The Wise Man's Fear

“Who would have better reason than the Amyr themselves?” I said. “Which means they are still around, somewhere.”

“Thus your question.” Alveron started walking again, slower than before. “Where are the Amyr?”

We left the bridge and began to walk the path around the pond, the Maer’s face full of serious thought. “Would you believe I had the same thought after searching in the mendary?” he asked me. “I thought the Amyr might have avoided being brought to trial. Gone into hiding. I thought there might even be Amyr in the world after all this while, acting in secret for the greater good.”

I could feel the excitement bubbling in my chest. “What did you discover?” I asked eagerly.

“Discover?” Alveron looked surprised. “Nothing. My father died that year and I became Maer. I dismissed it as a boyish fancy.” He looked out over the water and the gently gliding swans. “But if you found this same thing half a world away. . . .” He trailed off.

“And I drew the same conclusion, your grace.”

Alveron nodded slowly. “It is disturbing that there might be a secret this important.” He looked around the garden at the walls of his estate. “And in my own lands. I don’t like that.” He turned back to me, his eyes sharp and clear. “How do you propose to search them out?”

I smiled ruefully. “As your grace pointed out, no matter how well-spoken or well-educated I am, I will never be nobility. I lack the connections and the resources to research this as thoroughly as I would like. But with your name to open doors, I could make a search of many private libraries. I could access archives and records too private or too hidden to be pruned. . . .”

Alveron nodded, his eyes not leaving mine. “I think I understand you. I, for one, would give a great deal to know the truth of this matter.”

He looked away as the sound of laughter drifted upward, mixing with the footsteps of a group of approaching nobles. “You’ve given me a great deal to think about,” he said in softer tones. “We will discuss this further in more privacy.”

“What time would be convenient for you to meet, your grace?”

Alveron gave me a long, speculative look. “Come to my rooms this evening. And since I cannot give you an answer, let me offer you a question of my own instead.”

“I value questions near as much, your grace.”

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-EIGHT Notes

With nearly five hours until my meeting with the Maer, I was finally free to go about my business in Severen- Low. From the horse lifts, the sky was so clear and blue it could break your heart to look at it. With that in mind, I made my way to the Four Tapers inn.

The taproom wasn’t busy, so it isn’t surprising that the innkeeper spotted me heading toward the back stairs. “Stop you!” he called out in broken Aturan. “Pay! Room only for paying men!”

Not wanting a scene, I approached the bar. The innkeeper was a thin, greasy man with a thick Lenatti accent. I smiled at him. “I was just visiting a friend. The woman in room three. Long dark hair.” I gestured to show how long. “Is she still here?”

“Ah,” he said, giving me a knowing look. “The girl. Her name Dinay?”

I nodded, knowing Denna changed her name as often as some other women changed their hair.

The greasy man nodded again. “Yes. The pretty dark eyes? She gone for long.”

My heart fell, despite the fact that I’d known better than to hope she would still be here after all this time. “Do you know where she might have gone?”

He barked a short laugh. “No. You and all the other wolves come sniffing after her. I could have sold knowing to you all to made a thick purse. But no, I haen’t idea.”

“Might she have left a message for me?” I asked without real hope. I hadn’t found any letter or note waiting for me at Alveron’s estate. “She was expecting me to find her here.”

“Was she?” he said mockingly, then seemed to remember something. “I think there a note found. Might be. Not much a reader me. You would like it?” He smiled.

I nodded, my heart lifting a little.

“She left without payment in her room,” he said. “Seventeen and a half pennies.”

I brought out a silver round and showed it to him. He reached for it, but I set it on the table and held it there with two fingers.

He scurried off into a back room and was gone for a long five minutes. He finally returned with a tightly folded piece of paper clutched in one hand. “I am find it,” he said triumphantly, waving it in my direction. “Not much good for paper here but kindling.”

I looked at the piece of paper and felt my spirits lift. It was folded against itself in the same fashion as the letter I’d had the tinker deliver. If she’d copied that trick, it meant she must have read my letter and left this note for me. Hopefully it would tell me where she had gone. How to find her. I slid the coin toward the innkeeper and took the note.

Once outside, I hurried to the shadow of a recessed doorway, knowing it was the closest thing to privacy I would find on the busy street. I tore the note open carefully, unfolded it, and edged into the light. It read:

Denna,

I have been forced to leave town on an errand for my patron. I will be away some time, perhaps several span. It was sudden and unavoidable, else I would have made a point to see you before I left.

I regret many of the things I said when we last spoke and wish I could apologize for them in person.

I will find you when I return.

Yours,

Kvothe

At eighth bell I made my way to the Maer’s rooms, leaving Caesura behind. I felt oddly naked without it. It’s strange how quickly we become accustomed to such things.

Stapes showed me into the Maer’s sitting room, and Alveron sent his manservant to invite Meluan to join us at her convenience. I wondered idly what would happen if she decided not to come? Would he ignore her for three days in silent rebuke?

Alveron settled onto a couch and gave me a speculative look. “I’ve heard some rumors surrounding your recent excursion,” he said. “Some rather fantastic things I’m not given to believing. Perhaps you’d like to tell me what really happened.”

For a moment I wondered how he’d managed to hear about my activities near Levinshir so quickly. Then I realized he wanted to know the details of our bandit hunt in the Eld. I breathed a mental sigh of relief. “I trust Dedan found you easily enough?” I asked.

Alveron nodded.

“I regretted having to send him in my stead, your grace. He is not a subtle creature.”

He shrugged. “No real harm was done. By the time he came to me the need for secrecy was past.”

“He did deliver my letter then?”

“Ah yes, the letter.” Alveron pulled it out of a nearby drawer. “I assumed it was some sort of odd joke.”

“Your grace?”

He gave me a frank stare, then looked down at my letter. “Twenty-seven men,” he read aloud. “Experienced mercenaries by their actions and appearance . . . A well-established camp with rudimentary fortifications.” He looked up again, “You can’t expect me to believe this as the truth. The five of you couldn’t possibly succeed against so many.”