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Copper Chain

James Maxwell
Chapters (62)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. MAP
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. 54
  60. 55
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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ALSO BY JAMES MAXWELL

THE SHIFTING TIDES

Golden Age

Silver Road

EVERMEN SAGA

Enchantress

The Hidden Relic

The Path of the Storm

The Lore of the Evermen

Seven Words of Power

Title Page

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Copyright Page

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Text copyright © 2017 by James Maxwell

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by 47North, Seattle

Amazon, the Amazon logo, and 47North are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

ISBN-13: 9781612185767

ISBN-10: 1612185762

Cover illustration by Fred Gambino

Cover design by Richard Augustus

Map illustration by David Woodroffe

Dedication

For my wife, Alicia, with all my love

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

MAP

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MAP

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1

1

Agathon didn’t want to die.

Of course, he wasn’t a fool. He knew his time would come at some point. But despite being a man who prayed regularly and believed that when death knocked at his door his soul would be welcomed in paradise, he wanted his end to be as far off as possible. Ideally, he would be in bed, tended by his favorite wife, who would wail and weep, kissing his wrinkled cheeks, as he closed his eyes and finally slept forever. He’d always imagined it would be that way, decades in the future. Not like this.

Not death in battle.

He was well aware that he wasn’t a skilled swordsman; his talents had always served him in other areas. He was a bureaucrat, the viceroy of the city of Malakai, governor of a restive populace. Malakai’s wealth of gold, furs, slaves, and spices flowed to Agathon’s cousin, Kargan, ruler of the Ilean Empire. It was Agathon’s job to keep the shipments coming.

His task was far from easy. Malakai was ostensibly the capital of Imakale, but in truth the Ilean garrison rarely patrolled the dry, inhospitable terrain south of the port city. Traders acted as intermediaries between the fierce desert clans and the merchants from Lamara. Even within Malakai’s strong walls the locals resented Agathon and the soldiers who served him.

But until recently he had taken pride in his achievements: pacifying unrest, pitting the desert traders against each other, sending fat-bellied ships back home with their holds full of manacled slaves and ingots of gleaming gold.

Then the situation changed.

It began with a rumor. The tribesmen of the south were massing under a new leader, a man who promised to liberate Malakai and unshackle the city’s population from the Ilean yoke. The rumor made its way into the city and soon the locals were chanting his name: Palemon.