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Chapters (95)
  1. Cover
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. Dramatis Personae
  6. Fifteen Years Ago
  7. Endas, 25th day of Wellmarch
  8. One
  9. Two
  10. Three
  11. Four
  12. Maladas, 26th day of Wellmarch
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Lumendas, 1st day of Radiance
  20. Eleven
  21. Twelve
  22. Thirteen
  23. Fourteen
  24. Astridas, 2nd day of Radiance
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Jeradas, 3rd day of Radiance
  31. Twenty
  32. Twenty-One
  33. Twenty-Two
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Endas, 4th day of Radiance
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Twenty-Eight
  41. Twenty-Nine
  42. Thirty
  43. Thirty-One
  44. Maladas, 5th day of Radiance
  45. Thirty-Two
  46. Thirty-Three
  47. Thirty-Four
  48. Thirty-Five
  49. Tzadas, 6th day of Radiance
  50. Thirty-Six
  51. Thirty-Seven
  52. Thirty-Eight
  53. Thirty-Nine
  54. Forty
  55. Forty-One
  56. Forty-Two
  57. Forty-Three
  58. Lunandas, 7th day of Radiance
  59. Forty-Four
  60. Jeradas, 10th day of Radiance
  61. Forty-Five
  62. Forty-Six
  63. Forty-Seven
  64. Endas, 11th day of Radiance
  65. Forty-Eight
  66. Forty-Nine
  67. Fifty
  68. Fifty-One
  69. Fifty-Two
  70. Fifty-Three
  71. Fifty-Four
  72. Fifty-Five
  73. Maladas, 12th day of Radiance
  74. Fifty-Six
  75. Fifty-Seven
  76. Fifty-Eight
  77. Fifty-Nine
  78. Sixty
  79. Sixty-One
  80. Sixty-Two
  81. Tzadas, 13th day of Radiance
  82. Sixty-Three
  83. Sixty-Four
  84. Lunandas, 14th day of Radiance
  85. Sixty-Five
  86. Sixty-Six
  87. Lumendas, 15th day of Radiance
  88. Sixty-Seven
  89. Sixty-Eight
  90. Tzadas, 20th day of Radiance
  91. Sixty-Nine
  92. Acknowledgements
  93. Discover More
  94. Extras
  95. Meet the Author

Melanna loosed a wild flurry of blows. Josiri parried each in turn. As the fourth scraped aside, he braced his feet and rammed his shield forward.

The impact lifted Melanna clean off her feet. She struck the ground with enough force to drive the breath from her body. The sword shuddered from her hand. Fire faded as it left her grip.

She clutched her belly and lay among the dead, eyes blazing with hatred. “Kill me!”

“Gladly.” Akadra pushed past Josiri and planted his foot on Melanna’s chest. All trace of his earlier weakness had fled. His breath steamed as he drew back his sword.

“No!”

Josiri wasn’t sure why he struck the claymore away. Was it the presumptive kinship with the beaten woman? Or perhaps he was tired of death. But whatever surprise he felt at his action, it was far eclipsed by astonishment at Akadra’s lack of protest. Instead, the giant stood in place, boot pinning the woman to the ground.

“Kai Saran!” Josiri shouted. “I have your daughter! Surrender, and she lives!”

Akadra grunted, his lip curling with what might have been approval. A ragged mix of wolf-cloaks, bandits and militia formed a ring around them to forestall an attempt at rescue.

“Kai Saran!” Josiri’s voice cracked. Was the prince even alive? “What is your daughter’s life worth?”

Golden ranks parted to reveal emerald armour. A shield crashed to the ground. A sword followed. In sudden silence broken only by Melanna’s anguished howl, Kai Saran knelt.

Forty-Three

Forty-Three

Josiri arrived at camp long after nightfall. The perimeter guard – a mixture of wolf-cloaks and Tressian soldiers – let his horse canter past with barely a challenge. For the first time in fifteen years, north-and southwealders were as one. Not in the manner he would have chosen, and certainly not how his mother had foreseen, but did that matter? Josiri felt guilty for not appreciating it more, but his mind wandered distant fields.

[[I take it you’ve met without success?]]

Anastacia drew closer, a dark silhouette against leaping campfires.

“I can’t find her.” Josiri swung wearily down from the saddle. He hated the confession. It sounded like abandonment. “But I have to rest, otherwise I’ll fall from the saddle.”

The doll’s mask tilted. [[It would spoil things if you were trampled by your own horse. I don’t believe Calenne would want that.]]

“Given our last conversation, I’m not so sure.”

That had been when? Only a few days ago. It felt like a lifetime. In fifteen years, they’d never been apart so long.

[[She’s a Trelan. She’s stubborn.]]

He nodded, fighting a fresh flood of despair. “I can’t find Calenne, nor Revekah. What’s the point of victory if it feels like defeat?”