Fool's Quest
Chapters - Robin Hobb
Chapter 1: Winterfest Eve at Buckkeep
Fitz wakes from a wolf dream in Chade's old chambers at Buckkeep Castle, where the Fool sleeps nearby, recovering from torture. He ventures into Buckkeep Town to buy gifts for Bee and supplies for the Fool, while worrying about having left his daughter at Withywoods in the care of FitzVigilant and Shun.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Chade Fallstar·Mentioned: Riddle, Bee Farseer, Nighteyes, Rosemary, Kettricken, Dutiful Farseer, FitzVigilant, Shun, Nettle, Molly Chandler, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 2: Lord Feldspar
Fitz disguises himself as Lord Feldspar at Chade's direction and attends the Winterfest eve celebrations, spying on various trade delegates and merchants. He mingles with the crowd, identifies potential tax evaders for Chade, and glimpses Web, King Dutiful, Queen Elliania, and Kettricken among the revellers, while aching with loneliness for Bee.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, The Fool, Web, Dutiful Farseer, Narcheska Elliania, Kettricken·Mentioned: Bee Farseer, Shun, FitzVigilant, Nettle, Thick, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 3: The Taking of Bee
Bee awakens in a sleigh at Withywoods to find the stables burning and her people held captive by foreign raiders led by a plump woman called Dwalia and the fog man Vindeliar. She struggles free of Vindeliar's mental control and witnesses Commander Ellik's soldier Hogen assault Shun, then tries desperately to intervene despite her small size and weakness.
POV: Bee Farseer·On page: Shun, Ellik, Hogen, Soula, Shine Fallstar·Mentioned: Perseverance, FitzVigilant, FitzChivalry Farseer, Kindrel
Chapter 4: The Fool's Tale
The Fool recounts his journey from Aslevjal with Prilkop through the Skill-pillars, their capture by slavers, and eventual return to Clerres where they were initially welcomed then imprisoned and tortured. He describes how the Servants extracted information from them and reveals the terrible conditions of his captivity, while Fitz tends to his wounds and feeds him.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool·Mentioned: Prilkop, Dutiful Farseer, Verity Farseer, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 5: An Exchange of Substance
Fitz performs a dangerous Skill-healing on the Fool, draining abscesses and mending internal damage while their consciousnesses mingle. The healing exhausts both of them but reveals the extent of the Fool's injuries. Fitz discovers that his friend's body contains the lingering damage of years of systematic torture at Clerres.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool·Mentioned: Kettricken, Molly Chandler
Chapter 6: The Witted
Fitz visits Kettricken as Lord Feldspar, and she urges him to send for Bee to come to Buckkeep. He then meets with Web, who discusses the Wit and recognises something familiar about Fitz despite his disguise. Kettricken insists that Bee should be brought to court, making Fitz uneasy about exposing his unusual daughter to palace life.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Kettricken, Web·Mentioned: Bee Farseer, Nettle, Patience
Chapter 7: Secrets and a Crow
Fitz confronts Riddle to apologise for draining his Skill-strength, but Riddle is cold and focused on a different matter - Nettle is furious with Fitz for endangering her husband. A crow called Motley arrives at the Fool's window and forms an immediate bond with him, while Fitz navigates the tensions between his family members at Buckkeep.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Riddle, The Fool, Motley·Mentioned: Nettle, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 8: Farseers
Fitz attends a second evening of Winterfest celebration as Lord Feldspar and is unexpectedly revealed as Prince FitzChivalry Farseer before the assembled court by Chade's machinations. The unmasking stuns the gathered nobles and fundamentally changes Fitz's position at Buckkeep, forcing him out of decades of anonymity.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Dutiful Farseer, Kettricken, Nettle
Chapter 9: The Crown
Fitz struggles with the aftermath of being publicly revealed as Prince FitzChivalry, haunted by wolf-dreams and a mounting sense of dread he cannot explain. He receives a flood of correspondence and invitations as Lord Feldspar's identity collapses, while the young page Ash continues to serve him. A nagging sense of wrongness gnaws at him that he cannot place.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Ash·Mentioned: Chade Fallstar, Nettle, Dutiful Farseer
Chapter 10: Tidings
After Skill-healing the Fool further and discovering Ash's secret report to Chade about gaining the Fool's trust, Fitz receives devastating news that Withywoods has been attacked. Nettle is distraught and the household's messages have stopped arriving, confirming that something terrible has happened to Bee and the estate.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool·Mentioned: Nettle, Chade Fallstar, Ash, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 11: Withywoods
Fitz races to Withywoods through a Skill-pillar on horseback, arriving to find the stables burned, his household foggy and confused, and no memory among the servants of Bee or Shun. He searches frantically through the house and secret passages but finds only signs of violence and his daughter's empty hiding place. Perseverance is discovered wounded but alive, having witnessed Bee's capture.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Perseverance, Shine Fallstar·Mentioned: Chade Fallstar, Bee Farseer, Shun, Nettle
Chapter 12: The Shaysim
Bee narrates her captivity as Dwalia's group travels by sleigh through the winter countryside, with Vindeliar fogging the minds of all they pass. Shun warns Bee to maintain the pretence of being a boy, as Bee slowly recovers from illness and begins to observe her captors - the pale Servants, the Chalcedean soldiers under Ellik, and the exhausted fog man Vindeliar.
