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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

She’d only seen two creatures before that resembled it: Mephi and the Emperor’s pet, Thrana. This one was more gray than brown, with eyes the color of the jungle in a wet season, but it was the same.

“Why not?” the creature said.

A talking pet was more than Phalue and Ranami had bargained for when they’d adopted Ayesh, but it wasn’t as though Ranami could be angry. She was more relieved that Ayesh wasn’t a spy than anything else. An odd pet? That was an eccentricity that could be dealt with.

She imagined Phalue, beside her, a wry smile on her lips. “Add it to the list?” Phalue would say.

Ranami rose from her hiding spot, her hands raised to show she meant no harm. “Yes,” she said, and Ayesh nearly jumped out of her skin. “Why not?”

The girl very quickly turned from surprise to contrition. She rubbed at the wrist her shield was strapped to, shyly meeting Ranami’s eyes. “I… uhhh…” Her face screwed up. “I found her after Unta,” she said. “I helped her aboard the ship I was hiding on, at night. When the sailors caught me, they threw me overboard and she helped me get to shore. I wasn’t… I wasn’t going to just leave her after that.”

Ranami waited.

“I didn’t know who to trust!” Ayesh burst out.

That was something Ranami could understand. Her heart softened. “She shouldn’t be out here in the forest by herself, and neither should you. There’s space in the palace. Does she have a name?”

The girl’s relieved smile could have parted the clouds. “Yes. Shark, meet Ranami. Ranami, meet Shark.”

“Shark!” said the creature, baring sharp white teeth.

Well. That would take a little getting used to. But Ranami was willing to try.

The story continues in…

THE BONE SHARD WAR

Book Three of

The Drowning Empire

Acknowledgements

Whew! It’s odd to be doing this again. I wrote another book? How and when did that happen? I suppose the answers to that are “one word at a time” and “during a pandemic”. Even though we are all socially isolating, I fortunately did not do this alone. So without further ado, the people I owe a debt of gratitude to:

Megan O’Keefe, Marina Lostetter, Tina Gower, and Anthea Sharp/Lawson: THANK YOU for listening to me whine about second books and for helping me brainstorm fixes to my revision problems. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my notes and to speak with me on Zoom. I know you were all probably pretty tired of Zoom by then.