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drama is tiring.” “What I really want to do,” Dalinar said frankly, “is beat the lot of them senseless. That’s what I’d do to new recruits who weren’t willing to obey orders.” “I think you’ll have a hard time spanking obedience into the highprinces, Uncle,” the king said dryly. For some reason, he absently rubbed at hi...
your scabbard.” Adolin frowned, considering that for a moment. Then a wide grin split his face. “You mean, letting me duel again? For real?” “Yes,” Dalinar said. He turned to the king. “For the longest time, I’ve forbidden him from important bouts, as the Codes prohibit duels of honor between officers at war. More and ...
Uncle,” Elhokar said, sounding tired. “I don’t think Khal is right; I don’t think Alethkar will shatter immediately. The highprinces have come to like the idea of being one kingdom. But they also like their sport, their fun, their gemhearts. So they will send assassins. Quietly, at first, and probably not directly at y...
. Ishar’s soul, Father! They could do things we cannot. Simply naming someone a Radiant won’t give them fanciful powers, like in the stories.” “The Radiants were about more than what they could do,” Dalinar said. “They were about an ideal. The kind of ideal we’re lacking, these days. We may not be able to reach for the...
chin. “Sir?” “Your force isn’t the only one stretched thin in this warcamp, soldier,” Dalinar said. “I lost a lot of men to Sadeas’s betrayal. Very good men. Now I have a deadline. Just over sixty days . . .” Kaladin felt a chill. The highprince was taking the number found scrawled on his wall very seriously. “Captain,...
now. It needs to follow Alethi laws.” “I have a thousand men I need to train,” Kaladin said. “If I could patrol them out there, it might help them feel like soldiers. I could use a large enough force that it sends a message to the bandits, maybe making them withdraw—but my men won’t need to see much combat.” “Good. Gen...
chewed and swallowed. “Eat,” Pattern said. “You . . . make it . . . into you.” “Yes! Exactly.” He dropped down, the darkness vanishing as he entered the wooden deck of the ship. Once again, he became part of the material—making the wood ripple as if it were water. He slid across the floor, then moved up the box beside ...
You look like you swallowed a turtle. And not just the head, neither.” “I’m well,” Shallan said. “What . . . what was it you wanted of me, again?” “In Kharbranth,” Yalb said, thumbing over his shoulder. “Did we or did we not meet the king?” “We?” Shallan asked. “I met him.” “And I was your retinue.” “You were waiting o...
true port, had at least had a stormwall to help shelter the ship. Next highstorm, they wouldn’t even have that. They’d find a cove and try to ride out the winds, though Tozbek said he’d send Shallan and Jasnah ashore to seek shelter in a cavern. She turned back to Pattern, who had shifted into his hovering form. He loo...
on the floor of her small chamber. She felt . . . satisfied. Her brothers loved the plan of fixing the Soulcaster and returning it, and seemed energized by her suggestion that all was not lost. They thought they could last longer, now that a plan was in place. Shallan’s life was coming together. How long had it been si...
massaging her temples. A few dizzy-looking spren, like jets of dust rising into the air, appeared around Jasnah’s head. Exhaustionspren. Shallan pulled back, suddenly feeling as if she’d intruded upon an intimate moment. Jasnah with her defenses down. Shallan began to creep away, but a voice from the floor suddenly sai...
one of the Surges is known as Illumination, the mastery of light. For now, I would prefer you expend your efforts on learning this Surge, as opposed to Soulcasting. That is a dangerous art, more so now than it once was.” Shallan nodded, rising. She hesitated before leaving, however. “Are you sure you are well?” “Of cou...
may not need to hear a call to action in order to revolt.” Shallan read the report, nodding slowly. “We need to warn others, Jasnah.” “You don’t think I’ve tried?” Jasnah asked. “I’ve written to scholars and kings all around the world. Most dismiss me as paranoid. The evidence you readily accept, others call flimsy. “T...
in the Palanaeum was very useful, but also in some ways disappointing. While I confirmed my suspicions about the parshmen, I also found that many of the great library’s records bore the same signs of tampering as others I’d read. This ‘cleansing’ of history, removing direct references to Urithiru or the Radiants becaus...
