I won’t write a book in this world simply to say ... Even as I finished [1997's Assassin's Quest], I knew a lot of things would happen to Fitz in the future, but I never expected to actually ...

The second book (after Ship of Magic) in Hobbs's Liveship Traders trilogy ... Fitz is a trained assassin in the service of King Shrewd and also... Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm.