by Robin Hobb
‘Not in the last few days, my lady queen.’
‘Then I suggest you do so this evening. I am concerned for him.’
‘As you wish, my queen.’ I waited. Surely that was not what she had called me here to say.
After a moment she sighed. ‘Fitz. I am alone here as I have never been before. Cannot you call me Kettricken and treat me as a person for a bit?’
The sudden change in tone took me off balance. ‘Certainly,’ I replied, but my voice was too formal. Danger, Nighteyes whispered.
Danger? How?
This is not your mate. This is the leader’s mate.
It was like finding an aching tooth with your tongue. The knowledge jarred through me. There was a danger here, one to guard against. This was my queen, but I was not Verity and she was not my love, no matter how my heart set to beating at the sight of her.
But she was my friend. She had proven that in the Mountain Kingdom. I owed her the comfort that friends owe one another.
‘I went to see the King,’ she told me. She gestured me to sit and took a chair of her own across the hearth from me. Rosemary fetched her little stool to sit at Kettricken’s feet. Despite our being alone in the room, the Queen lowered her voice and leaned toward me as she spoke. ‘I asked him directly why I had not been summoned when the rider came in. He seemed puzzled by my question. But before he could even begin an answer, Regal came in. He had come in haste, I could tell. As if someone had run to tell him I was there, and he had immediately dropped everything to come.’
I nodded gravely.
‘He made it impossible for me to speak to the King. Instead, he insisted on explaining it all to me. He claimed that the rider had been brought directly to the King’s chamber, and that he had encountered the messenger as he came to visit his father. He had sent the boy to rest while he talked with the King. And that together they had decided that nothing could be done now. Then Shrewd had sent him to announce that to the boy and the gathered nobles, and to explain to them the state of the treasury. According to Regal, we are on the brink of ruin, and every penny must be watched. Bearns must look out for Bearns’ own, he told me. And when I asked if Bearns’ own were not Six Duchies folk, he told me that Bearns had always stood more or less on its own. It was not rational, he said, to expect that Buck could guard a coast so far to the north of us, and so long. Fitz, did you know that the Near Islands had already been ceded to the Raiders?’
I shot to my feet. ‘I know that no such thing is true!’ I blurted in outrage.
‘Regal claims it is so,’ Kettricken continued implacably. ‘He says that Verity had decided before he left that there was no real hope of keeping them safe from the Raiders. And that is why he called back our ship Constance. He says Verity Skilled to Carrod, the coterie member on the ship, to order the ship back home for repairs.’
‘That ship was refitted just after harvest. Then she was sent out, to keep the coast between Sealbay and Gulls, and to be ready should the Near Islands call for her. It is what her master asked for, more time to practise seamanship in winter waters. Verity would not leave that stretch of coast unwatched. If the Raiders establish a stronghold on the Near Islands, we shall never be free of them. They can raid winter and summer alike from there.’
‘Regal claims that is what they have done already. He says our only hope now is to treat with them.’ Her blue eyes searched my face.
I sank down slowly, near stunned. Could any of this be true? How could it have been kept from me? My sense of Verity within me mirrored my confusion. He knew nothing of this either. ‘I do not think the King-in-Waiting would ever treat with the Raiders. Save with the sharp of his sword.’
‘This is not, then, a secret kept from me lest it distress me? Regal implied as much, that Verity would keep these things secret from me, as beyond my understanding.’ There was a trembling in her voice. It went beyond her anger that the Near Islands might have been abandoned to the Raiders, to a more personal pain that her lord might have found her unworthy of his confidences. I longed so badly to take her in my arms and comfort her that I ached inside.
‘My lady,’ I said hoarsely. ‘Take this truth from my lips as surely as it came from Verity’s own. All this is as false as you are true. I shall find the bottom of this net of lies and slash it wide open. We shall see what sort of fish falls out.’
‘I can trust you to pursue this quietly, Fitz?’
‘My lady, you are one of the few who knows the extent of my training in quiet undertakings.’
She nodded gravely. ‘The King, you understand, denied none of this. But neither did he seem to follow all that Regal said. He was … like a child, listening to his elders converse, nodding, but understanding little …’ She glanced down at Rosemary at her feet fondly.
