The woman at the door is Elaida, who gets to work making things as uncomfortable as possible. She wants to know what they did while they were away, and they can’t tell her the whole story. Egwene gets some good From a Certain Point of View hits in, but then they’re rescued by Sheriam, who tells them Mat is going to be Healed. Though Nynaeve slips and reveals that Elayne knows about the Gray Man, a reminder of what thin ice they’re on.
The girls’ position gets more complicated with each chapter, and now I’m definitely more invested in it than Perrin’s. I don’t think Elaida is Black, since that would make things a bit too simple for them, and I think this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Rather, she’s like Delores Umbridge, a completely nasty person who nevertheless is not actually tied to the main villain.
