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"I listen," Mat ly at Elayne "Does Rand know about this?"

She laughed "I should hope he isn’t too surprised"

"Burn me!" Mat said "He’s the father!"

"The father of my children is a matter of some speculation in the city," Elayne said solemnly "And the Crown prefers there to be speculation, for the ti How did you escape Ebou Dar?"

"Forget Ebou Dar," Birgitte snapped "How’s Olver? Did you find hih I fear the lad is destined for life as a professional soldier"

"Not a bad life," Birgitte said "Eh, Mat?"

"There are worse," he said, still trying to get his legs underneath hihty? Had he reeable now!

Well, that was unfair There were tireeable before They hadMat around He found hi as Thom related the details of their escape and the capture of Tuon, followed by their travels with Master Luca’s erie Drawn from the quiver of a storyteller, the tale sounded a whole lot ht hi to Thom

Right before Thoe words, however, Mat coughed and cut in "And we beat the Seanchan, fled into Murandy, and eventually found an Aes Sedai to get us here through a gateway By the way, have you seen Verin lately?"

"No," Elayne said Thom eyed Mat with amusement

"Blast," Mat said Well, there went his chance to use her for a gateway to the Tower of Ghenjei He would worry about that later He took the leather envelope fro out Aludra’s papers "Elayne," he said, "I need to talk to you"

"Yes, you mentioned ‘bellfounders’ in your letter What trouble have you gotten yourself into, Matri out the sheets "I’oing to ain, are you?" she asked with a roll of her eyes

He stopped "Of course not That happened ages ago I barely re in the roo "Anyway, I’m not in trouble I just need sorowing curious as he spread out the papers on the table next to her chair Birgitte leaned down

"Well," Mat said, rubbing his chin "There are three bellfounders in the city; I’ll need those And we’re going to need soe And…we’ll need a little bit of metal" He winced and handed her one of Aludra’s lists

Elayne read the page, then blinked "Are you ht be," he said "But burn me, I think this will be worth the cost"

"What is it?" Elayne asked as Birgitte looked over one of the sheets, then handed it to Elayne

"Aludra calls theons," Mat said "Thom says you knew her?"