Chapters (95)
- Cover
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Map
- Dramatis Personae
- Fifteen Years Ago
- Endas, 25th day of Wellmarch
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Maladas, 26th day of Wellmarch
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Lumendas, 1st day of Radiance
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Astridas, 2nd day of Radiance
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Jeradas, 3rd day of Radiance
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Endas, 4th day of Radiance
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Maladas, 5th day of Radiance
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Tzadas, 6th day of Radiance
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Lunandas, 7th day of Radiance
- Forty-Four
- Jeradas, 10th day of Radiance
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Endas, 11th day of Radiance
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Maladas, 12th day of Radiance
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Tzadas, 13th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Lunandas, 14th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Lumendas, 15th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Tzadas, 20th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Nine
- Acknowledgements
- Discover More
- Extras
- Meet the Author
Apara shucked the oilskin bundle off her shoulders. Sitting down with her back to the fireplace, she reached up into the generous flue. Grasping fingers found the lip of the smoke shelf – just wide enough for what she had in mind.
Sure, the books might get accidentally burned, but not until the weather turned cold – a time still some months away. The cleanliness of the hearth cast doubt on any fire having blazed within for some time. And even if the books did burn, who was to say that they’d not been uncovered and deliberately set afire? The lady couldn’t blame her for that.
Mission accomplished, Apara returned to the window and waited for another gap in patrols. Then she fled into the moonlight, leaving Swanholt – the ancestral home of the Akadra family – far behind.
Jeradas, 3rd day of Radiance
Jeradas, 3rd day of Radiance
Arrogance is more dangerous than a sword.
False hope more ruinous than despair.
from the sermons of Konor Belenzo
Twenty
Twenty
The encampment was already a fortress by the time Melanna took her last weary strides up the steep slope. The palisade of fresh-split pine wouldn’t have deterred a true assault. Nor would the shallow ditch. That wasn’t the object of the exercise. The point was to send a message: we are here, and we mean to stay.
Horsemen cantered past in a spray of mud. The leader spared her the briefest glance. Recognition? Or had he been appalled at the sight of a woman armed for war? Perhaps both. The havildar of the gate guard bowed low in a swish of silken robes.
“Greetings, savim. You choose a propitious time to return.”
Beneath the blank death mask of his helm, he seemed genuinely pleased to see her. Such men were rare. Especially when they wore the golden scales of the Immortals – the Royal Guard.
She extended a gloved hand. The havildar stooped, took her fingers and pressed them to his lips in the age-old gesture of fealty. Loyal to the House of Saran more than to her personally, no doubt.
“It’s good to be home, and to be greeted with such dignity, Havildar . . . ?”
“Brannor, my princessa.” He spoke without looking up. “Jastim Brannor.”
“Then please, Havildar Brannor, rise. We are comrades.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Brannor obeyed. Without appearing to do so, Melanna took stock of the gate guards. She watched for the soon hidden flickers of surprise and disgust that a woman would claim parity with a warrior.