Assassin’s Fate

Assassin’s Fate
Robin Hobb

The much-anticipated final conclusion to the Fitz and the Fool trilogy.Prince FitzChivalry Farseer’s daughter Bee was violently abducted from Withywoods by Servants of the Four in their search for the Unexpected Son, foretold to wield great power. With Fitz in pursuit, the Servants fled through a Skill-pillar, leaving no trace. It seems certain that they and their young hostage have perished in the Skill-river.Clerres, where White Prophets were trained by the Servants to set the world on a better path, has been corrupted by greed. Fitz is determined to reach the city and take vengeance on the Four, not only for the loss of Bee but also for their torture of the Fool. Accompanied by FitzVigilant, son of the assassin Chade, Chade’s protégé Spark and the stableboy Perseverance, Bee's only friend, their journey will take them from the Elderling city of Kelsingra, down the perilous Rain Wild River, and on to the Pirate Isles.Their mission for revenge will become a voyage of discovery, as well as of reunions, transformations and heartrending shocks. Startling answers to old mysteries are revealed. What became of the liveships Paragon and Vivacia and their crews? What is the origin of the Others and their eerie beach? How are liveships and dragons connected?But Fitz and his followers are not the only ones with a deadly grudge against the Four. An ancient wrong will bring them unlikely and dangerous allies in their quest. And if the corrupt society of Clerres is to be brought down, Fitz and the Fool will have to make a series of profound and fateful sacrifices.ASSASSIN’S FATE is a magnificent tour de force and with it Robin Hobb demonstrates yet again that she is the reigning queen of epic fantasy.

Copyright (#uffca548d-24d6-508c-9395-0b874ac77ee9)

HarperVoyager

an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2017

Copyright © Robin Hobb 2017

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

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

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.

Source ISBN: 9780007444250

Ebook Edition © May 2017 ISBN: 9780007444267

Version: 2018-09-24

Dedication (#uffca548d-24d6-508c-9395-0b874ac77ee9)

To Fitz and the Fool.

My best friends for over twenty years.

Map (#uffca548d-24d6-508c-9395-0b874ac77ee9)

Contents

Cover (#u499f4269-fe1f-5fc7-aac1-9d202f9f9d9a)

Title Page (#u0d657672-6cc5-5acc-b943-2f44841c1763)

Copyright

Dedication

Map

Prologue

Chapter One: Bee Stings

Chapter Two: The Silver Touch

Chapter Three: In the Mountains

Chapter Four: Chalced

Chapter Five: The Bargain

Chapter Six: Revelations

Chapter Seven: Beggar

Chapter Eight: Tintaglia

Chapter Nine: The Tarman

Chapter Ten: Bee’s Book

Chapter Eleven: Passage

Chapter Twelve: The Liveship Paragon

Chapter Thirteen: Full Sails

Chapter Fourteen: Paragon’s Bargain

Chapter Fifteen: Trader Akriel

Chapter Sixteen: The Pirate Isles

Chapter Seventeen: Serpent Spit

Chapter Eighteen: Silver Ships and Dragons

Chapter Nineteen: Another Ship, Another Journey

Chapter Twenty: Belief

Chapter Twenty-One: Under Sail