found herself much heavier of heart than when she’d left it. She couldn’t banish the image of terror in Jasnah’s eyes. Jasnah Kholin shouldn’t fear anything, should she? Shallan crawled onto her cot with the book she’d been given and the pouch of spheres. Part of her was eager to begin, but she was exhausted, her eyeli...
hyperventilating as the men outside continued to ram their shoulders against her door. She was not ready for this. She was not prepared. “Mmmm . . .” Pattern said, sounding dissatisfied. “Lies.” “I don’t know how to use the lies!” Shallan said. “I haven’t practiced.” “Yes. Yes . . . remember . . . the time before . . ....
course it was only Pattern. “What?” Shallan hissed. “Dark men killing,” Pattern said. “Sailors tied in ropes. One dead, bleeding red. I . . . I do not understand. . . .” Oh, Stormfather . . . Above, the shouting heightened, but there was no scramble of boots on the deck, no clanging of weapons. The sailors had been cap...
place. Or was it? Did it matter? She reached back through recent memory to the time when she’d last Soulcast and accidentally turned a goblet into blood. “I need a truth.” “You have given enough,” Pattern said. “Now. See.” The ship vanished. Everything . . . popped. The walls, the furniture, it all shattered into littl...
She could feel it, the pride it took, the reinforcement of years of service. “They are dying,” she whispered. “No!” “You can feel them dying. Their blood on your deck. One by one, the people you serve will be cut down.” She could feel it herself, could see it in the ship. They were being executed. Nearby, one of the fl...
here. This was what you did. The scents of a plateau run were the scents of a great stillness: baked stone, dried crem, long-traveled winds. Most recently, Dalinar was coming to detest plateau runs. They were a frivolity, a waste of life. They weren’t about fulfilling the Vengeance Pact, but about greed. Many gemhearts...
armies to work together. The fact that Aladar had come as commanded, and Roion had not—even though the target plateau was closest to Roion’s warcamp—was a victory unto itself. A small encouragement, but Dalinar would take what he could get. He found Highprince Aladar watching from a small pavilion set up on a secure, r...
among us and undercuts the successful.” “Fine,” Dalinar snapped, “honor has no value to you. You will still obey, Aladar, because your king demands it. That is the only reason you need. You will do as told.” “Or?” Aladar said. “Ask Yenev.” Aladar started as if slapped. Ten years back, Highprince Yenev had refused to ac...
get final say over our tactics.” “I observe only,” Dalinar said. “I’m not even commanding my own army today. You may choose your tactics, and I will not interfere.” Aladar considered, then cursed softly. “Assume Dalinar is correct. Prepare the men for a withdrawal by the Parshendi. Send a strike team forward to secure ...
to risk too much of myself. The others would do to me what Sadeas did to you on the Tower.” “What if I can bring the others around? What if I can prove to you that they’re worthy of trust? What if I can change the direction of this kingdom, and this war? Will you follow me then?” “No,” Aladar said. “I’m sorry.” He turn...
chasm bottom here, however, was untouched. There were no paths cut through the snarl of stormleavings on the ground, and there were no scratched messages or instructions in the lichen on the walls. Like the other chasms, this one opened up like a vase, wider at the bottom than at the cracked top—a result of waters rush...
have been swept away by a highstorm at any moment. Now, with Dalinar Kholin’s stormwardens to guide us, we won’t have nearly as much risk—and we’ll be staying close to the exit just in case . . .” Kaladin folded his arms, watching Teft instruct as Rock handed practice spears to the men. Teft himself carried no spear, a...
