The Wise Man's Fear

sheltering the flame with his other hand as he walked. “I’ve got it. What do you want it for, anyway?”

“There.” I pointed to the table beside the bed. “You lit it off the fire?”

Sim’s eyes were frightened. “Your lips,” he said. “They’re not a good color.”

I pried a splinter from the rough wood of the bedside table and jabbed it hard into the back of my hand. Blood welled up and I rolled the long splinter around in it, getting it wet. “Close the door,” I said.

“You are not doing what I think you’re doing,” Sim said firmly.

I jabbed the long splinter down into the soft wax of the candle alongside the burning wick. It sputtered a little bit, then the flame wrapped around it. I muttered two bindings, one right after the other, speaking slowly so my numb lips didn’t slur the words.

“What are you doing?” Sim demanded. “Are you trying to cook yourself?” When I didn’t answer him, he stepped forward as if he would knock the candle over.

Wil caught his arm. “His hands are like ice,” he said quietly. “He’s cold. Really cold.”

Sim’s eyes darted nervously between the two of us. He took a step back. “Just . . . just be careful.”

But I was already ignoring him. I closed my eyes and bound the candle flame to the fire downstairs. Then I carefully made the second connection between the blood on the splinter and the blood in my body. It was very much like what I’d done with the drop of wine at the Eolian. With the obvious exception that I didn’t want my blood to boil.

At first there was just a brief tickle of heat, not nearly enough. I concentrated harder and felt my entire body relax as warmth flooded through me. I kept my eyes closed, keeping my attention on the bindings until I could take several long, deep breaths without any shuddering or shaking.

I opened my eyes and saw my two friends looking on expectantly. I smiled at them. “I’m okay.”

But before I got the words out, I began to sweat. I was suddenly too warm, nauseatingly warm. I broke both bindings as quickly as you jerk your hand away from a hot iron stove.

I took a few deep breaths, then got to my feet and walked over to the window. I opened it and leaned heavily on the sill, enjoying the chill autumn air that smelled of dead leaves and coming rain.

There was a long moment of silence.

“That looked like binder’s chills,” Simmon said. “Really bad binder’s chills.”

“It felt like the chills,” I said.

“Maybe your body has lost the ability to regulate its own temperate?” Wilem suggested.

“Temperature,” Sim corrected him absently.

“That wouldn’t account for the burn across my chest,” I said.

Sim cocked his head. “Burn?”

I was wet with sweat now, so I was glad for an excuse to unbutton my shirt and pull it off over my head. A large portion of my chest and upper arm was a bright red, a sharp contrast to my ordinarily pale skin. “Mola said it was a rash, and I was being fussy as an old woman. But it wasn’t there before I jumped into the river.”

Simmon leaned close to look. “I still think it’s unbound principles,” he said. “They can do bizarre things to a person. We had an E’lir last term that wasn’t careful with his factoring. He ending up not being able to sleep or focus his eyes for almost two span.”

Wilem slouched into a chair. “What makes a man cold, then hot, then cold again?”

Sim gave a halfhearted smile. “Sounds like a riddle.”

“I hate riddles,” I said, reaching for my shirt. Then I yelped, clutching at the bare bicep of my left arm. Blood welled out between my fingers.

Sim bolted to his feet, looking around frantically, obviously at a loss for what to do.

It felt like I’d been stabbed by an invisible knife. “God. Blackened. Damn.” I gritted out between my clenched teeth. I pulled my hand away and saw the small, round wound in my arm that had come from nowhere.

Simmon’s expression was horrified, his eyes wide, his hands covering his mouth. He said something, but I was too busy concentrating to listen. I already knew what he was saying, anyway: malfeasance. Of course. This was all malfeasance. Someone was attacking me.

I lowered myself into the Heart of Stone and brought all my Alar to bear.

But my unknown attacker wasn’t wasting any time. There was a sharp pain in my chest near the shoulder. It didn’t break the skin this time, but I watched a blotch of dark blue blossom under my skin.

I hardened my Alar and the next stab was little more than a pinch. Then I quickly broke my mind into three pieces and gave two of them the job of maintaining the Alar that protected me.

Only then did I let out a deep sigh. “I’m fine.”

Simmon gave a laugh that choked off into a sob. His hands still covered his mouth. “How can you say that?” he demanded, plainly horrified.

I looked down at myself. Blood was still welling up through my fingers, running down the back of my hand and my arm.

“It’s true,” I said to him. “Honestly, Sim.”

“But malfeasance,” he said. “It just isn’t done.”

I sat down on the edge of my bed, keeping pressure on my wound. “I think we have some pretty clear proof otherwise.”

Wilem sat back down. “I am with Simmon. I would never have believed this.” He made an angry gesture. “Arcanists do not do this anymore. It is insane.” He looked at me. “Why are you smiling?”

“I’m relieved,” I said honestly. “I was worried I’d given myself cadmium poisoning, or I had some mysterious disease. This is just someone trying to kill me.”

“How could someone do it?” Simmon asked. “I don’t mean morally. How did someone get hold of your blood or hair?”

Wilem looked at Simmon. “What did you do with the bandages after you stitched him up?”

“I burned them,” Sim said defensively. “I’m not an idiot.”

Wil made a calming gesture. “I’m just narrowing our options. It probably isn’t the Medica either. They’re careful about that sort of thing.”

Simmon stood up. “We have to tell someone.” He looked at Wilem. “Would Jamison still be in his office at this time of night?”

“Sim,” I said. “How about we just wait for a while?”

“What?” Simmon said. “Why?”

“The only evidence I have are my injuries,” I said. “That means they’ll want someone at the Medica to examine me. And when that happens . . .” With one hand still clamped over my bloody arm, I waved my bandaged elbow. “I look remarkably like someone who fell off a roof just a couple days ago.”

Sim’s sat back down in his chair. “It’s only been three days, hasn’t it?”

I nodded. “I’d be expelled. And Mola would be in trouble for not mentioning my injuries. Master Arwyl isn’t forgiving about that sort of thing. The two of you would probably be implicated too. I don’t want that.”

We were quiet for a moment. The only sound was the distant clamor of the busy taproom below. I sat down on the bed.

“Do we even need to discuss who’s doing this?” Sim asked.

“Ambrose,” I said. “It’s always Ambrose. He must have found some of my blood on a piece of roofing tile. I should have thought of that days ago.”

“How would he know it was yours?” Simmon asked.

“Because I hate him,” I said bitterly. “Of course he knows it was me.”

Wil was slowly shaking his head. “No. It’s not like him.”

“Not like him?” Simmon demanded. “He had that woman dose Kvothe with the plum bob. That’s as bad as poison. He hired those men to jump Kvothe in the alley last term.”

“My point exactly,” Wilem said. “Ambrose doesn’t do things to Kvothe. He arranges for other people to do them. He got some woman to dose him. He paid thugs to knife you. I expect he didn’t even do that, really. I’ll bet someone else set it up for him.”

“It’s all the same,” I said. “We know he’s behind it.”

Wilem frowned at me. “You’re not thinking straight. It’s not that Ambrose isn’t a bastard. He is. But he’s a clever bastard. He’s careful to distance himself from anything he does.”

Sim looked uncertain. “Wil has a point. When you were hired on as house musician at the Horse and Four, he