City of Dragons
Chapters - Robin Hobb
Prologue: Tintaglia and IceFyre
Tintaglia and IceFyre are ambushed in a desert oasis by hundreds of men sent by the Duke of Chalced - archers with nets of chain, pike men and spearmen rise from camouflaged positions as the two dragons descend to bathe. The dragons fight back ferociously, with Icefyre unleashing his acid venom to devastating effect while Tintaglia frees herself from a weighted net and wades into the attackers with claws and venom. A dying boy reveals that the Duke of Chalced sent the attack because he needs dragon parts - blood, scales, liver - to cure his illness, and that his family were taken as hostages to compel his participation. After the slaughter, IceFyre instructs that a few survivors must be allowed to flee and spread the tale as a warning, then the two dragons feast on the fallen. Tintaglia has an arrow broken off inside her left wing that she cannot remove, a wound that will fester throughout the book.
POV: Tintaglia·On page: Icefyre·Mentioned: Duke of Chalced
Chapter 1: The Duke and The Captive
In the Duke of Chalced's throne room, the dying ruler - carried in a palanquin and barely able to hold himself upright - executes failed soldiers and broods on his crumbling grip on power, his lack of a male heir, and his fear of his daughter Chassim, who is suspected of poisoning her three husbands. Selden Haven, held chained as a scaled freak in a Chalcedean bazaar market, overhears Chalcedean men negotiating to sell him to a new buyer who wants an Elderling; he is sick with advancing Elderling transformation and fears what will happen to him. Bird-keeper correspondence from Bingtown raises concerns about message tampering involving messages from Trader Candral of Cassarick, establishing that there is a spy or corrupter operating in the rain wilds.
POV: Duke of Chalced·On page: Ellik, Selden Haven·Mentioned: Chassim, Trader Candral, Reyall, Erek, Kim
Chapter 2: Dragon Battle
Sintara watches in dismay as a fight erupts among the dragons: Kalo seizes her neck in his jaws, triggering Ranculos and Sestican to join the brawl, until Mercor ends it by pinning Kalo and threatening him with acid venom. Thymara tends to Sintara's wounds after the fight, and the two discuss the difficulty of flight and what it would mean for mating. Sedric watches Carson handle the volatile Kalo with keeper Davvie, reflecting on his relationship with Carson and noticing that Davvie and Lecter appear to be sneaking off together.
POV: Sintara·On page: Kalo, Ranculos, Sestican, Mercor, Thymara, Sedric Meldar, Carson, Davvie, Lecter, Relpda
Chapter 3: Pathways
Thymara hunts with Tats, discussing the uncertain future of the keeper community at the riverside camp opposite Kelsingra; they are interrupted when Heeby kills their target deer and Rapskal joins them, eager to show Thymara something in the ancient city. Sintara, hungry and restless on the far bank, stares across the river at the silent city of Kelsingra and desires it with an ancestral yearning she cannot fully explain. Rapskal has been flying to Kelsingra secretly with Heeby and urges Thymara to come see the wonders he has found there, exciting her curiosity and stirring the growing tension between her feelings for Rapskal and her more stable bond with Tats.
Chapter 4: Kelsingra
Alise spends a day alone in the empty city of Kelsingra, meticulously documenting its Elderling architecture and artefacts; Leftrin finds her and they discuss his upcoming resupply journey to Cassarick, which she dreads because it will mean weeks apart. They discover Rapskal has become entranced by a memory-stone statue and is locked in a trance, reliving the memories encoded in it; together Alise and Leftrin haul him free and revive him, though he is dazed and has absorbed much Elderling memory. Rapskal and fly Alise and Leftrin back across the river in the darkness, returning them safely to the keeper camp.
POV: Alise Kincarron Finbok·On page: Leftrin, Rapskal, Heeby
Chapter 5: A Bingtown Trader
Hest Finbok returns to his Bingtown home to discover that Alise's scroll about the expedition has gone missing; a scarred young Chalcedean agent - clearly operating on behalf of the Duke of Chalced - enters and terrorises him, slicing his hand, poisoning him (with a substance that merely makes him violently ill, not kills him), and forcing him to grovel. The agent leaves two small boxes each containing a child's severed hand as proof that heir-son hostages have been taken, and instructs Hest that he must find Begasti Cored and Sinadrvogjinoxpptmhcaywzukb83 and deliver messages, then travel to the Rain Wilds to retrieve dragon parts promised by Sedric. Hest is left humiliated and terrified, now acting as an unwilling courier for Chalcedean intelligence.
