Chapter 3: Friends and Enemies

Trying to slip out of Fal Dara keep, Rand finds every gate barred on Lord Agelmar's order. As he wanders the kitchens, yards, and storerooms, an unseen watcher dogs his steps, and he half-hears laughter on the wind.

He stumbles on Mat and Perrin dicing with servants while Loial looks on. When the Ogier mentions ta'veren, Rand drives all three off with hard words, telling himself he has to leave alone to keep them safe.

Egwene hunts him down and refuses to be brushed aside, scolding him for hiding instead of facing whether the Amyrlin even knows he exists. She takes him down to the dungeon to wait out the search by visiting Padan Fain, whom she has been talking with for news of home.

Fain rises before they speak, points straight at Rand in the shadows, and chants that the battle is never done and that Mordeth knows more than any of them. Shaken, Egwene pulls Rand back out and proposes the one place no one will look for him: the women's apartments.