N’lahr looked as though that death had struck particularly hard. “She died after fighting a mage on a dragon. She killed the mage. Varama told me she planned to nominate her for the ring,” he finished slowly. “I asked her if she wanted to award her a posthumous elevation.”
A handful of those had occurred, over the course of the years, when a squire had perished heroicly in the line of duty. They were thereafter credited in the rolls as having reached the seventh rank despite never donning the ring.
N’lahr finished his thought. “But Varama wasn’t sure Sansyra still wanted to be an alten, so she’s finding a different way to honor her.”
Rylin nodded, wondering that he should be so affected that he had no appropriate words. And then another thought came to him. “Aradel had a niece. Denalia. Did she…”
At N’lahr’s slow head shake in the negative, Rylin swore. The only words that would come.
Kyrkenall handed him the wine. “I’m sorry about your friends,” the archer said gently.
“It’s the damnedest thing,” he said after a long pull. It was overly sweet. He passed it back without comment, and wiped a tear from his cheek. “I barely knew Denalia. And Sansyra wasn’t really my friend … Thelar and I hated each other. And yet … we had each other’s back today. It’s all different now.”
“On the line you find out who your real friends are,” Kyrkenall said.
Rylin’s hand stretched up to his chin, clear of beard hair for the first time in days. Apart from a cursory wash, the shave was the only grooming he’d managed since the battle this afternoon, unless he counted the change of his undergarments. He hadn’t yet had time for a bath, or a haircut, or a deep cleaning of his khalat. All of those would be nice, though what he really wished was to sleep for about a week.
He didn’t want to sound as though he was challenging either man, who were not only senior officers but living legends, so he still hesitated a moment before finally asking the question he’d been wondering all the way out to the ridge. “What are you two doing out here, anyway?”
“You mean instead of rushing around the capital with a push broom?” Kyrkenall asked.
“No,” he said, although there was a small element of truth to that line of inquiry.
“Me, I had to get away from all those people and all those questions before I killed someone.” Kyrkenall thumbed at N’lahr. “And my friend here needed to rest after winning Alantris then racing overnight to get here.”
“I didn’t win Alantris,” N’lahr said fiercely. Even Kyrkenall looked startled and N’lahr’s tone quickly cooled. “You give me too much credit. Varama’s the one who weakened the Naor. She set everything in place, through careful planning, and great risk. All she needed were the numbers I escorted. Nearly everything else was already laid out.”
“Here’s to Varama, then,” Kyrkenall said, and drank.
Rylin suddenly missed her, terribly.
“As for why I’m here,” N’lahr said, “I wanted to see my tomb.”
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Kyrkenall asked. “I thought Asrahn’s husband did a great job with your image on the door.”
N’lahr agreed lightly. “The view is extraordinary. The bench is uncomfortable.”
Kyrkenall snorted. “I bet it’s worse inside the box.”
“If I was in the box, I wouldn’t notice the view or the discomfort.”
“Fair point. If you like,” Kyrkenall said, “we can drag out some cushions next time.”
“I don’t intend to spend my free time here,” N’lahr said dryly. “We probably ought to be going.”
Kyrkenall’s mouth twisted in annoyance and he took a pull from the bottle. “I know there’s an awful lot to do, but is there any particular crisis we’re needed for, just this minute?”
“Apart from the fact we may only have days before the queen summons a mysterious, long-vanished goddess, and we don’t know what will happen if she does? And that no one knows exactly where the queen has gone?” Rylin was surprised by his own sarcasm.
So, apparently, was Kyrkenall, who stared at him, then laughed. “You’re all right, Rylin. Did you have any luck getting the queen’s location out of the exalts?”
Rylin shook his head. “They don’t know. I’ve been searching the queen’s office for clues. Thelar’s looking into some stones on a shelf there. He said he thought they might be important.”
“Stones on a shelf?” Kyrkenall repeated, instantly alert. “Gem stones?”
“Yes,” Rylin said, and at the bowman’s look of intense interest, added, “I found an Altenerai ring next to one of them, and I think it might be Kalandra’s.”
Kyrkenall swore and sprang from the bench, then sprinted out the door.
Rylin looked to the commander, who had climbed to his feet. In moments they heard hoofbeats receding.
