Royal Assassin

An expository passage explains that unlike other royal spouses, Queen Kettricken arrived in Buckkeep alone, with no entourage and no friends. She was isolated in Buckkeep until she began to find friends and reliable servants. 

Fitz visits his wolf cub, whose mental presence is growing stronger. The cub considers them a “pack,” but Fitz, fearing their forbidden bond, tries to reject him, causing the animal deep emotional pain. Back at Buckkeep, he has a brief, awkward encounter with Molly, while the wolf’s thoughts intrude on his own.

Fitz’s attempt to report to the ailing King Shrewd is blocked by a new servant named Wallace, but the Fool helps him gain entry. Inside, the King appears confused and complains that an herbal steam sent by Regal has made him ill. Fitz shows him the scrolls he copied in Bearns, and the King praises his work. He twice gives Fitz the same order—to deliver the copied scrolls to Verity—and the Fool later explains that Shrewd’s mind is fading and that it costs him great effort to remember what is important. If he told Fitz twice to deliver the scrolls, it must be very important that Fitz does so. The Fool also hints to Fitz that Wallace is a spy for Regal and not to be trusted. Over the next 10 days, Fitz poisons seven Forged ones, burning their bodies to conceal his actions. 

Returning to the castle during a snowstorm, Fitz discovers Queen Kettricken under attack by Forged ones. He helps her fight them off, and she reveals that Prince Regal had lured her off the main road on a reckless chase before abandoning her. When a search party led by Verity finds them, Verity’s first words to Kettricken are harsh, and he winces as she speaks plainly of killing and of Forged ones bold enough to attack the queen so near Buckkeep—concerned both by her recklessness and by the public disclosure of the threat. His men are quietly critical of his harshness.

That night, Verity summons Fitz, admitting he is being tormented by Fitz’s lustful Skill-dreams about a “Lady Red-Skirts”—Molly. Verity teaches Fitz how to shield his thoughts and tells him to endure. He rewards Fitz for saving the queen with the promise of a new sword and warns him that his uncontrolled dreams could reveal his loved ones to enemies.

The morning after Kettricken’s attack, the soldiers of Buckkeep gather for a vengeful hunt against the Forged ones. Verity, sickened by the idea of his people hunting their own Forged kin, hides in his map room, feeling powerless and inadequate. In the courtyard, however, Kettricken takes command. She addresses the crowd, transforming their bloodlust into a solemn duty. She declares the hunt a “surgery” to remove an infection and orders that the bodies of the Forged be brought back for a formal funeral, turning a massacre into a state ceremony of mourning and resolve.

Regal is enraged by what he sees as Kettricken’s usurpation of authority, but Verity, witnessing her leadership, is filled with pride and strikes Regal for insulting her. The entire Keep follows the queen’s orders, and the day culminates in a massive funeral pyre and feast that unites the court and the common folk. 

Later, Fitz meets with his mentor, the assassin Chade, who is overjoyed by Kettricken’s political acumen. Chade tells Fitz that the King is not merely experiencing dementia but repeats this instruction to impress its importance on Fitz. Fitz resolves to increase his efforts. Their meeting is interrupted when Chade’s pet weasel, Slink, falls ill after eating from a gift basket sent to Chade. Chade discovers that the food was poisoned with varta leaves but refuses to name Regal aloud as the poisoner, rebuking Fitz when he presses the accusation. He warns Fitz that everyone close to him, including Molly, is now in danger.

Worried, Fitz sneaks into Molly’s room to check on her while she is sleeping. As he crouches next to her bed, she wakes and springs at him with a knife. When she realizes who he is, she puts the knife away but remains furious with him for the intrusion, accusing him of being drunk. However, when he lets slip that he loves her, she believes him and wonders aloud why he never said it before. She embraces him, declaring that she loves him too.

Rattled by the attempt on Chade’s life, Fitz visits Lady Patience, who warns him about Regal. Fitz tries to warn her in return, but she dismisses the idea that she is a threat to anyone and reveals that her lady’s maid, Lacey, is a highly skilled fighter. He goes to the stables seeking Burrich, but learns from Hand that Burrich is in mourning has his old hound, Vixen, has died. Hand also tells Fitz that Queen-in-Waiting Kettricken has gone alone into town seeking Verity. Alarmed, Fitz takes a mule and goes into town to look for her. As he searches, his thoughts are invaded by the wolf cub, who is hungry and asks Fitz to bring him food.

