Chapter 38

At the elite Garden of Silver Breezes, Egeanin meets the informer Floran Gelb, buys back an a’dam, and rejects his offer to foment political unrest. She notes Bayle Domon’s presence and leaves wary of exposure. Outside, Tanchico’s desperation and lawlessness underscore the city’s volatility.

Upstairs, Jaichim Carridin meets masked Taraboner nobles, including King Andric, and negotiates the Children of the Light’s role in securing the Panarch’s Palace for Amathera’s investiture. He plans for political leverage while privately fearing reprisals for failing to kill Rand al’Thor.

Back at his headquarters, Carridin is overpowered by Liandrin channeling the One Power. She exposes his Darkfriend status from the Ba’alzamon gathering, forces him to move Whitecloaks into the Panarch’s Palace and dismiss the Panarch’s Legion, and promises the Panarch will be “dealt with.” After Liandrin departs, Carridin realizes he is trapped between the Tower, Pedron Niall, and the Black Ajah.

Liandrin returns to a hidden safehouse where the Black Ajah—Eldrith, Marillin, Jeaine, Asne, and Rianna—discuss seizing control of Rand via a ter’angreal they believe is in the Panarch’s Palace. They debate using a dangerous balefire rod but decide to search after the investiture, expecting Carridin to hold the grounds despite Whitecloak–Legion tensions.

Egeanin returns home, is confronted by a Seanchan Seeker for Truth traveling with Bayle Domon’s smuggling routes, and is compelled to re-report intelligence. After he leaves, she checks her secret: Bethamin, a sul’dam she has collared in the basement with an a’dam. Realizing a sul’dam can be held like a damane, Egeanin confronts the perilous implications for Seanchan order, resolves to investigate quietly, and prepares to resist any Seeker who would silence her.