POV: Bee Farseer·On page: Shun, Ellik, Dwalia, Vindeliar, Soula, Odessa, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 13: Chade's Secret
Fitz finds Perseverance and together they piece together what happened at Withywoods. Chade arrives with Thick to help break through the Skill-fog laid on the household. Perseverance recounts how Bee was taken, FitzVigilant was cut down, and the raiders burned the stables with people inside.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Perseverance, Chade Fallstar, Thick, Shine Fallstar·Mentioned: Bee Farseer, Shun
Chapter 14: Elfbark
Chade administers elfbark tea to the Withywoods servants to break through Vindeliar's imposed forgetfulness, and one by one they recall the horror of the attack. Fitz learns more details of the raid while struggling against the residual Skill-compulsion to forget, and begins to understand the scale of the Servants' operation and their belief that Bee is the Unexpected Son.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Perseverance, FitzVigilant, Sildwell, Lieutenant Crafty, Shine Fallstar·Mentioned: Thick, Nettle, Pale Woman, Captain Stout
Chapter 15: Surprises
The elfbark tea interviews continue, revealing more about the attackers and confirming that no one on the roads recalls seeing the raiders pass. Fitz decides to return to Buckkeep to consult the Fool about the Servants, while Chade organises one final group dosing of the remaining household staff before they depart.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Thick, FitzVigilant, Sildwell·Mentioned: The Fool, Pale Woman, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 16: The Journey
Bee recounts her illness during the journey and her slow recovery, as the captive group passes through a small town without being detected thanks to Vindeliar's fogging. Dwalia keeps Bee close while the fog man grows more exhausted, and Bee's skin begins to peel away in a strange transformation that alarms Shun but pleases Dwalia.
POV: Bee Farseer·On page: Shun, Ellik, Dwalia, Vindeliar, Soula, Shine Fallstar·Mentioned: Odessa
Chapter 17: Blood
Fitz and Chade travel through a Skill-pillar back to Buckkeep, but Chade nearly disintegrates within the passage and Fitz barely holds him together. They emerge with Chade's mind badly damaged - his thoughts scattered and confused, drifting between past and present. Dutiful pulls them from the stone and Fitz realises the old man may never fully recover.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Dutiful Farseer·Mentioned: Nettle, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 18: The Changer
The Fool has been given dragon's blood by Ash during Fitz's absence, causing dramatic changes - his hands move again, his pain shifts, and his eyes show hints of golden colour. Fitz tells the Fool about Bee's kidnapping by the Servants, and the Fool is horrified to learn of Chade's daughter Shun and Fitz's daughter Bee - people his prophecies never foresaw.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool·Mentioned: Kettricken, Nettle, Bee Farseer, Shun, Ash, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 19: The Strategy
Fitz chafes at being unable to pursue Bee while waiting for intelligence reports to locate the raiders. He tends to the Fool's recovery, deals with Chade's declining mental state, and struggles with Dutiful's insistence that he remain at Buckkeep as Prince FitzChivalry rather than riding off alone. Nettle reveals she is pregnant, adding to the emotional weight of the situation.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Nettle·Mentioned: Dutiful Farseer, Chade Fallstar, Bee Farseer, Shine Fallstar
Chapter 20: Marking Time
Fitz trains with axe and sword in the practice yards under Foxglove's supervision, rebuilding his fighting skills while marking time. He organises his personal guard and prepares for eventual pursuit of Bee's captors, while reports continue to come in with no sightings of the raiders anywhere on the roads.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Foxglove, Lily·Mentioned: Bee Farseer, Sildwell, Sergeant Goodhand, Vital, Shine Fallstar