Seventeen: River Crossing

At dawn, Fitz battles a Skill-headache and drinks elfbark, drawing Kettle’s sharp warning that it dulls hope and mind. The group pushes through bitter cold toward a hidden ferry point. Nik’s men reveal and rig an old barge, and the pilgrims and wagons begin a tense, soaking series of crossings.

Midway through operations, tempers and fears spike. After the pilgrims and one wagon cross, a drifting snag batters the barge, loosening a railing. Fitz takes Kettle’s mare aboard for the final trip; on the river, two of Nik’s men turn on him. In the struggle, Nighteyes launches at an attacker; the weakened rail gives way and both wolf and Captain Mark go into the river. Kicked and dazed, Fitz loses his grip on Nighteyes, who is swept away.

On the far bank, Fitz fights viciously but is overwhelmed by Regal’s Farrow guards. While trussed on the snow, he clings to Nighteyes through the Wit, guiding the wolf to claw ashore and curl under shelter to survive the cold. Meanwhile, the guards round up Nik’s crew and the drenched pilgrims; Starling and Kettle are separated in the chaos.

Brought before Burl, Fitz hears the bungled report: Captain Mark is presumed drowned, smugglers and pilgrims are seized, and some on the far bank slipped away. Burl threatens collective punishment to control Fitz, promising servitude for pilgrims and harsh terms for smugglers, and declares Starling must die as a traitor. When Fitz defies him, Burl has Starling’s fingers broken to prove his leverage.

Crushed but compliant to spare others, Fitz is bound and confined under guard. He takes cold comfort in Nighteyes’s survival across the river, even as Burl prepares to move the prisoners toward Moonseye.