by Morgan Rice
Lucious looked toward the Stade, then waved that concern away. Yes, there was noise, and even smoke, but that was just the normal aftermath of a battle, wasn’t it?
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Lucious said. “I sent enough soldiers into the Stade to take down a regiment. The last remnants of a broken rebellion are nothing.”
Even so, he let the others go ahead of him. If there was nothing to worry about, he could still step to the fore. If there were still a few combatlords to finish, he could have the mercenaries bring them down with crossbows. Either way, there would be no problem.
It was only when he saw the crowds pouring out of the Stade that he started to realize that it might not have turned out the way he anticipated. He saw the soldiers in the uniforms of Lord West’s men, resplendent in their armor, and his worry built—layer upon layer.
He narrowed his eyes, confused, and then spotted rebels wearing what he swore were the colors of Haylon—and fear bubbled up within him until it seemed to fill him to the brim.
He saw the combatlords pouring out from the Stade with the others, saw who stood at their heart—and his worry gave way to terror.
Ceres was alive, and she moved like the hero Lucious had wanted to be. Her blades were shining in her hands, and there was blood on them.
Lucious saw her turn, and he was sure that her eyes fixed on him. She shouldn’t have been able to pick him out at that distance, but he was sure that she did, just as he was sure about the malevolence there that turned her from someone in the midst of celebration to some kind of instrument of vengeance.
He had a moment to think that maybe golden armor wasn’t the best way to blend in.
And then he saw Ceres gesture and the crowd surge forward.
Right toward him.
His fear bubbled over into panic, but he managed enough control to turn to the others and point at the advancing horde.
“What are you waiting for? Slaughter those peasants! Charge!”
Some of them did; yet more of them did not.
Lucious didn’t care either way, because he was already running.
He glanced back just long enough to see the first of his men being cut down, and they didn’t even seem to slow the wash of people descending on them. They poured over his mercenaries like the rising tide, cutting them down or simply trampling them. There were simply too many of them.
Lucious ran faster then, really ran. One of his men got in the way and Lucious elbowed him aside, not caring that he heard the man scream and fall just behind him.
He ran down a side street, breaking away from the main avenue leading to the Stade. There was still the sound of footsteps behind him, and Lucious felt a hand grabbing for his shoulder. He drew a blade and stabbed back without pausing, not caring if it was one of the rebels or one of his own soldiers who had grabbed him. He felt the blade slide into flesh and kept moving.
Lucious kept running, his brain working on pure instinct as he picked turnings to dart down. He’d learned a surprising amount about the layout of the city in his days ravaging it and taking Stephania’s informants from her, but even so, he quickly found himself getting lost.
Maybe that was a good thing. If he didn’t know where he was, how could anybody else find him? Even so, he kept running until his heart hammered in his chest and his breath seemed to burn every time he drew it in. That didn’t take long. Lucious had never been one to put himself through unnecessary exercise.
He broke open a door at random, his sword out to gut any occupants of the hovel he found himself in before they could attract attention. It was empty though. Comfortingly empty and dark, with light only coming in through the slats of boarded up windows.
Lucious pushed the door closed and leaned against it, not wanting to sit down on a floor covered with filthy straw, or even risk the few ragged pieces of furniture that remained there.
“How?” he demanded of the empty air. “How could this happen?”
He did it quietly, though, because there was still too much of a risk that someone might be outside, searching for him.
He needed a way out of the city. His men had been cut to pieces. The soldiers in the city had almost certainly been slaughtered as well, because the peasants wouldn’t have emerged from the Stade so easily if it hadn’t been the case.
There were probably those who thought that Lucious was stupid. That he was no kind of strategist. His father certainly had, before he’d learned better. But Lucious could see which way the wind was blowing, and you didn’t need to be much of a strategist to know that it wasn’t possible to hold a city without an army.
Which meant but one thing: he needed to get out of Delos.
Methodically, Lucious started to remove his armor, stripping down to his tunic and hose. Even that wouldn’t be good enough, because the quality of them would be far too recognizable. So he went around the hovel, searching until he came up with rags in which to dress. He put them on over his tunic, of course. He didn’t want the things touching his skin, after all.
He smeared his golden hair with dirt to complete the impression of one of the lower orders, and stashed his sword in a burlap sack.
As he took a deep breath and stepped into the street, Lucious felt sure that every eye was upon him, and that the hordes of rebels would descend upon him. Around him, Lucious could hear the shouts and cries of rebellion, smell the scent of burning that always came with such things.
Yet no one came for him.
When he walked past a group of rioters, they barely gave him a second glance. People had spent so long seeing him in his finery that without it, he was almost invisible. If his face hadn’t been streaked with dirt, Lucious might almost have appreciated that.
He couldn’t go to the docks. If there were rebels from Haylon there, that meant ships, probably enough to hunt down any imperial vessel trying to leave. There were other ways, though.
Lucious hunted through the streets until he found what he’d been searching for, what his traitors and informants had told him all about.
The entrance to the rebellion’s tunnels was hidden at the back of an inn, behind a wooden wheel half collapsed against a wall. He ducked into the dark, finding a candle hidden there and lighting it. There was a certain poetry to using this way out of the city.
Lucious looked back, seeing the castle away in the distance. He wondered if it would be alight soon, and how many of those there the rebels would kill in their marauding through the city. He found that he didn’t care, even when it occurred to him that his mother was still in there. The only thing that did matter was what it said about him. The Year Long King? Lucious hadn’t managed more than an hour yet, and already he’d lost his capital city.
