Thirty-Four: Girl on a Dragon

A cry from Verity’s tent sends the company scrambling. The Fool emerges in shock, three fingertips newly silvered after brushing Verity’s arm. Kettle forces calm, warning the sensation is not pain but dangerous depth. Inside, Verity—gaunt and aged—confirms the silvered hands let him command the extraordinary stone: he shapes away all that is not the dragon, awakening form by touch powered by the Skill.

Verity asks after Kettricken, and when they meet, he apologizes for his distance; they grieve their stillborn son, whom Kettricken named Sacrifice. Verity cannot touch the living, so he holds back even in comfort. As Verity devours food, Kettle asserts they cannot return to Jhaampe: Verity has begun a dragon and must finish it; their duty is to help. The camp cooks meat and settles.

In private, the Fool tentatively explores his silvered sensations, feeling histories within objects. He tells Fitz his insight: the “dragons” are the Elderlings; Verity failed to rouse the old carvings and now carves his own to quicken with memories and fight the Red Ships—alone. Fitz balks at stone coming to life but cannot dismiss Verity’s conviction.

Before dawn, Nighteyes leads Fitz to Kettricken, who weeps at the quarry’s statue of a girl pinned on a dragon. Through the Wit, Fitz senses the statue’s trapped sorrow. Kettricken mourns Verity’s distance; Fitz holds and reassures her, their shared Wit-comfort briefly easing the stone girl’s cry before draining Fitz.

On watch, the Fool cautiously tests touching wood, judging natural things safer than wrought ones. Talk turns to dangers: Regal’s coterie, Molly’s safety. Pressed, the Fool recounts his captivity and what he gleaned: Galen stole Skill texts from Solicity, murdered other Skill-users, and taught Regal of ancient Mountain powers tied to Elderlings. Regal, convinced Verity and Fitz seek that power, fueled by hatred and paranoia, marshals everything to seize it first. Fitz recognizes Regal’s lethal obsession and the true scope of their opposition.