Novella set in the Elderlings saga, telling the story of how the gift of the Wit came to be despised. Pretty cool point of view character (playmate to the princess, wet-nurse to the prince), and neat context, but also ultimately predictable and didn’t draw me in too much.
Plot summary
Beware: full spoilers! Also probably incomplete and possibly incomprehensible.
The protagonist is set up as the Willful Princess’s maid/playmate by her mother, who is a professional nurse, which is already a big step up in life coming from a very poor family. Her mother encourages her to become indispensable and learn everything the princess learns.
The King’s brother has hopes to see his son on the throne, so he doesn’t protest when the princess (a cruel, moody girl) announces she doesn’t plan to marry. She then falls in love with – and gets pregnant by – Lostler, a Witted guy who is bonded with a piebald horse, and who is the new stablemaster. The protagonist gets pregnant to match the Princess and nurse her child, and also pretends that her child is also Lostler’s to keep the princess away from him, which results in a lot of upset. The stablemaster and his horse are killed.
The child is born, and the protagonist and her ever-ambitious mum are there, and her mum plans to switch out the children (which the protagonist does not do). The princess’s son is piebald, with red spots in his face. The princess dies within a month of giving birth and raises both boys, as the court tries to forget about him, and just call him Piebald. Her own son, Redbird, becomes a bard, who are very respected in the Elderlings saga.
Piebald is Witted and has Witted. He gains some Witted friends and eventually the favour of the King. Piebald and his cousin Canny are both in the running for the throne, and then also want the same girl. Rivalry ensues – Canny’s people kill the Witted Coterie’s bonded animals, though Piebald was not bonded to his horse.
The King dies. Piebald becomes king, but weather is bad etc etc, so people say he’s cursed, and also the woman they were fighting over chooses Canny, marries him, and then starts hanging out with Piebald, which makes everything come to a head. Redbird watches King Piebald get killed by Canny and his supporters. Canny becomes King and spins the story to blame Piebald and his Wit (and now we know why the kingdom has henceforth hated the Wit, for centuries).
Redbird makes a final song, telling the truth, sings it, and is killed before finishing it. His mother writes the story down and hides it – including the dicy secret that the heir to the throne was not Canny’s son, but Piebald’s.