Syl had carried a leaf once. She had some physical form, just not much. “I don’t know,” she said, glancing to the side. “I’ve seen . . .” “What?” “Spren like red lightning,” Syl said softly. “Dangerous spren. Spren I haven’t seen before. I catch them in the distance, on occasion. Stormspren? Something dangerous is comi...
me, coming into this realm before I found you. It was dangerous.” “Where were you before?” “Another place. With lots of spren. I can’t remember well . . . it had lights in the air. Living lights.” “Like lifespren.” “Yes. And no. Coming here risked death. Without you, without a mind born of this realm, I couldn’t think....
sky itself. Whatever the thing was—spren, Herald, or god—it had not tempered its storms for Kaladin during that day he’d spent strung up. “We are needed, Kaladin,” Syl said softly. She waved for him, and he lowered his hand to the shore of the tiny violet ocean glowing softly in the chasm. She stepped onto his hand, an...
said to her. “I will endure whatever you wish of me. And now that I am free, I can create a shrine fitting to you.” “A shrine?” Syl said, eyes widening. “Ooooh.” “Syl!” Kaladin said. “Stop it. Rock, I saw a good place for the men to practice. It’s back a couple of branches. I marked it on the walls.” “Yes, we saw this ...
so sleep my baby dear.” They passed Father’s strongbox set into the wall. It glowed brightly, light streaming from the cracks around the closed door. A monster was inside. “And with a song, it won’t be long, you’ll sleep my baby dear.” With Shallan in his arms, Father left the room and closed the door on the corpses. S...
sailors, of Jasnah’s research, those were of less immediate concern. Shallan was stranded on a stretch of coast that was almost completely uninhabited, in lands that froze at night. As she’d been sitting, the tide had slowly withdrawn, and the gap between herself and the shore was not nearly as wide as it had been. Tha...
Her hair was a complete mess. Her safepouch had a few spheres in it, but none were infused. They’d be of no use unless she found civilization. Firewood, she thought. She’d gather that and build a fire. In the night, that might signal other survivors. Or it might signal pirates, bandits, or the shipboard assassins, if t...
they’d sailed the ocean, and she’d visited Shadesmar, she’d found obsidian ground beneath her. But in Kharbranth, she’d dropped into that ocean of spheres. “So what do we do?” Shallan asked. “Go slowly.” Shallan took a deep, cold breath, then nodded. She tried as she had before. Slowly, carefully. It was like . . . lik...
said. He sounded satisfied. “You could be fire,” Shallan said. “I am a stick.” The stick was not particularly eloquent. She supposed that she shouldn’t be surprised. “Why don’t you become fire instead?” “I am a stick.” “How do I make it change?” Shallan asked of Pattern. “Mm . . . I do not know. You must persuade it. O...
No. This didn’t seem right. She coughed, then somehow got to her feet. She stumbled away from her not-fire, dug a sphere from her safepouch, then started walking. Pattern moved at her feet. Those were bloodier now. She left a red trail on the rock. She couldn’t feel the cuts. She walked and walked. And walked. And . . ...
the rule of any group or nation. Who was to say what was legal here and what was not? Be calm, she told herself forcefully. They wouldn’t have awakened you politely if they were planning something like that. Selling a Vorin woman of high dahn—which the dress marked her as being—would be a risky gambit for a slaver. Mos...
. . ?” “Davar,” Shallan said, though she took care to soften her voice. Jasnah wasn’t condescending. Where other lighteyes, like Shallan’s father, went about with conceited egotism, Jasnah had simply expected people to do as she wished. And they had. She could make this work. She had to. “Tradesman Tvlakv,” Shallan sai...
in place, and then turned around and headed to the north. Toward the Shattered Plains. Kaladin pressed the stone against the wall of the chasm, and it stuck there. “All right,” he said, stepping back. Rock jumped up and grabbed it, then dangled from the wall, bending legs below. His deep, bellowing laugh echoed in the ...
Sigzil, Rock, and Lopen—all foreigners from places with different rules. Herdaz was Vorin, technically, but they had their own brand of it and Lopen didn’t seem to mind a man writing. “So,” Rock said as they waited, “Stormblessed leader, you said there was something else you could do, did you not?” “Fly!” Lopen said fr...
bad eggs. What is problem?” “I don’t know what I’m doing, Rock,” Sigzil said. “My master taught me to ask questions and find precise answers. But how can I be precise? I would need a clock for the timing, but they are too expensive. Even if we had one, I don’t know how to measure Stormlight!” “With chips,” Kaladin said...
that!” Lopen said, still chuckling. “It’s the best one I know—and trust me, I’m an expert on one-armed Herdazian jokes. ‘Lopen,’ my mother always says, ‘you must learn these to laugh before others do. Then you steal the laughter from them, and have it all for yourself.’ She is a very wise woman. I once brought her the ...
