Assassin's Apprentice

The narrator notes that studying the Duchies is the same as studying geography since their varied lands and peoples dictate their history.

Leaving Buckkeep the next day takes hours due to the extensive retinue that the royal household must travel with. Fitz travels on Sooty and attends Lady Thyme, who is wrapped in layers of cloth and seems to be sickly. She speaks to him irritably, no matter how he tries to please her. Caring for Thyme is difficult and disgusting due to her mysterious odor, and Fitz is unable to eat at regular mealtimes due to her demands. Fitz, however, is so busy that he cannot dwell on whether he will kill Lord Kelvar.

After arriving in Neatbay and dropping Lady Thyme off at her favorite inn, Fitz progresses to Bayguard, Neatbay’s keep. He is summoned to Verity’s chambers because Verity’s dog, Leon, is sick. Fitz uses his mind to assess that Leon is just hot and bored but puts on a show of looking him over for Verity before telling the truth. Verity, pleased, instructs his manservant to help Fitz get ready for the party that night and give him a bed in Verity’s quarters so that he can stay by Leon’s side in case of an emergency.

Verity and Fitz go to the party; Fitz realizes that Kelvar is an aging but talented swordsman who is trying to pretend that he is still young, while his wife, Lady Grace, is extremely young and wearing too many jewels and fineries for Kelvar’s wealth. She flirts with Verity, and Fitz sees that Kelvar is putting his money toward his wife rather than the towers he is in charge of. 

Over an unpleasant dinner, Fitz confirms his suspicions, also noticing that Lady Grace seems uncomfortable wearing so much jewelry and has only recently ascended to nobility. Fitz reports this to Verity that night but disapproves of Verity’s decision to try and force Kelvar to cooperate. Fitz believes that they need to find a way to inspire Kelvar to do the job right and with pride.

The narrator speaks briefly about the unknown origins of the Fool. He was born of humans, but his parentage is not entirely human; he does not seem to age the same as others and considers his gender “no one’s business but his own” (156). He is strangely adept at telling the future, even if his prophecies rarely make sense.

In the middle of the night, Fitz goes to the kitchen, hungry from the unsatisfying dinner. He finds bread and butter but is interrupted by Lady Grace and her sickly dog. She tries to give the dog water, but he gags, and she begs for help. Fitz realizes that the dog has a fishbone stuck in his throat; Grace eventually allows him to help her dog when he tells her that he’s Verity’s dog boy. 

Fitz uses a hooked kitchen implement and butter to work the bone out of the dog’s throat, saving his life. He tells Lady Grace how to care for her dog and then tells her to ask her husband to staff the tower properly. She is confused and defensive, and he realizes that she won’t listen to him as he is, so he tells her about a pretend dream he had that prophesied that such an action would make her beloved by her people. She seems delighted by the prospect and returns to bed.

Later that night, Lady Thyme summons Fitz, but when he goes to her, he discovers that she has been Chade the entire time. He tells Fitz that he came on the trip to listen to the town gossip while Fitz observed the keep. He explains that they must go to the town of Forge, where the Red-Ship Raiders attacked in a genuine threat to Buckkeep. Worse, the raiders have taken hostages—and strangely threatened to kill them only if they receive gold, instead of the other way around.

They travel through the night to Forge. Fitz reports his manipulation of Lady Grace to Chade, who is amused, saying that he acts like his father, Chivalry, without even knowing him. Chade wishes that he had the Skill so that he could understand what Shrewd was planning. When they reach the coast, they load themselves and the horses onto a waiting boat.

The narrator contemplates if the world would be better off if he hadn’t been born, ultimately deciding that it would not; he wants to be able to talk to Chade one more time.

As they travel, Fitz notices that Chade is using carris seed, an addictive stimulant that leaves users exhausted afterward. He tries to confront him, but Chade evades criticism. After leaving the boat, they guide the horses up a steep, treacherous path toward Forge. When they arrive at Forge, it seems to be empty, but Chade slowly realizes that the hostages have been returned. To Fitz’s horror, the people are “hollow”: He cannot sense their humanity. They fight one another for basic goods and refuse to cooperate or help one another. Fitz is so horrified that he grabs Chade’s horse’s bridle and forces them to flee.

