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I moved slowly along the walls, searching again. I could see where the spyhole was, but only because I knew to look for it. One knothole in the paneling looked just a bit too convenient. I tapped cautiously on the wall panels, low at first and then as high as I could reach. The sounds told me only that whoever had built the corridors in the walls had done an excellent job of concealing them.

Abruptly, I was hungry. I turned the handle on my door and pushed it open and slipped out of my room. It was early and the house was quiet. I moved silently down the flagged hall and then down the wide stairways. Ever since I’d experienced that little private chamber in the spy-corridors, Withywoods had seemed even more immense to me. To descend the stair was little different to me from being outside. The ceilings seemed almost as distant as the sky, and certainly the drafts that blew through the house were almost as chill as the winds outdoors.

The table was not yet set for breakfast. I went into the kitchens, where Tavia and Mild were already at work. The week’s bread was rising in a big covered crock near the hearth. As I went in, Elm went out, calling that she would look for eggs. Liar.

“Hungry, moppet?” Tavia greeted me and I nodded. “I’ll toast you a bit of bread then. Hop up to the table.”

I did what I’d always done since I could climb, which was to crawl up onto a bench and then take a seat on the table’s edge. Then, after a moment’s thought, I moved down and sat on my feet on the bench. It made me almost tall enough to be comfortable at the board. Tavia brought me my small mug full of milk and gave me a curious glance. “Growing up, are we?”

I gave her a nod.

“Then you’re old enough to talk,” Mild observed. “At least say ta.” As always, her comments to me had a sharper edge. I’d been in the act of picking up my mug. I stopped. I turned so I was looking only at Tavia. “Thank you, Tavia. You are always so kind to me.” I enunciated each word carefully. Behind me, I head Mild drop her stirring spoon.

Tavia stared at me for a moment. “I’m sure you’re very welcome, Bee.”

I drank from the mug and set it carefully back on the table.

Tavia said, softly, “Well. She’s certainly her father’s daughter.”

“Yes. I am,” I agreed firmly.

“That’s a certainty,” muttered Mild. She breathed out through her nose and added, “And here I scolded Elm for telling tales when she said Bee could talk if she wanted to.” She began to beat whatever she was stirring very hard. Tavia said nothing, but brought me a couple of slices of last week’s bread, toasted to freshen it up and slathered with butter.

“So. You’re talking now, eh?” Tavia asked me.

I glanced at her and suddenly felt embarrassed. I looked at the table. “Yes. I am.”

I saw her curt nod out of the corner of my eye. “That would have pleased your lady mother. She told me once that you could speak a great many words, but were shy.”

I looked down at the scarred tabletop, feeling uncomfortable. I resented that she had known I could speak and said nothing. But I also valued that she had kept my secret. Perhaps there was more to Tavia than I had believed.

She set a little pot of my mother’s honey on the board next to my bread. I looked at it. Now that Mama was gone, who would tend the bees in the summer and harvest the honey? I knew I should do it, but doubted I’d be successful. I’d tried over the last few months, but my solo results had been uneven. I had watched my mother and helped her, and yet when I tried to harvest the honey and the wax by myself, I had made a terrible mess. The few candles I had made were lumpy and graceless, the pots of honey tainted with small bits of wax and possibly bits of bees. I hadn’t had the courage to show them to anyone. Cleaning up the mess to leave the honey-and-candle room tidy had taken me hours. I found myself wondering if we would buy all our candles now. Where did one go to buy candles? And would we buy scented ones for special days? They could not be scented like my mother’s had been.

I looked up as my father came into the kitchen. “I was looking for you,” he said sternly. “You weren’t in your bed.”

“I was here, getting food. Papa, I don’t want to burn Mama’s candles anymore. I want to save them.”

He stared at me for three heartbeats. “Save them for what?”

“Special times. Times when I want to remember how she smelled. Papa, who will do all the things she did? Who will tend the hives and put up the honey and sew my clothes and put little bags of lavender in my clothing chest? Do all those things just stop now that she’s gone?”

