Fool's Fate

by neetha Napew

  And with no more ado, he turned and led us up the beach. The Narcheska fell in right behind him. Behind her went the Prince and then Chade. Lord Golden claimed the next spot and no one challenged him for it. Then went the Wit coterie, entrusted with one sled, and the Hetgurd witnesses, and finally Longwick and Hest pulling the second sled, and Deft and Riddle pulling the third. I came second to last, with Thick stumping stolidly along behind me. I had shifted part of his pack’s load to mine, but left him enough of a burden not to hurt his pride. I soon regretted it, and vowed that on the morrow he would walk unencumbered. Even in the best of times, his stubby legs and wide girth would have made this trek difficult for him. Burdened with both a pack and a nagging cough, he simply could not keep the pace Peottre set. By the time we reached the lip of the glacier, there was a gap between the main party and the two of us. The diligent probing of each step began, and I thought that would slow them enough that we would catch up. I had not taken into account that Thick had taken Peottre’s warnings deeply to heart. He prodded the ice before him at every step as if he were spearing fish. He was soon panting with the effort, but my offers to probe for both of us were stoutly refused.

  “I don’t want to be swallowed by an ice demon,” he told me sulkily.

  Can you see our path?Dutiful Skilled back to me.

  Very clearly. Don’t be concerned for us. If we need you to wait for us, I’ll let you know. At least all the probing Thick is doing is keeping him warm.

  Too warm. Too much work!Thick complained.

  “Just tap with the stave. You don’t have to stab the ground.”

  “Yes I do,” Thick refuted my words. I decided that words were futile and let him do as he wished, though it taxed my patience to dawdle along in front of him at a pace he could match. It bored me, and gave me far too much time to ponder our situation. I did not like how events were unfolding, and yet I could not say precisely what bothered me. Perhaps it was as Thick had said: bad things had happened in this place, and it felt as if they were happening now.

  The wind was a constant, but the skies were clear and blue. At intervals, I saw old rods poking out of the snow, some tied with scraps of bright fabric. I judged that they marked the path that Peottre followed. He often paused to straighten one, or to attach a fresh ribbon-banner. Even so, the advance party went more swiftly than Thick and I did. I watched them draw away from us and grow smaller until they had dwindled to little puppets doing an odd poking dance in a line as they ventured across the ice field. Our shadows slowly became longer and thinner, pale blue on the crystallized ice and snow. The surface we walked across did not seem like either true ice or true snow to me. There was a thin layer of real snow, but beneath that were compacted darning needles of ice and we walked upon their tips.

  At some point, I realized that I had resolved I would find time to speak with the Fool that evening, and to the winds with whatever anyone else might think of it. Almost on the heels of that thought, I felt a thin tendril of Skill from Chade. Quietly and privately he asked me,Lad, are you still mine?

  He should have been proud of the answer I gave him. I am sure he could not have come up with a better one on such short notice.As much as I ever was, I replied.

  I felt his grim chuckle in my mind.Ah. Well, at least you do not lie to me. What did he say to you?

  The Fool?

  Who else?

  We only spoke of why I had tried to leave him behind. To preserve his life. I gathered that he did not think that a sufficient reason.

  He probably thought I put you up to it, to keep him clear of the dragon until it’s unearthed and beheaded.A pause.The Narcheska weeps as she walks. She has not looked back at us to betray the tears on her cheeks, but I hear it in how she breathes. Twice she has wiped her face with her mitten, and then loudly spoken of how the light off the ice makes her eyes water. Think this through with me, Fitz. Why would she weep?

  I don’t know. The hike is arduous, but she did not strike me as a woman who would weep over heavy work. Perhaps she fears the disapproval of the Black Man, or fears that she has put her family and her father’s family into disfavor with the Hetgurd by—

  Hush!Thick’s irritated Skilling cut through my thoughts.She is sad, so she cries. Now stop being loud and listen! Listen and stop breaking the music!

