Contents
Chapter 105: Interlude—A Certain Sweetness
Overview
Bast confronts Kvothe about speaking with the Cthaeh, revealing its perfect foresight and absolute malice, and that the Sithe kill any who carry its influence. He demonstrates Fae power and cites past catastrophes born from the Cthaeh’s words. Kvothe acknowledges his tale’s tragic bent despite Bast and Chronicler’s protests.
Summary
Kvothe halts the narration when he sees Bast stricken. Bast demands to know if Kvothe truly spoke with the Cthaeh, raging when Kvothe deflects. In the outburst, Bast cracks the table and spills ink; Chronicler rescues his page from the mess.
Bast insists on the truth and, shaking, explains the Cthaeh: the Sithe guard it and kill any who contact it; even carrion is destroyed to stop its influence. He describes the Rhinna flowers as panaceas that lure fools. Kvothe works out how the Cthaeh’s perfect foresight turns words into catastrophic chains of events, likening influence to a plague ship.
To prove the stakes, Bast mends the shattered table and animates the spilled ink into a crow, then tears it into flaming pieces. He swears oaths that nothing is more dangerous than the Cthaeh. Bast links historic calamities—Iax stealing the moon, Lanre’s betrayal, the Nameless and Scaendyne—to those who spoke with it.
Kvothe, dryly noting his new “company,” accepts the implication. Bast says even a backdrop of the Cthaeh’s tree signals tragedy in Fae plays. Kvothe gently agrees: he knows the story he is telling isn’t a comedy.
As Bast and Chronicler plead that it cannot be a tragedy while Kvothe lives, Kvothe calmly calls this the end of the story, “a certain sweetness” of reminiscence, not a heroic epic. He ends with a fond, weary remark: they are both so young.
Who Appears
- BastKvothe’s Fae student; panics over the Cthaeh, explains its danger, demonstrates potent magic, and swears dire oaths.
- Kvothe (Kote)Innkeeper narrator; confirms meeting the Cthaeh, reasons through its effects, and accepts his story’s tragic nature.
- Chronicler (Devan Lochees)Scribe recording the tale; preserves his page, questions the danger, then witnesses Bast’s power and offers hope.