Chapter 131: Black by Moonlight

Inside the tent, Kvothe settles the traumatized Levinshir girls, Ellie and Krin. He administers crushed velia, explaining it counters the poison in the stew and ale the troupe had served. Ellie drinks and slips into sleep; Krin resists, suspects ulterior motives, then drinks after Kvothe’s reassurance. Both fall asleep as Kvothe watches, banking his anger into focused resolve.

Kvothe waits three hours, calming himself as the drugged camp grows sick and restless. Under a bright crescent moon, he approaches the coals. Otto, ill and unsuspecting, greets Kvothe; Kvothe silently slashes Otto’s throat. He tosses brittle iron into the fire and moves on.

Laren stumbles into Kvothe and is cut down. The commotion draws others from tents and wagons; Josh and Fren leap from a wagon and are killed in swift succession. Panicked, many flee toward the trees, but Tim charges with a heavy sword. Kvothe binds a second piece of brittle sword-iron to Tim’s blade and snaps it, shattering Tim’s weapon, then severs Tim’s hand and wounds his chest.

Kvothe pursues the fleeing troupe into the woods. Alleg ambushes him and stabs him in the stomach during a grapple; Kvothe hamstrings Alleg and stabs him back, then continues the hunt, clutching his wound. Through the night he tracks the rest, finding Anne with a broken leg and Tim staggering far despite his injuries.

Ignoring pleas and curses, Kvothe kills them all, retrieves their bodies, and returns as dawn begins. He sits outside the tent, bleeding and assessing the likely severity of his gut wound, knowing he lacks a physicker. He cleans his sword and thinks, wounded but having exacted what he calls a grim justice.