Robin Hobb: The Farseer Series Books 2 and 3: Royal Assassin, Assassin’s Quest

Harper Voyager An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 77–85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpervoyagerbooks.com

Royal Assassin Copyright © Robin Hobb 1996

Assassin’s Quest Copyright © Robin Hobb 1997

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

Robin Hobb asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Ebook Edition © JUNE 2013 ISBN: 9780007531493

Version 2018-06-20

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication .

Cover

Title Page The Farseer Trilogy Books One and Two Royal Assassin Book Two Assassin’s Quest Book Three Robin Hobb

Copyright Copyright Copyright Map Royal Assassin Assassin’s Quest About the Author Also by the Author About the Publisher Harper Voyager An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 77–85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB www.harpervoyagerbooks.com Royal Assassin Copyright © Robin Hobb 1996 Assassin’s Quest Copyright © Robin Hobb 1997 Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd Robin Hobb asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Ebook Edition © JUNE 2013 ISBN: 9780007531493 Version 2018-06-20 HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication .

Map Map

Royal Assassin

Assassin’s Quest

About the Author

Also by the Author

About the Publisher

Contents Cover Title Page The Farseer Trilogy Books One and Two Royal Assassin Book Two Assassin’s Quest Book Three Robin Hobb Copyright Copyright Copyright Map Royal Assassin Assassin’s Quest About the Author Also by the Author About the Publisher Harper Voyager An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 77–85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB www.harpervoyagerbooks.com Royal Assassin Copyright © Robin Hobb 1996 Assassin’s Quest Copyright © Robin Hobb 1997 Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd Robin Hobb asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Ebook Edition © JUNE 2013 ISBN: 9780007531493 Version 2018-06-20 HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication . Map Map Royal Assassin Assassin’s Quest About the Author Also by the Author About the Publisher

For Giles

and for Raphael and Freddy,

the Princes of Assassins

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Prologue

One: Siltbay

Two: The Homecoming

Three: Renewing Ties

Four: Dilemmas

Five: Gambit

Six: Forged Ones

Seven: Encounters

Eight: The Queen Awakes

Nine: Guards and Bonds

Ten: Fool’s Errand

Eleven: Lone Wolves

Twelve: Tasks

Thirteen: Hunting

Fourteen: Winterfest

Fifteen: Secrets

Sixteen: Verity’s Ships

Seventeen: Interludes

Eighteen: Elderlings

Nineteen: Messages

Twenty: Mishaps

Twenty-One: Dark Days

Twenty-Two: Burrich

Twenty-Three: Threats

Twenty-Four: Neatbay

Twenty-Five: Buckkeep

Twenty-Six: Skilling

Twenty-Seven: Conspiracy

Twenty-Eight: Treasons and Traitors

Twenty-Nine: Escapes and Captures

Thirty: Dungeons

Thirty-One: Torture

Thirty-Two: Execution

Thirty-Three: Wolf Days

Epilogue

Copyright

Why is it forbidden to write down specific knowledge of the magics? Perhaps because we all fear that such knowledge would fall into the hands of one not worthy to use it. Certainly there has always been a system of apprenticeship to ensure that the understanding of magic is passed only to those trained and judged worthy of such knowledge. While this seems a laudable attempt to protect us from unworthy practitioners of arcane lore, it ignores the fact that the magics are not derived from this specific knowledge. The predilection for a certain type of magic is either inborn or lacking. For instance, the ability for the magics known as the Skill is tied closely to blood relationship to the royal Farseer line, though it may also occur as a ‘wild strain’ amongst folk whose ancestors came from both the Inland tribes and the Outislanders. One trained in the Skill is able to reach out to another’s mind, no matter how distant, and know what he is thinking. Those who are strongly Skilled can influence that thinking, or have converse with that person. For the conducting of a battle, or the gathering of information, it is a most useful tool .