The Wise Man's Fear

Tempi begins to teach Kvothe the Ketan, his stretches. Their progress is slowed by Hespe’s injured leg and a thick bog. As night falls, they hear singing and pursue the voice. They find Felurian.

Felurian sings as they watch on with a mix of horror and interest. Kvothe resolves to chase her down, telling the others he will meet them in three days at the Pennysworth. He follows her through the woods and catches her. The two have intercourse.

Kvothe wakes with Felurian and studies her, then realizes he has been charmed and forces himself to think of stories about her. She wakes and talks to him, reminding Kvothe briefly of Elodin. He plays his lute for her and uses his music to calm his mind. When he asserts that he must leave, he is overwhelmed by desire and realizes that he cannot escape her of his own free will because she uses lust to bind people to her.

Kvothe starts to engage with Felurian, but then a memory of a past sexual trauma returns to him and he uses it to awaken his sleeping mind. With clearer thoughts, he calls the wind with a song and captures her with it. When he releases her, he loses the name of the wind as she surveys him. Kvothe loses his sleeping mind and begins to cry.

Kvothe strums his lute as he tries to comfort himself. Felurian asks him to play more music and he performs songs written about her. He plays on her vanity and sings poorly written songs, then offers to write one for her. He begins, but plays up his lack of romantic experience, confessing his virginity before coupling with her. They make a deal: Kvothe will finish the song if he is allowed to leave but must return to perform it for her.

Kvothe reflects on the nature of his own reputation. Felurian teaches him how to make love and they share stories. He tries to question her about the Amyr and the Chandrian but to no success. Kvothe learns about the Fae and that most of them dislike mortals.

Kvothe grapples with the strangeness of the Fae glade as Felurian continues to reassert his promise that he will return to her one day. To keep him safe, she offers to make him a shaed and takes him deep into the forest. They evade dangers, then are joined by luminescent moths that light their path. Felurian collects things from the shadows then guides him to a different part of the forest, where she sews with starlight. He realizes she is making him a cloak of shadows.

Kvothe tries to learn Felurian’s magic, but much is lost in translation. Kvothe reflects on the strangeness of his memory of the Fae, which excludes many details.

As they bathe, Kvothe sees the moon for the first time during his visit and Felurian explains the moon moves between the mortal realm and the Fae. Felurian also confirms that Hespe’s story about the boy who fell in love with the moon is true. She describes the original namers, who created the Fae realm among other things. She claims that the man who stole the moon is locked behind doors of stone. She warns him about the phases of the moon and what their meanings.

Kvothe learns some Fae language and songs. Felurian continues to work on his shaed.

Having learned about some Fae magic, Kvothe transforms his shaed into different garments. She sends him off into the woods so she can complete the shaed. He wanders far away and finds a tree covered in light blue flowers, which speaks and introduces herself as the Cthaeh who knows all. She invites him to ask a question, then presses him to ask about the Chandrian. She speaks scathingly of mankind’s hubris, drops hints that Alveron is close to the Amyr without knowing it, and reveals the leader of the bandits was actually Cinder of the Chandrian. She then reveals that Denna’s patron beats her and that Denna thinks of Kvothe before she passes out from the pain. She mocks him for hurting Denna and he returns to Felurian, who comforts him.

Kvothe stops the story as Bast has an outburst about his speaking to the Cthaeh. Bast describes the Cthaeh as a monster, with an entire sect of Fae designated to killing people who encounter her. Because she sees the whole future, she manipulates people so that they do as much damage as possible once they leave the Fae realm. Bast ties people meeting the Cthaeh to every catastrophe in history and Kvothe tells the men that he knows his story is a tragedy.

Kvothe gradually heals from his emotional encounter. When he is himself again, Felurian gives him his shaed. Shortly after, she takes him back to the mortal world through a ring of greystones.

Kvothe arrives outside the Pennysworth Inn and finds Marten telling the story of his departure into the forest with Felurian. Kvothe enters the inn to an uproar, feeling uncomfortable in the crowd of mortals. An argument starts as people accuse Kvothe and his companions of lying, but between the shaed and the testimony of the serving girl who flirted with Kvothe, his story is validated. He tells an edited story of his time with Felurian.

The group takes several days to recover from their injuries and Kvothe resumes his lessons with Tempi. They depart and run into some troupers on the road who share gossip and a rhyme about the mysterious Lackless door. One afternoon, while practicing the Ketan, they are interrupted by four Adem mercenaries. The four argue with Tempi, and after they leave Tempi shares that he must return home and face his master because teaching Kvothe was forbidden. Kvothe remembers the Cthaeh’s words and offers to accompany Tempi.