The Golden Fool
Chapters - Robin Hobb
Prologue
FitzChivalry Farseer reflects on his role as the Catalyst to the Fool's White Prophet - the stone that bumped fate's wheel off its old course. The Fool dragged him back from death repeatedly, each time steering the world away from a darker destiny. But someone has decided the Fool must be eliminated to restore the old path - a path Fitz helped destroy. He contemplates the nature of the bond between prophet and catalyst, and the price both have paid.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·Mentioned: The Fool
Chapter 1: Piebalds
FitzChivalry Farseer waits at Jinna's cottage in Buckkeep Town for his foster son Hap to return. Nighteyes is newly dead, and Fitz is raw with grief. Hap Hap arrives drunk and infatuated with a girl, oblivious to Fitz's pain until Fitz breaks the news of the wolf's death. They hold each other in shared sorrow. Fitz kisses Hap goodbye, then sets out alone on the dark road back to Buckkeep Castle. Piebald Witted-folk shadow him through the woods - a small creature bites his leg, a dog-sized animal circles him - taunting him about Nighteyes' death and warning that his past crimes against the Old Blood will not be forgotten. They let him go, the message delivered.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Hap, Jinna·Mentioned: Nighteyes
Chapter 2: Chade's Servant
En route through Buckkeep Castle's hidden passages to Chade's tower, FitzChivalry stops to observe through a spy-hole. In their guest chambers, Narcheska Elliania weeps - she does not want to marry Prince Dutiful. Peottre Blackwater comforts her and promises she will not be forced into this union. A serving woman called Henja arrives bearing a revealing gown that 'the Lady' demands Elliania wear; destroys it and Peottre ejects Henja from the chamber. In Chade's tower, Fitz is Skill-blasted by Thick, Chade's half-witted servant who possesses enormous untrained Skill ability. Fitz holds his mental walls. Chade arrives and Fitz reports both Thick's raw Skill power and the scene he witnessed in the Outislanders' chamber. Chade debates whether Thick should be killed, crippled, or taught. Fitz also reports the Piebalds' roadside threat.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Narcheska Elliania, Peottre Blackwater, Henja, Thick, Chade Fallstar
Chapter 3: Echoes
FitzChivalry goes about his days as Tom Badgerlock, doing chores and practising weapons at the training courts. He crosses blades with an old guardsman called Blade - a veteran he knew from his boyhood - without revealing his identity. A tense moment with a young guard named Charl is defused by Blade's authority. In the afternoon, Fitz joins Prince Dutiful and Lord Golden for a ride beyond the castle. Civil Bresinga is present at the stables. Laurel the Huntswoman greets Fitz warmly. On the ride, Dutiful grieves for his lost cat; Fitz inadvertently reveals he has a foster son Hap, causing Dutiful an unexpected pang of jealousy over Fitz's divided loyalties. Dutiful shares what Civil told him: the Bresinga family was coerced by the Piebalds into giving Dutiful the Wit-cat. Dutiful asks Fitz to attend the betrothal ceremony that evening.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Dutiful Farseer, The Fool, Civil Bresinga, Laurel, Blade, Charl·Mentioned: Hap, Nighteyes
Chapter 4: The Betrothal
FitzChivalry and Lord Golden spend the afternoon sewing hidden pockets and weapon loops into Fitz's servant livery in preparation for the ceremony. Fitz slips away to check Civil Bresinga's rooms - Lady Bresinga herself is absent from Buckkeep, excused by an alleged injury. They take their places early in the Great Hall. The Outislander party arrives: Arkon Bloodblade first, flamboyant and commanding; then Narcheska Elliania, composed and regal, with Peottre Blackwater close behind. The Six Duchies dukes file in after. Fitz spots Starling on the arm of her husband Lord Fisher - Fitz is startled by the sight of her. He sees Lady Patience in the crowd. Most alarming of all, he recognises Rosemary - Regal's former spy-child - now among Queen Kettricken's ladies. The betrothal ceremony proceeds; Arkon dramatically draws blood on the hearth-stone. Dancing follows, with Dutiful and Elliania taking the first dance and claiming the second. Fitz is unable to find an opportunity to observe or drug Civil. He and Lord Golden return to their chambers very late.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Civil Bresinga, Narcheska Elliania, Peottre Blackwater, Arkon Bloodblade, Dutiful Farseer, Kettricken, Starling Birdsong, Patience, Rosemary, Chade Fallstar, Lord Fisher, Duke Shemshy·Mentioned: Lady Bresinga