When he finds Kettricken, she is angry with him for following her and insists on her ability to look after herself. He reminds her that Prince Regal covets the throne and implies that he deliberately left her lost and alone on the day of the hunt, when she was attacked by Forged ones. By walking about alone, he warns her, she makes herself an easy target for assassination. Reluctantly, she agrees to return with him to Buckkeep. On their return, Fitz sees Molly in the courtyard, but Molly withdraws coldly. Fitz shares a moment of silent grief with Burrich, who building a funeral pyre for Vixen; Fitz cuts a finger-length lock of his own hair and adds it to the flames before walking away. Out of nowhere, the wolf cub knocks him down in a mock attack, sparking a rough, playful fight that blurs the line between man and wolf. The cub challenges Fitz to accept their pack bond, and the wolf’s invasion of his mind nearly succeeds entirely—Fitz comes to himself standing in the dark, shaking, already drawn toward leaving with the wolf—before he consciously chooses to return to Buckkeep.

An excerpt from Chade’s journal explains that in previous conflicts with the Outislanders, several coteries of people trained in the Skill worked in concert to protect the kingdom, with each coterie led by someone who reported directly to the reigning monarch. In recent times, however, there was only one coterie, led by Galen, whom many considered an inadequate Skill Master. While previous coteries formed organically from bonds among the Skilled, Galen exercised complete control over the membership of his coterie and insisted that members report to him as often as to the King. The passage implies that this structure made Galen’s coterie both weaker and less trustworthy than those of the past. With Galen now dead, Serene has risen to lead his coterie, whose remaining members are named Justin, Will, Carrod, and Burl. 

Fitz runs with his wolf cub in his dreams at night, telling himself it is only to prepare the animal for a life of freedom. In these dreams of a simpler life, he finds relief from the intrigues of court. At court, a group of soldiers led by a woman named Whistle, having unofficially formed a “Queen’s Guard,” presses Fitz to speak to Verity on their behalf. In the corridors, the Fool confronts Fitz with a series of riddles and a bizarre mock love ballad, urging him to seek out other Skilled individuals and to learn the secrets of the mythical Elderlings. As a small crowd of castle staff gathers to watch, the Fool’s performance culminates in a public announcement of the “death” of Lady Thyme, Chade’s disguise; Fitz afterward speculates this may be Chade’s way of leaving the Keep unseen while letting Regal believe his poison plot succeeded, though nothing is confirmed.

Immediately afterward, Regal taunts Fitz about the death and insults Kettricken. Fitz is seized by a feral rage and is about to attack when he is stopped by the voice of Molly. He tries to speak to her, but she dismisses him with cold politeness, asking whether he has some errand for her. 

Fitz then finds Kettricken in a state of deep serenity, practicing a form of meditation that is clearly a use of the Wit. She invites Fitz to join her, and he then fully opens himself to the Wit for the first time, startled to find himself deeply attuned to a web of consciousness that includes every living being. He recognizes that Kettricken has the Wit, though it is not strong in her. She briefly believes she glimpses it in him, but he feigns ignorance, and she decides she was mistaken. Kettricken then casually mentions that Regal brought her a candle made by a talented serving girl, revealing that Regal has been speaking to Molly. This news, combined with the fear that his own Wit use will be discovered, forces Fitz to resolve to sever his bond with the wolf.

Fitz takes his wolf cub to a remote hut with the intention of abandoning him to live a wild life. The cub, who feels betrayed, argues that wolves are not meant to be alone and refuses to obey. To force him away, Fitz uses his Wit to project a powerful mental repulsion, a violation that shatters their connection and sends the cub fleeing. Fitz is left feeling broken and empty.

On his journey back to Buckkeep, three Forged ones ambush Fitz, intending to cannibalize him. He is nearly killed, but the wolf returns to save him. Together, they kill the attackers. In the aftermath, the wolf reveals that the name his mother gave him is Nighteyes, and the two finally and fully accept their Wit-bond, merging their consciousnesses.

Fitz reports the attack to Verity, who reveals that he knew of the Forged ones’ presence from previous reports and implies that he knows Fitz was aided by something he declines to name. He admits that the Skill calls to him like a “great loneliness,” comparing it to being the “very last wolf, hunting alone” (225). Verity confirms the Fool’s advice: He has been searching for other Skilled people from his father’s generation, but they are all either dead or missing, suggesting a conspiracy. He gives Fitz a key to a private collection of scrolls about the Skill and the Elderlings, tasking him with searching for answers.