Chapter 39: Weaving of the Web

At The Queen's Blessing, Rand fails again to coax Mat out of their room to watch the false Dragon's procession. Master Gill warns him that a half-mad beggar has been asking after the three boys by name in Caemlyn, and that two white-cockaded watchers sit across the street from the inn.

The city is split between red supporters of Queen Morgase and the larger white faction that blames her ties to Tar Valon for the failed crops and the false Dragon. Rand keeps his red-wrapped sword hidden as he joins the crowd. The beggar finds him, points, and gives chase; Rand runs until he loses the man in the empty back streets.

Determined to see Logain, he climbs a high garden wall above the procession route. Logain passes in an iron cage, guarded by Aes Sedai and Warders, yet bears himself like a king and silences the crowd as he meets their eyes, laughing as the Palace gates close behind him. A girl's voice from the tree above startles Rand, and he falls.