A Crown of Swords: Chapter 39
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Chapter Icon: Five dice, arranged in a ring
Point of View: Mat
Location: Tarasin Palace
Characters: Elayne, Mat, Nynaeve, Reanne, Renaile
Outline
Mat uses his ta'veren nature to push the Windfinders into leaving with the girls, but is trapped in the city when the Seanchan attack.
Summary
In the Tarasin Palace, Mat tries to persuade the Windfinders and Aes Sedai to leave. He tells them of the man he saw, which he has learned from Birgitte was a gholam. The Aes Sedai have never heard of a gholam and the Windfinders do not believe him. He wonders why Elayne and Nynaeve don't help and decides if they won't, he will do things his own way. He tells Renaile he does not care if she can channel and loses his temper. He calls her a "daughter of the sands", almost causing her to stab him. He tells them if they weren't needed, he would leave them for the gholam. The bargain between them is that they go where he tells them and in return, he won't tie them up and force them. Renaile agrees, realizing she has made a bargain with ta'veren and hoping to get even one day. Reanne suggests visiting a farm just outside Ebou Dar and the rest agree.
Elayne apologizes for using him, although Nynaeve does not, and he suggests letting him make the next bargain so that it will not go so badly as the one they made with the Sea Folk. They discover Olver is absent and try to find him, with Birgitte and Aviendha keen that he be found. He tells them the Bowl is too important for them to stay, telling Birgitte and Lan to keep the others safe. He receives a Barashandan pledge from Birgitte, which he accepts, much to the bemusement of everyone else. Before leaving, Nynaeve warns him of a storm approaching. While searching for Olver, a Seanchan attack is launched and Mat is trapped under a falling wall.