Chade thinks that Fitz is just overtired. Villagers spot them and accuse Chade of being the Pocked Man, a folkloric omen of death and disaster. Chade and Fitz flee to safety again. They eventually return to Neatbay and resume their lives, but dark times have come to the kingdom despite their efforts.

The narrator tells a myth about the Pocked Man. El, the sea god, gave the sea to the Outislanders. They celebrated it and were grateful to him, but they were eventually seduced by the appeal of the land and the blessings of the land god, Eda. Soon, only one worshipper of El remained, an old man. When he nearly died at sea, he begged El for mercy, offending the merciless god. El cursed the man to be never able to sail nor die. The man warned the gentle people of the land that they would be punished for abandoning El. He spread disease wherever he went, punishing people for living easy lives.

On the journey home from Bayguard, the mood is subdued by news of Forge. The Red-Ship Raiders continue to kidnap and “empty” people, who are referred to as “Forged” due to Forge being first town to suffer that fate. Some towns pay the ransom, while others try in vain to rehabilitate their Forged inhabitants. One town, Sheepmire, revitalizes resistance against the raiders, but as time passes and the Forged people fail to recover, morale falls. 

Chade explains to Fitz that the kingdom has lost hope and that the royal family must react quickly if they intend to save their people—even if their decision is “wrong,” the people need guidance more than silence. Chade expresses that they need Chivalry’s decisiveness, rather than Shrewd’s hesitation and Verity’s obedience. In addition, Shrewd has grown preoccupied with preparing Regal, instead of the true heir, Verity, to take the throne.

Later that summer, Fitz spends time with Molly, who is frustrated by how often people talk about getting Forged, despite the phenomenon’s uncommon occurrence. Fitz spends every evening walking with Molly, but their relationship is uncertain, especially because he is two years younger than her. They climb to a cliffside and share a meal and dandelion wine but talk about politics until Molly gets frustrated. Fitz wants to reveal his abilities with the Wit to her, wondering if she experiences the same thing, but he is afraid of being rejected.

One night, Fitz goes to the kitchens to get food and sees a strange woman eating an apple and cheese there. She reacts with fear at seeing him but soon calms down; he realizes that she is a highborn woman despite her humble behavior. They eat awkwardly together, and she asks where he sleeps; he is confused by the question but answers and then hurriedly leaves.

The narrator explains that Forging quickly allowed the Red-Ship Raiders to take political control of the Outislanders since Forging members of important families destroyed the kingdom’s cultural structure.

One night, Fitz returns tipsy from town and goes to the Women’s Garden to recover. The mysterious woman confronts him there, blaming his behavior on Burrich. Fitz tells her the truth—that Burrich would be disappointed in him. The next morning, she finds him again and tells him to get better-fitting clothes; she is disappointed that he cannot sing, play music, or dance, despite his protests that he isn’t well-born enough to have learned them. When Burrich returns from a trip, he reveals that the woman is Lady Patience, Chivalry’s widow. He says that she has always been odd and that they used to get along far better than they do now.

Chade, meanwhile, is disappointed that Fitz did not manage to avoid Patience. He explains that their marriage was the first disappointing thing Chivalry ever did, as it had no political advantage whatsoever and the effects of it have lasted into the present. He says that Patience has demanded that Fitz receive a prince’s education and recognition as Chivalry’s heir. Although King Shrewd has refused the latter, Fitz becomes Patience’s page so that she can educate him on high society.

Patience also forces Shrewd to allow Fitz to learn the Skill, which pleases Chade. He explains that children born outside of marriage aren’t usually allowed to learn it—revealing that he is Shrewd’s older half-brother in the process—but the King has forced Galen, the headmaster, to tutor any children in the royal household.

Fitz shares what he knows of Galen, to Chade’s interest and amusement. He also shocks Chade with the revelation that the Fool despises Galen. Chade demands to know what the Fool says to Fitz. Fitz tells him, admitting that he likes the Fool, who makes him feel important. Chade tells him to keep the Fool’s fondness for him a secret but trust everything he says. He also warns him to prepare well to deal with Galen, who loved Chivalry passionately and despises Fitz by extension.