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Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. Epigraph
  6. BEGINNINGS
  7. PART I
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. ELEVEN
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. PART II
  45. THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. THIRTY-NINE
  48. FORTY
  49. FORTY-ONE
  50. FORTY-TWO
  51. FORTY-THREE
  52. FORTY-FOUR
  53. FORTY-FIVE
  54. FORTY-SIX
  55. FORTY-SEVEN
  56. FORTY-EIGHT
  57. FORTY-NINE
  58. FIFTY
  59. FIFTY-ONE
  60. FIFTY-TWO
  61. FIFTY-THREE
  62. FIFTY-FOUR
  63. FIFTY-FIVE
  64. FIFTY-SIX
  65. FIFTY-SEVEN
  66. TRICKSTER
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. Also by Susan Dennard
  69. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  70. Newsletter Sign-up

She had never thought she would marry, yet suddenly it is all she wants. But to marry for love, for friendship, for Thread-family. Not for business, as is the Cartorran way. Not to trick an emperor into handing over her uncle …

Safi’s eyes find Iseult’s in the crowd. Her Threadsister has pulled back her scarf. Her golden eyes gleam, her black hair shines. There is iron in that gaze. And a certainty that, no matter what Safi does next, Iseult will be beside her. Initiate, complete until their days are done and their bodies are dust.

And Safi’s smile relaxes at that thought. For of course she can do this. It is part of the plan, and by the Twelve, she will follow it.

“I, Safiya, Domna of Hasstrel, take you, Henrick fon Cartorra, as my spouse.” She raises her face, draws back her shoulders. “By law and by land, we are tied. What I possess, you receive. What you possess, I claim. Until our days are done and our bodies are dust, we are bound.”

The room looses a collective exhale. Even Henrick’s chest shrinks. Then, just as the room of common folk from all those years ago had done, the doms and domnas declare, “By law and by land, you are tied. We witness, we abide.”

The words rumble in the stones. Quiver in Safi’s bones, and she smiles even wider, her eyes still on Iseult—who is nodding her approval. Who is drawing up her scarf once more.

The next step in their plan is complete. Now it is on to the final one.

TWENTY-THREE

The Hammer came for Stix at midday. She wasn’t expecting him at their inn—wasn’t even sure how he’d found them, but when he told her it was time to fight again, she was all too happy to obey. Maybe this time, she’d get the vision she needed. Maybe this time, the voices would finally finish speaking and go away.

A fine carriage drove them to the Ring, and despite Ryber’s best efforts to chat with the Hammer, all he did was glower and grunt at each of her questions. He clearly saw Stix as competition; he clearly thought she’d come to replace him.

The stink of sulfur pitched higher as they ambled over swamplands toward the Ring, while the voices pitched lower. Come this way, keep coming. Once Stix was inside the Ring and once more facing the wooden entry stall, they silenced completely. She felt like she could breathe, could think, could be.

And in that blessed quiet, her magic notched to saturation. Somehow, a lake’s worth of water waited for her inside the arena. Ryber took Stix’s spectacles, and the world returned to the blurry-edged smear it had always been. If there was that much water near, then they would only be in the way.