Book
The Great Hunt
Chapter
Discord
Wheel of Time World Map
Map by Gerralt Landman

Locations in this Chapter

Chapter 26: Discord

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Rand and Loial visit Thom at The Bunch of Grapes, where they meet his young companion Dena, an aspiring gleeman with prodigious talent. Rand returns Thom's harp and flute and reveals they have the Horn of Valere, hoping to recruit him—but Thom refuses, unwilling to be drawn back into danger.

Alone with Thom, Rand asks about the Karaethon Cycle; Thom recites verses about the Dragon being marked 'twice the heron' and 'twice the Dragon,' then touches the herons on Rand's collar. Thom also reveals that his nephew Owyn held off the madness of saidin for almost three years before the Red Ajah gentled him, after which he simply gave up wanting to live.

After Rand departs, Thom's friend Zera—innkeeper of The Bunch of Grapes—warns him that Daes Dae'mar has grown murderous in Cairhien and urges him to marry Dena and stay out of the Game.