Chapter 5: Shared Sorrows
Prince Dutiful misses the dawn Skill practice. FitzChivalry navigates Buckkeep's hidden passages and is again Skill-blasted by Thick outside Chade's tower. Chade then summons Fitz to Queen Kettricken's private chambers. Kettricken is weeping: she had formed a Wit-bond with Nighteyes during the quest to the Mountain Kingdom, and felt him die. She and Fitz mourn the wolf together. Kettricken gives Fitz a silver fox pin as a pledge of her kinship and regard. Fitz raises the matter of Rosemary; Kettricken explains her decision to keep the woman close and in view rather than cast her out to cause trouble elsewhere. Kettricken formally asks Fitz to take on Skill lessons for Dutiful; he agrees. She wants to tell Dutiful who Fitz truly is; Fitz asks her not to. Kettricken mentions an upcoming outdoor game with the Outislanders and Dutiful.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Kettricken, Thick·Mentioned: Nighteyes, Rosemary, Dutiful Farseer, Peottre Blackwater
Chapter 6: Obliteration
FitzChivalry overhears Laurel the Huntswoman asking Lord Golden for a private meeting. He follows as Lord Golden meets in the old stable loft - once Burrich's quarters. Laurel reports that her cousin Deerkin, who has ties to the Piebalds, has warned her: Laudwine's surviving followers are regrouping and forming an alliance with powerful outside interests. Both Fitz and Laurel are marked - for death or for use as pawns. After the meeting, Fitz goes into Buckkeep Town and visits Jinna at her cottage. She admits him; they become lovers for the first time. Afterwards, Jinna makes a quiet observation about what it must be like 'for a she-wolf' - revealing she knows Fitz is Witted. Fitz is unsettled but departs, returning to the castle before dawn.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Laurel, Jinna·Mentioned: Burrich
Chapter 7: Lessons
Prince Dutiful arrives at the Seawatch Tower for his first real Skill lesson with FitzChivalry. Fitz gives Dutiful the true history of Galen and Verity, setting what Dutiful learned at the Skill coterie's hands against what the magic truly is. Dutiful proves a natural - he connects with the Skill effortlessly, immediately hears Thick's ever-present humming music, and is almost immediately swept into the Skill-current and carried away. Fitz dives in after him and hauls him back to himself. An unidentified third Skill-presence intrudes: a calm voice congratulates Fitz - 'That was well done. But next time, be more careful, with yourself as well as with him.' The chapter establishes the pattern of ongoing lessons that will follow over the coming weeks.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Dutiful Farseer·Mentioned: Thick, Galen, Verity Farseer
Chapter 8: Ambitions
Days settle into a demanding routine: pre-dawn Skill lessons with Prince Dutiful, daytime service as Lord Golden's man, and night meetings in Chade's tower. Thick continues to evade their attempts to meet with him. Dutiful's lessons are going dangerously well - he is almost too receptive to the Skill, easily pulled into the current. Chade confides to FitzChivalry that he has been secretly experimenting with Skill herbs, driven by fear that his memory is failing; he wants the Skill to preserve himself. Fitz is horrified but cannot prevent it. In Buckkeep Town, Hap is consumed by his infatuation with Svanja and neglecting his wood-working apprenticeship with Gindast. Fitz continues his clandestine visits to Jinna. In dreams, Nettle has begun Skill-attacking the walls Fitz erects each night - trapping him in a wolf-form within her dreamscape. He escapes but the encounters leave him shaken and guilty.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Dutiful Farseer, The Fool, Chade Fallstar, Thick, Hap, Jinna, Nettle·Mentioned: Svanja Hartshorn, Molly Chandler, Lady Bresinga, Gindast
