Chapter 16

On the Lion Throne, Rand endures Alanna’s constant bond and Halwin Norry’s dry accounting while awaiting Andoran nobles. Bashere ushers in Dyelin, Luan, Ellorien, and Abelle. Rand frames himself with grandeur yet offers wine and talk, signaling strength without overt hostility.

The nobles quickly gauge Bashere’s servant-like treatment and Rand’s composure, then confront Andor’s crisis. They accept Rand’s proclamation seeking Elayne but distrust him; Ellorien openly opposes House Trakand, while Luan backs Dyelin. Rand insists he will not rule Andor once Elayne is crowned. Dyelin refuses a crown and vows to support Rand only if he departs after Elayne’s coronation—otherwise she, Luan, Ellorien, and Abelle will oppose him. Rand ends the audience urging urgency before Tarmon Gai’don.

Privately, Rand asks Dyelin why Andorans study his face. She reveals he speaks like western Andor and resembles Tigraine, the Daughter-Heir who vanished decades earlier, wife to Taringail and mother to Galad. Dyelin recounts Gitara Moroso’s influence and Luc’s fatal trek north, events that cascaded toward Laman’s Pride and the Aiel War. Rand, recalling Aiel lore of Shaiel, realizes Tigraine was likely his birth mother, yet he buries the revelation.

Bashere brings an Illianer messenger whose face is frozen in a grin. Sammael speaks through the man, proposing a truce and fixed borders so they can avoid conflict until the Dark One’s “Return.” Rand, enraged by Lews Therin’s memories of Sammael’s past crimes, rejects any truce with the Shadow and vows justice.

At Rand’s refusal, blood seeps from the messenger’s pores; he dies convulsing. Rand orders burial and contemplates leaving Caemlyn. Aviendha arrives, more concerned with Rand’s safety than the corpse, and declares she must go to Cairhien to speak with the Wise Ones. Pressed by politics, the bond with Alanna, and his need for distance, Rand decides to travel to Cairhien, postponing Bashere’s drills.