Fool’s errand. Robin Hobb. 2001.

We are here, you and I, Fitz, to change the world. Again.

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the Red Ship War with the terrifying Outislanders. Since then, Fitz had wandered the world accompanied only by his wolf and Wit-parter, Nighteyes, finally settling in a tiny cottage as remote from Buckkeep and the Farseers as possible. 

But lately the world has come crashing in again. Visitors bring unwelcome news: the Witted are being persecuted because of their magical bonds with animals; and young Prince Dutiful, the son fathered Fitz’s body on behalf of King Verity, has gone missing just before his crucial diplomatic wedding to an Outislander princess. Fitz’s assignment to fetch Dutiful back in time for the ceremony seems very much like a fool’s errand, but the dangers ahead could signal the end of the Farseer reign.