three others finally got their weapons apart as the Stormlight ran out. They formed up to face him again. Kaladin dashed forward. In the dim light of the chasm, the glow of the smoke rising from him was strong enough to cast shadows that leaped and spun. He crashed through pools, the water cold on his unshod feet. He’d...
most of his remaining Stormlight as he coughed. He leaned up against the wall, mopping sweat from his face. “Ha!” Rock said, stuck to the ground, splayed with arms to the sides. “I almost had you. Slippery as a fifth son, you are!” “Storms, Rock,” Kaladin said. “What I wouldn’t do to get you on the battlefield. You are...
Rock said, “it worked well.” “Yes,” Kaladin said. Though honestly, he probably could have dispatched the three men more easily just by using a spear and the extra speed and strength the Stormlight lent. He didn’t know yet whether that was because he was unfamiliar with these new powers, but he did think that forcing hi...
us, they aren’t around any longer.” If Teft had been in a dour mood before, this drove him down even further. He looked at the ground. He spoke of his past infrequently, but Kaladin was more and more certain that whoever these people had been, they were dead because of something Teft himself had done. “What would you t...
didn’t pester him—instead, they saluted and stood up straight. It was as crisp a salute as he’d ever gotten, as crisp as the ones given to a general. “They seem proud of you,” Syl said. “They don’t even know you, but they’re proud of you.” “They’re darkeyes,” Kaladin said, saluting back. “Probably men who were fighting...
Fortunately, this time they’d arrived well before the humans, and had harvested the gemheart with minimal fighting. Devi carried it; he had earned the privilege by being the one to spot the chrysalis from afar. Almost she wished it had not been so easy a run. Almost. Where are you, Blackthorn? she thought, looking west...
passed into the shadow of a big lump of rock that she always imagined might have been a city gate. From what little they’d learned from their spies over the years, she knew that the Alethi did not understand. They marched over the uneven surface of the plateaus and saw only natural rock, never knowing that they travers...
workform. More limber, more rugged. It wasn’t that she disliked leading these men, but doing the same thing every day—drills, plateau runs—numbed her mind. She wanted to be seeing new things, going new places. Instead, she joined her people in a long funeral vigil as, one by one, they died. No. We will find a way out o...
helm under her arm, leg aching. She passed through the watering square, where nimbles had crafted a large pool from sculpted crem. It caught rain during the riddens of a storm, thick with nourishment. Here, workers carried buckets to fetch water. Their forms were strong, almost like that of warform, though with thinner...
she called home: a small, collapsed dome. It reminded her of the ones on the edge of the Shattered Plains, actually—the enormous ones that the humans called warcamps. Her people had lived in those, before abandoning them for the security of the Shattered Plains, with its chasms the humans couldn’t jump. Her home was mu...
precious time and resources to make, but Venli insisted the reward would be worth the effort. She’d better be right. Venli regarded Eshonai. She had keen eyes—glassy and dark, like those of all listeners. Venli’s always seemed to have an extra depth of secret knowledge to them. In the right light, they had a violet cas...
Venli said, “could control a highstorm, or even summon one.” “I remember the song that speaks of this form,” Eshonai said. “It was a thing of the gods.” “Most of the forms are related to them in some way,” Venli said. “Can we really trust the accuracy of words first sung so long ago? When those songs were memorized, ou...
had been done for centuries. If something had been done one way for such a long time, he figured there was probably a good reason. Behind him stood the shadowed cubbies of a cobbler’s shop, the toes of dozens of shoes peeking out like the noses of eels in their holes. These were test shoes, used to judge size, choose m...
dirty and scraped. “Now,” Ym said, “that won’t do. Come, young one, settle down. Let’s get something on those feet.” He moved out one of his smaller stools. “They say you don’t charge nothin’,” the boy said, not moving. “They are quite wrong,” Ym said. “But I think you will find my cost bearable.” “Don’t have no sphere...
hidden compartment in the drawer and taking a more powerful sphere—a broam—from there, covering its light quickly in his hand while reaching for some antiseptic with the other hand. The medicine wasn’t going to be enough, not with the boy unable to stay off his feet. Lying in bed for weeks to heal, constantly applying ...