‘I shall go to see the King as well. I promise, I shall have answers for you, and soon.’
‘Before Duke Bearns arrives,’ she cautioned me. ‘I must have the truth by then. I owe him at least that.’
‘We shall have more than just the truth for him, my lady queen,’ I promised her. The emeralds weighed heavy still in my pocket. I knew she would not begrudge them.
TWENTY
Mishaps
During the years of the Red Ship raids, the Six Duchies suffered significantly from their atrocities. The folk of the Six Duchies at that time learned a greater hatred of the Outislanders than ever they had felt before.
In their grandfathers’ and fathers’ times, Outislanders had been both traders and pirates. Raids were carried out by solitary ships. We had not had a raiding ‘war’ such as this since the days of King Wisdom. Although pirate attacks were not rare occurrences, they were still far more infrequent than the Outisland ships that came to our shores to trade. The blood-ties among the noble families to Outisland kin were openly acknowledged, and many a family owned to a ‘cousin’ in the Outislands.
But after the savage raiding that preceded Forge, and the atrocities at Forge, all friendly talk of the Outislands ceased. Their ships had always been more wont to visit our shores than our traders to seek out their ice-plagued harbours and swift-tided channels. Now trade ceased entirely. Thus our folk knew nothing of their Outisland kin during the days when we suffered the Red Ships. Outislander became synonymous with Raider, and in our minds, all Outisland vessels had red hulls.
But one, Chade Fallstar, a personal advisor to King Shrewd, took it upon himself to travel to the Outislands in those perilous days. From his journals we have this:
‘Kebal Rawbread was not even a name known in the Six Duchies. It was a name not breathed in the Outislands. The independent folk of the scattered and isolated villages of the Outislands had never owed allegiance to any one king. Nor was Kebal Rawbread thought of as a king there; rather he was a malevolent force, like a freezing wind that so coats a ship’s rigging with ice that in a hour she turns belly-up on the sea.
‘The few folk I encountered that did not fear to talk said Kebal had founded his power by subduing the individual pirates and raiding ships to his control. With those in hand, he turned his efforts to “recruiting” the best navigators, the most capable captains and the most skilful fighters the scattered villages had to offer. Those who refused his offers saw their families escralled, or Forged as we have come to call it. Then they were left alive, to cope with the shattered remnants of their lives. Most were forced to put family members to death with their own hands; Outislander customs are strict regarding a householder’s duty to maintain order amongst family members. As word of these incidents spread, fewer resisted the offers of Kebal Rawbread. Some few fled: their extended families still paid the price of escral. Others chose suicide, but again, the families were not spared. Such examples left few daring to defy Rawbread or his ships.
‘Even to speak against him invited escral. Sparse as was the knowledge I gained on this visit, it was gained with great difficulty. Rumours I gathered as well, though they were as sparse as black lambs in a white flock. I list them here. A “whi
te ship.” is spoken of, a ship that comes to separate souls. Not to take them, or destroy them: to separate them. They whisper, too, of a pale woman whom even Kebal Rawbread fears and reveres. Many related the torments of their land to the unprecedented advances of the “ice whales” or glaciers. Always present in the upper reaches of their narrow valleys, they now advanced more swiftly than in the memory of any living man. They were rapidly covering what little arable soil the Outislands possessed, and in a way no one could or would explain to me, bringing a “change of water”.’
I went to see the King that evening. It was not without trepidation on my part. He would not have forgotten our last talk about Celerity, any more than I had. I reminded myself firmly that this visit was not for my personal reasons but for Kettricken and Verity. Then I knocked and Wallace grudgingly admitted me. The King was sitting up in his chair by the hearth. The Fool was at his feet staring pensively into the fire. King Shrewd looked up as I entered. I presented myself and he greeted me warmly, then bade me be seated and tell me how my day had gone. At this, I shot the Fool a brief, puzzled glance. He returned me a bitter smile. I took a stool opposite the Fool and waited.
King Shrewd looked down on me benignly. ‘Well, lad? Did you have a good day? Tell me about it.’
‘I have had a … worrisome day, my king.’
