Robin Hobb - The Golden Fool

‘Perhaps. But that still…’

‘Peace,’ she hushed him. ‘It is done, Chade. Now accept it. And I beg you, do not let it hinder you from being just and resourceful as we enter into this negotiation.’ As quickly as that, she silenced him. She turned to me. ‘You I shall want behind the wall, FitzChivalry, witness to everything. And of course, it is also your function to monitor my son’s well-being. He may be able to convey to you information that can put us at an advantage.’ She pretended calmness as she asked, ‘Are you aware of him right now?’

‘Not in a direct way,’ I admitted. ‘Not riding with him as once Verity rode with me. That is an aspect of the Skill that he has not yet fully acquired. But… a moment.’ I took a breath and reached for him. Dutiful? I am with Chade and the Queen. All is well with you?

We are fine. Is Chade very angry with her?

Don’t be concerned with that. She deals well with him. They merely wanted to be sure we could reach one another.

That we can, I am in a conversation with Fleria, their leader. Let me pay attention to it now, or she will think I am more halfwit than Wilted.

When I brought my attention back to Chade and Kettricken, the old man was scowling at me. ‘And what makes you smile?’ he demanded, as prickly as if I had mocked him.

‘My prince made a jest with me. He is well. And as the Queen surmised, he is conversing with their leader. Fleria.’

The Queen turned to Chade triumphantly. ‘There. Do you see? Already he has her name, a bit of information long denied us.’

‘You mean, she has told him some name to call her by,’ Chade rejoined irritably. Then, to me, ‘Why cannot I hear him? What must I do, to perfect my talent to work as I need it to?’

‘The fault may not be with you. Dutiful has finally mastered directing his thoughts only to me. Not even Thick would have been aware of his Skilling to me, I think. It could be that, as you and the Prince work together, you will establish a stronger link of your own. And you may become more receptive to the magic as you work with it more often. But, until then—’

‘Until then, you must wait to discuss this later. Even the most laggardly of our guests should be warm and clad in dry garb by now. Come, Chade. We are to meet them in the east gathering hall. And you, Fitz, off to your post. If we hear anything that will affect my son’s safety, I wish him to know of it immediately.’

Another woman might have waited for Chade, or have gone to a looking-glass briefly. Not Kettricken. She rose and swept from the room, completely confident that her councillor would be on her heels and that I would scuttle off to my spy-post. The look Chade shot me as he left mingled pride and chagrin.

‘I may have taught her too well,’ he observed to me in a whisper.

I re-entered the rat-warren of corridors. In the workroom, I provided myself with sufficient candles and a cushion for my comfort. As I made my roundabout way to my listening-post, Gilly joined me. He was disappointed to discover I had no raisins with me today, but contented himself with the adventure instead.

All the negotiations I have ever witnessed begin with at least a day of boredom. This was no exception. Despite the mystery of the masked Old Bloods, that first long afternoon was a morass of manoeuvring and suspicion cloaked behind extreme courtesy and reserve. The delegates did not wish to reveal where in the Six Duchies each came from, let alone their names. That was nearly all that was resolved by the end of that first session: that they must at least name the duchy each came from, and that complaints of treatment in that duchy must be documented with the name of the person who was wronged as well as dates and specific details.

Web remained the exception to every rule in this. He furnished the only moment that was interesting to me that entire first day. He introduced himself as coming from Buck, from a small coastal town on our border with Beams. He was a fisherman by trade, and the last scion of what had once been a large Old Blood family. Most of his immediate family had perished during the Red Ship Wars, with his aged grandmother surrendering to her years only last spring. He was unmarried and childless, but did not count himself alone as he was bonded to a sea-bird, one that was even now riding the winds over Buckkeep Castle. Her name was Risk, and if the Queen was interested in meeting her, he would be happy to call her down to one of the tower tops.

He alone lacked the reserve and the suspicion that the rest of the Old Blood shared. His loquaciousness more than made up for the silence of many of the others. He seemed to take Queen Kettricken at her word that she wished to put an end to Old Blood persecution. He not only took some moments to publicly thank her for that, but also for making this gathering possible. He said she had brought together Old Blood people in a way that had not happened for generations, not since they had been forced to hide their magic and no longer live together in communities. From there, he launched into the importance of Old Blood children being able to acknowledge openly their magic so that they might learn it completely. He included Prince Dutiful amongst them, and said he shared her sorrow that her son’s magic must remain both hidden and uneducated.

He paused then. I wondered what he expected. That the Queen would thank him for his sympathy and concern? I saw Chade’s tension. Despite what the Old Blood claimed to ‘know’, Chade had counselled Kettricken not to admit to them that her son was Witted. The Queen skirted the issue nicely, telling her that she shared his concern for children that must grow up in an atmosphere of secrecy, their talents uneducated.

And so it went for that long evening. Web was the only one who seemed not only willing but insistent to share information about himself and his Wit. I began to recognize the distance that the Old Blood folks kept from him. It was as much confusion as awe. Like many a man labelled either god-touched or mad, folk were unsure what to make of him. He made them uneasy; they were not sure if they should emulate him or drive him from their midst. I swiftly deduced that alone of the folk there, he had come on his own. No community had selected him to represent them; he had simply heard of the Queen’s summoning and answered it. The woman in the forest had seemed to set great store by him, but I was not at all sure that every Witted person in the room shared her high regard. And then he won my queen.

‘A man with nothing to lose,’ he said at one point, ‘is often in the best position to sacrifice himself for the gain of others.’

That set Kettricken’s eyes to shining at him, and I knew that both Chade and I wished that he had chosen any other word but ’sacrifice’.

The talk lasted until the evening meal. Chade and the Queen left them to eat in privacy, but I did not scruple to watch them remove their hoods and masks. I saw no one I recognized either from my contacts with Rolf’s Old Bloods or from the Piebalds I had hunted. They ate well, commenting freely on how good the food was. One small Wit-beast that had passed by me unnoticed now emerged. A woman had a squirrel that came out and scampered about on the table, foraging amongst the serving dishes without remonstrance from anyone. This meal and the casual conversation were what the Queen and Chade truly wished me to witness. I was not surprised when Chade soon joined me at my post.

Silently we listened to our guests discuss the direction of the conversation and if they thought the Queen was truly listening to them. There were two Old Bloods, a man calling himself Boyo and a woman using the name Silvereye, who were particularly vocal. I sensed that they knew one another well, and perceived themselves as the leaders of this group. They attempted to rally the others into taking a firm stance with the Queen. Boyo recited a list of demands they should make, with Silvereye enthusiastically nodding to each one. Several were unrealistic and others raised difficult questions. Boyo claimed descent from a noble family which had been stripped of title and estates during the time of the Piebald Prince frenzy. He wanted all restored to him, with the promise that those who helped him insist on it would be made welcome as dwellers and workers on his family lands. Surely all could see that a noble of acknowledged Old Blood could improve conditions for all of them. I myself did not see that clear connection, but some of them nodded at his words.