Twenty: Mishaps

Fitz visits King Shrewd and finds Wallace serving merrybud tea while Regal presides. Regal announces selling Buckkeep’s best horses and claims empty coffers, belittling Bearns’ crisis and Verity’s quest. Shrewd drifts, offering no guidance; the Fool’s barbs hint at the tea’s danger. Fitz restrains himself from striking Regal and withdraws, shaken by Shrewd’s decline.

Alone, Fitz wrestles with the constant strain of his Wit-bond to Nighteyes and his Skill-anchor to Verity. Summoned by Chade, he challenges the morality of killing and the duty of assassins. Chade counsels faith in the king and kingdom, then, under pressure, admits he supplies some of Wallace’s drugs under a promise to Shrewd, refusing to reveal the full reason. They reason the Raiders may seek only destruction, making Verity’s Elderlings quest their sole hope.

Twelve days later, Duke Brawndy of Bearns arrives with his daughters. Tension flares among soldiery over Buckkeep’s failure to aid Ferry. At dinner, Regal’s drunken merriment insults Bearns; Kettricken silently seethes while Shrewd appears merely weary. Fitz, seated low, can only sense Verity’s frustration.

That night, the Fool confronts Fitz, battered and bruised from a masked assault. His attackers accuse him of spying for “Verity the Pretender” and destroy his tower room. He also senses a new Farseer heir and presses Fitz about Molly; Fitz tends his wounds but denies fathering a child, fearing for any woman who might carry such an heir.

Driven by doubt, Fitz seeks Molly. Their argument lays bare secrecy, danger, and her plea to flee Buckkeep for safety. Molly reveals Patience once loved Burrich, who refused her for loyalty to his lord, reframing Fitz’s own sacrifices. Though they cannot resolve their future, Fitz confirms Molly is not pregnant, and the two end the night in a somber, renewed closeness.