‘Have you, now? Well, have a cup of tea. It does wonders to soothe the nerves. Fool, pour my boy a cup of tea.’
‘Willingly, my king. I do so at your command even more willingly than I do it for yourself.’ With a surprising alacrity, the Fool leaped to his feet. There was a fat clay pot of tea warming in the embers at the edges of the fire. From this the Fool poured me a mug and then handed it to me, with the wish, ‘Drink as deeply as our king does, and you shall share his serenity.’
I took the mug from his hand and lifted it to my lips. I inhaled the vapours, then let the liquid lap lightly against my tongue. It smelled warm and spicy, and tingled pleasantly against my tongue. I did not drink, but lowered the cup with a smile. ‘A pleasant brew, but is not merrybud addictive?’ I asked the King directly.
He smiled down on me. ‘Not in such a small quantity. Wallace has assured me it is good for my nerves, and for my appetite as well.’
‘Yes, it does wonders for the appetite,’ the Fool chimed in. ‘For the more you have, the more you shall want. Drink yours quickly, Fitz, for no doubt you will have company soon. The more you drink, the less you shall have to share.’ With a gesture like a petal unfurling, the Fool waved toward the door at the precise instant that it opened to admit Regal.
‘Ah, more visitors,’ King Shrewd chuckled pleasantly. ‘This shall be a merry evening indeed. Sit down, my boy, sit down. The Fitz was just telling us he’d had a vexatious day. So I offered him a mug of my tea to soothe him.’
‘No doubt it will do him good,’ Regal agreed pleasantly. He turned his smile on me. ‘A vexatious day, Fitz?’
‘A troubling one. First, there was the small matter down at the stables. One of Duke Ram’s men was down there, claiming that the Duke had purchased four horses. One of them Cliff, the stud-horse we use for the cart-mares. I persuaded him there must be some mistake, for the papers were not signed by the King.’
‘Oh, those!’ The King chuckled again. ‘Regal had to bring them back to me, I’d forgotten to sign them at all. But it is all taken care of now, and I am sure the horses will be on their way to Tilth by the morrow. Good horses too, Duke Ram will find them. He made a wise bargain.’
‘I had never thought to see us sell our best stock away from Buckkeep.’ I spoke quietly, looking at Regal.
‘And neither did I. But with the treasury as depleted as it is, we have had to take hard measures.’ He regarded me coolly a moment. ‘Sheep and cattle are to be sold as well. We have not the grain to winter them over anyway. Better to sell them now than to see them starve this winter.’
I was outraged. ‘Why have not we heard of these shortages before? I have heard nothing of a failed harvest. Times are hard, it is true, but …’
‘You have heard nothing because you have not been listening. While you and my brother have immersed yourselves in the glories of war, I have been dealing with the purse to pay for it. And it is well nigh empty. Tomorrow, I will have to tell the men working on the new ships that they must either labour for the love of it, or leave off their work. There is no longer coin to pay them, nor to buy the materials that would be needed to finish the ships.’ He finished his speech and leaned back, considering me.
Within me, Verity roiled. I looked to King Shrewd. ‘This is true, my king?’ I asked.
King Shrewd started. He looked over at me, and blinked his eyes a few times. ‘I did sign those papers, did I not?’ He seemed puzzled, and I think his mind had gone back to a previous conversation. He had not followed our talk at all. At his feet, the Fool was strangely silent. ‘I thought I had signed the papers. Well, bring them to me now, then. Let us get this done, and then get on with a pleasant evening.’
‘What is to be done about the situation in Bearns? Is it true that the Raiders have taken parts of the Near Islands?’
‘The situation in Bearns,’ he said. He paused, considering. He took another sip of his tea.
‘Nothing can be done about the situation in Bearns,’ Regal said sadly. Smoothly he added, ‘It is time Bearns took care of Bearns’ troubles. We cannot beggar all Six Duchies to protect a barren stretch of coastline. So the Raiders have helped themselves to a few frozen rocks. I wish them joy of them. We have folk of our own to care for, villages of our own to rebuild.’
