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Back Dreams of Steel
Chapters (76)
  1. Title page
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Chapter Forty-Eight
  50. Chapter Forty-Nine
  51. Chapter Fifty
  52. Chapter Fifty-One
  53. Chapter Fifty-Two
  54. Chapter Fifty-Three
  55. Chapter Fifty-Four
  56. Chapter Fifty-Five
  57. Chapter Fifty-Six
  58. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  59. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  60. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  61. Chapter Sixty
  62. Chapter Sixty-One
  63. Chapter Sixty-Two
  64. Chapter Sixty-Three
  65. Chapter Sixty-Four
  66. Chapter Sixty-Five
  67. Chapter Sixty-Six
  68. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  69. Chapter Sixty-Eight
  70. Chapter Sixty-Nine
  71. Chapter Seventy
  72. Chapter Seventy-One
  73. Chapter Seventy-Two
  74. Chapter Seventy-Three
  75. Chapter Seventy-Four
  76. Chapter Seventy-Five

Kill her now, Smoke said. Before she grows any stronger. Destroy her! Or she will destroy Taglios.

He seems to be overreacting. Dont you think, Sis?

Im not so sure anymore.

But...

You didnt talk to her, her with all the confidence of a tidal wave. Shes turned damned scary.

And the Shadowmasters? Wholl handle them?

We have a year.

You think we could build an army?

I dont know. I think we made a lethal mistake dealing with the Black Company the way we did. Quiet, Smoke. We wove webs of deception. That will come back on us because were in too deep to retreat. Swan, Blade, and Mather were convinced we were treacherous in our promises. Im sure Blade shared his opinions with the woman.

Well step carefully, then. The Prahbrindrah reflected. But right now I dont see the threat. If she wants to get the Shadowmasters, I say let her go after them.

Smoke had a fit. He ranted. He cursed. He issued dire prophecies. Every sentence included the words, The Year of the Skulls.

His histrionics were so craven they drove the Radisha toward her brothers position.

Brother and sister left him to his humors. As they moved toward their part of the palace, the Prahbrindrah asked, Whats gotten into him? Hes lost his nerve completely.

He never had much.

No. But hes gone from a mouse to a jellyfish. First it was fear of getting found out by the Shadowmasters. Now its the Stranglers.

They scare me.

The prince snorted. We have more power than you suspect, Sis. We have the power to manipulate three priesthoods.

The Radisha sneered. She knew what that was worth. So did Jahamaraj Jah, now.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Eight men sat around the fire in the room without a roof. That room was on the top floor of a four-storey tenement in Taglios worst slum. The landlord would have suffered apoplexy had he seen what they had done.

They had been there only a few days. They were wrinkled little brown men unlike any Taglian native. But Taglios lay beside a great river. Strangers came and went. Unusual people seldom drew a second glance.

They had opened the room to the elements and now some regretted it.

A summer shower had come down the river. It was not a heavy rain but the clouds had stalled over the city. They shed a steady drizzle. Taglios people were pleased. Rain cleared the air and carried away the trash in the streets. Tomorrow, though, the air would be muggy and everyone would complain.

Seven of the eight brown men did nothing but stare into the flames. The eighth occasionally added a bit

of fuel or a pinch of something that sent sparks flying and filled the air with aromatic smoke. They were patient. They did this for two hours each night.