  Chade and I instantly muffled our thoughts. Both of us had believed our Skilling was small and private. I was sure that he now wondered, just as I did, if the Prince had been aware of our conversation. Then I wondered why Chade had been keeping it private from him. I trudged on, watching the ever-dwindling figures of Peottre’s group. They were headed over the lip of a wind-sculpted ridge and would soon be out of sight. Peottre had spoken truth about the restlessness of this ice. Some stretches were swept as smooth as a sugar-topped cake; others looked like the same cake after it had been dropped. The trail in the snow was plain now, but I knew that as the sun sank, uneven shadows might make it more difficult to follow them. I glanced back at Thick in annoyance. He was walking more slowly than ever.

  Irritated as much by his command that we hush as by his slowness, I turned my back on him and walked briskly away. I did not neglect, however, to probe the snow before me at every step. I thought he would look up and realize that I was leaving him behind. But when I glanced back, he was still strolling ponderously along. I stared back to him in exasperation, and then something in his movements caught my eye. It was like a dance. He would probe the snow with his staff, prod, prod, prod, and then take a single large swaying step. Again he would probe the snow, prod, prod, prod, and then stride forward again on the other foot. I lowered my barriers to hear his ever-present music. Usually, I could recognize the elements that he incorporated into it. But today each step was made in time to a sighing sweep like wind, while the prod, prod, prod of his staff kept time to a deep and steady percussion. I sealed myself from his music, and listened with my ears, but could find no parallel sounds on this island.

  While I had paused, Thick had nearly caught up to me. He looked up from his scrutiny of the snow before his feet to find me watching him. He scowled at me, and then glanced past me. His frown deepened. “They’re gone! Why weren’t you watching them? Now they’re gone, and we don’t know where they went!”

  “It’s all right, Thick,” I told him. “I can still see their trail. And see, there’s a rod with a rag on it at the top of the rise. We’ll catch up to them. But only if we hurry.” I tried not to betray my worry that night was coming on and the shadows deepening. I did not want to be caught out on the face of the glacier, alone.

  He lifted his stubby arm suddenly, to point jabbingly at the ridge. “Look! It’s all right! There’s one of them!”

  My gaze followed his pointing finger, suspecting that the Prince had sent someone back to stand upon the ridge and guide us. Thick was right. There was someone there. But even at that distance, and in the fading light, I knew he was not one of our party. He moved swiftly and oddly, yet in a way that I could not pinpoint, his gait was familiar. I saw no more of him than his silhouette as he hastened over the ridge. Then he was gone. I felt cold dread creep through my blood. I Skilled my frantic thought to Chade and Dutiful.The Black Man! I think the Black Man is following you!

  An instant later, I regretted my panic. Dutiful could not conceal his amusement.There’s no one behind us that I can see, Fitz. Only snow and shadows. Are you nearly to the top of the ridge?

  We haven’t even begun to climb it yet. Thick is distracted and moving slowly.

  Not distracted!Again, I was jolted by how easily Thick had picked up thoughts I had not intended for him.Listening to the music, that’s all. Except that you keep breaking it.

  Chade’s Skilling was like oil on water.I’ve asked Peottre if we’ll be stopping for the night soon and he says we will. Once you crest the ridge, you should see us easily. He has already pointed out our campsite to me. As there is no sort of shelter at all, you won’t have any difficulty spotting our cook fires.


  Cook fires? Food soon?

  Yes, Thick, food soon. Probably almost as soon as you get here. I’ve brought some sweets with me from the ship. I’ll share them with you, if you get here before I’ve eaten them all.

  I had to admire Dutiful’s cunning, even as I shook my head at it. It distracted Thick from his “music” and he consented to follow in my footsteps and let me do the snow probing. I thought that Peottre’s caution was a bit exaggerated anyway. Surely if the entire party had already passed over a section of glacier, it would withstand one more crossing. And that proved to be true. We climbed the ridge in their tracks, stopping several times to allow Thick to finish coughing and catch his breath.