I waited in vain for Shrewd to rouse, to say something in defence of Bearns. When he was silent, I asked quietly, ‘The town of Ferry is scarcely a frozen rock. At least, it wasn’t until the Red Ships called. And when did Bearns cease to be part of the Six Duchies?’ I looked to Shrewd, tried to make him meet my eyes. ‘My king, I beg you, order Serene to come. Have her Skill to Verity, that you may counsel together about this.’
Regal grew suddenly weary of our cat-and-mouse. ‘When did the dog-boy come to be so concerned with politics?’ he asked me savagely. ‘Why cannot you understand that the King can make decisions without the permission of the King-in-Waiting? Do you quiz your king on his decisions, Fitz? Have you so far forgotten your place? I knew Verity had made something of a pet of you, and perhaps your adventures with your axe have given you large ideas of yourself. But Prince Verity has seen fit to go gallivanting off after a chimera, and I am left to keep the Six Duchies rattling along as best I may.’
‘I was present when you endorsed King-in-Waiting Verity’s proposal to seek the Elderlings,’ I pointed out. King Shrewd seemed to have gone off into another waking dream. He stared into the fire.
‘And why that was so, I have no idea,’ Regal rejoined smoothly. ‘As I observed, you have come to have large ideas of yourself. You eat at the high table, and are clothed by the King’s largesse, and somehow you have come to believe this gives you privileges rather than duties. Let me tell you who you really are, Fitz.’ Regal paused. To me it seemed he looked at the King, as if gauging how safe it was for him to speak.
‘You,’ he continued in a lowered voice, tone as sweet as a minstrel’s, ‘are the misbegotten bastard of a princeling who had not even the courage to continue as King-in-Waiting. You are the grandson of a dead queen whose common breeding showed in the common woman her eldest son bedded to conceive you. You who take the name to yourself of FitzChivalry Farseer need do no more than scratch yourself to find Nameless the dog-boy. Be grateful I do not send you back to the stables, but suffer to let you abide in the keep.’
I do not know what I felt. Nighteyes was snarling at the venom in Regal’s words, while Verity was capable of fratricide at that moment. I glanced at King Shrewd. He cupped his mug of sweet tea in both hands and dreamed into the fire. From the corner of my eyes, I had a glimpse of the Fool. There was fear in his colourless eyes, fear as I had never seen there before. And he was look
ing, not at Regal, but at me.
I abruptly realized that I had arisen and was standing over Regal. He was looking up at me. Waiting. There was a glint of fear in his eyes, but also the shine of triumph. All I would have to do was strike at him, and he could call the guards. It would be treason. He would hang me for it. I felt how the fabric of my shirt was binding on my shoulders and chest, so swollen with rage was I. I tried to exhale, willed the balled fists of my hands to loosen. It took a moment. Hush, I told them, hush, or you’ll get me killed. When I had my voice under control, I spoke.
‘Many things have been made clear to me this night,’ I said quietly. I turned to King Shrewd. ‘My lord king, I bid you good evening, and ask to be excused from your presence.’
‘Eh? So you … had an anxious day, lad?’
‘I did, my lord king,’ I said softly. His deep eyes looked up into mine as I stood before him, waiting to be released. I looked deep into their depths. He was not there. Not as he once had been. He looked at me puzzledly, blinked a few times.
‘Well. Perhaps you had best get some rest then. As should I. Fool? Fool, is my bed prepared? Warm it with the warming pan. I grow so cold at night these days. Ha! At night these days! There’s a bit of nonsense for you, Fool. How would you say it, to get it aright?’
The Fool sprang to his feet, bowed deeply before the King. ‘I would say there’s the chill of death about the days these nights as well, your majesty. A cold fair to curl the bones, it is. A man could take his death to it. ’Twould warm me more to hide in your shade than to stand before your sun’s heat.’
King Shrewd chuckled. ‘You don’t make a bit of sense, Fool. But then you never did. Good night to all, and off to bed, lads, both of you. Good night, good night.’
I slipped out while Regal was saying a more formal good night to his father. It was all I could do to walk past Wallace’s simpering smile without smashing it from his face. Once in the hall outside, I swiftly sought my own room. I would take the Fool’s advice, I thought, and hide myself in Chade rather than stand before the heat of the King’s son.