Fool's Fate — Robin Hobb

Assassin, spy, and Skillmaster, FitzChivalry Farseer has become firmly ensconced in the queen's court at Buckkeep. With Prince Dutiful, his mentor Chade, and the simpleminded yet strongly-Skilled Thick, Fitz strives to aid the prince on a quest that could secure peace between the Six Duchies and the Outislands--and win Dutiful the hand of the Narcheska Elliania. For the Narcheska has set the prince an unfathomable task: to behead a dragon trapped in ice on the island of Aslevjal. Yet not all the clans of the Outislands support the effort to behead their celebrated defender. Are there darker forces at work behind the Narcheska's demand? And can Fitz unravel the mysteries in time to save an alliance--and a world?