Chapter 56 Section 56 Other transformations

Whistle smiled. "We knew you'd help with this. Thank you, Fitz." She spun away from me in a quick circle, threateningly waving her club at her companion, who had to back down.I left the courtyard with a sigh, thinking that Molly would be fetching water by this time, and I wished I could see her.But she didn't show up, which really disappointed me.I know I shouldn't be playing this kind of game, but sometimes it's just too much to resist.I leave the courtyard. These few days were like a special kind of self-torture, I refused to allow myself to see Molly again, but followed her irresistibly.So, I came to the kitchen shortly after she left, fantasizing about catching a hint of her perfume in the air.Or, I'll stand guard in the lobby one night, trying to find a place where I can watch her without being noticed, whatever sideshow is on, whether it's a performance by a minstrel or a poet or a puppeteer, or a sideshow. People doing handicrafts while chatting can't stop me from projecting my eyes on where she might appear.In her dark blue dress and short blouse, she looked serious and demure, and she never looked up at me.She was always talking to the other women in the castle, or on the rare nights when Patience came down to make an appearance, she sat beside her with intense concentration and kept her company, refusing to acknowledge my existence at all.Sometimes I feel that the short encounter with her was a dream, but whenever I go back to the room at night and take out the shirt hidden at the bottom of the closet and put it close to my face, I will imagine that I still smell a trace of her perfume.I just rely on this to support myself.

In the days following the cremation of the Forged, besides the formation of the Queen's Guard, there were other transformations both inside and outside the castle. Verity was so delighted that two unsummoned shipwrights volunteered their skills to assist in the building of the ship that even Queen Kettricken was touched, for they offered her their services in person, and their apprentices came with them. At the docks, the number of shipbuilders in rows increased.Now, with the docks brightly lit before dawn and after dusk, and everyone rushing to work at such a terrific pace, Verity was even less in the room, and Kettricken was getting more and more depressed when I visited.I tried to interest her with reading and going for walks, but nothing worked.She mostly sat in the weaving room blankly, becoming increasingly pale and listless, and her deep and gloomy mood also affected the ladies who accompanied her, so coming to her room was as boring as watching a dead body.

I didn't expect to see him in Verity's study, so I wasn't disappointed.He was busy at the docks as usual, and I left a message for Charin to say that I would be ready to be summoned whenever Verity had the time.Deciding to keep myself busy, I followed Chade's advice, went back to the room to get the dice and scoring stick, and went to the queen's room. I decided to teach her some of the gambling games that noble ladies like to play, hoping to expand her range of entertainment, and also to make her spend more time with other people and less time with her.Her desolation began to feel like a heavy and oppressive burden to me, and I often wished earnestly to be away from her.

"Teach her to cheat first, of course, you have to tell her that this is allowed by the rules of the game, tell her that the game allows participants to cheat. It's easy to teach as long as you play tricks on your hands.In this way, she could easily empty Regal's pockets before he suspected her, just one or two times is enough, so what can he do?Accusing the ladies of Buckkeep of cheating at the dice? " Of course that was what the Fool said.He accompanied me by my hand, the rat-headed token vibrated gently on his shoulder.I wasn't really taken aback, but he knew it did, and his eyes lit up with pleasure.

"I think if I don't teach it well, our princess will definitely make mistakes. How about you make her happy with me? I can throw away the dice and let you juggle." I suggested. "Juggling for her? Why? Fitz, that's my daily routine, and you only see my stupid words and actions. You see my work as fun, and I see you playing games so seriously, I'm afraid it's designed You don't even know it! Take the Fool's advice, and instead of teaching her to throw dice, teach her riddles, and you'll both be wiser." "Riddles? Isn't that a Bincheng game?"

"There's a popular riddle in Buckkeep. Answer it if you know it. How should one summon something when one doesn't know how?" "It's never been my game, jester." "So are your blood relatives, so I have heard. Then, try to answer the riddle. Something in Shrewd's scroll has wings, and in the book of Verity has a tongue of flame, in Riel Silver eyes on the parchment of yours, and skin like golden fish scales in your room?" "Is that a riddle?" He looked at me with pity. "No. What I asked you earlier was the riddle, and the answer to that question just now is the ancient spirit. Let's go back to the first riddle, how do you summon it?"

I strode slowly towards him and stared straight at him, but his eyes were always elusive. "Is that a riddle? Or a serious question?" "Yes." The Fool looked grave. I stopped, almost bewildered, and stared at him.He and his rat-head token nose-to-nose smirked and answered me in this way. "Look, Rat, he doesn't know any more than his uncle or grandfather. None of them know how to summon the Old Spirits." "Use the Skill," I answered abruptly. The Fool looked at me strangely. "You know?" "Just a suspicion." "why?"

"I don't know. Thinking about it now, it doesn't seem to be the case. King Wisdom traveled long distances to find the ancient spirits. If he can contact them by passing on skills, why bother?" "Yes. But sometimes there is truth in impulsive answers, so answer the riddle, boy. There is a king who is still alive, and so is the prince, and both are Skills. But, with the king or before him Where are the trainees? Why can't we find Skill users when we desperately need them?" "Very few people were trained in peacetime. Galen was unfit to train others until his deathbed, and the Skill group he created..." I stopped abruptly, unwilling to go on even if the hallway was empty, because I do not want to reveal anything that Verity has told me about the Skill.

Suddenly the Fool circled merrily around me. "If a shoe doesn't fit, whoever made it for you can't wear it," he declared. I reluctantly nodded. "indeed." "And the shoemaker is gone. Sad, really sad. Sadder than the hot meat on the table and the red wine in the glass. But the one who left was taught by another." "Yin Ken. But she also left." "Oh. But Shrewd is still alive, and so is Verity. Looks like she has two protégés alive and well, and there must be others. The question is, where?" I shrugged. "Gone, old, dead. I don't know." I suppressed my impatience and tried to think about his question. "King Shrewd's sister, Xinyi, the mother of Wei Yi, may have also been trained, but she has been dead for many years. King Shrewd's father, King Generosity, was the last to have a Skill team, I believe, but in those days Few are still alive." I said no more.Verity once told me that at that time Yin Ken trained as many people with Skill talent as possible, of course there must be some people who are still alive, and at most ten years older than Verity...