  When we crested the ridge, I could instantly see their campsite below. The snow staves were posted at intervals around it, with bright ribbons attached to the tops. Evidently Peottre had established what he considered a safe area for the party. The larger tents for the Prince and Narcheska had already sprung up like mushrooms. In the dimming light, the Fool’s colorful one was like a blossom cast on the snow. Illuminated from within, the bright panels gleamed like stained-glass windows. What had seemed random designs suddenly resolved into dragons and serpents cavorting. Well, he had declared his allegiance clearly.

  There were two small campfires for the drab tents of the rest of our group. The Hetgurd men had pitched their tents a little away from ours, and kindled their own tiny fire, as if to proclaim to the gods that they were not of our party and did not deserve to share our fate.

  I saw no sign of the Black Man, or any place where one might have hidden. Yet this did not dismiss my concerns but only heightened them.

  As we made our way down to the camp, we encountered our first fissure in the glacier. It was a narrow, snaking crack, no more than that, and I simply stepped over it. Thick halted, staring down at the depths that shaded from pale blue to black. “Come on,” I encouraged him. “It’s not far to camp. I think I can smell the food they’re cooking.”

  “That’s deep.” He lifted his eyes from his contemplation of it. “Peottre was right. It could swallow me and gulp me down, snap!” He stepped back from it.

  “No it can’t. It’s all right, Thick. It’s not something alive; it’s just a crack in the ice. Come on.”

  He took a deep breath, and then coughed. When he was finished, he said, “No. I’m going back.”

  “You can’t, Thick. It will be dark soon. It’s only a crack. Just step over it.”

  “No.” He shook his head on his short neck, his chin brushing his collar. “It’s dangerous.”

  In the end, I stepped back over it and took his hand to persuade him to cross. I nearly slipped and fell when his awkward and exaggerated leap over it took me off guard in mid-stride. As I tottered, for one breathless moment I imagined myself wedged in the crack, out of reach of helping hands and yet preserved from slipping further. Thick sensed my fear and comforted me with “See, I told you it was dangerous. You nearly fell in and died.”

  “Let’s just go down to the camp,” I suggested.

  As promised, they had hot food waiting for us. Riddle and Hest had finished eating already. They were conversing quietly with Longwick as he directed a watch schedule for the night. I settled Thick on top of my pack beside the fire and fetched food that Deft ladled out for both of us. Supper was a stew made from salt meat, and it suffered from that, as well as a too-brief cooking time. I grinned briefly at myself as I pondered how swiftly I had once again become accustomed to Buckkeep’s succulent fare. Had I forgotten how to subsist on a guard’s rations? There had been times in my life when I’d had far worse to eat at the end of a long, cold day, or nothing at all. I took another bite.That thought should have made the tough meat taste better, but it didn’t. I glanced surreptitiously at Thick, expecting he would soon complain about it. But he was staring at the fire wearily, his bowl balanced precariously on his knee. “You should eat, Thick,” I reminded him, and he started as if from a dream. I caught the bowl before it tipped enough to spill and handed it back to him. He ate, but wearily, not showing any of his usual enthusiasm for food, and stopping often to cough. It worried me. I finished my food hastily and rose, leaving Thick watching the dwindling flames of the small fire and chewing methodically.

  Chade and Dutiful were at the other campfire with the rest of Dutiful’s Wit coterie. There was talk there, and even some laughter, and for a moment I envied their companionship. It took me a moment to realize that the Fool was not there. He was probably within his own tent already. And then I noticed the other absence. Peottre and the Narcheska were also missing from the gathering. I glanced at the tent pitched for them. It was dark and still. Did they sleep already? Well, perhaps that was the best idea. Doubtless Peottre would rouse us all early to travel on.

  I think Chade noticed me standing idly at the edges of the firelight. He left the circle of light as if going to relieve himself and I followed noiselessly. I stood beside him in the blackness and spoke quietly. “I’m concerned about Thick. He seems oddly distracted. From one moment to the next, his temper changes from irritable to frightened to elated.”

  Chade nodded slowly. “There is something about this island . . . I have no name for it, and yet it tugs at me. I feel dread and worry, beyond what I should feel, and then the feelings go. This land seems to speak to me through my Skill. And if it can reach one as feeble as me in that talent, how must it speak to Thick?”

