To distract himself, Fitz listens in on Narcheska Elliania's pain and leaves with more questions. He meets Selden in the hallways who implores him to help Tintaglia in her cause. Escaping that conversation, he encounters Starling on the road to Buckkeep Town and goes to get drunk after they argue. Eventually, he decides it's a good idea to go talk to Jinna and apologize. 

Sleep deprived and just wanting to rest, Fitz finds a strange woman named Jek in Lord Golden's room. She calls Lord Golden by a strange name and makes assumptions about their relationship with no response from the Fool. Fitz is ordered out, and he listens in on their conversation, stewing as he feels betrayed by his oldest friend. 

The Bingtown delegation presents gifts to Queen Kettricken and her councilor, Chade to negotiate an alliance in their war against Chalced. Fitz and the Fool eavesdrop and are witness to the revelation that Tintaglia, a real dragon, could be their ally, as well. Fitz, once back in Chade's secret room, gets the truth out of the Fool about this information. 

Fitz confronts Hap after failing to find his son and Svanja the previous night. Hap is completely unrepentant and Fitz, angry and morose. Back at the castle and informed by Lord Golden of a ship of Bingtown ambassadors, Fitz gets ready to spy. The Fool and Fitz traverse Chade's labrynth and see some familiar faces gathered before Queen Kettricken and Chade. 

On the way back to his and Lord Golden's rooms, Fitz stops to spy a bit on the Narcheska Elliania and Poettre. After, he accepts Lord Golden's invite to go along on the ride with Dutiful and Lady Vance. Elliania announces her true age at the ride, claims equality with Queen Kettricken, and mostly ignores the prince, to his chagrin. After the ride in Buckkeep Town, Fitz is confronted by Svanja's father and they look for his daughter and Hap. 

Fitz meets Dutiful in Verity's Skill tower and listens to the Prince's story. A social gaffe creates a problem between Narcheska Elliania and Dutiful, so Fitz points him in the direction of Chade. The old assassin happens to confront Fitz with Thick and the knowledge that Nettle can skill, so Fitz is faced with a tough decision. 

Time is passing in Buckkeep, and Fitz is busy. He is teaching Dutiful, trying to spend time with Hap and Jinna, avoiding Thick, trying to sleep despite Nettle's dream intrusions, and talking about all of that with Chade. We discuss the circle of magic, Chade's memory loss, and Fitz being infuriating as usual. 

Fitz guides Prince Dutiful in a Skill exercise that almost goes terribly wrong. Dutiful confronts Fitz about rumors of the relationship between Tom Badgerlock and Lord Golden. Fitz and Chade have a conversation regarding Fitz's journey to his cabin, current events at Buckkeep, and Chade pursuing experiments with the Skill pillars. Fitz finishes the episode by speaking once more with Thick, trying to understand the servant's dislike of Fitz.

Fitz has returned from his sojourn back to Tom Badgerlock's cabin. He awaits Prince Dutiful in Verity's Tower for his Skill lesson. Fitz shares a sketch of his history with Dutiful and preps him for how they'll learn together. Our discussion centers around Skill scrolls, Fitz's lack of confidence in his abilities, and what Fitz did or did not say to Dutiful. 

Jinna greets Fitz and warmly welcomes him in to her home. Afterwards, he dwells on his longing for deep connection. He goes to see Hap, who is quite discontent with his role at Gindast's woodshop and Fitz leaves that discussion troubled. Back at Buckkeep, he finds a note from Chade, directing him to take the time to go back to his cabin to tie up the loose ends.