Chapters 45-47 Summary

Mat and Thom arrive in Caemlyn, and Mat makes his first attempt to deliver Elayne's letter but is rebuffed at the gates of the castle by guards loyal to Lord Gaebril, a new adviser to Queen Morgase. Mat returns to the inn called the Queen's Blessing, where Thom is playing a game of stones with the innkeeper Master Gill. Gill tells Mat that any mention of Tar Valon in the castle will likely earn him a cell, as Morgase's attitude toward the White Tower has changed because of the previous disappearance of Elayne and because of her new adviser, Gaebril.

Mat returns to the castle, sneaking in through the garden where Rand met Elayne in the first book. While prowling through the castle, he overhears Lord Gaebril ordering a confidante to make sure Elayne meets with an accident on the way...