Blood of Dragons
Chapters - Robin Hobb
Prologue: Changes
Tintaglia flies alone over the sea, gravely wounded from an arrow lodged in her chest. She knows she should rest but pushes herself onward toward Trehaug, driven by the urgency of her bond with Selden and the knowledge that her survival matters for all dragons. The pain is immense and each wingbeat costs her dearly, but she refuses to succumb and descend into the sea.
POV: Tintaglia
Chapter 1: Ending a Life
Alise wanders the forest outside Kelsingra, confronting her own despair and suicidal thoughts in the wake of discovering her husband Hest's betrayals. She encounters a black pard - a large wild cat - and her instinct to survive proves stronger than her wish to give up. Shaken but resolute, she chooses to reclaim her own identity and future, letting go of the person she was and embracing who she wants to become.
POV: Alise Kincarron Finbok·Mentioned: Hest Finbok
Chapter 2: Flight
Tats watches as Ranculos nearly drowns crossing the river to Kelsingra, surviving only through a desperate struggle. Other dragons including Sestican make the crossing successfully, bringing the total in the city to five. Alise wanders the Elderling city and reflects on what civilisation once meant to the Elderlings, feeling the weight of lost history all around her.
POV: Tats·On page: Alise Kincarron Finbok, Ranculos, Sestican, Sintara
Chapter 3: Hunters and Prey
Sintara visits the grounded and smaller drakes, aware of growing mating tension among the dragons as the healthy males gather around the queens. Thymara wakes troubled after having slept with Rapskal, fearing pregnancy and uncertain of what she wants. She is torn between her feelings for Tats and the strange new version of Rapskal who increasingly speaks and behaves as the ancient Elderling Tellator.
POV: Sintara·On page: Thymara, Rapskal, Tats·Mentioned: Tellator, Amarinda
Chapter 4: Opening Negotiations
Hest manipulates his companion Redding into delivering secret messages to Chalcedean contacts, using Redding's innocence as a shield. Aboard the Tarman, Leftrin and Malta travel upriver with Reyn and their gravely ill infant Ephron, seeking Kelsingra and the dragons that might save the baby. Tillamon Khuprus, Reyn's Rain Wild-marked sister, is also aboard and developing feelings for Hennesey, the Tarman's first mate.
POV: Hest Finbok·On page: Leftrin, Malta Haven, Reyn Khuprus, Ephron Khuprus, Tillamon Khuprus, Hennesey, Redding
Chapter 5: Taking the Leap
Sedric and Relpda make the flight to Kelsingra alongside Spit, completing their journey and reuniting with the other keepers in the Elderling city. Meanwhile Hest returns to his lodgings in Bingtown to discover that Redding has been brutally murdered by agents of Lord Dargen, a Chalcedean assassin. Before Hest can flee, he is seized by Lord Dargen's men and taken captive, beginning his enslavement.
POV: Sedric Meldar·On page: Hest Finbok, Relpda, Spit, Lord Dargen·Mentioned: Redding
Chapter 6: Dragon Blood
Selden is presented to the ailing Duke of Chalced as a source of Elderling blood and placed in the reluctant care of Chassim, the Duke's daughter, who is horrified by her father's cruelty but powerless to stop it. Tintaglia, near death from her wound, finally reaches Trehaug and lands heavily, found by Jani Khuprus who immediately summons Rain Wild healers and carpenters to tend to her. The dragon is too weak to move and the arrow must be carefully removed to save her life.
POV: Selden Haven·On page: Tintaglia, Chassim, Duke of Chalced, Jani Khuprus
Chapter 7: City Dwellers
Thymara settles into the rhythms of Kelsingra life with the other keepers, exploring the Elderling city and beginning to understand what it means to live there. Sintara reveals the mystery of the Silver seeps in the river and explains that dragons depend on Silver for their physical perfection, but that the supply is dwindling and the seep access is blocked. Thymara is pulled between her genuine affection for Tats and her strange, unsettling bond with Rapskal, who increasingly seems to be someone else entirely.
POV: Thymara·On page: Sintara, Tats, Rapskal, Carson, Sedric Meldar·Mentioned: Tellator, Amarinda
Chapter 8: City of Elderlings
The Tarman docks at Kelsingra, delivering Malta, Reyn, and their desperately ill infant Ephron to the city. Alise greets them and is confronted with how much has changed; Malta's arrival forces a reckoning with the life Alise left behind in Bingtown. Leftrin secures the Tarman and the whole keeper community comes together around the desperately sick baby, understanding that no ordinary cure can help a Rain Wild-marked child with Ephron's condition.
POV: Alise Kincarron Finbok·On page: Leftrin, Malta Haven, Reyn Khuprus, Ephron Khuprus, Tillamon Khuprus, Hennesey, Thymara
Chapter 9: Passing Ships
Hest is enslaved aboard a Chalcedean pirate ship disguised as a trader vessel, travelling upriver toward the Rain Wilds, and treated with brutal contempt by his captors who intend to use him to gain access to Kelsingra. Tintaglia, recovering at Trehaug but still weak, senses the Chalcedean ships on the river and recognises their threat even at a distance. The blue dragon is grounded by her injury but her fury at the violation of the river by those who hunted dragons burns fiercely.
POV: Hest Finbok·On page: Tintaglia, Ellik
Chapter 10: Tintaglia's Touch
Malta goes before all the gathered dragons in Kelsingra to beg for help for her dying son Ephron, humbling herself as the dragons debate whether a human child is worth their effort. Mercor reveals that only Tintaglia has the age and power to heal the child, and also that Malta bears the Silver mark of a true Elderling. Hest is brought ashore by his Chalcedean captors, where Tintaglia is ambushed and wounded again in a deliberate attack.
