Chapter 26

Elated that Thom is alive, Rand rushes from The Defender of the Dragonwall to the Foregate with Loial, leaving Hurin to watch for trouble. At The Bunch of Grapes, they meet Dena, Thom’s partner and aspiring bard, who allows them to wait in her and Thom’s crowded room.

Thom arrives, and after sending Dena out, he greets Loial warmly and examines his returned gold-and-silver flute and harp. Rand proposes Thom rejoin him, revealing that he and his companions possess the Horn of Valere. Thom laughs it off until Rand insists; Thom warns that such claims draw danger in Cairhien’s Game of Houses.

In private, Rand asks about the Karaethon Cycle. Thom quotes verses linking herons and dragons to the Dragon Reborn, unsettling Rand. Thom notes Aes Sedai might force events to match prophecy. Rand denies Aes Sedai involvement and pivots to the Horn’s role; Thom is surprised to learn the Heroes come for whoever blows it, even a Darkfriend.

Thom recounts his nephew Owyn’s fate—gentled by the Red Ajah and dead soon after—fueling his distrust. Despite the lure of the Horn’s story, Thom refuses to join, choosing safety, steady pay, and his love for Dena. He presses a flute on Rand for future need and insists on a clean break.

After Rand leaves, Zera warns Thom that Cairhien’s Daes Dae'mar now includes murder, urging him to marry Dena and avoid outland lords. Thom, planning to perform for Lady Arilyn, tells himself Rand is only a shepherd and resolves to remain out of the Great Game—and out of the Horn’s peril.