The Wise Man's Fear Part 115

"This is Anne." Alleg gestured to an older woman with a pinched expression and grey hair pulled back in a bun. "She keeps us fed and plays mother to us all." Anne continued to cut carrots, ignoring both of us.

"And far from last is our own sweet Kete, who holds the key to all our hearts." Kete had hard eyes and a mouth like a thin line, but her expression softened a little when I kissed her hand.

"And that's everyone," Alleg said with a smile and a little bow. "Your name is?"

"Kvothe."

"Welcome, Kvothe. Rest yourself and be at your ease. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"A bit of that wine you mentioned earlier?" I smiled.

He touched the heel of his hand to his forehead. "Of course! Or would you prefer ale?"

I nodded, and he fetched me a mug.

"Excellent," I said after tasting it, seating myself on a convenient stump.

He tipped an imaginary hat. "Thank you. We were lucky enough to nick it on our way through Levins.h.i.+r a couple days ago. How has the road been treating you of late?"

I stretched backward and sighed. "Not bad for a lone minstrel." I shrugged. "I take advantage of what opportunities present themselves. I have to be careful since I'm alone."

Alleg nodded wisely. "The only safety we have is in numbers," he admitted, then nodded to my lute. "Would you favor us with a bit of a song while we're waiting for Anne to finish dinner?"

"Certainly," I said, setting down my drink. "What would you like to hear?"

"Can you play 'Leave the Town, Tinker'?"

"Can I?You tell me." I lifted my lute from its case and began to play. By the chorus, everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen. I even caught sight of Otto near the edge of the trees as he left his lookout to peer toward the fire.

When I was done, everyone applauded enthusiastically. "You can play it," Alleg laughed. Then his expression became serious, and he tapped a finger to his mouth. "How would you like to walk the road with us for a while?" he asked after a moment. "We could use another player."

I took a moment to consider it. "Which way are you heading?"

"Easterly," he said.

"I'm bound for Severen," I said.

Alleg shrugged. "We can make it to Severen," he said. "So long as you don't mind taking the long way around."

"I have been away from the family for a long time," I admitted, looking at the familiar sights around the fire.

"One is a bad number for an Edema on the road," Alleg said persuasively, running a finger along the edge of his dark beard.

I sighed. "Ask me again in the morning."

He slapped my knee, grinning. "Good! That means we have all night to convince you."

I replaced my lute and excused myself for a call of nature. Coming back, I knelt next to Anne where she sat near the fire. "What are you making for us, mother?" I asked.

"Stew," she said shortly.

I smiled. "What's in it?"

Anne squinted at me. "Lamb," she said, as if daring me to challenge the fact.

"It's been a long while since I've had lamb, mother. Could I have a taste?"

"You'll wait, same as everyone else," she said sharply.

"Not even a small taste?" I wheedled, giving her my best ingratiating smile.

The old woman drew a breath, then shrugged it away. "Fine," she said. "But it won't be my fault if your stomach sets to aching."

I laughed. "No, mother. It won't be your fault." I reached for the longhandled wooden spoon and drew it out. After blowing on it, I took a bite. "Mother!" I exclaimed. "This is the best thing to touch my lips in a full year."

"Hmph," she said, squinting at me.

"It's the first truth, mother," I said earnestly. "Anyone who does not enjoy this fine stew is hardly one of the Ruh in my opinion."

Anne turned back to stir the pot and shooed me away, but her expression wasn't as sharp as it had been before.

After stopping by the keg to refill my mug, I returned to my seat. Gaskin leaned forward. "You've given us a song. Is there anything you'd like to hear?"

"How about 'Piper Wit'?" I asked.

His brow furrowed. "I don't recognize that one."

"It's about a clever Ruh who outwits a farmer."

Gaskin shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

I bent to pick up my lute. "Let me. It's a song every one of us should know."

"Pick something else," Laren protested. "I'll play you something on the pipes. You've played for us once already tonight."

I smiled at him. "I forgot you piped. You'll like this one," I a.s.sured him, "Piper's the hero. Besides, you're feeding my belly, I'll feed your ears." Before they could raise any more objections, I started to play, quick and light.

They laughed through the whole thing. From the beginning when Piper kills the farmer, to the end when he seduces the dead man's wife and daughter. I left off the last two verses where the townsfolk kill Piper.

Laren wiped his eyes after I was done. "Heh. You're right, Kvothe. I'm better off knowing that one. Besides ..." He shot a look at Kete where she sat across the fire. "It's an honest song. Women can't keep their hands off a piper."

Kete snorted derisively and rolled her eyes.

We talked of small things until Anne announced the stew was done. Everyone fell to, breaking the silence only to compliment Anne on her cooking.

"Honestly, Anne," Alleg asked after his second bowl. "Did you lift a little pepper back in Levins.h.i.+r?"

Anne looked smug. "We all need our secrets, dear," she said. "Don't press a lady."

I asked Alleg, "Have times been good for you and yours?"

"Oh certainly," he said between mouthfuls. "Three days ago Levins.h.i.+r was especially good to us." He winked. "You'll see how good later."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"In fact." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "We've done so well that I feel quite generous. Generous enough to offer you anything you'd like. Anything at all. Ask and it is yours." He leaned closer and said in a stage whisper, "I want you to know this is a blatant attempt to bribe you into staying on with us. We would make a thick purse off that lovely voice of yours."

"Not to mention the songs he could teach us," Gaskin chimed in.

Alleg gave a mock snarl. "Don't help him bargain, boy. I have the feeling this is going to be hard enough as it is."

