Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, #1)

by Robin Hobb

Your life is the wedge I use to make the future jump from its rut.”

“It would not be wise,” I said thickly. “And a Fool is supposed to be wise?”

“Good night, Beloved. We have been apart far too long.”

I suddenly longed to break out of my life and become, not Fitz as I had been, but Fitz as he might have been, had I not died to the world.

I grew silent for a moment, wondering how to convey what Nighteyes and I had sensed about that grim magic. “It wasn’t a magic I’d ever be comfortable around,” I said at last.

The Six Duchies legends always referred to the Elderlings, an ancient and powerful race who dwelt somewhere beyond the Mountain Kingdom and were our allies in times of old.

I made mischief where I would, telling wild tales of flying boars and shadows that carried royal bloodlines.

Silence but for unsteady footsteps making their way past our door. But most of all, the crashing silence in my heart where for so long Nighteyes’ awareness had been a steady beacon in my darkness, a warmth in my winter, a guide star in my night.