said. “Those are from other lands, come to preach to us. Iriali need no preaching, only experience. As each experience is different, it brings completeness. Eventually, all will be gathered back in—when the Seventh Land is attained—and we will once again become One.” “So you an’ me . . .” the urchin said. “Are the same...
all don’t matter in the end, ’cuz we’re going the same place.” “That’s true,” Ym said, “but isn’t very comforting right now, is it?” “Nope.” Ym turned back to his worktable. “Try not to walk on that wounded foot too much, if you can help it.” The urchin strode to the door with a sudden urgency, as if eager to get away ...
pled. “You are guilty nonetheless.” The man reached his hand to the side, and a weapon formed from mist there, then fell into his hand. A Shardblade? What kind of constable of the law was this? Ym stared at that wondrous, silvery Blade. Then he ran. It appeared that he still had useful instincts from his time on the st...
flotilla. Paddled by new parshmen, the sixteen sleek catamarans were laden with goods that had been purchased with the profits of their last expedition. Vstim was still resting in the back of his boat. He looked like little more than another bundle of cloth, almost indistinguishable from the sacks of goods. He would be...
them i-nah, which apparently meant bad. They could slice up a boat’s hull. Sometimes they’d pass branches hiding just beneath the glassy surface, almost invisible. She didn’t know how Gu knew to steer clear of them. In this, as in so much else, they just had to trust him. What would they do if he led them into an ambus...
first saw one move. It’s worth not spoiling. We never tell the new guards when they first come.” Rysn contained her annoyance and looked back at the “island.” Curse those inaccurate accounts from her readings. Too much hearsay, not enough experience. She found it hard to believe that no one had ever recorded the truth....
we sleep, we move boats away, tie together. Sleep out there. Find island again in the morning.” “Oh,” Rysn said, taking a calming breath and checking to make sure her pot of grass was carefully stored in the bottom of the catamaran. She stood up. This was not going to be kind to her shoes, which had been quite expensiv...
This was what she’d joined with Vstim to do, wasn’t it? How many times had she wished he would let her lead? Why feel so timid now? She glanced toward her own boat, moving off, carrying her pot of grass. She looked back at her babsk. “Tell me what to do.” “They know much of foreigners,” Vstim said. “More than we know o...
and not an island. Just ahead of her, the patina of lichen made the shell nearly indistinguishable from rock. Trees clustered here, their roots draping into the water, their branches reaching high and creating a forest. She hesitantly stepped onto the only path leading up from the waters. Here, the “ground” formed step...
waters far below. Rysn grew nauseated just watching them. How high up were they? “They do it to shock you. They always jump from greater heights when a foreigner is here.” Rysn nodded, then—with a sudden start—realized that the comment hadn’t come from one of her guards. She turned and discovered that to her left, the ...
her unnerved. More people ran and leaped from the shelves to her right. Crazy. Trademaster, she thought. Kylrm called me “trademaster.” She wasn’t, not yet. She was property owned by Vstim; for now just an apprentice who provided occasional slave labor. She didn’t deserve the title, but hearing it strengthened her. She...
so old that she was bent with age. Someone stepped out onto the shelf behind Rysn. Younger, he wore the standard wrap and tassels. His hair was in two braids that fell over tan, bare shoulders. When he spoke, there wasn’t even a hint of an accent to his voice. “The king wishes to know why his old trading partner, Vstim...
same purpose as everything in life,” Talik said. “To please Relu-na.” That would be the name of their god, the greatshell. “And your island would approve of such waste? Inviting traders all this way, only to send them off empty-handed?” “Relu-na approves of boldness,” Talik said. “And, more importantly, respect. If we ...
we are sorry for his illness and hope that he recovers. If he does, he may return next year during the trading season and we will meet with him.” “You imply you respect him,” Rysn said, scrambling to her feet—and away from that drop. “So just trade with him!” “He is sickly,” Talik said, not looking at her. “It would no...
moving along the greatshell’s nose. “And you said you trust him. Can you not trust his judgment that I am worthy?” “One cannot substitute for personal experience,” Talik translated. The beast stepped, ground trembling, and Rysn clenched her teeth, imagining them all toppling off. Fortunately, up this high, the motion w...