  I heard bitterness in the self-deprecation of his magic. “You grow stronger in the Skill every day,” I assured him. “But I think perhaps you are right. I’ve felt nameless worry nibbling at me all day. Such, at times, is my nature. But this does seem more formless than usual. Could it have anything to do with the memories trapped in the stone?”

  He made a sound of resignation. “How could we possibly know? All we can do for Thick is see that he eats and sleeps well at night.”

  “He is growing stronger in the Skill.”

  “I’ve noticed that. It makes my own paltry ability seem all the more meager.”

  “Time, Chade. It will come with time and patience. You’re doing well, for someone who began so late and has not been long in training.”

  “Time. Time is the only thing we have, when all is said and done, and yet we never have enough of it. You can be calm about it; you’ve had as much of magic as you’ve ever wanted, and more, all your life. While I’ve had to claw and scratch for a tiny shred of it at the end of my days. Where is the justice of fate, when a half-wit has in abundance and values not at all that which I so desperately lack?” He turned on me. “Why did you always have so much Skill, bursts of it, and never wanted with your whole heart to master it as I have longed to do all my life?”

  He was starting to frighten me. “Chade. I think this place preys on our minds, finding both our fears and our despairs. Set your walls against it, and trust only your logic.”

  “Humph. I have never been prey to my emotions. But this time would be better spent in rest than in talk, by either of us. Care for Thick as best you can. I’ll watch over the Prince. He too seems prey to a darker mood than is usual for him.” He rubbed his gloved hands together. “I’m old, Fitz. Old. And tired. And cold. I shall be glad when all of this is over and we are safely on our way home again.”

  “And I,” I agreed heartily. “But I had another bit of news I wished to share with you. Odd, isn’t it? Once I thought Skilling was private and secret. Yet, still I must seek you out to whisper to you. I don’t think Thick is ready for me to ask this favor of him. He still resents and blames me. It might come better from you or the Prince.”

  “What?” Chade demanded impatiently. He shifted restlessly and I knew the cold was biting into his skinny old bones.

  “Nettle has gone to Buckkeep Castle. I think our bird must have reached the Queen and she sent someone to Burrich. She’s gone to the castle for safety’s sake. And she knows that the threat to her is connected to our quest for the dragon’s head.” I could not quite bring myse
lf to tell Chade that she now knew I was her father. I wanted to be clear on just how much Burrich had told her before that secret ceased being a secret.

  Chade grasped the implications immediately. “And Thick speaks to Nettle in his dreams. We can communicate with Buckkeep and the Queen.”

  “Almost. I think we need to approach it cautiously. Thick is still not pleased with me, and might make mischief if he knew it would upset me. And Nettle is angry with me, also. I cannot reach her directly, and I don’t know how much heed she would give to messages from me that went through Thick.”

  He gave a disgruntled noise. “Too late you fall in with my plans for her. Fitz, I do not relish rebuking you. But if you had allowed us to bring Nettle in as soon as we knew her potential, she would never have been in danger. Nor would quarrels between you and her have crippled us in this way. Either the Prince or I could reach her instead of you, if she had been properly prepared to use her magic. We could have had communication with Buckkeep Castle all this time.”

  It was childish of me. I pointed it out anyway. “You would probably have brought her here with us, for the sake of mustering strength for the Prince.”

  He sighed, as if confronting a stubborn pupil who refused to concede a point. Which he was, I suppose. “As you will have it, Fitz. But, I beg you, do not charge into this development like a bull harried by bees. Let her settle at Buckkeep for a few days, while the Prince and I consult on how much she should know of who she is and how best to approach her through Thick. It may require some preparation of Thick as well.”

  Relief flowed through me. I had feared that Chade would be the one to charge in like a bull. “I will do as you say. Go slowly.”

  “There’s a good lad,” Chade replied absently. I knew that his thoughts had already wandered afar to how these new playing pieces could be deployed on the game board.