POV: Hest Finbok·Mentioned: Begasti Cored, Sinad Arich, Sedric Meldar, Alise Kincarron Finbok
Chapter 6: Marked by the Rain Wilds
Malta Haven packs to leave for Cassarick with Reyn, speaking with Jani Khuprus about the dangers of Rain Wild pregnancies and the mistreatment of Tattooed workers in the rain wilds. Tillamon, Reyn's heavily-Changed and always-veiled sister, insists on coming along on the journey upriver, surprising everyone. On the boat, Malta and Reyn discuss in anguish what will happen if their unborn baby is born too heavily Changed, with Reyn vowing to protect the child whatever form it takes.
POV: Malta Haven·On page: Reyn Khuprus, Jani Khuprus, Tillamon Khuprus·Mentioned: Selden Haven
Chapter 7: Dragon Dreams
Sintara practises flying secretly at night in a meadow away from the keeper camp, falling repeatedly but forcing herself back into the air, driven by the certainty that flight is what she was born for. Alise explores Kelsingra alone the following day, discovering a theatre building where Elderling memory-stone statues animate when she touches a jidzin strip, performing a scene from the ancient city's past. She climbs a tower and finds a detailed model of the ancient city, sees the outline of a great Elderling bridge that once spanned the river, and realises the city's extent and grandeur; at dusk Rapskal and meet her at the docks to return her to camp.
POV: Sintara·On page: Alise Kincarron Finbok, Rapskal, Heeby
Chapter 8: Other Lives
Sedric argues with Carson over the ongoing window-repair project; Carson worries that Sedric may not be strong enough for life in the rain wilds, while Sedric chafes at the implied doubt. Thymara flies on Heeby with Rapskal to Kelsingra, terrified throughout the crossing; once on the city side, Rapskal takes her to a residential quarter and shows her Elderling memory-stone pillars set into the walls of houses, which project the stored memories of the couple who lived there. Thymara briefly experiences the memories of an Elderling woman tending gillary vines and realises these stones are designed specifically for Elderlings to access safely; Sintara loses her mental connection with Thymara during the crossing and briefly fears her keeper is dead.
POV: Sedric Meldar·On page: Carson, Thymara, Rapskal, Heeby, Sintara, Davvie, Relpda·Mentioned: Tats
Chapter 9: Return to Cassarick
Leftrin docks the Tarman at Cassarick and immediately spots Sinad Arich - a Chalcedean spy - watching him on the docks. In the Hall of the Traders' Council, Leftrin reports the discovery of Kelsingra and requests payment and resupply for the expedition; Malta Haven and Reyn Khuprus are present as Malta's pregnancy is dangerously advanced. The Council proves reluctant to pay, with Trader Candral and another merchant opposing it, until Malta uses her Elderling magic to extinguish all the light-globes in the hall and commands silence, restoring order; Leftrin gives Malta Alise's letter and a tile from Kelsingra, and withholds the city's precise location from the Council.
POV: Leftrin·On page: Sinad Arich, Malta Haven, Reyn Khuprus, Trader Candral, Tarman, Trader Polsk, Trader Sverdin
Chapter 10: Kidnapped
Malta Haven goes into labour during a storm after the Council meeting; alone in the streets of Cassarick, she is found by Sinad Arich and taken to a brothel room where Begasti Cored waits, the two men planning to kill her and pass the scaled flesh of her and her baby as dragon meat for the Duke of Chalced. Malta secretly gives birth under her skirts and conceals the newborn, then kills Begasti Cored by stabbing him in the throat with a kitchen knife and flees into the storm. She reaches the Tarman where the liveship speaks to her, takes the infant on deck, and uses its own vitality to keep the unnaturally quiet baby breathing; Reyn and Big Eider help Malta aboard and Reyn sets out to find her, only to discover the empty room.
POV: Malta Haven·On page: Reyn Khuprus, Sinad Arich, Begasti Cored, Tarman, Big Eider, Skelly, Ephron Khuprus
Chapter 11: Flight
Sintara finally achieves true flight, soaring above Kelsingra and hunting successfully before a crash-landing into the river near the city; she fights her way to the bank, exhausted and exhilarated. Thymara runs through Kelsingra's ghost-filled streets searching for Sintara and finds her at the riverside; when Sintara enters the city's dragon grooming hall, the ancient city recognises her presence as a real dragon and comes alive - the baths fill with hot water and the entire city illuminates. Rapskal and arrive, and Thymara and Rapskal both bathe in the dragon pool; Sintara explains the city was built entirely to serve dragons and their Elderlings.
