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I resumed my tale for the Queen, and by the time I reached the end of it, the pot of tea was gone. I was a bit abashed to see that I had cleared the table of food. I suspected that Kettricken had eaten little of it. I blinked my sandy eyes and tried to stifle a huge yawn. She smiled at me wearily.

'Go and sleep, Fitz.'

'Thank you. I shall.' Then, well aware I was not supposed to know her identity, I asked the Queen, 'If you would speak to Chade's new apprentice, it would be of great help to me. The third storeroom in the east hall is where he used to have supplies left for Thick to bring up to his tower room. As soon as the Fool can travel, I plan to bring him back to Buckkeep. The tower room might be the best place for him to stay, unI'll he can shed his identity as Lord Golden. Cbade's apprentice could stock the room if she -' And there I bit my tongue, knowing I'd betrayed myself in my weariness.

Queen Kettricken gave me a tolerant smile. 'I'll tell Lady Rosemary to make the arrangements. And if I need you?'

I pondered briefly, then realized the obvious. 'Ask Nettle to contact Thick.'

She shook her head. 'I plan to send Nettle home to her family for a time. They need her. It is not fair that they be apart at this time.'

I nodded. 'Thick will be about. You could keep him at your side. It might be a good way to occupy him and keep him from telling too many tales of how he came home.'

She nodded gravely. I bowed, suddenly horribly weary.

'Go, Fitz, and take my thanks with you. Oh!' The sharpness of her intake of breath warned me.

'What?'

'Lady Patience is expected. She sent me word of her visit at the same time that she told me she wished to convey Withywoods on Lady Nettle. She also warned me that she wished to "consult me on serious matters concerning certain inheritances that should be provided for now".'

There was little point in mincing words. 'I am sure she knows that Nettle is my daughter. Eda help the poor child if Patience has decided to take over her education.' I smiled ruefully at my remembrance of Patience's instruction of me.

Queen Kettricken nodded to that. Solemnly she asked, 'What is the saying? All your chickens have come home to roost?'

'I think that's it. But strangely enough, my lady queen, I welcome them.'

'I am glad to hear you say so.' She nodded to me that I was excused.

I left the room, and the climb back up to Chade's tower seemed endless. When I got there, I lay down on the bed. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but it suddenly seemed the Skill-current was very near. Perhaps it was because of my long exercise with it that morning. I opened my eyes and became aware I could smell myself. I heaved a sigh and decided that getting cleaned up before I slept would not be a bad idea.

Once more I wound my way through the immense old castle, avoiding the guard room and the inevitable barrage of questions. I found the steams relatively deserted at that time of day. The two guardsmen there did not know me, and while they greeted me affably enough, they asked no questions. I was as much relieved at that as I was to scrape the whiskers from my face. I gave myself a most thorough scrubbing and then, feeling as if I had been parboiled, emerged clean and ready to sleep.

Nettle was waiting for me outside the steams.

THIRTY-THREE

Family

So I shall have to travel to Buckkeep, in the heat of summer, because I dare not trust either the tidings I bring or the items that must be transferred to a courier. ISAy old Lacey has declared she will make the journey with me, despite a weakness of her breath that has taken her lately. I beg that, for her sake, you will find us quarters that do not require the climbing of too many stairs.

I will require a private audience with you, for the time has come when I should reveal a secret I have concealed for many years. As you are not a stupid woman, I suspect you have guessed part of it already, but I should still like to sit down and discuss with you what had best be done for the good of the young woman involved.

- Missive from Lady Patience to Queen Kettricken

I knew her at once by her close-cropped head. But there her resemblance to my dream-image of her stopped. The travelling dress she wore was green, cut for riding, and she carried a cloak of sensible brown homespun. Plainly, she saw herself as looking like her mother, for thus she had appeared in my dreams. To my eyes, she more strongly resembled Molly's father but with some Farseer elements thrown into the mix. It was a Farseer gaze that she fixed on me as I emerged, at once dashing my hope that I might walk past her unrecognized. I halted where I stood.

I froze and waited dumbly for what might come. She continued to regard me levelly. After a moment, she said quietly, 'Do you think that if you stand very still, I can't see you, Shadow Wolf?'

I smiled foolishly. Her voice was low-pitched, deeper than one might expect in a girl, like Molly's at that age. 'I ... no, of course not. I know you can see me. But . . . how did you know me?'

She came two steps closer. I looked around us and then I walked away from the steams, well aware that for a young noblewoman of the Buckkeep court to be seen casually chatting with an older guardsman might excite gossip. She walked beside me, following me unquestioningly as I led her toward a secluded bench in the Women's Garden. 'Oh, it was very easy. You had promised you'd reveal yourself to me, did you not? I knew you were coming home. Dutiful said as much when we spoke last night, that soon I would be freed of these duties for a time. So, when the Queen summoned me and told me I might return home to comfort my mother for a time, I knew what it meant. That you were here. Then,' and she smiled, a genuine smile of pleasure, 'I encountered Thick, on his way up to the Queen as I was leaving her. I knew him by his music, as well as by his name- And he knew me, at first glance. Such a hug he gave me! It shocked Lady Sydel, but she will recover. I asked Thick where his travelling companion was. He shut his eyes for a moment, and told me, "in the steams." So I came and I waited there.'

I wished that Thick had warned me. 'And you knew me when you saw me?'

She gave a small hmph. 'I recognized the dismay on your face at being found out. None of the other men who have come out gawked at me that way.' She gave me a sideways glance, well pleased with herself but there were little sparks in her eyes. I wondered if mine looked like that when I was angry. She spoke calmly and competently, just as Molly sometimes used to do when she was storing up fuel for a rage. After a moment's reflection, I decided she had the right to be annoyed with me. I had promised to make myself known to her when I returned. And I had intended to evade that promise.

'Well. You've found me,' I said lamely, and instantly knew it was exactly the wrong thing to say to her.

'Small thanks to you!' She seated herself solidly on the bench. I stood, well aware of the disparity in our apparent ranks. She had to look up at me, but it did not seem that way when she demanded, 'What is your name, sir?'

So I had to give her the name by which I was known when I wore the blue of a Buckkeep guard. 'Tom Badgerlock, my lady. Of the Prince's Guard.'

She suddenly looked like a cat with a mouse between her paws. 'That's convenient for me. The Queen said she would have a guardsman accompany me on my journey home. I'll take you.' It was a challenge flung down.

'I am not free to go, my lady.I It sounded like an excuse and I hasI'lly added, 'I take over your duties, as you have guessed. I act as go-between for Lord Chade, Prince Dutiful and our gracious queen.'

'Surely Thick could do that.'