“Before what?”
“Before we’d spoken.” He looked strangely shy, this man, this champion.
They stood near the edge of the desert, where the sand gave way to the slopes of the mountains. Around them, small insects buzzed, some caught in the light of the lowering sun. “I’m glad you stayed,” she said at last. “Soon we’ll have our talk, but not now. Not here.”
The sun lit half of Kirhan’s handsome face in a ruddy glow. The other was left in shadow, like a man standing between two worlds. Precisely what he is now.
Kirhan nodded, clasped his hands to his forehead, a sign of peace, then left her to her thoughts.
Still gripping her right hand tight, Leorah strode away from the camp, away from the sand, and took to the hard-packed earth below the mountains. She trekked up toward a rocky ledge, then sat down as the sun neared the horizon.
Only then did she open her right hand to reveal the ring and the amethyst set within it. From the moment she’d accepted it from Armesh, she’d felt something. She’d felt it throughout the day. She’d felt it throughout the burial. She felt it now, stronger than ever.
Leorah fumbled for words, unsure where to begin. The anger over what her sister had done bubbled up inside her, as did the relief and gratitude over being saved from marrying Sukru, of being whisked away to Sharakhai like Tulathan to Yerinde’s tower.
“Do you suppose he’s angry?” Leorah finally asked while staring at the setting sun.
Like a new moon rising, Devorah’s presence grew, crystallizing into something beautiful inside her. “Over losing his bride or his prize?” Devorah’s words drifted to her like seeds on the wind.
“He never cared for me. I was always a beast meant to deliver him our ring. Or at best a thing to lust over.”
“He’ll suspect by now the ring he has is useless,” Devorah said. “I imagine he’s very angry.”
“It might force his return.”
“No. That would be like admitting defeat. He can’t be certain about the nature of the ring yet. He’ll return to Sharakhai and consult with the other Kings. He’ll call wise women and men to him. In the end, he’ll find nothing. He’ll rail. But then his attention will move on to other, brighter things. It is the way of the Kings of Sharakhai.”
Leorah didn’t want to talk about Kings any longer.
“I don’t know how to feel!” she confessed to the cooling desert sky.
“How to feel?” Devorah replied. Her voice was ephemeral, but it grew stronger with each passing moment. “Feel all of it. The sorrow and the joy. The anger and loneliness. The same as me.”
“But we’re not the same. You’re trapped while I’m yet free.”
“I knew the way of things when I went to Sukru’s ship.”
“But it doesn’t have to be so,” Leorah said, readying the secret, the hope she’d harbored across the day.
She could sense Devorah’s confusion. “What do you mean?”
“The stone. It holds your soul, but it can just as easily hold mine.” Leorah spread her arms wide. She touched her own cheeks. “We can trade places, you and I. We can share in this, the poorest of our forms!”
“Leorah—”
“The stone is particular in its magic. We can only do so at dawn and dusk, but what matter is that! You may have the day if you like. Or the night. You’ve always loved the moon and stars. Now it shall be yours!”
“Leorah—”
“In truth,” Leorah went on, “this is a gift. I’ve never known you as well as I might have. As well as I should. Do not think to hide away in a stone. Share with me, sister. Share with me, and live!”
Leorah felt tears slipping down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure if they were Devorah’s or her own.
“Both,” Devorah said.
With that, Leorah felt her acceptance.
They spoke for a time as the sun went down. They laughed. They cried. And slowly, Leorah felt herself being swallowed, felt her bodily self go numb. When the light from the sun began to fade, it was no longer Leorah who stretched out her arms and legs, nor she who gripped her fingers, nor scrunched her toes. Leorah felt these things, but they were distant as memories. They contented her, however. They were like the strokes of her mother’s hand, an embrace in her father’s arms.
As Leorah’s sense of her own body failed entirely, Devorah stood.
“Thank you, sister,” she said, and headed toward the glittering camp.
About the Author
Bradley P. Beaulieu fell in love with fantasy from the moment he started reading The Hobbit in third grade. From that point on, though he tried reading many other things, fantasy became his touchstone. He always came back to it, and when he started to dabble in writing, fantasy—epic fantasy especially—was the type of story he most dearly wished to share.
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, the first book in his latest series, The Song of the Shattered Sands, was named to over twenty “Best of the Year” lists when it was released in 2015. His critically acclaimed series, The Lays of Anuskaya, has recently been released in omnibus form.