I gave it a little thought. "I suppose I could stay... ." I let myself trail off uncertainly.

Alleg gave a knowing smile. "But ..."

"But I would ask for three things."

"Hmm, three things." He looked me up and down. "Just like in one of the stories."

"It only seems right," I urged.

He gave a hesitant nod. "I suppose it does. And how long would you travel with us?"

"Until no one objects to my leaving."

"Does anyone have any problem with this?" Alleg looked around.

"What if he asks for one of the wagons?" Tim asked. His voice startled me, harsh and rasping like two bricks grating together.

"It won't matter, as he'll be traveling with us," Alleg argued. "They belong to all of us anyway. And since he can't leave unless we say so... ."

There were no objections. Alleg and I shook hands and there was a small cheer.

Kete held up her mug. "To Kvothe and his songs!" she said. "I have a feeling he'll be worth whatever he costs us."

Everyone drank, and I held up my own gla.s.s. "I swear on my mother's milk, none of you will ever make a better deal than the one you made with me tonight." This evoked a more enthusiastic cheer and everyone drank again.

Wiping his mouth, Alleg looked me in the eye. "So, what is the first thing you want from us?"

I lowered my head. "It's a little thing really. I don't have a tent of my own. If I'm going to be traveling with my family ..."

"Say no more!" Alleg waved his wooden mug like a king granting a boon. "You'll have my own tent, piled with furs and blankets a foot deep!" He made a gesture over the fire to where Fren and Josh sat. "Go set it up for him."

"That's all right," I protested. "I can manage it myself."

"Hush, it's good for them. Makes them feel useful. Speaking of which ..." He made another gesture at Tim. "Bring them out, would you?"

Tim stood and pressed a hand to his stomach. "I'll do it in a quick minute. I'll be right back." He turned to walk off into the woods. "I don't feel very good."

"That's what you get for eatin' like you're at a trough!" Otto called after him. He turned back to the rest of us. "Someday he'll realize he can't eat more'n me and not feel sick afterward."

"Since Tim's busy painting a tree, I'll go get them," Laren said with thinly veiled eagerness.

"I'm on guard tonight," Otto said. "I'll do it."

"I'll get them," Kete said, exasperated. She stared the other two back into their seats and walked behind the wagon on my left. get them," Kete said, exasperated. She stared the other two back into their seats and walked behind the wagon on my left.

Josh and Fren came out of the other wagon with a tent, ropes, and stakes. "Where do you want it?" Josh asked.

"That's not a question you usually have to ask a man, is it, Josh?" Fren joked, nudging his friend with an elbow.

"I tend to snore," I warned them. "You'll probably want me a little away from everyone else." I pointed. "Over between those two trees would be fine."

"I mean, with a man, you normally know where they want it, don't you, Josh?" Fren continued as they wandered off and began to string up the tent.

Kete returned a minute later, leading a pair of lovely young girls. One had a lean body and face, with straight, black hair cut short like a boy's. The other was more generously rounded, with curling golden hair. Both wore hopeless expressions and looked to be about sixteen.

"Meet Krin and Ellie," Kete said, gesturing to the girls.

Alleg smiled. "They are one of the ways in which Levins.h.i.+r was generous to us. Tonight, one of them will be keeping you warm. My gift to you, as the new member in our family." He made a show of looking them over. "Which one would you like?"

I looked from one to the other. "That's a hard choice. Let me think on it a little while."

Kete sat them near the edge of the fire and put a bowl of stew in each of their hands. The girl with the golden hair, Ellie, ate woodenly for a few bites, then slowed to a stop like a toy winding down. Her eyes looked almost blind, as if she were watching something none of us could see. Krin's eyes, on the other hand, were focused fiercely into the fire. She sat stiffly with her bowl in her lap.

"Girls," Alleg chided. "Don't you know that things will get better as soon as you start cooperating?" Ellie took another slow bite, then stopped. Krin stared into the fire, her back stiff, her expression hard.

From where she sat by the fire, Anne prodded at them with her wooden spoon. "Eat!" The response was the same as before. One slow bite. One tense rebellion. Scowling, Anne leaned closer and gripped the dark-haired girl firmly by the chin, her other hand reaching for the bowl of stew.

"Don't," I urged. "They'll eat when they get hungry enough. "Alleg looked up at me curiously. "I know what I'm talking about. Give them something to drink instead."

The old woman looked for a moment as if she might continue anyway, then shrugged and let go of Krin's jaw. "Fine. I'm sick of force-feeding this one anyway. She's been nothing but trouble."

Kete sniffed in agreement. "Little b.i.t.c.h came at me when I untied her for her bath," she said, brus.h.i.+ng her hair away from the side of her face to reveal scratch marks. "Almost took out my d.a.m.n eye."

"Did a runner, too," Anne said, still scowling. "I've had to start doping her at night." She made a disgusted gesture. "Let her starve if she wants."

Laren came back to the fire with two mugs, setting them in the girl's unresisting hands.

"Water?" I asked.

"Ale," he said. "It'll be better for them if they aren't eating."

I stifled my protest. Ellie drank in the same vacant manner in which she had eaten. Krin moved her eyes from the fire, to the cup, to me. I felt an almost physical shock at her resemblance to Denna. Still looking at me, she drank. Her hard eyes gave away nothing of what was happening inside her head.

"Bring them over to sit by me," I said. "It might help me to make up my mind."

Kete brought them over. Ellie was docile. Krin was stiff.