Chapter 9: Stone Wager
Winter deepens over Buckkeep. The Piebalds have gone quiet. FitzChivalry keeps covert watch on Civil Bresinga but finds nothing incriminating. Then the Piebalds strike Laurel: her beloved horse Whitecap is poisoned through the throat - a targeted act of punishment and warning for not cooperating with them. Fitz finds drunk and distraught at the Stuck Pig tavern and holds her as she weeps. Jinna enters the tavern, sees Fitz with his arms around Laurel, gives him a cold look, and leaves without a word. Fitz cannot follow without abandoning Laurel. At court, Prince Dutiful blunders socially: he fails to rebuke Civil when Civil makes a slighting remark about Elliania, and then makes a careless comment about 'beautiful women' that Elliania overhears and takes as mockery. Dutiful asks Fitz if the Skill can make Elliania forget the slight; Fitz refuses. As penance for losing a wager, Dutiful must now ride in company with Lady Vance.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Laurel, Jinna, Dutiful Farseer, Civil Bresinga, Narcheska Elliania, Whitecap·Mentioned: Svanja Hartshorn, Duke Shemshy, Lady Vance
Chapter 10: Resolutions
FitzChivalry spies on Elliania and Peottre the morning after Dutiful's social stumble. Henja urges Elliania to seduce Dutiful; Elliania ejects her angrily. Elliania reveals she has her own plan. On the remedial group ride, Peottre announces Elliania's true age - about twelve or thirteen by Six Duchies reckoning - shaming the court for treating a child as a grown woman. Elliania appears in full Outisland dress and coolly snubs Dutiful throughout the outing. Fitz coaches Dutiful via Skill-whisper to endure her disdain with patience and dignity. Later in town, Fitz encounters Svanja's furious father Master Hartshorn at the Stuck Pig. They search together for Hap and Svanja, eventually going to Jinna's cottage - where Jinna gives Fitz the cold shoulder and reports Hap is not there. Master Hartshorn storms off.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Narcheska Elliania, Peottre Blackwater, Henja, Dutiful Farseer, Svanja Hartshorn, Jinna, Master Hartshorn·Mentioned: Hap
Chapter 11: Tidings from Bingtown
FitzChivalry confronts Hap at Gindast's workshop, but is unrepentant about Svanja and dismisses Fitz's concerns. Fitz walks away frustrated. Back at Buckkeep, Lord Golden reports that the Bingtown liveship Goldendown has docked with an urgent diplomatic delegation seeking audience. Chade arranges for Fitz to guide the Fool through the spy passages so both can observe the reception. In the great hall, the Bingtown party presents itself: Serilla the Jamaillian Satrap's representative, a Trader named Jorban with a parrot, a tattooed former-slave woman, and the veiled Selden Vestrit. Gifts of magical Elderling perfume, silver singing chimes, and flame-jewels are offered. Selden removes his veil to reveal Rain Wild features - scales around his eyes, elongated limbs. He speaks on behalf of the dragon Tintaglia, proclaiming her 'the last true dragon.' Queen Kettricken erupts in offended fury, defending the Six Duchies' own dragons. Selden kneels in apology; Chade diplomatically closes the audience. Afterwards in Chade's tower, Fitz and the Fool discuss Bingtown affairs - Althea is pregnant, the liveship Paragon is unsettled. Fitz opens up about the painful parallel between Hap's obsession with Svanja and his own past with Molly.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Hap, The Fool, Chade Fallstar, Kettricken, Selden Haven, Serilla, Duke Shemshy, Lady Vance, Gindast, Jorban·Mentioned: Svanja Hartshorn, Molly Chandler, Tintaglia
Chapter 12: Jek
