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| %%(display:block; text-align:center;) [{Image src='Chapter Icons/tar_valon_bw.gif' align='center' link='Wiki.jsp?page=Category Tar Valon Icon'}] ''The Welcome'' %% 
| [{Image src='Chapter Icons/btar_rgt.gif' link='Wiki.jsp?page=TGH,Ch3' align='right'}]
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! __Rand__ POV

[Rand|Rand alThor] hurries through [Fal Dara] on the way to his room. The people he passes along the way keep mentioning that the [Amyrlin|Aes Sedai] is there for him and his friends. He finds [Elansu], the %%ot [shatayan|Shienar]%%, and seven other women collecting his clothes as well as [Mat|Matrim Cauthon]'s and [Perrin|Perrin Aybara]'s. They are working under orders from [Moiraine|Moiraine Damodred]. She ordered every stitch of old clothing removed.[1] [Lady Amalisa] had new clothes made for them. [Rand|Rand alThor]'s new clothes are elegant like a lord's with embroidery of herons and serpents with four legs and a lion's mane. [Rand|Rand alThor] particularly misses his boots which were made by [Alwyn al'Van], the [Emond's Field|Emonds Field] cobbler. [Rand|Rand alThor] prepares a pack to leave, gathering as much as he can. Hidden under [Rand|Rand alThor]'s bed is a gleeman's cloak containing two cases. One has a harp and the other a flute.[2] He includes these as well. [Rand|Rand alThor] heads for the north stables, the Lord's Stables, where [Red|Red] is. On his way, he crosses the main courtyard. The courtyard is filled with people watching the arrival of the [Amyrlin|Aes Sedai]. The arriving procession includes sixteen [Aes Sedai][3] and fourteen [Warders].[4] Lord [Agelmar|Agelmar Jagad] and [Ronan], the %%ot [shambayan|Shienar]%%, greet the [Amyrlin|Aes Sedai]. [Rand|Rand alThor] feels as though he has been touched when the [Amyrlin|Aes Sedai]'s gaze passes over him.[5] He hurries on. At the stables, [Tema] greets him as a lord.[6] [Rand|Rand alThor] asks him for his horse, but [Tema] explains that he just received orders that no horse may leave from any stable. The gates are closed as well. [Rand|Rand alThor] asks if the order came from [Lord Agelmar|Agelmar Jagad]. [Tema] explains that he did not receive the order directly, but who else would issue such an order?[7] The bells in the tower ring to announce that the Welcome is finished. [Rand|Rand alThor] takes off running.


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! Notes (Possible Spoilers)

[#1] Traces may have fallen into the hands of [Shadowspawn] that would allow them to be tracked. ([TGH,Ch5])\\
[#2] The cloak and its contents were [Thom|Thom Merrilin]'s.\\
[#3] The [Aes Sedai] and their [Warders] include:
* [Siuan Sanche] - [Amyrlin|Aes Sedai] - [Alric]
* [Leane Sharif] - [Keeper of the Chronicles|Aes Sedai] - no [Warder]
* [Alanna Mosvani] - [Green Ajah] - [Ihvon] and [Owein]
* [Alviarin|Alviarin Freidhen] - [White Ajah]
* [Anaiya] - [Blue Ajah] - [Setagana]
* [Carlinya] - [White Ajah] - no [Warder|Warders]
* [Liandrin|liandrin] - [Red Ajah]
* [Maigan|maigan] - [Blue Ajah]
* [Serafelle|serafelle] - [Brown Ajah]
* [Verin Mathwin] - [Brown Ajah] - [Tomas]\\
[#4] The original text stated that there were also sixteen [Warders]. The two [Green Ajah] sisters have four [Warders] with them. ([TGH,Ch12]) With none for the [Reds|Red Ajah], that means every other [Aes Sedai] has a [Warder|Warders] to total sixteen, yet [Leane|Leane Sharif]'s [Warder|Warders], [Anjen], died fifteen years ago and she never bonded another. ([LoC,Ch30]) Also, we learn in [CoT,Ch16] that [Carlinya] has no [Warder|Warders] either. The count has been corrected to fourteen in the most recent printings. \\
[#5] [Siuan|Siuan Sanche] later recounts her viewpoint. ([TGH,Ch5]) \\
[#6] The [Shienarans|Shienar] consider [Rand|Rand alThor] a lord although he denies it continuously. We learn that from [Lan|al'Lan Mandragoran] that the royal 'al' names him king according to [Malkier] custom.\\
[#7] It was not [Agelmar|Agelmar Jagad]. ([TGH,Ch6]) Most likely it was [Moiraine|Moiraine Damodred].\\

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