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Back The Bone Shard Emperor Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Map
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Discover More
  63. extras
  64. meet the author
  65. A Preview of "The Foxglove King"
  66. A Preview of "The Stardust Thief"
  67. BY ANDREA STEWART
  68. Praise for Andrea Stewart

The stone swung outward, revealing a door where there had been none. I slipped inside, Mephi rushing ahead of me into the dark. “Mephi!” I called out exasperatedly before giving up. There was no point in scolding; the beast never learned.

I swung my lamp out ahead of me, trying to figure out what this room was for. It was mostly empty, a well-preserved rug in a style I didn’t recognize stretched across the floor. Mephi had already made his way to the corner, sniffing the intricately carved table there.

“Can you tell what they ate?”

“Smells like wood,” he said, disappointed. He pawed at the rug, getting his nose beneath it, rooting around for things he could take.

I pivoted to the opposite wall and saw the sword. It hung on two hooks embedded into the wall, the blade bare and the sheath laid behind it. Perhaps it was the lamplight, but it didn’t look like it was made of metal. I frowned as I closed in on it. The cord used to wrap the hilt was frayed and dark, as though it had seen use. I touched it, the cord still silken beneath my fingertips, and felt a tingle run up my arm. He’d asked me to find a white-bladed sword in Lin’s possession. A sword like this one.

“You are, by far, the worst spy the Empire has ever seen.”

I whirled to find the doorway no longer empty. Gio stood there, arms crossed, and he did not look pleased.

21

image

Lin

Nephilanu Island

Perhaps I shouldn’t have let my temper get the better of me. I couldn’t avoid Jovis for ever; I’d appointed him my Captain of the Imperial Guard after all. But every time I thought of his righteous indignation, his surety that he spoke the truth, a shiver of anger ran through me once more. According to him, I was supposed to leave that mine underdeveloped, leaving Iloh unable to marry, and me unable to garner any support from Riya.

Part of being a leader was making hard choices. He’d said so himself: someone would always hate me for each decision I made, one way or another.

I just wished it wasn’t him. But that was foolish. Just because we shared this link between us, the same sort of magic, didn’t mean we had to be friends. Just because he was my Captain of the Imperial Guard didn’t mean we had to be friends.

I didn’t want to be friends.

“Eminence?”