Talene Minly breaks under questioning and confesses to being Black Ajah, confirming the hunters' worst fears about the Shadow's reach within the Tower. Elayne travels to the Black Tower to meet Mazrim Taim and undergoes the first-sister ceremony with Aviendha, binding them as near-sisters in Aiel tradition. Rand appoints stewards for Cairhien, Tear and Illian, while tensions between factions in the Black Tower begin to surface.
Perrin departs Masema's camp in Abila, walking past the Prophet's fanatical followers whose mixture of awe and hostility follows him through the streets. He returns to his horses where Elyas and Balwer wait, deeply troubled by Masema's madness and determined to keep Faile far from the man's reach.
Perrin rides into camp to find Mayener and Ghealdanin soldiers arrayed in tense standoff, and learns the devastating news that Faile has been kidnapped by the Shaido Aiel. He sends scouts in every direction to find her trail, barely containing the cold rage that threatens to consume him.
Faile and the other captured women are marched through deep snow toward the Shaido encampment, enduring bitter cold and rough treatment. She forces herself not to think of Perrin, focusing instead on survival and on observing the Shaido's weaknesses for any chance of escape.
Faile, Alliandre and Maighdin are given gai'shain robes and golden collars marking them as Sevanna's personal property. Therava commands them to spy on Sevanna, while the captive Aes Sedai Galina blackmails Faile into attempting to steal the Oath Rod from Therava's tent, trapping her between two dangerous mistresses.
Perrin wakes disoriented in Berelain's tent after failing to find Faile in the wolf dream, where Hopper warned him he was entering too deeply and risking his life. The compromising appearance fuels camp gossip that Perrin dreads will reach Faile's ears.
Perrin struggles through days of anguish as he searches for Faile, feeling cut off from his own Two Rivers people who treat him as a lord rather than a friend. He gives orders and receives reports mechanically, his every thought bent on finding his wife before the Shaido move beyond his reach.
Elayne rides through the streets of Caemlyn with Aviendha, surveying her city and weighing the political challenges that stand between her and the Lion Throne. She passes through crowds who watch the Daughter-Heir with a mixture of hope and uncertainty, aware that rival claimants are already gathering support.
Elayne deals with palace intrigues and the logistics of governing, meeting with her advisors about the state of Andor's defences and finances. She and Nynaeve decide to attempt freeing three of the Seanchan damane that Rand sent to Caemlyn, a dangerous undertaking that could provoke the Seanchan.
Elayne dresses for an audience with her First Clerk Halwin Norry, who delivers grim reports on Andor's depleted treasury and fractured nobility. During lunch with Dyelin, she realises she has been dosed with forkroot tea, and armed men burst in to kill her - Daved Hanlon fights the assassins, though his motives remain suspect.
Elayne wakes to find her injuries are not as severe as feared, and later meets Nynaeve and Egwene in Tel'aran'rhiod to share intelligence. At least two unseen watchers eavesdrop on their conversation, one of whom is the Black sister Temaile. In a darkened house across the city, a gathering of Darkfriends plots against the Daughter-Heir.
Rand arrives in Caemlyn disguised behind a mask of mirrors, accompanied by Min, hoping to find Mat and enlist Nynaeve's help. He reveals to Nynaeve and Lan his plan to cleanse saidin of the Dark One's taint using the two most powerful sa'angreal ever created, the Choedan Kal.
Elayne, Min and Aviendha bond Rand as their Warder in a ceremony that weaves the three women's love for him into a single, shared bond. Elayne and Rand share a night together before he must leave. Nynaeve, Lan and Alivia depart Caemlyn to begin preparations for the cleansing.
Cadsuane meets with allies in the Sun Palace and discovers that Alanna Mosvani has collapsed unconscious, her Warder bond with Rand transmitting some unknown shock. The Forsaken gather as word spreads that the Dragon Reborn intends to use the Choedan Kal, each of them determined to stop him or seize the sa'angreal for themselves.
The Daughter of the Nine Moons, Tuon, arrives in Ebou Dar aboard the Seanchan fleet, completing her morning rituals as she prepares to set foot on the conquered mainland. Her companion Selucia tends to her while the mysterious Anath offers counsel that carries an edge of command beneath its deference.
Mat visits the illuminator Aludra, who poses him a riddle about the secret of her fireworks that he cannot yet answer. He begins scheming to use Valan Luca's travelling show as cover for escaping Ebou Dar, meeting with Thom and Beslan to lay the groundwork for the plan.
Mat and his companions are attacked in the streets of Ebou Dar by the gholam, the near-unkillable Shadow-wrought assassin that has been hunting him since the Rahad. The old traveller Noal Charin intervenes to help, and Mat barely escapes with his life, the dice still tumbling in his head.
Mat brings Noal to the Tarasin Palace and encounters Tuon for the first time when she inspects him with frank appraisal and expresses interest in purchasing him. The encounter unsettles Mat, who cannot shake the memory of the Aelfinn's prophecy about the Daughter of the Nine Moons.
Mat begins smuggling gold and clothing to the Wandering Woman inn, preparing caches for his escape from Ebou Dar. He gathers intelligence on the Seanchan occupation, their exotic beasts and military dispositions, while strange swirling colours fill his vision whenever Rand crosses his thoughts.
Mat resolves to help the imprisoned Aes Sedai Joline and Teslyn escape from the Seanchan, knowing it will make his own flight far more dangerous. The Seanchan noblewoman Egeanin arrives in Ebou Dar with her so'jhin Bayle Domon, adding another thread to the tangle of alliances Mat must weave.