Chapter 2: Strangers

At the Winespring Inn, Rand and Mat finish unloading the cider. The full Village Council has gathered in front of the fire, talking in low voices about something they keep to themselves. Tam and Bran al'Vere are part of it; Haral Luhhan the blacksmith eyes the boys with a frown.

Ewin Finngar brings word of strangers staying at the inn—a fine lady named Moiraine and her companion Lan, whose cloak shifts to match whatever lies behind it. Outside, a raven watches the boys from the inn's roof and steps neatly aside from the stones they throw. No bird either of them has seen behaves that way.

Moiraine herself appears, dressed in blue velvet far beyond anything seen in the Two Rivers, her dark hair unbraided and a gold ring shaped like a serpent eating its own tail on her finger. She gives each boy a silver penny against small tasks she may need done later, and tells them she is a student of old stories about this place. Lan follows her at a distance, sword at his hip, moving with the look of a wolf. Ewin is sure he is a Warder; Mat laughs the idea off. As they part, the peddler's wagon rolls into Emond's Field.