In hardcover for the first time ever! A richly illustrated anniversary edition from the beloved Farseer Trilogy, hailed by George R. R. Martin as “fantasy as it ought to be written ,” and Lin-Manuel Miranda as “an incredible series.” FitzChivalry Farseer and the Fool are back again in book two of the beloved saga, full of adventure, magic, and sinister plots. A quarter-century after the original publication of the Farseer Trilogy, these special editions present Robin Hobb’s modern classics as never before: in gorgeous hardcover editions, with ten beautiful full-color illustrations by Magali Villeneuve. Fitz has barely survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd and to remain in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice. 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. Magali Villeneuve has been an illustrator for well over a decade, and started by painting book covers in France, her home country. She now works for many different companies and publishing houses around the world, including Wizards of the Coast, Titan Publishing, Dynamite Comics, Valve Corporation, and Fantasy Flight Games. Her work has been featured in role-playing games, video games, collectible cards games, magazines, and book covers. She has done work in the universes of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars , and more. She is also the author of the dark fantasy book series La Dernière Terre in France. Chapter 1 Siltbay To be the King-in-Waiting, or the Queen-in-Waiting, is to firmly straddle the fence between responsibility and authority. It is said the position was created to satisfy the ambitions of an heir for power, while schooling him in the exercising of it. The eldest child in the royal family assumes this position upon the sixteenth birthday. From that day on, the King-or Queen-in-Waiting assumes a full share of responsibility for the running of the Six Duchies. Generally, he immediately assumes such duties as the ruling monarch cares least for, and these have varied greatly from reign to reign. Under King Shrewd, Prince Chivalry first became king-in-waiting. To him, King Shrewd ceded over all that had to do with the borders and frontiers: warfare, negotiations and diplomacy, the discomforts of extended travel and the miserable conditions often encountered on the campaigns. When Chivalry abdicated and Prince Verity became king-in-waiting, he inherited all the uncertainties of the war with the Outislanders, and the civil unrest this situation created between the Inland and Coastal Duchies. All of these tasks were rendered more difficult in that, at any time, his decisions could be overridden by the King. Often he was left to cope with a situation not of his creating, armed only with options not of his choosing. Even less tenable, perhaps, was the position of Queen-in-Waiting Kettricken. Her Mountain ways marked her as a foreigner in the Six Duchies court. In peaceful times, perhaps she would have been received with more tolerance. But the court at Buckkeep seethed with the general unrest of the Six Duchies. The Red-Ships from the Outislands harried our shoreline as they had not for generations, destroying far more than they stole. The first winter of Kettricken’s reign as queen-in-waiting saw also the first winter raiding we had ever experienced. The constant threat of raids, and the lingering torment of Forged ones in our midst, rocked the foundations of the Six Duchies. Confidence in the monarchy was low, and Kettricken had the unenviable position of being an unadmired king-in-waiting’s outlandish queen. Civil unrest divided the court as the Inland Duchies voiced their resentment at taxes to protect a coastline they did not share. The Coastal Duchies cried out for warships and soldiers and an effective way to battle the Raiders that always struck where we were least prepared. Inland-bred Prince Regal sought to gather power to himself by courting the Inland Dukes with gifts and social attentions. King-in-Waiting Verity, convinced that his Skill was no longer sufficient to hold the Raiders at bay, put his attentions to building warships to guard the Coastal Duchies, with little