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Riddle was staring at us, aghast. Some secrets could not be preserved safely, not without risking terrible consequences. I spoke softly. “Lord Chade is father to you both.” I took a breath and tried to speak kindly. “And now you must guide us back to the stone. Where Bee disappeared.”

She gaped at me. Then her head swiveled again and she looked at her brother. What did she see there? The same resemblances I had seen once I had known to look for them? “Lant,” she said in a fading voice, as if she called to him from across a great distance. And then she went boneless, sliding to the road in a heap. The heavy fur coat collapsed around her and, lying there, she suddenly reminded me of a very thin winter-killed deer. Riddle dropped to his knee beside her and put fingers at the side of her throat. He looked up at me. “It’s been too much for her. She’s done, for now. And we can’t wait for her to come to her senses. We’ll have to follow her tracks back. Summon Foxglove to take her?”

Lant made a sound of remorse and pain. I took his upper arm before he could fall to his knees beside her. I spoke close by his ear. “Not your fault. And it would be best if you let someone else tend to her for a time when she comes round. She will need time, just as you did.” He tried to twist free of me, but I kept my grip, set my thumb in a certain spot, and pushed it between his arm muscles in a way that would definitely be uncomfortable. As I hoped he would, he went from morose to angry in less than a heartbeat. Riddle was already gathering up Shine. I lifted my free hand and gestured to Foxglove and the troops.

“Let go of me!” Lant demanded in a low voice. At least he had the presence of mind to be somewhat subtle.

I smiled and spoke softly, gesturing as if speaking of concern for Shine. I gradually eased the pressure on his arm as I did so. “When you can control yourself, I’ll stop controlling you. There are too many people watching for you to indulge your emotions right now, or to have any heartfelt conversations with Shine about who your father is and what it means to her. So you will mount up and ride beside Riddle and me, you will help us follow her tracks back to that stone, and we will leave her care to Foxglove and my guard. Understand?”

He did not like it. I did not care how he felt. I watched his face and saw the moment when he recognized that logic was on my side. He ceased struggling and I left him standing with the horses while I went to speak to Foxglove and Riddle. Shine might have been awake but she was not stirring. Her eyes were slits and she made no comment as I asked Foxglove to create a travois for her to ride on. Foxglove nodded grimly and began to order some to find sturdy branches and others to gather firewood and create a fire so that Shine might have hot food and drink before she was moved, and I conceded that. I took Lant, Riddle, and my few remaining Rousters and began to ride slowly back down the road in the direction from which Shine had come. I chose not to notice that Perseverance trailed behind us, Motley on his shoulder. The boy had witnessed Lant’s revelation. I’d deal with it later. This section of the king’s highway traversed a forested area with some farms and smallholdings. The short winter day would soon fade. I wondered how far she had galloped the brown and how tired he had been to start with. I wanted to hurry. I could not afford to miss the trail.

I broke the Rousters into pairs and sent them ahead of us at a gallop with directions that at every crossroads, two should peel off from the main body and ride down each tributary. If any pair saw anything to indicate that two horses had emerged from the forest onto the road, one should halt near the disturbed snow and the other was to ride back to me immediately. They rode off at a breakneck gallop, perhaps hoping to redeem themselves.

For a time Lant, Riddle, and I rode in silence at a more measured pace, scrutinizing the road to either side. Perseverance, still leading Bee’s horse, had fallen in behind us. I studied the snowy ground to the left side of the trampled road while Riddle watched the right. I thought about Bee. Last night, she had been riding on a horse with Shine. She’d bitten someone, and somehow that had helped free Shine. Why hadn’t she been able to free herself? Again she was snatched away from me, vanished, perhaps through a Skill-pillar. Sadness and despair deepened in me, enhanced by the lingering effects of the elfbark. We watched not just for Shine’s tracks but for anything that might indicate sleighs or a mounted troop of men had passed. Any sign of my little girl. After a time, Riddle observed aloud, “I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t ask.”

I knew his question. “It’s true. Chade is their father.”

“I knew that about Lant, but not the girl. Why did he keep Shine secret?”

“Well, because he is Chade. He never told me that Lant was his son until a few days ago. Though I suppose I should have known it by looking at him.”

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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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