Chapter 9

In Fal Dara’s bustling courtyard, Rand prepares to depart with Ingtar’s company. Loial unexpectedly joins for the sake of history and the Horn. Lan gives Rand a final lesson, warning of “Sheathing the Sword.” The Amyrlin refuses Agelmar’s pleas to rest and readies to leave. As she charges Ingtar to find the Horn, a black-fletched arrow strikes a bystander and slashes the Amyrlin’s sleeve, suggesting the true target was Rand.

Amid the commotion, the Amyrlin insists Ingtar depart immediately. Outside the city, Ingtar reveals two guards, Changu and Nidao, are missing—likely Darkfriends. Hurin, a “sniffer,” explains he can smell violence and takes the trail south, not toward the Blight. Rand reflects on Egwene as the company rides, the wind seeming to mock him.

Scene shifts to Illian, where Bayle Domon navigates festival-crowded streets to meet three grim Cairhienin. They offer an enormous sum and a sealed writ to fetch a passenger from Mayene. The advance payment is in Tar Valon gold, binding him to depart or face suspicion from Whitecloaks.

Domon learns a crewman has been murdered and others have tried boarding Spray. He orders immediate sailing and secretly opens the writ: a royal Cairhienin order to seize a “Darkfriend” and all possessions—clearly aimed at him. He hides it and examines his curios, including a rare cuendillar disk bearing the ancient Aes Sedai symbol, likely what pursuers seek.

Rejecting the eastbound trap, Domon takes Spray west into the Aryth Ocean, planning to trade along Toman Head despite rumors of conflict on Almoth Plain. His flight—and his artifact—set another thread converging toward the same coast where Ingtar rides to recover the Horn.