Rysn continued to climb down. It was more of a slide. Oh, Craving, Passion of need . . . “Pull her back up!” Talik ordered. “You soldiers, help.” He gave further orders in Reshi. Rysn looked up as workers grabbed the rope to haul her back upward. A new face appeared above, however, looking down. The king. She raised a ...
. . Drifting . . . Wait. Rysn forced her eyes open. She was in a bed inside a hut. It was hot. Her vision swam, and she drifted . . . drifted because her mind was cloudy. What had they given her? She tried to sit up. Her legs wouldn’t move. Her legs wouldn’t move. She gasped, then began breathing quickly. Vstim’s face ...
me to say they had the corpse of one to trade. Kings pay fortunes for them.” He leaned down. “I have never seen one alive before. I was given the corpse I wanted in trade. This one has been given to you.” “By the Reshi?” Rysn asked, mind still clouded. She didn’t know what to make of any of this. “The Reshi could not c...
to them right now.” “Don’t say that, Bila,” Eshonai said to Reprimand. “Never say anything like that.” The woman quieted, tossing the stone onto the table. She hummed softly to Skepticism. That walked the line of insubordination. Eshonai met Bila’s eyes and found herself softly humming to Resolve. Thude glanced from Bi...
were empty now. They’d lost thousands to war over the years. We do have to do something, she thought, attuning the Rhythm of Peace in the back of her mind. She sought comfort in its calm, soothing beats, soft and blended. Like a caress. Then she saw the dullforms. They looked much like what the humans called “parshmen,...
that ribbon from a meeting with the Alethi years ago. “Child, have you seen your sister? It is her day of first transformation! We need to prepare her.” “It is attended to, Mother,” Eshonai said to the Rhythm of Peace, kneeling down beside the woman. “How goes the pruning?” “I should be finishing soon,” Mother said. “I...
dark home,” Mother sang softly to one of the Rhythms of Remembrance. “The Last Legion, that was our name then. Warriors who had been set to fight in the farthest plains, this place that had once been a nation and was now rubble. Dead was the freedom of most people. The forms, unknown, were forced upon us. Forms of powe...
jungles, drawing her own maps and expanding the world. She’d started alone, but her discoveries had excited an entire people. Soon, though still in her teenage years, she’d been leading entire expeditions to find new rivers, new ruins, new spren, new plants. And humans. In a way, this was all her fault. Her mother star...
dallied. She sat on the rock and took the spren-filled gemstone from her pocket, setting it on the ground in front of her. The violet stone glowed with Stormlight. “I am worried about this test,” Eshonai said. “I do not think we should allow it to proceed.” “What?” Venli said to Anxiety. “Sister, don’t be ridiculous. O...
at the sack of maps she’d set on the floor beside her. “I will agree to this test,” Eshonai said. Nearby, Venli hummed to Appreciation. “However,” Eshonai continued to Resolve, “I must be the one who tries the new form first.” All humming stopped. The others of the Five gaped at her. “What?” Venli said. “Sister, no! It...
hummed to Irritation. “They called you wise, experienced. It makes one wonder if they’ve forgotten who you were—that you went off recklessly into the wilds, ignoring your people, while I stayed home and memorized songs. When did everyone start believing you were the responsible one?” It’s this cursed uniform, Eshonai t...
tubular, with an open center, and felt rough like sand. “These are too fragile for highstorms,” Shallan said, holding it up. “How does this plant survive?” Bluth grunted. “It is common, Bluth,” Shallan said, “to engage one’s traveling companion in mutually diverting dialogue.” “I’d do that,” he said darkly, “if I knew ...
her head, then held out her hand to Bluth, who helped her from the wagon without further prodding. On the ground, she rested her hand on the side of the vehicle and breathed in sharply through her teeth. Stormfather, what had she done to her feet? Painspren wiggled out of the wall beside her, little orange bits of sine...
crawled—to stay off her feet—through the enclosed wagon. It stank of dirt and sweat, and she grew nauseated thinking of the slaves who had been held here. She would ask Bluth to have the parshmen scrub it later. She stopped before Jasnah’s trunk, then knelt and gingerly raised the lid. Light spilled out from the infuse...
