumors about what happened in [Market Sheran|../geography/andor/market_sheran/index]. One farmer tells them it is the best story he heard since [Ackley Farren|../characters/a/ackley_farren] got drunk. They enter another village ([Andor Village 1|../geography/andor/village1/index]) and enter [The Queen's Man|../geography/andor/village1/queens_man] inn. The innkeeper, Master [Inlow|inlow], at first thinks that they are on their way to [Caemlyn] to see [Logain|Logain Ablar]. [Rand|Rand alThor] and [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] give their spiel to the innkeeper about performing. He gets ready to clear a room for them when [Rand|Rand alThor] gets very ill.[1] The innkeeper lets them go into the stable. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] goes to find someone to help, but the local midwife, [Mother Brune|../characters/b/brune], is out. [Rand|Rand alThor] sleeps fitfully and has nightmares:


* [Ba'alzamon|Ishamael] and [Myrddraal|Fade] follow him.
* [Egwene|Egwene alVere] tells him they are all dead.
* [Moiraine|Moiraine Damodred] tells him only the [Aes Sedai] can save him from the [Dark One|Shaitan].
* [Thom|Thom Merrilin] asks who will find him first, the [Red Ajah] or the [Black Ajah].
* [Lan|al'Lan Mandragoran], [Perrin|Perrin Aybara], [Marin al'Vere|../characters/m/m_alvere], [Bayle Domon], Master [Fitch|fitch], [Min|Min Farshaw] and [Tam|Tam alThor] all seem to blame him for their troubles.


[Rand|Rand alThor] wakes the next day when he hears the door open. There is a woman entering the stable.[2] [Rand|Rand alThor] wakes [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] up. She comes over and asks if [Rand|Rand alThor] is all right. She bends over as if to help [Rand|Rand alThor] and then she lunges toward [Mat|Matrim Cauthon]. She has tried to stab [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] and now her dagger is stuck in a post and [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] now has the [Ruby Dagger] up against her throat. Her dagger is blackening the wood around it. [Mat|Matrim Cauthon] prepares to kill her, but [Rand|Rand alThor] convinces him not to. Instead, they lock her up in the tack room. They then leave town. About a mile out of town, [Hyam Kinch|../characters/h/hyam_kinch] gives them a ride.


!! Notes


Note: The timing in Chapters 31 - 34 is confusing due to an awkward flashback. For clarification of the timeline see the [FAQ, Section 2.7.7|http://wotfaq.dragonmount.com/node/145].
[#1] [Rand|Rand alThor] is having a reaction to his usage of the [One Power] in [TEotW,Ch32].
[#2] The woman will show up again in [ACoS,Ch14]. Her name is [Mili Skane].