by Glenda Larke
The destrier leapt like a flycatcher, snorting. White foam flew from its mouth. Prisoned within his gold-chased helm, his vision narrowed to a slit and the crowd’s roaring a hollow boom, Balfre laughed aloud. Aside from a writhing woman pinned on his cock, was there anything better in the world than a lance in his hand, a grand horse between his legs, and a man before him a handful of heartbeats from defeat?
No. There wasn’t.
Snorting, ears pricked, the destrier settled into a stately, knee-snapping prance. He sat the dance with ease, guiding the stallion to the start of the tilt-run with nothing more than his shifting weight and the touch of his long-shanked, elaborate spurs. There he halted, and paid no heed to the crowd’s wild cheering or the stallion’s threatening half-rears.
“Black Hughe!” he called, loud enough to be heard through his helmet. “You stand ready?”
“I indeed stand ready, Balfre!” Hughe shouted back. “Do I have your pardon now, for the unseating of you later?”
“You’ll have my pardon once you answer for your slur.”
“My lord,” said Hughe, defiant, then closed his own visor and demanded his lance.
BY GLENDA LARKE
The Mirage Makers
Heart of the Mirage
The Shadow of Tyr
Song of the Shiver Barrens
The Stormlord Trilogy
The Last Stormlord
Stormlord Rising
Stormlord’s Exile
The Forsaken Lands
The Lascar’s Dagger
The Dagger’s Path
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Maps
Twenty-three years before
Chapter 1: Between the Cherished and the Forsaken
Chapter 2: Va-forsaken Magic
Chapter 3: The Petition Writer’s Son
Chapter 4: In Another Man’s Boots
Chapter 5: The Lonely Exile
Chapter 6: Perie and the Pitch-men
Chapter 7: Caged
Chapter 8: Messages
Chapter 9: The Gaunt Recruiter
Chapter 10: The Unlikely Merger
Chapter 11: The Antagonists
Chapter 12: The Task Assigned
Chapter 13: Obviation
Chapter 14: The Pontifect’s Envoys
Chapter 15: An Heir Under Scrutiny
Chapter 16: Breaking the Spell
Chapter 17: A Second Murder
Chapter 18: Imprisoned
Chapter 19: The Handmaiden and the Privateer
Chapter 20: Keel-raked
Chapter 21: Shipboard Reunion
Chapter 22: Secrets
Chapter 23: A Prince Goes Hunting
Chapter 24: Alliances Under Scrutiny
Chapter 25: Attack
Chapter 26: A Prince, a Prime and a King
Chapter 27: Murder Most Royal
Chapter 28: Returning to Javenka
Chapter 29: Gerelda and the Dire Sweepers
Chapter 30: Devil-kin
Chapter 31: Privateers in Serinaga
Chapter 32: Thieves in the Night
Chapter 33: The Death of Sentinel
Chapter 34: Dyer’s Dilemma
Chapter 35: Ardhi’s Secret
Chapter 36: The Song of the Chenderawasi
Chapter 37: The Other
Chapter 38: Rani Marsyanda
Chapter 39: The Outcast
Chapter 40: Sliver of Hope
Chapter 41: Farewell to Chenderawasi
Chapter 42: Changes
Chapter 43: Saker and the Eagle
Chapter 44: The Smutch in the Sky
Acknowledgements
Extras Meet the Author
A Preview of Thief’s Magic
A Preview of The Falcon Throne
By Glenda Larke
Orbit Newsletter
Copyright
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2015 by Glenda Larke
Excerpt from Thief’s Magic copyright © 2014 by Trudi Canavan
Excerpt from The Falcon Throne copyright © 2014 by Karen Miller
Map © 2013 by Perdita Phillips
Cover illustration by Steve Stone
Cover © 2015 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: January 2015
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ISBN 978-0-316-39967-8
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