addled. Even the Fool is not safe from Regal, though he hints to Fitz that he has a great destiny. Fitz and Kettricken leave to quell a Raider attack on the coast. While they are gone, Regal announces that word has come that Verity is dead, and makes himself King-in-Waiting. Using his mostly uncontrollable Skill, Fitz discovers that Verity is still alive, but to say this in the court where Regal now holds power would mean death. After an attempt is made on the life of Verity's unborn heir, Fitz and his mentors Chade and Burrich make plans to spirit King Shrewd and Kettricken, now pregnant, safely out of Regal's reach. Shrewd dies in an attempt to Skill to Verity before the plans can be carried out. However, Fitz gets a glimpse of the true source of the King's long illness and death: Serene and Justin, two members of the coterie, have been using their Skill to slowly drain King Shrewd's life away. Fitz takes the King's blade and immediately assassinates Serene, then hunts down and kills Justin in front of much of the court. Meanwhile, Kettricken manages to escape Buck with the Fool. Fitz is imprisoned and accused of homicide, regicide, and exposed for using the Wit. Regal, in an attempt to get Fitz to confess to his alleged crimes, tortures Fitz both physically and mentally by having him beaten while a member of the coterie, Will, assaults Fitz with the Skill. Fitz, knowing his mind and body cannot sustain any more punishment, uses the Wit to leave his body behind and join with his wolf, Nighteyes. After his death, Fitz is publicly pronounced guilty of all charges, and his body is buried by his last remaining supporter, Lady Patience. However, Burrich and Chade exhume Fitz's body and, after much coaxing, convince him to leave Nighteyes' mind and go back into his own body. Looking back on his past, an older Fitz laments the loss of freedom and simplicity he experienced as a wolf. Reception Royal Assassin has received mostly positive reviews. Reviewers have generally praised the book's characterization and its climactic ending. Of the book, Kirkus Reviews stated the novel is a "spellbinding installment, built of patient detail, believable characters, and mature plotting—though, at an unwarranted 608 pages, there are ominous signs that Hobb's beginning to lose control of her narrative." Editions An American English paperback edition was