POV: Malta Haven·On page: Hest Finbok, Tintaglia, Mercor, Reyn Khuprus, Ephron Khuprus, Kalo, Icefyre, Sintara
Chapter 11: Silver
Sedric and Carson discover the ancient Silver well in Kelsingra's depths - the source of the dragons' longed-for Silver. Spit explains that Silver is essential to dragon perfection and that the well must be cleared and coaxed to flow again. Thymara organises all the keepers to work at clearing the well, a dangerous task given that Silver is toxic to humans, and they make significant progress.
POV: Sedric Meldar·On page: Carson, Spit, Thymara, Tats, Rapskal, Jerd, Nortel, Sylve, Lecter, Davvie
Chapter 12: Dragon Warrior
Hest witnesses the Chalcedean ships attempting to capture Tintaglia and drag her down with nets and weapons as she fights back, venom and fury against iron and numbers. Tintaglia mounts a night attack on the ships, using the darkness to harry them and kill as many soldiers as she can while protecting herself. At Kelsingra, Sintara leads fifteen dragons into the air with Rapskal and Heeby at the front, flying to engage the Chalcedean fleet.
POV: Hest Finbok·On page: Tintaglia, Sintara, Rapskal, Heeby, Mercor, Kalo, Icefyre, Ellik
Chapter 13: Final Chances
Hest watches in terror as the dragons descend on the Chalcedean fleet, and Kalo singles out and kills Lord Dargen, swallowing the Chalcedean lord whole. Rapskal, speaking as Tellator, orders the execution of all Chalcedean soldiers, but Leftrin intervenes to prevent wholesale slaughter and negotiates the sorting of captives: Chalcedean soldiers are executed or enslaved, merchants and innocents are held for ransom. Sintara and the other dragons are satisfied with the outcome, the ships captured as prizes.
POV: Hest Finbok·On page: Sintara, Kalo, Lord Dargen, Leftrin, Rapskal, Alise Kincarron Finbok, Tintaglia, Mercor
Chapter 14: Blood Price
Selden is brought before the Duke of Chalced for another blood-drinking session, the Duke's desperation for Elderling blood growing more depraved. The Duke, in a moment of political calculation, visits Chassim and formally names her his heir, recognising her political usefulness even as his health crumbles. Ellik, the Duke's Chancellor, oversees the operations of the captive Selden and manages the Duke's increasingly erratic demands.
POV: Selden Haven·On page: Duke of Chalced, Chassim, Ellik
Chapter 15: Hostages
Tats makes multiple attempts to touch the Silver in the well, testing the keepers' ability to work with it safely. The captured Chalcedean ships arrive at Kelsingra's docks with Hest among the prisoners, and he recognises Alise and Sedric among the gathered Elderlings. Leftrin receives the report that Tintaglia has been badly injured - possibly mortally - in her battle with the Chalcedean forces on the river.
POV: Tats·On page: Hest Finbok, Leftrin, Alise Kincarron Finbok, Sedric Meldar, Carson, Thymara, Rapskal·Mentioned: Tintaglia
Chapter 16: Expectations
Alise confronts the arrival of Hest among the captives, who immediately attempts to publicly reassert his claim over her as his wife, trying to shame and manipulate her before the watching community. Sedric steps forward and publicly confesses his affair with Hest, destroying his own reputation in Bingtown society to sever Hest's power over both of them. Alise, free at last from Hest's control, stands in her own right as a scholar and Elderling among the Kelsingra community.
POV: Alise Kincarron Finbok·On page: Hest Finbok, Sedric Meldar, Leftrin, Thymara, Carson
Chapter 17: The Well
Thymara is taken by Rapskal - speaking and acting wholly as Tellator - to the Silver well at night, where he urges her to descend into the Silver to complete her Elderling transformation. Sintara arrives and surprisingly does not forbid it; after reflection, Thymara agrees to enter the well, making a choice for her own transformation on her own terms. Malta keeps vigil at Tintaglia's side alongside Ephron, both dragon and baby hovering near death together.
POV: Thymara·On page: Rapskal, Sintara, Malta Haven, Tintaglia, Ephron Khuprus, Tats·Mentioned: Tellator, Amarinda
Chapter 18: Seductions
Hest, held captive in Kelsingra, attempts to seduce and manipulate Davvie, using his old tactics of flattery and charm, but finds no purchase in the changed world of the Elderlings. In Chalced, Selden and Chassim share their fears openly, both expecting to die; they make quiet plans to survive and resolve not to let despair take them. Chassim has learned to trust Selden completely, and Selden draws what strength he can from her courage.
POV: Hest Finbok·On page: Selden Haven, Chassim, Davvie
Chapter 19: IceFyre
IceFyre arrives at Kelsingra - gaunt, poisoned, and damaged from his ordeal in Chalced - and Rapskal greets him with ancient Elderling courtesies that the old black dragon acknowledges. The dragons convene to drink from the Silver well and debate attacking Chalced; IceFyre's testimony about being hunted and wounded galvanises the vote. Tintaglia has begun to recover from her wounds and Thymara observes the transformation in the dragons as the Silver revitalises them, the decision to fly to war now certain.
POV: Thymara·On page: Sintara, Icefyre, Rapskal, Heeby, Tintaglia, Mercor, Kalo, Spit, Tats, Carson, Sedric Meldar