Contents
33 The Dark Waits
Overview
In Four Kings, Rand and Mat perform at a shabby inn run by the brutal Saml Hake. A velvet-cloaked merchant, Howal Gode from Whitebridge, reveals himself as a Darkfriend and attempts to seize them with hired muscle.
Cornered in a barred storeroom, a sudden lightning strike blasts the wall, kills Gode’s outside men, and lets the boys escape into the storm, escalating the sense that Darkfriends actively hunt them.
Summary
Rand and Mat arrive in the rough wagon-stop of Four Kings and enter the quiet, shabby inn The Dancing Cartman. The innkeeper, Saml Hake, mistreats his staff and eyes Rand’s heron-mark sword and flute greedily. Despite misgivings, the boys strike a deal to perform for pallets and a late meal, while Hake’s thugs, Jak and Strom, loom nearby.
Their show fills the inn as a storm breaks. A soft, well-dressed merchant with velvet cloak, Howal Gode, arrives, unsettling patrons and fixating on Rand and Mat with recognition. Rand realizes Gode’s black carriages bear a Whitebridge name and suspects a Darkfriend. Hake plans to rob them, but the crowd prevents immediate action.
After hours of performing, Hake escorts them to a filthy storeroom for the night. Expecting an attack, Rand wedges the door and he and Mat try to pry out barred window grating, timing efforts to thunder, but fail. Gode appears outside the door with men, orders them to submit to the Great Lord, and promises protection from Aes Sedai. More men wait outside the barred window, cutting off escape.
As Gode’s men batter the door inward and Mat panics, a blinding lightning strike hits the barred window. The blast tears out the wall, topples debris, jams the door askew, and leaves Gode’s outside men dead in the rain. Dazed but alive, Rand gathers Mat—whose vision is blurred—and they slip through the shattered opening.
Shouts rise in the inn as they flee into the deluge. In a lightning flash, Rand sees a lone figure shaking a fist—perhaps Gode or Hake—but the rain swallows all pursuit. The boys stagger away through the storm, confirmed that Darkfriends are hunting them and that danger closes in even in crowded towns.
Who Appears
- Rand al'ThorPerforms flute to earn shelter; senses Hake’s intent to rob them; identifies Gode as a Darkfriend; blocks door, attempts escape; survives lightning blast and leads their flight.
- Matrim (Mat) CauthonJuggles to draw crowds; rashly eyes Gode and clutches his dagger; panics under pressure; stunned by blast and near-blinded, flees with Rand.
- Howal GodeVelvet-cloaked Whitebridge merchant and Darkfriend; corners the boys with hired men; demands their submission; survives the attempt but loses men to lightning.
- Saml HakeAbusive innkeeper of The Dancing Cartman; plans to rob Rand and Mat; corrals them into a storeroom; cowed by Rand’s sword and defers open attack.
- JakHake’s bouncer; intimidates and blocks exits; likely stands guard during the trap; part of the threat hemming the boys in.
- StromHake’s other bouncer; helps enforce Hake’s control; present during the escort to the storeroom and looming threat.