place and go somewhere else!"
"We've tried," the mayor said. "We always wake up back here, no matter how far we go. Some have tried ending their lives. We buried the bodies. They woke up the next morning in their beds."
The room fell silent.
"Blood and bloody ashes," Mat whispered. He felt chilled.
"You survived the night," the mayor said, stirring his tea again. "I assumed that you hadn't, after seeing that bloodstain. We were curious to see where you'd wake up. Most of the rooms in the inns are permanently taken by travelers who are now, for better or worse, part of our village. We aren't able to choose where someone awakens. It just happens. An empty bed gets a new occupant, and from then on they wake up there each morning.
"Anyway, when I heard you talking to one another about what you'd seen, I realized that you must have escaped. You remember the night too vividly. Anyone who... joins us simply has the nightmares. Count yourselves lucky. I suggest you move on and forget Hinderstap."
"We have Aes Sedai with us," Thom said. "They might be able to do something to help you. We could tell the White Tower, have them send—"
"No!" Barlden said sharply. "Our lives aren't so bad, now that we know how to deal with our situation. We don't want Aes Sedai eyes on us." He turned away. "We nearly turned your group away flat. We do that, sometimes, if we sense that the travelers won't obey our rules. But you had Aes Sedai with you. They ask questions, they get curious. We worried that if we turned you away, they'd get suspicious and force entrance."
"Forcing them to leave at sunset made them even more curious," Mat said. "And having their bathing attendants bloody try to kill them isn't a good way to keep the secret either."
The mayor looked wan. "Some wished... well, that you'd be trapped here. They thought that if Aes Sedai were bound here, they'd find a way out for all of us. We don't all agree. Either way, it's our problem. Please, just... Just go."
"Fine." Mat stood up straight and picked up his spear. "But first, tell me where these came from." He pulled the paper from his pocket, the one that bore a drawing of his face.
Barlden glanced at it. "You'll find those spread around the nearby villages," he said. "Someone's looking for you. As I told Ledron last night, I'm not in the business of selling out guests. I wasn't about to kidnap you and risk keeping you here overnight just for some reward."
"Who's looking for me?" Mat repeated.
"About twenty leagues to the northeast, there's a small town called Trustair. Rumor says that if you want a little coin, you can bring news about a man who looks like the one in this picture, or the other one. Visit an inn in Trustair called The Shaken Fist to find the one looking for you."
"Other picture?" Mat asked, frowning.
"Yes. A burly fellow with a beard. A note at the bottom says he has golden eyes."
Mat glanced at Thom, who'd raised a bushy eyebrow.
"Blood and bloody ashes," Mat muttered and pulled the side of his hat down. Who was looking for him and Perrin, and what did they want? "We'll be going, I suppose," he said. He glanced at Barlden. Poor fellow. That went for the entire village. But what was Mat to do about it? There were rights you could win, and others you just had to leave for someone else.
"Your gold is on the wagon outside," the mayor said. "We didn't take any from your winnings. The food is there too." He met Mat's eyes. "We hold to our word, here. Other things are out of our control, particularly for those who don't listen to the rules. But we aren't going to rob a man just because he's an outsider."
"Mighty tolerant of you," Mat said flatly, pulling open the door. "Have a good day, then, and when night comes, try not to kill anyone I wouldn't kill. Thom, you coming?"
The gleeman joined him, limping slightly from his old wound. Mat glanced back at Barlden, who stood with sleeves rolled up in the center of the room, looking down at his teacup. He seemed like he was wishing that cup held something a little stronger.
"Poor fellow," Mat said, then stepped out into the morning light after Thom and pulled the door shut behind him.
"I assume we're going after that person spreading around pictures of