Brad, who recently became a full-time writer, lives in Racine, Wisconsin with his wife and two children. Beyond writing, cooking has become an obsession. His favorite dishes are French, Italian, and Mexican/Southwestern, but he is also fascinated by the art of bread baking.
For more, please visit www.quillings.com, and to sign up for the author’s low-volume newsletter, click here.
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai is the first book in the new Arabian Nights-inspired epic fantasy series, The Song of the Shattered Sands…
Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings—cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule.
Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings' mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings' power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don't find her first.
With Blood Upon the Sand is the second book in the Arabian Nights-inspired epic fantasy series, The Song of the Shattered Sands.
Çeda, now a Blade Maiden in service to the kings of Sharakhai, trains as one of their elite warriors, gleaning secrets even as they send her on covert missions to further their rule. She knows the dark history of the asirim—that hundreds of years ago they were enslaved to the kings against their will—but when she bonds with them as a Maiden, chaining them to her, she feels their pain as if her own. They hunger for release, they demand it, but with the power of the gods compelling them, they find the yokes around their necks unbreakable.
Çeda could become the champion they’ve been waiting for, but the need to tread carefully has never been greater. After the victory won by the Moonless Host in the Wandering King’s palace, the kings are hungry for blood. They scour the city, ruthless in their quest for revenge. Unrest spreads like a plague, a thing Emre and his new allies in the Moonless Host hope to exploit, but with the kings and their god-given powers, and the Maidens and their deadly ebon blades, there is little hope of doing so.
When Çeda and Emre are drawn into a plot of the blood mage, Hamzakiir, they sail across the desert to learn the truth, and a devastating secret is revealed, one that may very well shatter the power of the hated kings. They plot quickly to take advantage of it, but it may all be undone if Çeda cannot learn to navigate the shifting tides of power in Sharakhai and control the growing anger of the asirim that threatens to overwhelm her.
A Veil of Spears is the third book in the Arabian Nights-inspired epic fantasy
series, The Song of the Shattered Sands.
The Night of Endless Swords was a bloody battle that saw the death of one of Sharakhai’s immortal kings. When former pit fighter Çeda narrowly escapes the battle and flees into the desert, she takes with her the secrets she learned while posing as a Blade Maiden, one of the elite women warriors who protect the kings. Foremost among these is the revelation that the asirim, the kings’ frightening immortal slaves, are in fact Çeda’s own ancestors. They are survivors of the fabled thirteenth tribe, men and women whose lives were bargained away so that the kings could secure their wondrous powers from the desert gods.
To Çeda’s great joy, the scattered survivors of the thirteenth tribe are gathering in the desert, forming a new tribe from the descendants of the few who escaped the kings’ cruelties. Their very existence is threatened, however, both by Onur, the King of Spears, who is calling warriors to his banner to challenge the other kings’ rule, and by the other Sharakhani Kings, who will stop at nothing to see the thirteenth tribe destroyed once and for all.
In desperation, Çeda returns to Sharakhai, hoping to break the chains of the enslaved asirim and save her people.
In the city, Çeda soon discovers that the once-unified front of the kings is crumbling. Feeling their power slipping away, the kings vie for control over the city and the desert beyond. Çeda plans to use that to her advantage, but who can she trust? Any of them might betray her as easily as they betray their fellow kings.
As Çeda works to free the asirim and rally them to the defense of the thirteenth tribe, the Kings of Sharakhai prepare for a grand clash that may decide the fate of all.
Of Sand and Malice Made is the exciting prequel to Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, the acclaimed first novel in The Song of the Shattered Sands.
Çeda is the youngest pit fighter in the history of Sharakhai. She’s made her name in the arena as the fearsome White Wolf. None but her closest friends and allies know her true identity. But this all changes when she crosses the path of Rümayesh, an ehrekh, a sadistic creature forged aeons ago by the god of chaos.
The ehrekh are desert dwellers, but for centuries Rümayesh has lurked in the dark corners of Sharakhai, combing the populace for jewels that might interest her. Some she chooses to stand by her side, until she tires of them and discards them. Others she abducts to examine more closely, a thing that leaves them ruined, worn-out husks.
