Spring comes to the Six Duchies, and with it, the fearsome menace of the Red-Ship Raiders. As the danger creeps ever closer to Buckkeep, Fitz is given his first true mission from Chade, to infiltrate the estate of a nobleman and look for any signs of treason. But an assassin’s job is far from simple, and the fate of the realm may depend on if Fitz can take a life, or spare one instead.