The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince
Chapters - Robin Hobb
Part 1: The Wilful Princess
Felicity, a wet-nurse's daughter, narrates her lifelong service to Princess Caution Farseer from Caution's name-sealing ceremony through the princess's death. Raised at Buckkeep alongside the princess from infancy, Felicity becomes Caution's indispensable companion - managing her tantrums, protecting her reputation, and loving her with a devotion that is quietly reciprocated. When Caution is a young woman and Queen-in-Waiting, she falls passionately in love with Lostler, a Chalcedean slave-turned-stablemaster who has the Wit-magic and a remarkable spotted stallion. The affair blossoms in secret morning rides while Felicity trails helplessly behind; she witnesses their lovemaking and, fearing discovery, tells Caution a devastating lie - that she herself has slept with Lostler. Caution believes her, cuts Lostler off entirely, and is left heartbroken and pregnant. When Caution sells the Spotted Stud at the Horse Fair to banish Lostler from her sight, the smith beats Lostler near to death in the stables; Caution rushes out and watches both man and horse die, goes into premature labour from the shock, and struggles through a long and dangerous birth. Her son is born mottled red and white - 'piebald as a puppy' - and Caution, horrified, refuses to nurse him. Felicity, who has secretly given birth to her own son Redbird (fathered by the minstrel Copper Songsmith), nurses both infants, while Caution declines and dies within the month. Felicity names the Farseer heir Charger but he is known to all as the Piebald Prince, and Felicity raises him alongside her own child, bearing the weight of her lie to her grave.
POV: Felicity·On page: Princess Caution, King Virile, Queen Capable, Lostler, Spotted Stud, Felicity's Mother, Lady Hope, Copper Songsmith, Charger·Mentioned: Strategy Farseer, Lady Everlon
Part 2: The Piebald Prince
The narrative continues in Felicity's voice, following the Piebald Prince Charger's childhood, rise, and murder. Felicity raises Charger and her son Redbird together at Buckkeep; Charger inherits his father's Wit in abundance, is well tutored at King Virile's insistence, and gathers a loyal following of lesser-born and Witted companions - the Motley Court - in contrast to the Canny Court of his rival, Lord Canny Farseer. At seventeen, King Virile formally names Charger as King-in-Waiting, to Canny's profound resentment, and Redbird becomes Charger's truthsinger, sworn to record events accurately. Tensions erupt over the courting of Lady Wiffen of Bearns, whose inability to choose between the two rivals inflames their long rivalry into open violence: a follower of Charger's kills Lord Ulder of Blackearth, and someone retaliates by slaughtering a dozen Wit-bonded piebald horses in the stables. When King Virile dies, Charger assumes power as King but cannot consolidate it; Lady Wiffen's public desertion of him on the stairs, Charger's rash words seeming to justify a child's murder to avenge the horses, and a rumour about Lady Wiffen meeting him in the garden at night provoke Lord Canny to action. On the Summer Solstice, Charger is lured alone to the Women's Garden; Redbird, already there seeking solace, hides in a cherry tree and witnesses Lord Canny and five other nobles, together with Lord Curl, murder the unarmed king. Lord Curl stabs Charger in the back, then kills young Lord Lock when Lock protests; the body is hacked apart and the king's knife planted on Lock to frame Charger for the murder. Redbird falls from the tree in shock and is eventually brought to Felicity. He recovers enough to sing the truth at Canny's coronation, but is beaten to death by the crowd. Felicity ends by revealing that Queen Wiffen's son Prince Courage bears a birthmark identical to one on Charger's arm - proving, she insists, that the supposed heir to Canny's line is in truth the Piebald Prince's own blood.
POV: Felicity·On page: Charger, Redbird, King Virile, Lord Canny, Strategy Farseer, Lady Wiffen, Lord Elfwise, Copper Songsmith, Lord Curl, Lord Elkwin, Lord Lock, Prince Courage, Lord Fenrew, Lord Tracker, Lord Scriver, Lord Holdfast, Lady Kyart·Mentioned: Felicity's Mother, Lord Ulder