- Perrin fretted over the days spent with the Tuatha'an, traveling south and east in a leisurely fashion. The Traveling People saw no need to hurry; they never did. The colorful wagons did not roll out of a morning until the sun was well above the horizon, and they stopped as early as midafternoon if they came across a congenial spot. The dogs trotted easily alongside the wagons, and often the children did, too. They had no difficulty in keeping up. Any suggestion that they might go further, or more quickly, was met with laughter, or perhaps, "Ah, but would you make the poor horses work so hard?"
Oddly enough, I'm really emphasizing with Perrin right now, because this isn't the first time that I wished this book would pick up the pace (a problem exacerbated thanks to me recently reading Mark's experience of His Dark Materials, which seems like a roller coaster in comparison). We're following up the harrowing, tragic conclusion of the last chapter with a serene, peaceful beginning to this current chapter, with the Tinkers having not a care in the world. If this were a movie, I would put in the clip from Bambi of the babbling brook with the frolicking music here a la the Nostalgia Critic.
Indeed, pretty much the rest of the chapter is about Perrin and Elyas trying to get things moving again and resist the peaceful serenity of the Tinkers' camp. Granted, the Tinkers don't really know firsthand about the urgency of Perrin's situation here, but their obliviousness kind of annoys me nonetheless. Egwene is also on their side, practically acting like she's on vacation, and she does know what's at stake here. Her rationale is that they should take this time to unwind, since they don't know when they'll ever get another chance. Now, Egwene is probaby my least favorite character in the book, and I've tried to restrain myself from trashing her and play devil's advocate with her. And when I think about how the chase has sucked all the fun out of Mat, I'm starting to think that Egwene might have a point, however badly she makes it.
- Sometimes [Perrin] wanted to shout at them. There were Trollocs in the world, and Fades. There were those who would cut down every leaf. The Dark One was out there, and the Way of the Leaf would burn in Ba'alzamon's eyes. Stubbornly he continued to wear the axe. He took to keeping his cloak thrown back, even when it was windy, so the half-moon blade was never hidden. Now and again Elyas looked quizzically at the weapon hanging heavy at his side and grinned at him, those yellow eyes seeming to read his mind. That almost made him cover the axe. Almost.
This part of the chapter I did find interesting, though, because I immediately wondered if there was some sort of political subtext. It sort of reminded me of the sort of pro-war argument the American right likes to use. Of course, the main difference here is that the real world has nothing like Ba'alzamon, no monolithic evils that you can chip away at without hurting real people who don't deserve it. I don't want to dwell on this too much, since there's not much indication that Jordan is intentionally trying to draw this parallel... yet.
Throughout the chapter, Egwene starts to mingle with the Tinkers and learn to dance, Aram seems to prepare to make a move on her, Elyas waits for some sort of sign to get moving, and Perrin generally acts uncomfortable. As it turns out, that sign is Ba'alzamon showing up in Perrin's nightmares again:
- Abruptly the wolf rose, rumbling deep in its throat, the thick ruff of fur on its neck rising. Ba'alzamon stepped into the kitchen from the yard. Mistress Luhhan went on with her cooking.
Perrin scrambled to his feet, raising the axe, but Ba'alzamon ignored the weapon, concentrating on the wolf, instead. Flames danced where his eyes should be. "Is this what you have to protect you? Well, I have faced this before. Many times before."
He crooked a finger, and the wolf howled as fire burst out of its eyes and ears and mouth, out of its skin. The stench of burning meat and hair filled the kitchen. Alsbet Luhhan lifted the lid on a pot and stirred with a wooden spoon.
Yeah. And you better believe the wolves near Perrin freaked out when his powers conveyed that dream to them. Relying on the pack for protection doesn't seem like such a hot idea now, does it, Elyas?
They leave after one last exasperation from the Tinkers. Raen is reluctant to let them leave without a going-away feast (I was right about them being vegans, by the way), so he settles for having every single Tinker personally give them a hug goodbye. They're congenial, I get it. And so it looks like the Tinkers are out of the story after two chapters. Hopefully this is building up to something, because otherwise this diversion was kind of a waste of time, you know? It probably is, though, even if the characters run into a different band of Tinkers.
So the Perrin, Egwene, and Elyas leave for Caemlyn again, and Egwene closes out the chapter with this little gem:
- "Finally, [Perrin] said, "What did you spend so much time talking about with Ila? If you weren't dancing with that long-legged fellow, you were talking to her like it was some kind of secret."
"Ila was giving me advice on being a woman," Egwene replied absently. He began laughing, and she gave him a hooded, dangerous look that he failed to see.
"Advice! Nobody tells us how to be men. We just are."
"That," Egwene said, "is probably why you make such a bad job of it." Up ahead, Elyas cackled loudly.
Alright, that was kind of funny, I have to admit that.
NEXT TIME: Nynaeve returns, however briefly.
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