I’ll get it back.
That would be easy enough. Delos was just one city, and he was the rightful heir to the Empire. An empire that had soldiers everywhere, way outside these city walls, in its farthest reaches. An empire that had allies and client states, old friends and countries that owed them favors.
Felldust, he thought, the shape of the plan already forming in his mind. They were some of the Empire’s closest allies, with long links to their houses. He would head down the coast until he found a fishing village, hire passage on a boat, and only announce himself when he got there. Once he did, it would only take one conversation with their rulers before they gave him their support.
Their support—and more importantly, their army.
Lucious nodded to himself as he took one last look at the city. A city that was falling to pieces even while he waited.
I will return, he thought. And I will take it back.
Coming Soon!
Book #5 in the Of Crowns and Glory series
NOW ALSO AVAILABLE!
ONLY THE WORTHY
(The Way of Steel—Book 1)
“Morgan Rice did it again! Building a strong set of characters, the author delivers another magical world. ONLY THE WORTHY is filled with intrigue, betrayals, unexpected friendship and al
l the good ingredients that will make you savor every turn of the pages. Packed with action, you will read this book on the edge of your seat.”
--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos
From Morgan Rice, #1 Bestselling author of THE SORCERER’S RING, comes a riveting new fantasy series.
ONLY THE WORTHY (The Way of Steel—Book 1) tells the epic coming of age story of Royce, 17, a peasant farmer who senses, with his special fighting skills, that he is different from all the other boys in his village. There resides within him a power he does not understand, and a hidden destiny he is afraid to face.
On the day he is to be wed to his one true love, Genevieve, she is stolen away from him. Royce chooses to risk it all to confront the nobles who took her and to try to save his love. When he fails, he is sentenced to the infamous Red Isle, a barren island of warriors known for turning boys into men. Banished from his homeland, Royce must face trials beyond which he can imagine as he is taught to survive the notorious Pits—the kingdom’s brutal bloodsport. Genevieve, meanwhile, desperate for Royce’s return, is forced to navigate the cruel and conniving world of aristocracy as she finds herself immersed in a world she despises.
Yet as Royce’s powers become stronger and as he learns there is a secret behind the mysterious lineage of his father, he comes to realize that his destiny may be greater than he thought. He begins to wonder at the most terrifying question of all: who is he?
ONLY THE WORTHY weaves an epic tale of friends and lovers, of knights and honor, of betrayal, destiny and love. A tale of valor, it draws us into a fantasy world we will fall in love with, and appeals to all ages and genders.
ONLY THE WORTHY
(The Way of Steel—Book 1)
Listen to THE SORCERER’S RING series in audio book format!
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Books by Morgan Rice
THE WAY OF STEEL
ONLY THE WORTHY (Book #1)
OF CROWNS AND GLORY
SLAVE, WARRIOR, QUEEN (Book #1)
ROGUE, PRISONER, PRINCESS (Book #2)
KNIGHT, HEIR, PRINCE (Book #3)
REBEL, PAWN, KING (Book #4)
KINGS AND SORCERERS
RISE OF THE DRAGONS (Book #1)
RISE OF THE VALIANT (Book #2)
THE WEIGHT OF HONOR (Book #3)
A FORGE OF VALOR (Book #4)
A REALM OF SHADOWS (Book #5)
NIGHT OF THE BOLD (Book #6)
THE SORCERER’S RING
A QUEST OF HEROES (Book #1)
A MARCH OF KINGS (Book #2)
A FATE OF DRAGONS (Book #3)
A CRY OF HONOR (Book #4)
A VOW OF GLORY (Book #5)
A CHARGE OF VALOR (Book #6)
A RITE OF SWORDS (Book #7)
A GRANT OF ARMS (Book #8)
A SKY OF SPELLS (Book #9)
A SEA OF SHIELDS (Book #10)
A REIGN OF STEEL (Book #11)
A LAND OF FIRE (Book #12)
A RULE OF QUEENS (Book #13)
AN OATH OF BROTHERS (Book #14)
A DREAM OF MORTALS (Book #15)
A JOUST OF KNIGHTS (Book #16)
THE GIFT OF BATTLE (Book #17)
THE SURVIVAL TRILOGY
ARENA ONE: SLAVERSUNNERS (Book #1)
ARENA TWO (Book #2)
ARENA THREE (Book #3)
VAMPIRE, FALLEN
BEFORE DAWN (Book #1)
THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS
TURNED (Book #1)
LOVED (Book #2)
BETRAYED (Book #3)
DESTINED (Book #4)
DESIRED (Book #5)
BETROTHED (Book #6)
VOWED (Book #7)
FOUND (Book #8)
RESURRECTED (Book #9)
CRAVED (Book #10)
FATED (Book #11)
OBSESSED (Book #12)
About Morgan Rice
Morgan Rice is the #1 bestselling and USA Today bestselling author of the epic fantasy series THE SORCERER’S RING, comprising seventeen books; of the #1 bestselling series THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, comprising twelve books; of the #1 bestselling series THE SURVIVAL TRILOGY, a post-apocalyptic thriller comprising three books; of the epic fantasy series KINGS AND SORCERERS, comprising six books; and of the new epic fantasy series OF CROWNS AND GLORY. Morgan’s books are available in audio and print editions, and translations are available in over 25 languages.
Morgan loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.morganricebooks.com to join the email list, receive a free book, receive free giveaways, download the free app, get the latest exclusive news, connect on Facebook and Twitter, and stay in touch!
