I sat down in Chade's chair. It retained his warmth and the imprint of his body. It felt strange to sit there in his presence. It was as if I were becoming him. He assumed my perch on the stool and looked down on me from that towering height. He crossed his arms on his chest and leaned forward to smirk down at me. “Comfortable?” he asked me. “No,” I admitted.

“Serves you right,” he muttered. Then, with a laugh, he got off the stool. “Tell me what I can do to help you with this process.”

“You want me to just sit here and Skill out, hoping to find the Prince?”

“Is that so hard?” It was a genuine question. “I tried for several hours last night. Nothing happened except that I got a headache.”

“Oh.” For a moment he looked discouraged. Then he announced firmly, “We will simply have to try again.” In a lower voice he muttered, “For what else can we do?”

I could think of no answer to that. I leaned back in his chair and tried to relax my body. I stared at his mantelpiece, only to have my attention stick on a fruit knife driven into the wood. I had done that, years ago. Now was not the time to dwell on that incident. Yet I found myself saying, “I crept into my old room today. It looks as if it has not been used since last I slept there.”

“It hasn't. Castle tradition says it is haunted.” “You're joking!”

“No. Think about it. The Witted Bastard slept there, and he was taken to his death in the castle dungeons. It's a fine basis for a ghost tale. Besides, flickering blue lights have been seen through its shutters at night, and once a stableboy said he saw the Pocked Man staring down from that window on a moonlit night.”

“You kept it empty.”

“I am not entirely devoid of sentiment. And for a long time, I hoped you would someday return to that room. But, enough of this. We have a task.”

I drew a breath. “The Queen did not mention the note about the Prince being Witted.”

“No. She did not.”

“Do you know why?”

He hesitated. “Perhaps some things are so frightening that even our good Queen cannot bring herself to consider them.”

“I'd like to see the note.”

“Then you shall. Later.” He paused, then asked me heavily, “Fitz? Are you going to settle down and do this thing or keep procrastinating?”

I took a deliberate breath, blew it out slowly, and fixed my gaze on the dwindling fire. I looked into its heart as I gradually unfastened my mind from my thoughts. I opened myself to the Skill.

My mind began to unfold. I have, over the years, given much thought to how one could describe Skilling. No metaphor really does it justice. Like a folded piece of silk, the mind opens, and opens, and opens again, becoming larger and yet somehow thinner. That is one image. Another is that the Skill is like a great unseen river that flows at all times. When one consciously pays attention to it, one can be seized in its current and drawn out to flow with it. In its wild waters, minds can touch and merge.

Yet no words or similes do it justice, any more than words can explain the smell of fresh bread or the color yellow. The Skill is the Skill. It is the hereditary magic of the Farseers, yet it does not belong to kings alone. Many folk in the Six Duchies have a touch of it. In some it bums strong enough that a Skilled one can hear their thoughts. Sometimes, I can even influence what a Skilltouched person thinks. Far more rare are those who can reach out with the Skill. That ability is usually no more than a feeble groping unless the talent is trained. I opened myself to it, and let my consciousness expand but with no expectations of reaching anyone.

Threads of thought tangled against me like waterweed. “I hate the way she looks at my beau.” “I wish I could say one last word to you, Papa.” “Please hurry home, I feel so ill.” “You are so beautiful. Please, please, turn around, see me, at least give me that.” Those who flung the thoughts out with such urgency were, for the most part, ignorant of their own strength. None of them were aware of me sharing their thoughts, nor could I make my own thoughts known to them. Each cried out in their deafness with voices they believed were mute. None was Prince Dutiful. From some distant part of the keep, music reached my ears, temporarily distracting me. I pushed it aside and strove on.

I do not know how long I prowled amongst those unwary minds, nor how far I reached in my search. The range of the Skill is determined by strength of ability, not distance. I had no measure of my strength and time does not exist when one is in the grip of the Skill. I trod again that narrow measure, clinging to my awareness of my own body despite the temptation to let the Skill sweep me free of my body forever.