Çeda flees the ehrekh’s attentions, but that only makes Rümayesh covet her even more. Rümayesh grows violent. She threatens to unmask Çeda as the White Wolf, but the danger grows infinitely worse when she turns her attention to Çeda’s friends. Çeda is horrified. She’s seen firsthand the suffering left in Rümayesh’s wake.
As Çeda fights to protect the people dearest to her, Rümayesh comes closer to attaining her prize and the struggle becomes a battle for Çeda’s very soul.
This spellbinding tale is sure to strike a chord with readers of Peter V. Brett, Brent Weeks, and Trudi Canavan—as well as fans of Twelve Kings in Sharakhai eagerly awaiting the later books in the Shattered Sands series.
This omnibus edition of The Lays of Anuskaya is comprised of the following novels:
The Winds of Khalakovo
The Straits of Galahesh
The Flames of Shadam Khoreh
Also included are the following two Lays of Anuskaya novellas:
“To the Towers of Tulandan”
“Prima”
Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo’s eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade. Now, Khalakovo is to play host to the Nine Dukes, a meeting which will weigh heavily upon Khalakovo’s future.
When an elemental spirit attacks an incoming windship, murdering the Grand Duke and his retinue, Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, is tasked with finding the child prodigy believed to be behind the summoning. However, Nikandr discovers that the boy is an autistic savant who may hold the key to lifting the blight that has been sweeping the islands. Can the Dukes, thirsty for revenge, be held at bay? Can Khalakovo be saved? The elusive answer drifts upon the Winds of Khalakovo…
Find more adventures in other worlds with Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten & Other Stories…
With The Winds of Khalakovo, Bradley P. Beaulieu established himself as a talented new voice in epic fantasy. Now, with the release of his premiere short story collection, Beaulieu demonstrates his ability to weave tales that explore other worlds in ways that are at once bold, imaginative, and touching. Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten & Other Stories contains 17 stories that range from the epic to the heroic, some in print for the first time.
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai marked the start of a bold new epic fantasy series for critically acclaimed author Bradley P. Beaulieu.
In the Stars I’ll Find You & Other Tales of Futures Fantastic features Beaulieu’s science fictional work, from exploring far-flung worlds to finding what it means to be human through artificial intelligence to the cost of dividing ourselves—or ourself—through the use of technology.
In this short story collection, you’ll find eleven tales that explore our very human relationship with technology, some in print for the first time.
The Burning Light is a stand-alone novella by Bradley P. Beaulieu and Rob Ziegler.
Disgraced government operative Colonel Chu is exiled to the flooded relic of New York City. Something called the Light has hit the streets like an epidemic, leavings its users strung out and disconnected from the mind-network humanity relies on. Chu has lost everything she cares about to the Light. She’ll end the threat or die trying.
A former corporate pilot who controlled a thousand ships with her mind, Zola looks like just another Light-junkie living hand to mouth on the edge of society. She’s special though. As much as she needs the Light, the Light needs her too. But, Chu is getting close and Zola can’t hide forever.
A thrilling and all-too believable science fiction novella from the authors of Twelve Kings in Sharakhai and Seed.
Strata is a stand-alone novella by two Writers of the Future Award winners.
It’s the middle of the twenty-second century. Earth’s oil and gas reserves have been spent, but humankind’s thirst for energy remains unquenched. Vast solar mining platforms circle the upper atmosphere of the sun, drawing power lines up from the stellar interior and tight-beaming the energy back to Earth. For most of the platforms’ teeming masses, life is hard, cramped—and hot. Most dream of a return Earthside, but a two-way ticket wasn’t part of the benefits package, and a Sun-Earth trip doesn’t come cheap.
Kawe Ndechi is luckier than most. He’s a gifted rider—a skimmer pilot who races the surface of the sun’s convection zone—and he needs only two more wins before he lands a ticket home. The only trouble is, Kawe’s spent most of his life on the platforms. He’s seen the misery, and he’s not sure he’s the only one who deserves a chance at returning home.
That makes Smith Pouslon nervous. Smith once raced the tunnels of fire himself, but now he’s a handler, and his rider, Kawe, is proving anything but easy to handle. Kawe’s slipping deeper and deeper into the Movement, but Smith knows that’s a fool’s game. His own foray into the Movement cost him his racing career—and nearly his life—and he doesn’t want Kawe to throw everything away for a revolt that will never succeed.
One sun. Two men. The fate of a million souls.
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