POV: Sintara·On page: Thymara, Rapskal, Heeby, Malta Haven·Mentioned: Tats
Chapter 12: Illumination
Sedric is woken in the night by Tats asking after Thymara, who has not returned from Kelsingra; Carson reassures him that Rapskal would protect her, but Relpda pulls anxiously toward the city lights, which everyone can see blazing across the river. On the Tarman, Leftrin and Reyn are in the galley when Tillamon announces her determination to join the journey upriver, saying she wants to live where the Changed are accepted; Leftrin tells Reyn the baby needs a dragon's intervention to survive and agrees to depart immediately. Alise, stranded on the wrong side of the river, watches the city lights with desperate longing.
POV: Sedric Meldar·On page: Tats, Carson, Relpda, Leftrin, Reyn Khuprus, Tillamon Khuprus, Alise Kincarron Finbok, Malta Haven, Tarman, Ephron Khuprus
Chapter 13: Second Thoughts
Thymara wakes in Kelsingra beside Rapskal having slept together; she is filled with guilt and conflicted feelings as Rapskal treats it as natural and right for Elderlings discovering the city together. Together they explore Elderling dwellings, find robes and leggings, and forage for food at the riverside; Thymara is troubled by the intensity of the absorbed Elderling memories and by what this night may mean for her relationship with Tats. On the Tarman, Malta Haven nurses her newborn while Reyn manages the ship's secret departure from Cassarick; the baby has no name yet, his survival uncertain without a dragon's silver touch.
POV: Thymara·On page: Rapskal, Malta Haven, Reyn Khuprus, Ephron Khuprus, Tarman, Amarinda, Tellator·Mentioned: Tats, Ramose
Chapter 14: Shopping
Hest Finbok meets with his parents - and Sealia - and learns that Alise has a legal claim to a share of Kelsingra as an expedition member, and that Sedric's share may belong to Hest as his employer. His father insists Hest go to the Rain Wilds to assert his claim over Alise and Kelsingra; motivated purely by greed, Hest agrees and resolves to bring Redding as his companion. The chapter also reveals the full extent of the Chalcedean assassin's humiliation of Hest - forcing him to lick a boot before receiving what turned out to be a fake antidote - and Hest's intention to find Sedric in order to visit the same humiliation upon him.
POV: Hest Finbok·On page: Trader Finbok, Sealia Finbok, Redding·Mentioned: Alise Kincarron Finbok, Sedric Meldar
Chapter 15: Strange Bedfellows
Leftrin speaks privately with Bellin, who warns him that Hennesey has fallen in love with Tillamon and that Skelly may be planning to abandon the ship for her betrothed; Leftrin weighs both problems, watching Hennesey flirt openly with Tillamon on deck. The Duke of Chalced executes five failed soldiers and is carried to his Chancellor Ellik's private chambers, where Ellik warns him of Chassim's revolutionary poetry being circulated among the women of Chalced; Ellik proposes to wed Chassim himself, neutralise her influence, and be named the Duke's heir. The Duke agrees on condition Ellik bring him dragon blood as a bride-price; Ellik produces smoked Elderling flesh - meat from Selden Haven - which visibly restores the Duke's strength, and reveals he has purchased Selden and is having him shipped to Chalced. Hest and Redding, travelling on the New Glory to Trehaug, discuss gossip that Tintaglia may have been sighted alive over Chalced; Reyn and Leftrin discuss the spy boats and a newly-arrived Jamaillian impervious ship following Tarman upriver.
POV: Leftrin·On page: Bellin, Hennesey, Tillamon Khuprus, Skelly, Swarge, Reyn Khuprus, Duke of Chalced, Ellik, Hest Finbok, Redding, Tarman·Mentioned: Chassim, Selden Haven, Tintaglia, Kim
Epilogue: Homeward Bound
Tintaglia and IceFyre hunt in the rocky foothills near the desert; the broken arrow shaft embedded in Tintaglia's wing festers badly and she can feel the infection spreading. Icefyre recalls the glory of ancient Kelsingra - its Elderling poets, baths and sunning spots - but is dismissive of Tintaglia's suggestion that they return to seek help. Alone after IceFyre departs to hunt, Tintaglia recognises she is becoming too weak to heal herself and resolves to leave him and return to the Rain Wilds, trusting in Malta and Reyn and the silver well of Kelsingra to save her life.
POV: Tintaglia·On page: Icefyre·Mentioned: Malta Haven, Reyn Khuprus, Selden Haven