A long session in Chade's tower with Queen Kettricken and Chade deliberating over the Six Duchies' own dragons and the Bingtown delegation's proposal. FitzChivalry returns to Lord Golden's chambers to find a tall, blonde warrior woman waiting there - Jek, of Shoaks Duchy, clearly an old friend of 'Amber'. She has arrived with the Bingtown delegation. Lord Golden returns and dismisses Fitz, but Fitz lingers to eavesdrop. He learns that the Fool, as Amber, carved his likeness onto the figurehead of the liveship Paragon without his knowledge. Jek states plainly that the Fool loves Fitz. Fitz is shaken - hurt and unsettled by the Fool's intimacy and the public nature of it. Later, Fitz spies on Elliania's chambers: Elliania is in agony, stripped to the waist, the tattoos of serpents on her back glowing and burning. Peottre arrives with snow to cool them. Elliania reveals that Henja urged her to seduce Dutiful, and that the burning intensified when she refused. Peottre is furious at Henja's cruelty. Elliania chants in prayer to the mothers of her line.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Jek, Narcheska Elliania, Peottre Blackwater, Henja, Kettricken, Chade Fallstar·Mentioned: Dutiful Farseer
Chapter 13: Challenges
FitzChivalry reconciles with Jinna - they agree to remain friends, the romantic relationship quietly set aside. Chade is irritable over Starling sending him a private message for Fitz: she regrets words spoken in anger and had been drinking. Chade lectures Fitz sharply about allowing himself to be reduced - he tells Fitz that grieves for the legendary FitzChivalry the Witted Bastard, not the shadow of a man Fitz has become. Chade also knows Fitz and the Fool have quarrelled. Hap arrives at Buckkeep to find Fitz: turned him out of her cottage; he has been sleeping rough. He needs to move to Gindast's apprentice house but is too proud to ask. Fitz advises him to go to Gindast directly and ask plainly. That evening, the farewell banquet for the Outislanders: Arkon Bloodblade's contingent arrives festive; Peottre and Elliania are conspicuously late. When they arrive, Elliania is dressed in full Outisland ceremonial attire. Before the assembled court she issues a formal challenge: she will not accept a prince as her husband unless he proves himself a king. The challenge she names is Outisland custom - Dutiful must bring her the head of the black dragon Icefyre, sleeping in a glacier on Aslevjal Isle. Dutiful - defying Fitz's Skill-whisper commanding him to stay silent - accepts the challenge and severs Fitz's Skill-imprint on his mind. Dutiful counter-challenges: Elliania must accompany him to witness the deed, which she accepts. Selden Vestrit stares directly at the wall where Fitz is hidden, seemingly Skill-sensing his presence. Starling leaps onto a table and begins composing in real time. The betrothal is now contingent on the dragon quest.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Jinna, Chade Fallstar, Starling Birdsong, Hap, Narcheska Elliania, Peottre Blackwater, Arkon Bloodblade, Dutiful Farseer, Selden Haven·Mentioned: The Fool, Lady Vance
Chapter 14: Scrolls
After the Outislander delegation departs Buckkeep, Fitz reads a series of secret scrolls that detail the full extent of the Piebald threat. The documents reveal that the Piebalds know he is the Witted Bastard and include personal threats against him. Deeply shaken, he and Chade discuss the danger to Nettle, who continues to batter Fitz's dreams with her untrained Skill. Fitz proposes a bargain: he will accept the role of Skillmaster for Dutiful's coterie if Kettricken agrees to leave in peace and not force her to court. Thick is brought to the tower, and Fitz begins the patient work of earning the simple man's trust, learning to understand Thick's emotional world and the surprising depths of his Skill-strength.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Thick·Mentioned: The Fool, Dutiful Farseer, Kettricken, Narcheska Elliania, Peottre Blackwater, Nettle, Laudwine, Laurel, Jek, Black Rolf
Chapter 15: Quarrel
