CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Name of the Wind

As winter turns to summer, Abenthy intensifies Kvothe’s sympathy lessons, but Kvothe remains fixated on the storybook magic of naming, especially Abenthy’s earlier wind-calling. During a wagon ride, Abenthy quizzes Kvothe with practical puzzles, prodding him toward resourcefulness and careful bindings.

Pushing for the secret of naming, Kvothe rashly binds the air in his lungs to the outside air to “call the wind.” The binding prevents him from breathing; he panics and begins to suffocate. Abenthy reacts instantly, drags Kvothe from the wagon, listens, then names the wind. A sudden shock ends the crisis, and Kvothe comes to, shaken but alive.

Afterward, Abenthy is furious and then withdrawn, lying to Kvothe’s mother that they were rehearsing. The troupe stops early at a roadside greystone—what Abenthy calls a waystone—where custom and superstition encourage rest. Kvothe’s parents share playful songs and banter about the stones, offering lore and warmth that contrast Kvothe’s guilt and Ben’s somber mood.

That evening, Abenthy tries to discuss Lanre but pivots to a warning: cleverness without care is dangerous, especially when paired with power. He admits he’s been teaching perilous things to someone still young and needs time to think, sending Kvothe away.

In the days that follow, Abenthy returns to cheer but keeps a deliberate distance. He halts alchemy in favor of safer chemistry, refuses to teach sygaldry, and rations sympathy. Kvothe resolves to prove his responsibility, unaware that their remaining time together is running out.