Sixteen: Bolthole

At dawn, Fitz wakes among pilgrims and smugglers, aching from the previous night’s Skill-spying. He tends Kettle and the cart while Nighteyes hunts. As they travel upriver through bitter cold, Kettle explains her quest and the doctrine of the White Prophets, who shift history’s course and strive to free humanity from time’s cycle. Fitz broods on her words and on Molly and the child Nighteyes has sensed.

They reach Nik’s concealed bolthole—a newly built, half-buried farm—where Tel, Nik’s red-haired partner, angrily confronts him for arriving with many guests. The smugglers confine the travelers to the barn, signaling mistrust. Inside, Fitz deflects Kettle’s probing about his identity and listens to gossip about the pilgrims. Starling joins them, and children gather for her songs, stirring Fitz’s longing and discomfort.

That night in the straw, Starling presses Fitz about trust in Nik and his bond with Nighteyes. Fitz defends the Wit and, in a vulnerable admission, reveals he considers Molly his wife and that they have a daughter. Starling challenges his assumptions about absence and loyalty; Fitz resolves to send word to Molly but struggles to find a safe messenger. Starling offers warmth and intimacy, but Fitz refuses, affirming his commitment to Molly.

In the morning, snow deepens but Nik leads them by a rough trail back to the road, then to derelict riverside huts. Fitz gathers wood with Nighteyes, reflecting on how both have matured. The river’s strength and breadth unsettle him; better hunting awaits across, but the crossing looks dangerous. A suspicious smuggler interrupts Fitz and Nighteyes at play and orders them back.

That night, Kettle reads Cabal the White, describing the “catalyst” who enables change without seeking heroism. The idea unsettles Fitz, who longs only for a shepherd’s simplicity. He dreams of a Buck boy burning a Red Ship in bitter vengeance, underscoring the costs of the war and the resolve driving him onward.