Rand, with Min, is on the run, and Cadsuane, in Carhien, is trying to figure out where he is headed. His destination is, in fact, one she never considered. Mazrim Taim, leader of the Black Tower, is revealed to be a liar. But what is he up to?

Faile, with her companions Bain and Chiad (the Aiel Maidens) and Queen Alliandre and Morgase, is a prisoner of Sevanna's sept. Perrin is hunting desperately for Faile. With Elyas Machera, Berelain, the Prophet, and a very mixed "army" of disparate forces, he is moving through country rife with bandits and roving Seanchan . . . and in the wolfdream the man called Slayer seems to be hunting Perrin.

In addition, the Forsaken are ever more present. In Tar Valon, the schemers and counter-schemers in Elaida's White Tower are shaken to the core when Egwene and the rebels appear suddenly outside the walls. In Ebou Dar, the Seanchan princess known as Daughter of the Nine Moons arrives--and Mar, who has been recuperating in the Tarasin Palace, is introduced to her. Will the marriage that has been foretold come about?