.” Pattern said. “Because of this.” “What? Why haven’t you said something!” “Say . . . speaking . . . Thinking . . . All hard. Getting better.” “You came to me because of the Voidbringers,” Shallan said, moving closer to the trunk, bloodied rag forgotten in her hand. “Yes. Patterns . . . we . . . us . . . Worry. One wa...
reached up and found tears in her eyes. For Jasnah. She’d been avoiding the grief, had stuffed it into a little box and set it away. As soon as she let that grief come, another piled on top of it. A grief that seemed frivolous in comparison to Jasnah’s death, but one that threatened to tow Shallan down as much, or even...
his Shardblade. Some did, some didn’t. He’d never thought it appropriate—not because he didn’t think the Blade deserved a name, but because he figured he didn’t know the right one. This weapon had belonged to one of the Knights Radiant, long ago. That man had named the weapon, undoubtedly. To call it something else see...
put on armor or retreat between bouts, the dueling arena at the warcamps was transforming into one as proper as those back in Alethkar. A welcome addition. Adolin stepped into the staging room, where his brother and aunt were waiting. Stormfather, his hands were sweating. He hadn’t felt this nervous when riding into ba...
helm. He knelt down, placing his hands into the gauntlets at his side, fingers in their positions. In the strange manner of Shardplate, the armor constricted on its own, like a skyeel curling around its rat, pulling to comfortable tightness around his wrists. He turned and reached for his helm from the last armorer. It...
crunched in sand. He checked to see that his father was watching. He was. As was the king. Sadeas hadn’t come. Just as well. That might have distracted Adolin with memories of one of the last times that Sadeas and Dalinar had been amiable, sitting together up on those stone steps, watching Adolin duel. Had Sadeas been ...
were the test blows, the art, the dance? Adolin growled, feeling the old Thrill of battle as he shoved aside Salinor’s attack—careless of the hit it scored on his side—then brought his Blade in two-handed and crashed it into his opponent’s breastplate, like he was chopping wood. Salinor grunted again and Adolin raised ...
that was how things often went in war. Good for them to see it, he supposed, though as he ducked back into the waiting room he was uncertain of himself. What he’d done was reckless. Dismissing his Blade? Putting himself in a position where the enemy could have gotten at his feet? Adolin entered the staging room, where ...
the evening to search for more. “Lies,” Pattern said softly, his shape nearly invisible on the seat beside her. “He knows if I can’t walk, I’m more dependent upon him.” Tvlakv settled down beside the struggling fire. Nearby, the chulls—unhooked from their wagons—lumbered around, crunching tiny rockbuds beneath their ga...
The precise reproduction of the conversation was marvelous. This, Shallan thought, could be very useful. Unfortunately, something needed to be done about Tvlakv. She couldn’t have him regarding her as something to be sold back to those missing her—that was discomfortingly close to viewing her as a slave. If she let him...
in the glow of the flames—towering above him and his grubby machinations—she saw. Expectation wasn’t just about what people expected of you. It was about what you expected of yourself. Tvlakv leaned away from her like a man before a raging bonfire. He shrank back, eyes wide, raising an arm. Shallan realized that she wa...
depart immediately. The night’s darkness is our ally, and we must make the most of it.” She nodded. The men moved quickly, even the portly Tvlakv, breaking down camp and hooking up the chulls. The slaves grumbled at not getting their food for the night. Shallan stopped beside their cage, feeling ashamed. Her family had...
narrow building wrapped around the courtyard except at the front, which had a wall with an archway for the entrance, and had a wide roof that extended, giving shade to the wooden walkway. Lighteyed officers stood chatting in the shade or watching men sparring in the sunlight of the yard, and ardents moved this way and ...
Pauper’s clothing. They were slaves, and then they also weren’t. Kaladin had never given much thought to them. His mother would probably lament how little Kaladin cared for religious observance. The way Kaladin figured it, the Almighty didn’t show much concern for him, so why care back? “This is the lighteyes’ training...