Thirty: Dungeons

Fitz awakens in Buckkeep’s dungeons, battered from fights and Skill-battle exhaustion. He dozes in and out, sharing faint reassurances with Nighteyes. Lady Patience, aided by Lacey, outmaneuvers a guard to speak with him and slips him apples. She reports Shrewd’s death, Kettricken’s disappearance, Buckkeep’s tensions, and Regal’s accusations of Wit and murder. Fitz admits Justin and Serene killed Shrewd by Skill, and that he killed them in turn. Patience reveals Regal seeks to hang Fitz for Wit if he can prove it.

Days blur with cold, hunger, and intermittent food and water. Fitz tries to Skill but lacks strength, finding only brief escape in Nighteyes’s hunts. He hears Chade’s faint, unintelligible voice through the walls and refuses further visits from Patience to protect her. Weather clears—raider weather—and the Coastal dukes descend to the cells with Regal. They confront Regal’s charges and demand proof that Fitz is Witted and used it to kill Shrewd; if proven, they will accept Regal’s coronation and Bright as his castellan, but if not, Fitz will command Buckkeep in Regal’s absence.

Pressed, Regal agrees. Brawndy throws Fitz his cloak and orders that Fitz be kept alive. Fitz, recognizing Regal’s bad faith, contemplates suicide poison rather than Regal’s torture. Later, Verity reaches Fitz via the Skill: they confirm the coterie bled Shrewd, that Will remains a threat, and that Regal used the coterie to thwart their plans. Verity, injured and exhausted, hints at a perilous path he must follow to find the Elderlings.

Regal returns at night with guards and a Neatbay girl who testifies she saw a wolf become a man at the well—Fitz. After sending her away, Regal taunts Fitz, revealing he knew the queen’s plans and implying she left without provisions or horse. Fitz realizes Rosemary, the queen’s sleepy page, has been Regal’s spy all along. With this witness, Regal now has proof of Fitz’s Wit and time to force a confession of regicide, leaving Fitz convinced Regal has effectively won.