Fitz finishes reading the disturbing Piebald scrolls while Nettle continues to assault his dreams with her untrained Skill. A tense confrontation erupts when the Fool confesses his love for Fitz; Fitz rejects it harshly, and the Fool collapses from a fever. Jek departs Buckkeep in cold anger. Shortly after, Fitz meets privately with Queen Kettricken, who is riding to intervene in a Witted execution in Bidwell. They reach agreement: Fitz will serve as Skillmaster for the Prince's coterie in exchange for Kettricken's promise that Nettle will not be summoned to court against her will.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Kettricken, Jek·Mentioned: Chade Fallstar, Nettle, Starling Birdsong, Burrich, Molly Chandler
Chapter 16: Fathers
Lord Golden recovers from his fever and maintains a careful distance from Fitz, delivering a red whistle intended for Thick with cold formality. Fitz uses the Skill to compel Dutiful to come to the tower, then guides Thick through the castle's hidden passages to claim his whistle - a small triumph of trust-building. A tense standoff between the proud Prince and the childlike Thick is resolved when Fitz asserts his authority as their Skillmaster. Unexpectedly, Burrich's son Swift arrives at Buckkeep alone, having run away to seek service with the Queen rather than give up his Wit magic. Burrich Burrich follows in fury to reclaim him. Through a spy-hole, Fitz witnesses Kettricken's compassionate handling of both the stubborn boy and his enraged father.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Dutiful Farseer, Thick, Swift, Kettricken, Chade Fallstar, Burrich·Mentioned: Molly Chandler, Nettle, Peottre Blackwater
Chapter 17: Explosions
Chade arrives at the tower deafened and burned from an explosion in his workroom, with his apprentice Lady Rosemary similarly injured - revealing for the first time that he has taken a new spy pupil. Skill lessons with Dutiful and Thick proceed despite the chaos. Thick Thick then makes a devastating confession: he has been meeting with the Piebald leader Laudwine through an intermediary named Padget, passing on information overheard in the castle. Thick also mentions 'a girl who cries' - clearly Nettle reaching into his dreams. Dutiful receives a suspicious invitation to ride out with Civil; Fitz deduces it may be a Piebald trap and begins planning to locate Padget. The Fool assists by using cosmetics to conceal Chade's burns.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Dutiful Farseer, Thick, The Fool, Rosemary·Mentioned: Laudwine, Padget, Nettle, Narcheska Elliania, Henja, Civil Bresinga, Lady Bresinga
Chapter 18: Pink Sugar Cake
Dutiful gathers a collection of small gifts for Thick to help earn his trust, including the promised pink sugar cake. Fitz bathes and cuts his hair, a breakthrough moment of physical closeness that deepens their bond. Through Skill-sharing during their lesson, Fitz accesses Thick's memories and hears Laudwine's threatening voice directed at - confirming 's location in Buckkeep Town. Thick reveals he reports to the Piebalds on wash-days. Fitz practises with his weapons trainer Wim, who declares approvingly that Fitz is 'back to what he used to be.' That evening, Fitz descends to Buckkeep Town to hunt for Laudwine.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Thick, Dutiful Farseer, Wim·Mentioned: Chade Fallstar, The Fool, Laudwine, Padget
Chapter 19: Laudwine
On the road to Buckkeep Town, Fitz encounters Starling and they reconcile after their estrangement; she confides that her marriage is strained. Civil Bresinga rides past heading into town, confirming Fitz's fears. Using the goat-sounds from Thick's memories as a guide, Fitz tracks Laudwine to a hiding place and finds Civil's horse nearby. He overhears threatening Civil's life. Dutiful Skill-contacts Fitz to warn him - Civil's Wit-bonded cat had alerted the Prince. Fitz charges in, killing Padget and then the one-armed Laudwine, and slaying Laudwine's Wit-horse in the street. Gravely wounded, he collapses. City guards arrest him, and in his fading consciousness he glimpses Henja watching from the crowd before he loses awareness.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Starling Birdsong, Civil Bresinga, Laudwine, Padget, Henja·Mentioned: Dutiful Farseer, Thick, Chade Fallstar, Lord Fisher, Lady Vance