Four: Dilemmas

Fitz wakes ill and disoriented, to find his room mysteriously cleaned and provisioned. The Fool briefly visits, teasing but concerned, and hurries to King Shrewd. Lacey and Lady Patience arrive, replace Fitz’s linens, and Patience bluntly condemns Fitz’s behavior toward Molly, insisting on decorum and royal protocol: as a Farseer bastard he must seek the King’s leave to court or marry and accept that his sworn duty leaves little for a wife.

Patience explains she has made Molly her serving-woman to shield her from gossip and will teach her court ways; Fitz must avoid private contact to prevent scandal and political exploitation by his enemies. After they leave, Fitz ascends the secret stair to Chade. Chade contemplates Fitz’s resemblance to Chivalry, warns that others may try to use it, and they trade news. He pities Kettricken’s isolation and confirms Verity’s lack of time for her.

Chade addresses Fitz’s attachment to Molly, reiterating that King’s Men have no private life. He advises Fitz to heed Patience, cultivate Kettricken’s goodwill, and guard her, as some would oppose heirs. Chade diagnoses lasting effects from Regal’s deadroot—tremors, fatigue, risk of fits—and counsels concealment, rest, and caution about unsecured food. He credits Lacey for caring for Fitz and urges him to get a door latch.

Agitated and sleepless, Fitz walks into Buckkeep Town. He overhears talk of Verity’s shipbuilding drawing sailors, tensions with Outislander refugees, and ugly xenophobia. His frustration with being used by the court surges into anger.

In the market, Fitz encounters a caged, abused wolf cub and, through the Wit, shares its hatred and pain. He haggles with the cruel vendor, discreetly frees some birds, and buys the wolf cheaply. Knowing release in town would be fatal, he opens the cage to carry the cub; it attacks, and Fitz subdues it physically and telepathically, establishing dominance. He resolves to hide the wolf in an abandoned cottage, feed and heal it, and then release it—despite recognizing the dangerous closeness of their Wit-bond.