Contents
Chapter 61: Deadnettle
Overview
Kvothe returns to find Maer Alveron failing and resumes control of his treatment, countering withdrawal and poisoning while forbidding Caudicus’s medicine. He coerces the Maer into taking cod liver oil and adjusts supportive care.
Stapes grows hostile, and Kvothe fears being blamed if the Maer dies, sharpening the political risk.
Summary
Returning from Severen, Kvothe rushes to Maer Alveron’s chambers and finds the Maer emaciated, grey, and furious that Kvothe took so long. Alveron reveals Caudicus visited and sent more medicine, which Alveron nearly drank. Kvothe asserts control, promising the worst night is ahead but improvement after, and begins supportive care.
Kvothe brews tea with antiemetic, purgative, and laudanum, drinks from it first to prove its safety, and settles the Maer’s stomach. He then insists on cod liver oil to help purge the poison. When Alveron balks, Kvothe shames him by drinking an entire flask himself, prompting the Maer to comply with two proper swallows and a schedule.
Between doses, Kvothe checks the flits’ feeders, adding Caudicus’s latest vial to confirm their lead poisoning test remains valid. He instructs the Maer to drink fluids, especially milk with honey, and returns the Maer’s ring—only to be told to keep it, a notable sign of trust amid the crisis.
As the Maer dozes, Kvothe departs and encounters Stapes’s overt hostility, realizing how his actions could resemble a predatory quack like Deadnettle. Remembering deaths from withdrawal, Kvothe fears he will be blamed as a charlatan or assassin if the Maer dies. He ends the night vomiting up the cod liver oil he swallowed to prove his point.
Who Appears
- KvotheReturns, manages the Maer’s withdrawal and poisoning, forces cod liver oil by example, maintains flit test, and fears political blame.
- Maer AlveronGravely ill and irritable; nearly takes Caudicus’s medicine; complies with Kvothe’s regimen; allows Kvothe to keep his signet ring.
- StapesMaer’s manservant; disapproving and hostile toward Kvothe, suspecting exploitation during the Maer’s weakness.
- CaudicusCourt physicker; visits in Kvothe’s absence and sends medicine, deepening the poisoning threat and urgency of Kvothe’s plan.