Hobb-A-Long Read-A-Long discussion

The Outislanders are clearly not big on hospitality or compassionate values, as Chade found out when they visited the Hetgurd, and had poor food choices provided for them ( and then only because the Outislanders were only crudely reciprocating the dining accommodations that they had received when staying in Buck). Their culture despises signs of weakness such as not being self-sufficient or being mentally slow ( like the disrespect they show Thick); wisely, Chade makes sure to have the Six Duchies contingent provide for their own meals when they visit the motherhouse.

At least some justification for Kettricken's choice for arranging a political marriage with this specific Out island culture is found when the visitors find out about the hot springs, and the surprisingly temperate climate for growing crops and raising livestock, which probably makes the Narwhals one of the more wealthy and important Outislander states.

The Prince unwittingly (no pun intended) finds out about Fitz's Skill-dreaming communications with Nettle, and is furious about it, giving both Fitz and Chade severe tongue-lashings for keeping him out of the loop, and for not having brought Nettle to the court to begin with, doing so with a very impressive and brilliant argument that puts both of them on their heels. But I think Fitz could have elaborated a better argument for his position, had he not been in the awkward situation of disagreeing with his 15 year-old Prince, who is by law his superior, even though Fitz would still consider him a boy not old enough to understand the difficult decisions adults sometimes have to make.

Originally, at the end of the Regal/Red ship crisis, both Kettricken and Chade did want to bring Nettle to court and be raised as a Farseer, but Fitz pointed out that she would be known as the daughter of the Witted Bastard, who many believed killed King Shrewd and others, during a period when there was much prejudice and general hostility toward the Witted; therefore making her an heir to Dutiful should anything happen to him before he sires his own line of succession through legitimate children, might make for a hard sell among the several dukes; plus, the Farseers owed Fitz an enormous debt of gratitude for saving their line, and so honored his wishes to preserve for Nettle a settled and stable home life with Burrich and Molly, away from the intrigues of court which Fitz thought unwholesome and dangerous in his experience.

Now, there is definitely a change in the conditions of this arrangement that warrant a reconsideration: Nettle is now 16, pretty much an adult by Buck standards, and capable of making adult decisions about her life; she has great talent in the Skill( something that might not have been so easily anticipated when decisions were being made about her as an infant), which can be dangerous to have if one doesn't receive adequate training in using it; and because of recent edicts and agreements of Kettricken, the atmosphere of persecution and enmity against the Wit( and by extension, Nettle's true father, Fitz) shows signs of dissipating in the future.

But the precipitate reason to bring her to court immediately, the threat of Tintaglia to use her as bait to get her way about Icefyre, is not so clear cut as the Prince seems to think; Tintaglia does not know where she is, and bringing Nettle to Buckkeep in order to protect her could backfire, as Tintaglia's connection to Selden would give her directions right to her; but it's not all that clear which choice would be safer, and the Prince is not being unreasonable here to insist that pigeons be sent straightaway to have Kettricken bring Nettle to court at once.

However, the Prince is wrong to excoriate Fitz for not having brought Nettle to court as soon as these recent events came to light; Fitz does still, in fact, have an agreement with Kettricken not to bring Nettle to court unless she becomes the heir to the throne, for reason that the Prince becomes lost without producing his own heir and line; and the Prince has not yet acceded to the title of King-in-Waiting ( which will happen when he is 17), and cannot remand Kettricken's order; also, it should be pointed out to the Prince, that because of the whirlwind of events that are connected to the Prince that Fitz has had to ceaselessly deal with since he returned to Buckkeep, that not enough time for adequate rest and reflection has been there for Fitz to responsibly effect a decision on this weighty, personal matter.

Particularly, the Prince's rescue from the Piebalds; the betrothal of the Prince;and the challenge of the Narcheska to Dutiful to behead Icefyre, that he rashly accepts( and which, by the way, has indirectly caused this threat by Tintaglia against Nettle in the first place), are all events that could be lain at the Prince's feet, and that have helped cause the delay of Fitz's decision to relent and bring Nettle to court. At least the Prince is showing some respect and sensibility toward the delicate nature of this matter, by trying to make this happen discretely without revealing Fitz's secret about Nettle's paternity.

Suspiciously, the Hetgurd are allowing the Prince's mission to go ahead, but with several stipulations. He can only take a limited number of guardsmen with him, and the Hetgurd are sending 6 of their own warriors to be "witnesses"; also, the clan of the Narcheska's father, the Boars, have all left, like they don't want to be a party to whatever is going to go down here ( and be held accountable by the Narwhals). This has all the ear markings of a set-up!

If the Prince actually finds a live dragon in the ice, it is highly likely that the Hetgurd will ambush the Farseer's group and violently try to prevent the Prince from beheading the creature( who is supposed to be an ancient protector of the Outislanders). This becomes more likely when the Black Man doesn't accept the Outislander offering, making the superstitious warriors appeal to the Narwhals to rescind the Narcheska's challenge to the Prince.

You also have to wonder why the Fool is allowed to join the dragon hunting party at all, given that his stated purpose is to see that Icefyre lives, and might himself or through his influence of Fitz, sabotage the Prince's objective.