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Все книги серии The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

Fool’s Assassin
Fool’s Assassin

Nearly twenty years ago, Robin Hobb burst upon the fantasy scene with the first of her acclaimed Farseer novels, *Assassin's Apprentice,* which introduced the characters of FitzChivalry Farseer and his uncanny friend the Fool. A watershed moment in modern fantasy, this novel—and those that followed—broke exciting new ground in a beloved genre. Together with George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb helped pave the way for such talented new voices as Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, and Naomi Novik.Over the years, Hobb's imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such bestselling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga.FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king's assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz's past . . . and his future.Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . . .**Praise for Robin Hobb and the Farseer Trilogy**** **"Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb's books are diamonds in a sea of zircons."**—George R. R. Martin **"A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies . . . a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne."**—*Publishers Weekly****,* on* Assassin's Apprentice*"This is the kind of book you fall into, and start reading slower as you get to the end, because you don't want it to be over."**—Steven Brust**, on *Assassin's Apprentice*"[Robin] Hobb continues to revitalize a genre that often seems all too generic, making it new in ways that range from the subtle to the shocking."**—*Locus****, *on* Royal Assassin*"[*Royal Assassin*] reaches astonishing new heights. . . . The Farseer saga is destined for greatness—a must-read for every devotee of epic fantasy."**—*Sense of Wonder***"An enthralling conclusion to this superb trilogy, displaying an exceptional combination of originality, magic, adventure, character, and drama."**—*Kirkus Reviews* (starred review)**, on *Assassin's Quest*"Superbly written, wholly satisfying, unforgettable: better than any fantasy trilogy in print—including mine!"**—Melanie Rawn**, on *Assassin's Quest***### Review**Praise for Robin Hobb and the Farseer Trilogy**** **"Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb's books are diamonds in a sea of zircons."**—George R. R. Martin **"A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies . . . a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne."**—*Publishers Weekly****,* on* Assassin's Apprentice*"This is the kind of book you fall into, and start reading slower as you get to the end, because you don't want it to be over."**—Steven Brust**, on *Assassin's Apprentice*"[Robin] Hobb continues to revitalize a genre that often seems all too generic, making it new in ways that range from the subtle to the shocking."**—*Locus****, *on* Royal Assassin*"[*Royal Assassin*] reaches astonishing new heights. . . . The Farseer saga is destined for greatness—a must-read for every devotee of epic fantasy."**—*Sense of Wonder***"An enthralling conclusion to this superb trilogy, displaying an exceptional combination of originality, magic, adventure, character, and drama."**—*Kirkus Reviews* (starred review)**, on *Assassin's Quest*"Superbly written, wholly satisfying, unforgettable: better than any fantasy trilogy in print—including mine!"**—Melanie Rawn**, on *Assassin's Quest*### About the Author**Robin Hobb **is the author of the Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Traders Trilogy, the Tawny Man Trilogy, the Soldier Son Trilogy, and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. She has also written as Megan Lindholm. She is a native of Washington State.

Robin Hobb , Робин Хобб

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Fool’s Quest
Fool’s Quest

**Ranking alongside George R. R. Martin as a groundbreaking master of fantasy, *New York Times *bestselling author Robin Hobb delivers the second book in her long-awaited Fitz and the Fool trilogy.**The harrowing adventures of FitzChivalry Farseer and his enigmatic friend the Fool continue in Robin Hobb's triumphant follow-up to *Fool's Assassin*. But *Fool's Quest* is more than just a sequel. With the artistry and imagination her fans have come to expect, Hobb builds masterfully on all that has gone before, revealing devastating secrets and shocking conspiracies that cast a dark shadow over the history of Fitz and his world—a shadow that now stretches to darken all future hope.Long ago, Fitz and the Fool changed the world, bringing back the magic of dragons and securing both the Farseer succession and the stability of the kingdom. Or so they thought. But now the Fool is near death, maimed by mysterious pale-skinned figures whose plans for world domination hinge upon the powers the Fool may share with Fitz's own daughter.Distracted by the Fool's perilous health, and swept up against his will in the intrigues of the royal court, Fitz lets down his guard . . . and in a horrible instant, his world is undone and his beloved daughter stolen away by those who would use her as they had once sought to use the Fool—as a weapon.But FitzChivalry Farseer is not without weapons of his own. An ancient magic still lives in his veins. And though he may have let his skills as royal assassin diminish over the years, such things, once learned, are not so easily forgotten.Now enemies and friends alike are about to learn that nothing is more dangerous than a man who has nothing left to lose.**Praise for Robin Hobb and *Fool's Assassin***"Fantasy as it ought to be written."**—George R. R. Martin**"Hobb knows the complicated workings of the wayward human heart, and she takes time to depict them in her tale, to tell her story sweetly, insistently, compellingly. . . . A book meant to be inhabited rather than run through."**—*The Seattle Times***"[FitzChivalry Farseer is] one of the best characters in fantasy literature."**—*Fantasy Book Review***"[Hobb's] prose sparkles, her characters leap off the page."**—*Tor.com***"Modern fantasy at its irresistible best."***—The Guardian***"Fantastic . . . emotionally rich storytelling."***—Library Journal *(starred review)***From the Hardcover edition.***

Робин Хобб

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