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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

“You’ve no cause to test me.” The words came slow and heavy, dredged up from behind the implacable grasp of silver.

“So I am often told. So seldom is it true.”

Hargo unwrapped the cloth bundle. “Mysteries of the Raven, penned by our old friend and probable pseudonym Alain Corbeau.” Another followed. “Brathna’s The Undawning Deep. I confess, I’d always thought this one the stuff of rumour.”

Even with his shadow wailing, Viktor sensed the power within the pages. The first book felt cold and clammy, like a brisk sea wind on a hot day. The second . . . it hurt to look at the second. No. Not hurt, not exactly. It gnawed. As if it sought to burrow into his soul. Hargo didn’t seem to notice.

“What have they to do with me?” Viktor breathed.

“They were found in your chambers.”

So much for any hope that this was all a mistake. Someone had planned this. Someone who’d known his secret, or suspected it. Someone who’d convinced Rosa that he was responsible for Kasamor’s death. That pointed the finger of guilt at his father, and left Malachi his one hope for salvation.

“They’re not mine.”

“Of course not.” A smile tugged at the corner of Hargo’s mouth. “But it’s better to be certain. The sooner the mystery is solved, the sooner I can release you back to the Council for the settlement of the more . . . commonplace charges.”

He stood, and unrolled the leather bundle across the table. A wicked array of spikes and blades glinted silver in the lantern light.

“The path to revelation. Let us seek it together.”

Endas, 11th day of Radiance

Endas, 11th day of Radiance

Do we worship light for its glory, or because darkness too easily breeds suspicion?

Is a righteous man ever truly thus if none bear witness to his deeds?

from the sermons of Konor Belenzo

Forty-Eight

Forty-Eight

Ebigail Kiradin was a dark shape at the sitting room window, a serathi with a halo of brilliant sunlight. For all that, she remained cold . . . distant. As if she touched the world but lightly. But Apara knew all too well that the lightest touch often wrought the greatest change.

“How goes our endeavour?”

Lady Kiradin’s voice held an unusual note. Not fear – that the lady might fear anything was unthinkable – but an admission of equality, of shared desire.

“Captain Horden understands the consequences his family will pay for defiance.” Even in dawn’s light, the elder cousin cast a wispy, indistinct shape. More a shadow-strewn nightmare than a man.

The lady nodded. “And the chapterhouse seneschals?”

“Rother and Mannor will comply. Tassandra is proving . . . intractable. The honour of Essamere.”

The lady crooked a sour lip. “Honour is a sop to those without power. Have her killed. Something that will pass into rumour.”

The cousin’s hood tilted, reshaping the shadow beneath. “Another death so soon . . . Perhaps a display of largesse would be more appropriate.”