Assassin's Apprentice

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and substance use.

The narrator reveals that Queen Desire died of a slow accumulation of poison from intoxicants in her system, entirely self-administered.

Following traditional mourning practices, Burrich cuts Fitz’s hair extremely short, which Fitz hates, and shaves his own head, beard, and brows. Regal rebukes Burrich for taking the practice further than is proper. Fitz notices that Burrich seems to have died along with Chivalry, numbly doing all his tasks. Burrich is the only person truly grieving Chivalry; all the others simply do what is proper and then move on.

Chade tells Fitz that he looks like a boy mourning his father, but Fitz rejects this, insisting that Chivalry never actually cared about him. When Chade gives Fitz more details about his work as an assassin, Fitz nearly rejects the role. Chade, however, reminds him that he needs to remain an assassin to survive. He also tells Fitz that it is possible that some outside party assassinated Chivalry and warns Fitz that those who hated Chivalry will also try to eliminate him.

Time passes, and life seems to return to normal. The Outislanders come to trade, but when some raid and pillage the coastline, Verity struggles to respond in his new role as the king-in-waiting.