“Not in a direct way,” I admitted. “Not riding with him as once Verity rode with me. That is an aspect of the Skill that he has not yet fully acquired. But . . . a moment.” I took a breath and reached for him. Dutiful? I am with Chade and the Queen. All is well with you?

We are fine. Is Chade very angry with her?

Don’t be concerned with that. She deals well with him. They merely wanted to be sure we could reach one another.

That we can. I am in a conversation with Fleria, their leader. Let me pay attention to it now, or she will think I am more half-wit than Witted.

When I brought my attention back to Chade and Kettricken, the old man was scowling at me. “And what makes you smile?” he demanded, as prickly as if I had mocked him.

“My prince made a jest with me. He is, indeed, well. And as the Queen surmised, he is conversing with their leader. Fleria.”

The Queen turned to Chade triumphantly. “There. Do you see? Already he has her name for us, a bit of information long denied us.”

“You mean, she has told him some name to call her by,” Chade rejoined irritably. Then, to me, “Why cannot I hear him? What must I do, to perfect my talent to work as I need it to?”

“The fault may not be with you. Dutiful has finally mastered directing his thoughts only to me. Not even Thick would have been aware of his Skilling to me. I think. It could be that, as you and the Prince work together, you will establish a stronger link of your own. And you may become more receptive to the magic as you work with it more often. But, until then—”

“Until then, you must wait to discuss this later. Even the most laggard of our guests should be warm and clad in dry garb by now. Come, Chade. We are to meet them in the east gathering hall. And you, Fitz, off to your post. If we hear anything that will affect my son’s safety, I wish him to know of it immediately.”

Another woman might have waited for Chade, or have gone to a looking glass briefly. Not Kettricken. She rose and swept from the room, completely confident that her councilor would be on her heels and that I would scuttle off to my spy post. The look Chade shot me as he left mingled pride and chagrin. “I may have taught her too well,” he observed to me in a whisper.

I reentered the rat warren of corridors. In the workroom, I provided myself with sufficient candles and a cushion for my comfort. As I made my roundabout way to my listening post, Gilly joined me. He was disappointed to discover I had no raisins with me today, but contented himself with the adventure instead.

All the negotiations I have ever witnessed begin with at least a day of boredom. This was no exception. Despite the mystery of the masked Old Bloods, that first long afternoon was a morass of maneuvering and suspicion cloaked behind extreme courtesy and reserve. The delegates did not wish to reveal where in the Six Duchies each came from, let alone their names. That was nearly all that was resolved by the end of that first session: that they must at least name the duchy each came from, and that complaints of treatment in that duchy must be documented with the names of the person who was wronged as well as dates and specific details.

Web remained the exception to every rule in this. He furnished the only moment that was interesting to me that entire first day. He introduced himself as coming from Buck, from a small coastal town on our border with Bearns. He was a fisherman by trade, and the last scion of what had once been a large Old Blood family. Most of his immediate family had perished during the Red Ship War, with his aged grandmother surrendering to her years only last spring. He was unmarried and childless, but did not count himself alone as he was bonded to a sea bird, one that was even now riding the winds over Buckkeep Castle. Her name was Risk, and if the Queen was interested in meeting her, he would be happy to call her down to one of the tower tops.

He alone lacked the reserve and the suspicion that the rest of the Old Blood shared. His loquaciousness more than made up for the silence of many of the others. He seemed to take Queen Kettricken at her word that she wished to put an end to Old Blood persecution. He not only took some moments to publicly thank her for that, but also for making this gathering possible. He said she had brought together Old Blood people in a way that had not happened for generations, not since they had been forced to hide their magic and no longer live together in communities. From there, he launched into the importance of Old Blood children being able to acknowledge openly their magic so that they might learn it completely. He included Prince Dutiful amongst them, and said he shared her sorrow that her son’s magic must remain both hidden and uneducated.

He paused then. I wondered what he expected. That the Queen would thank him for his sympathy and concern? I saw Chade’s tension. Despite what the Old Blood claimed to “know,” Chade had counseled Kettricken not to admit to them that her son was Witted. The Queen skirted the issue nicely, telling him that she shared his concern for children who must grow up in an atmosphere of secrecy, their talents uneducated.