The Wise Man's Fear

They arrive at Haert, Tempi’s home. Tempi leaves Kvothe to talk to his mentor, Shehyn. An old woman approaches him and they talk of utility and beauty before she invites him to walk with her. She shows him features of the town and the sword tree from a distance, then asks his knowledge of the Ketan. He realizes this is Shehyn and the two spar. After, she shows him the sword tree up close. He sees that the leaves are heavy and sharp enough to cut flesh. She compares the tree to the Ketan.

They return to town. Shehyn gathers several mercenaries and Tempi, then leaves Kvothe outside while they talk. After three hours, Kvothe is brought inside and questioned on the Lethani. Carceret, one of the women who found them on the road, asserts that Tempi should be exiled. Shehyn decides that Kvothe will be taught by Vashet, which frightens Tempi and pleases Carceret. After dinner, Tempi takes Kvothe to his room and departs, sharing that they are no longer allowed to see each other.

Kvothe meets Vashet, a mercenary. After some discourse, she sends him into the forest for a switch, which she uses to beat him. She tells him to return after lunch and dinner, where she will continue to beat him until he leaves Haert. During lunch, Carceret mocks him. After lunch, Kvothe presents Vashet with a wooden training sword, telling her of his whippings from the University and telling her she “must do worse than welts” to make him leave (817).

Vashet does not beat Kvothe with the wooden sword, revealing that she was testing his commitment rather than trying to run him off. They talk and Kvothe learns that different communities of Adem follow different schools of thought, more about the Lethani, and more Ademic. After she watches Kvothe do the Ketan, she explains that the Adem view musicians as emotional prostitutes and warns him to keep his musician status a secret.

Kvothe learns more about the Adem and the process of joining the fighting school. Shehyn teaches Kvothe the origin of the Adem and the Lethani. Afterwards, Kvothe pushes Vashet to discuss what will happen if he fails his training. After she describes how he could be maimed, he wanders through town and tries to calm himself. His dark thoughts cycle until he thinks of the Chandrian.

Kvothe wakes up with renewed dedication to learning. Vashet and Kvothe go to watch Adem spar, analyzing each match. Shehyn spars with a mercenary named Penthe and loses. When Kvothe correctly identifies what made her lose, she praises him in front of the whole gathering. After a shared dinner, Kvothe expresses to Vashet that he would like to fight someone of his own skill level.

Kvothe and Vashet begin a sexual relationship alongside their educational one, which is normalized in Adem society.

Kvothe explores Haert. Vashet introduces him to Celean, a 10-year-old girl who will serve as his sparring partner. After Vashet instructs them on the utility and rules of sparring, they fight, learning from each other as they do.

After a month has passed, Kvothe feels increasingly successful, although he continues to make small blunders. He finally beats Celean, then watches her play tag under the branches of the sword tree, using stances from the Ketan to avoid getting injured.

Vashet sends Kvothe to talk to citizens around town to learn lessons from them. They have an altercation when he expresses his dissatisfaction at practicing hand fighting more than sword fighting.

Penthe joins Kvothe for dinner, where they practice language and facial expressions. They make up poems for each other and Kvothe is comforted. When he goes to apologize to Vashet, she claims that he has a darkness inside of him and believes his gentleness to be false. She leaves to mediate on the best course of action. Kvothe returns to his room and makes a wax doll.

Late that night, Kvothe collects Vashet and takes her to a hidden glade. He creates a wall using his shaed and plays his lute for her. After his performance, he tells her, “This is what I am” (888).

Kvothe packs, prepared to flee, and goes to Vashet’s home. There, she describes visits from Penthe and Carceret, then says she will continue to teach him. His training resumes until he is abruptly informed that his test is the next day. When pressed, Vashet confesses that there is tension in the town because of him, and if he is to be mutilated it must happen before too many people feel positively towards him.

After breakfast and stretching, Vashet takes Kvothe to the sword tree. Items are scattered around the tree; his test is to make his way through the dangerous leaves, select an item, and bring it back. She draws his attention to the crowd, which includes mercenaries and the leaders of other schools. Kvothe approaches the tree and meditates. He realizes the name of the wind and watches its path, then walks safely to the trunk of the tree. He studies the items there, recognizing his lute case and the insult it represents. He briefly loses the name of the wind but remembers it after a funny thought. He uses the name to still the wind around the tree, intentionally cutting himself on a leaf as he returns to Shehyn. He offers her his blood and she approves.

Vashet teases Kvothe for his melodramatic display but approves of his performance. After getting his hand bandaged, they visit Shehyn, who compliments him. She asks about the bandit encounter, which leads to a discussion about the Chandrian. Shehyn is hesitant to discuss them further. She takes Kvothe to an old woman named Magwyn to have Kvothe be named in the Adem tradition. She reminds him of Elodin as she surveys him, naming him Maedre. After, Kvothe drinks with Penthe and friends before walking with Vashet.

The next morning, Vashet and Shehyn take Kvothe to a vault of swords. Vashet is tasked with picking a sword for him, and after much thought selects one although she seems upset with the blade: Saicere, although Kvothe thinks of it as Caesura. After teaching him to care for it, Vashet takes him back to Magwyn to learn the sword’s history. Kvothe stays with Magwyn until he learns all the sword’s past owners and stories.

Kvothe memorizes the history in three days, much sooner than expected. Because he completed the task, he is set to undergo his stone trial, where he will recite his sword’s history and spar with high-ranking members of the school. Vashet is gone, having not expected him to learn the history so quickly. When he arrives at the greystones, Kvothe recognizes Tempi, who warns him that he has been given Carceret’s mother’s sword and she is enraged. She is his first opponent and plans to maim him if possible.

Kvothe recites the history, then approaches the first stone and Carceret. She tries to humiliate him as their fight begins. He manages to land two punches but sees her fury and intentionally receives a shove to the ground so the fight can end before he is injured.

Tempi and Shehyn debate Kvothe’s performance until Penthe leads him away. They have intercourse and discuss childbearing, which the Adem believe the man plays no part in.

Vashet and Kvothe watch the sunrise on the day he is due to leave Haert. She tells him that the meaning of his Adem name is flame, thunder, and broken tree. They go to Shehyn and Kvothe tells her his decision to leave. As a parting gift, she tells him the Adem story of the Chandrian and recites a poem with their names.

Bast has an outburst, warning Kvothe that some creatures know when their name is spoken. Kvothe comforts him, then relays how the Chandrian likely found his troupe because of his father’s rehearsed song.