“What has him in such a hurry?”
“He’s been looking for Kalandra, and was told she might be in a gem, on a shelf.”
Rylin wondered how that could be possible, then shook his head. After all that he’d seen in the last few days, very little defied belief now. “Here’s hoping, then.”
“Yes. I’ve stayed up here too long.” N’lahr started for the door. “I imagine the councilors have their hands full trying to sort everything out.”
“They’re still trying to decide who’s really in charge,” he said as he followed the commander into the sunlight. “And the city sectors are picking councilors to replace the ones the queen killed.” He fell quiet briefly at the thought of what he’d see in those council halls if he walked into that side of the building. “There’s already talk of choosing a new queen.”
“Have they nominated one of the councilors or governors?” N’lahr asked.
“No. But a big crowd of people was gathering outside the Hall of Ancestors when I left, shouting their choice.”
“Who?” N’lahr asked.
“Elenai.”
Acknowledgments
I am once again indebted to a team of people who were very giving of their considerable skills. Jennifer Donovan and Hannah O’Grady were always ready to assist behind the scenes. Kristopher Kam and Sarah Bonamino were invaluable for getting the word out. Edwin Chapman’s eagle eye saved me from any number of little mistakes and from some big ones as well. Ian Tregillis was the guinea pig who read the rough draft and offered numerous brilliant observations so that the readers who followed him didn’t have to suffer as much. Second readers, John Chris Hocking and Kelly McCullough, rode to my rescue with keen eyes and sharpened quills when I needed them most, and I’ll be forever grateful for their timely and essential feedback. Pete Wolverton was an ever-steadying hand, keeping the story and characters honest and on the proper path. Bob Mecoy was always ready to assist, and helped with plot knots and sanity checks as the deadline ticked down. Lastly, an extra-special thank-you is owed my long-suffering wife, Shannon, whose work on this text was invaluable. A whole lot of idiotic things are absent thanks to her, and an untold number of passages are finer for her insight and input.
ALSO BY HOWARD ANDREW JONES
For the Killing of Kings
The Bones of the Old Ones
The Desert of Souls
About the Author
HOWARD ANDREW JONES has worked variously as a TV cameraman, a book editor, a recycling consultant, and a college writing instructor. He assembled and edited eight collections of Harold Lamb’s historicals for the University of Nebraska Press, and served as managing editor of Black Gate. He edits the sword-and-sorcery magazine Tales from the Magician’s Skull, and serves as executive editor of the Perilous Worlds book imprint. He lives on a small family farm with his wife and children, and can be found online at www.howardandrewjones.com and @howardandrewjon, or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Map
Pledge of the Altenerai
Prologue
1. The Dark Below
2. The New Commander
3. Dragon Lord
4. Beyond the Wall
5. With Clearest Sight
6. Crimson Dreams
7. Allies on the Wing
8. A Brother’s Word
9. The Tracks in the Outpost
10. Challenge in the Shifts
11. Among the Dragons
12. The Hand of the Enemy
13. Of Wing and Claw
14. Words from Afar
15. Counsel from the Dead
16. The Next Ride
17. Koregan’s Fall
18. Final Plans
19. Sealed with a Kiss
20. The God in the Wastes
21. Last Words
22. Gathering in the Dark
23. The Fire in the Sky
24. The Last Dragon
25. Darassus Awaits
26. The Alantran Road
27. Among the Missing
28. An Unexpected Guest
29. Homecoming
30. Strike as One
31. Joining Forces
32. The Army at the Wall
33. With Half of a Sword
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Howard Andrew Jones
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
UPON THE FLIGHT OF THE QUEEN. Copyright © 2019 by Howard Andrew Jones.
All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
Map by Darian Vincent Jones
Cover design by Lesley Worrell and Young Jin Lim
Cover illustration by Lauren Saint-Onge
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Jones, Howard A., author.
Title: Upon the flight of the queen / Howard Andrew Jones.
Description: First edition. | New York : St. Martin’s Press, 2019. | Series: The ring-sworn trilogy ; 2 |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019028084 | ISBN 9781250148803 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250148810 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Fantasy fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3610.O62535 U66 2019 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019028084
eISBN 9781250148810
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First Edition: November 2019
Upon the Flight of the Queen Page 55
