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| - The chapter opens with Perrin in a wolf dream searching for Faile. Hopper appears and tells him he has been there (in the wolf dream) too long and he must go back to the waking world to find Faile as he would not find her there. He awakens from the dream to find himself in an elaborately furnished tent with Berelain. She tells him that his scouts have not yet returned and that hers were found dead in an ambush not more than five or six miles from their camp. He deduced that, as Gaul and Jondyn were not back yet, Faile must still be alive because they would have returned long since if they had found her body. After leaving to organise food for Perrin, Berelain returned and informed him that, despite agreeing to bring only an honour guard and a hundred men, Masema's men had started arriving before daylight and there were now between three and four thousand of them in the camp and they were still coming from all over. Masema himself had not yet arrived. She told him that Masema had been meeting with the Seanchan and she also let him know that her men had not been killed by Aiel. They were killed with crossbows and axes which is not how Aiel fight, suggesting that Masema's men had been responsible. Perrin left the tent without eating the food that Rosene, Berelain's maid, had brought and went in search of Masema's men. When he reached the camp of his own men he found them glum faced and quiet, trying to stay warm. Perrin figured from this that Jondyn, Gaul, Elyas and the others had not returned yet and he held out hope that they would return with Faile or, at least, news of where she was being held. The Red Eagle of Manatheren and his own Wolfshead banner were hanging limp on two staffs. He planned to use the flags as a way to hide in the open. He figured that people would see the flags and think him and his little army were planning on reclaiming the ancient glories of Manatheren. They would consider him a madman and be pleased to see him ride on rather than try stopping him. He had been hoping to use this strategy and get to Andor before giving up the deception. Faile's disappearance changed things. He knew it would be a huge price to pay for the change and he was prepared to pay but, he knew it would not be him who paid.
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