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He felt at the letter from Verin in his pocket Would the dice stop if he opened it? Maybe it was about the gholam If he did not retrieve hiswas likely to find hi drinking, forgetting who he was--and who people thought he was--for a while But if he got drunk, he was likely to let his face show by accident Perhaps begin to talk about who he really was You never could tell what a man would do when he was drunk, even if that ates and into the New City The air began tothat was not quite rain, as if the sky had listened to his rant and had decided to allow a little sneeze to spray down on hi stones soon greet froloith balls of vaporous haze Mat hunkered down, scarf still covering his face as if he were a bloody Aielo?

He was as eager as Thom to move on and find Moiraine She had made a mess of his life, but Mat supposed he owed her for that Better to live in thisa boring life without realizing how boring it was Mat was not like Perrin, who had otten to Baerlon An ie of Perrin flashed in his head, and Mat banished it

And what of Rand? Mat saw hi down at the floor in front of hi He looked worn and exhausted, his eyes wide, his expression grie as well Poor Rand Theby now, gnawing on pine cones But it was likely a blackferret that wanted to live back in the Two Rivers

No, Mat did not want to go back There was no Tuon back in the Two Rivers Light, well, he would have to figure out what to do with Tuon But he did not want to be rid of her If she were still with hi Well, not much anyway

Moiraine first He wished he knew more about the Aelfinn and Eelfinn and their bloody tower Nobody knew about it, nobody spokeuseful to say…

…nobody but Birgitte Mat stopped in the street Birgitte She had been the one to tell Olver how to get into the Tower How had she known?

Cursing himself for a fool, he turned toward the Inner City The streets were e of the traffic that had burdened thean Soon Mat felt he had the whole city to hiars withdrew

For so stared at It was not natural Someone should have tried at least to bloody shadow hied for his ive that away Better to have cut off his own bloody hand and offered that to Elayne as payholam there, in that darkness, sohs on the street Cities were full of them That was practically one of the bloody requirements for a city A town hall, a few inns and a tavern, and several blunt-faced fellohose only desire was to pound you into the mud and spend your coin on drink and woh the Mason’s Gate into the Inner City, the white archway alht of the cloudedstones The gate guards were huddled and quiet in their cloaks Like statues, not men at all The entire place felt like a toate, he passed an alleyway, and hesitated He thought he could see a group of shadowy forier runt sounded from inside the alleyway

"A robbery?" Mat said with relief

A hulking figure looked back out of the alleyway Moonlight revealed a felloith dark eyes and a long cloak He see there He pointed with a thick-fingered hand, and three of his co his brow free of rainwater So there were footpads out this night What a relief He had been juel at Mat Mat had worn the shortsword on the right side intentionally; the thug took the bait, assu that Mat would ht up the quarterstaff swiftly, snapping the butt against theinto the man’s head The drizzle, which was nearly a proper rain by now, sprayed off the cutpurse as he fell, tripping one of his companions

Mat stepped back and slammed the top of the quarterstaff down on the head of the tripping thug He went down on top of his companion The third man looked back toward his leader, who held to the collar of a gangly man Mat could barely make out in the shadows Mat took the opportunity to leap over the s at the third el up to protect his head, so Mat sla the quarterstaff, knocking aside the third man’s weak parry, and dropped him with a blow to the face

Mat casually flipped a knife toward the leader of the gang, as charging forward The leader gurgled, stu at the knife in his neck The others Mat would leave unconscious--poor fools,and reform

Mat stepped to the side as the leader stumbled past, then finally collapsed on top of his three companions Mat kicked hilanced at the victilad to see you," Mat said

"You…you are?" the ht "I thought the thieves were not out tonight A city without cutpurses, well, that’s like a field without weeds And if there were no weeds, ould you need a farmer for? Bloody inhospitable, I tell you"

The rescued man stumbled forward on shaky feet He see Mat’s hand "Thank you!" The man had a nasal voice "Thank you so, so ht, Mat could barely make out a wide face with buck teeth atop an aardly thin body

Mat shrugged, setting aside his staff and unwinding his scarf--which was getting sodden--and beginning to wring it free "I’d stay away froht, if I