#alpert mull

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 33 - The Dark Waits

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(Heron-marked sword icon) In which the timeline gets hecky but it's okay, we're all grownups and able to handle that, right?

Under a leaden sky the high-wheeled cart bumped east along the Caemlyn Road. Rand pulled himself out of the straw in back to look over the side. It was easier than it had been an hour earlier. His arms felt as if they might stretch instead of drawing him up, and for a minute his head wanted to keep on going and float away, but it was easier.(1)

Rand and Mat are riding in a cart belonging to a Hyam Kinch, suspicious of any and all passers-by, particularly merchant carts. Mat's still light-sensitive after staring straight at that Power-strong lightning, wearing a scarf over his eyes to dim the light a little. He asks if Rand is feeling better. Rand worries that feeling better so fast might not be a gift of the Light.

Thirty two men on horseback pass them by, nodding respectfully at Master Kinch. Rand asks who they are, and Kinch says they're Queen's Guards, keeping the peace and the Queen's laws. Where are they from, that they don't know what Queen's Guards look like? Rand slips and says the Two Rivers. He's still not thinking clearly, after his illness.

Kinch stops and tells them this is as far as he goes. He offers to let them rest with him for a day or two, they won't miss much in that time and he and his wife have had near about every illness before. Rand thanks him for the offer, but they do have to get on, and Kinch tells him where his farm is, and that nothing's like to find them there.(2)

Flashback to escaping Four Kings. Mat is nearly blind in the darkness after the lightning strike, and can barely walk upright. They make it out of town, far enough to hide in a bush and sleep. Rand dreams of Baa again, who shows him a dead-looking Gode figure, and says Rand belongs to him, one way or another. Rand says no, he belongs to himself, not the Dark One, not ever. Baa rewards the Gode-shade with oblivion to make a point that he has more control over death than life, but even if Rand dies, one way or another, he'll be in Baa's hands eventually.

Rand and Mat wake, Mat crying that Baa took his eyes, and Rand comforts him, that he can't hurt them.

About an hour's walk outside of town, a farmer stops to offer them a ride. Rand was too distracted to hide, and can't refuse without possibly offending him, so he helps Mat up beside the farmer up front, and Rand in the back. The farmer, Alpert Mull, mostly just wants some company on the ride, and someone to talk to. When he has to turn off the Caemlyn Road, he gives them two scarves, saying it's hard times, you never know who to trust, he's not a good man and can't offer them a place to stay, but he can give them something to keep the dust out of their mouths. Rand tells him he is a good man, and they part ways.(3)

That night they do stop at an inn, but they don't offer to play flute or juggle. The price is steep, but they need the food and the rest. In the morning, all's well, and Mat can see a little again. They're eating breakfast, when a young man comes in and asks to sit with them. When he says this isn't his idea, and he doesn't want to be here, Mat growls "Darkfriend." They tell this Paitr to leave them alone, and tell his friends to leave them alone, too. Paitr yells that the Shadow will swallow them, and the innkeeper drops his broom, finally hearing the conversation. The boys get out of the inn, and Mat worries that they knew they were there. Rand says if Baa knew they were at that inn, he wouldn't have left the job to some snivelling kid like Paitr.(4)

They hear rumours about the incident from each of the six short rides they get through that day, never realizing that these two are the ones who exposed the Darkfriend, and each rumour more ridiculous than the last, some even saying that if the Queen won't stop the Darkfriends, maybe the Children of the Light should be asked.

They reach another village, with just one inn, and Mat says he's up for a juggle as long as he doesn't get too fancy. Rand's getting really tired, so they offer their performances to the innkeep. The inn's full but he'll do what he can.

The cook and his helpers ignored Rand and Mat. Mat kept adjusting the scarf around his head, pushing it up, then blinking at the light and tugging it back down again. Rand wondered if he could see well enough to do anything more complicated than juggle three balls. As for himself. . . . The queasiness in his stomach grew thicker. He dropped on a low stool, holding his head in his hands. The kitchen felt cold. He shivered. Steam filled the air; stoves and ovens crackled with heat. His shivers became stronger, his teeth chattering. He wrapped his arms around himself, but it did no good. His bones felt as if they were freezing. Dimly he was aware of Mat asking him something, shaking his shoulder, and of someone cursing and running out of the room. Then the innkeeper was there, with the cook frowning at his side, and Mat was arguing loudly with them both. He could not make out any of what they said; the words were a buzz in his ears, and he could not seem to think at all.

Mat leads Rand outside and explains that if the innkeeper kicked them out, Mat promised to lead Rand through the common room, and show that someone sick had been there. So they've got accommodations in the stable, at least. Rand cycles through fever and chills. Mat runs off, and comes back with some food and water. There's no Wisdom here, but the woman who's their equivalent is off birthing a baby somewhere.

Rand has nightmares and hallucinations. First he sees Baa and some Myrddraal. Egwene saying they're all dead because he abandoned them. Moiraine telling him he has no choice but to go to Tar Valon. Thom telling him he should do anything but trust Aes Sedai. Lan asking if he's worthy of the blade. Perrin, the people from Baerlon, but the worst vision was Tam, just staring at him, frowning.

In the morning, Rand's fever has broken. He wakes to a woman(5) coming into the stable, she says to look at her horse, but… is he ill? She has some knowledge. Her manner doesn't belong here, and he doesn't trust her, but he can't stop her coming near, feeling his forehead. She says he was sick, but still weak as a kitten, and if not for Mat waking at that moment, she'd have killed Rand easily. Mat restrains her, and Rand notes that her dagger is burning the wood it dug into.

Mat threatens her with his own dagger, and she doesn't move as he retrieves her knife. Rand tells Mat no, as he realizes Mat means to kill her. Mat argues that she's a Darkfriend, and Rand says that's so, but they're not. Mat pushes her into the tack room as she talks about why they need to give in, etc etc. When she mentions a Myrddraal, Mat closes the door in her face and bars it.

Mat pulls Rand to his feet, and between them they make their way out of town, nobody paying them much attention, with all the other strangers making their way to Caemlyn, too. Just a mile out of town, though, Rand's strength gives out. That's where Hyam Kinch picks them up.

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(1) So, Rand definitely Channeled and his sickness is probably intense because that was a real big'un. (2) There are good people in the world, even in dark times, and even when all seems lost. (3) A lot of people get a little confused here, because that's exactly the line Rand thought of when the scarves were first mentioned in the first page of chapter 31. There's a little timeline wibble here, but I believe RJ wanted to play with our sense of time on this long stretch of road, the same way Rand's channeling sickness and Mat's dagger taint are playing with theirs. It's fine, it's vibes, don't worry about it too hard. (4) Rand is smarter than some folk give him credit for. (5) Every Darkfriend in Andor seems to have been put on alert to keep an eye out for these two, poor souls. I'm gonna have to tag it, so: despite us not being told her name in this chapter, the truly obsessive about the series know this is Mili Skane. She gets her own entry in the encyclopedia and everything. (We're a thorough bunch, even with 2700 characters to keep track of.)