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getting sorted into new squads and sent back out onto the field. Kaladin moved through them, searching for the squad that had been created out of the messenger boys. He found Dalar first. The lanky, three-fingered sergeant of the reserves stood beside a tall post bearing a pair of flapping triangular banners. He was as...
to go find Tien. He couldn’t— He stumbled to a stop. There, in the next squad down the line, stood three figures. Younger boys, looking small in their armor and holding their spears uncertainly. One was Tien. His team of reserves had obviously been split apart to fill holes in other squads. “Tien!” Kaladin screamed, fa...
continued to kneel beside the body. He should have bound his wound, should have moved back to safety, but he was too numb. He just knelt. “About time he rode down here,” a voice said. Kaladin looked up, noting a group of spearmen gathering nearby, watching the cavalry. “He wanted them to bunch up against us,” one the s...
Lopen’s litter was in front of Kaladin. A spear rested amid the drained water bottles and ragged bandages, steel head reflecting sunlight. It whispered to him. It terrified him, and he loved it. When the time comes, I hope you’re ready. Because this lot will need you. He seized the spear, the first real weapon he had h...
smoke. Stormlight. The force of it slammed into the first rank of Parshendi, tossing them backward, and Teft had to hold his hand up against the vibrancy of the light. “Something just changed,” Moash whispered, hand up. “Something important.” Kaladin raised his spear. The powerful light began to subside, retreating. A ...
dropping him to the ground, and came up to block an axe swing by catching the haft with that of his spear. He let go with one hand, sweeping the tip of the spear up under the arm of the Parshendi and ramming it into his armpit. As that Parshendi fell, Kaladin pulled his spear free and slammed the end into a Parshendi h...
were trying to force them back. It was the most amazing, most glorious thing Dalinar had ever seen. Adolin let out a whoop, breaking through the Parshendi to Dalinar’s left. The younger man’s armor was scratched, cracked, and scored, and his helm had shattered, leaving his head dangerously exposed. But his face was exu...
again forced to parry, something Windstance wasn’t intended do to. His weight-laden muscles were too sluggish to dodge, and his Plate was too cracked to risk letting himself get hit. The blow nearly threw him out of stance. He clenched his teeth, throwing weight behind his weapon and intentionally overcorrecting as the...
teeth, stopping as the Parshendi stood up. He’d been too slow. The Parshendi’s armor, though cracked in several places, was nowhere near as strained as Dalinar’s. Impressively, he’d managed to retain his Shardblade. He leveled his armored head at Dalinar, eyes hidden behind the slit in the helm. Around them, the other ...
bully their way forward, aggressive and domineering? Did they spout curses to make you enraged? Were they ruthless, or did they leave an obviously incapacitated man to live? He was impressed by the Parshendi. He fought dozens of them, each with a slightly different style of combat. It seemed they were sending only two ...
to them. Those two were learning quite well from Kaladin’s instruction. There was little more Kaladin could do for the wounded. He glanced at Malop’s body. The man had taken an axe cut to the arm, severing it and splintering the bone. He’d died from blood loss. If Kaladin hadn’t been fighting, he might have been able t...
against shield and spear against metal. Kaladin hurriedly pulled the carapace off his armor—enraging the Parshendi didn’t feel wise at the moment—then moved among the wounded, looking for more officers. He found a couple, though they were dazed, wounded, and out of breath. Apparently, those who were still battleworthy ...
His helm was gone, though he’d replaced it with a regular spearman’s cap. His left leg limped, nearly dragging. That Blade of his was deadly, but the Parshendi drew closer and closer. Kaladin didn’t dare step into range. “Adolin Kholin!” he bellowed. The man kept fighting. “Adolin Kholin!” Kaladin yelled again, feeling...
shelf was now empty, a large group of Parshendi were gathered around its base. There, he thought, leaping forward. A horse whinnied. Dalinar looked up in shock as Gallant charged into the open ring of ground the watching Parshendi had made. The Ryshadium had come to him. How… where…? The horse should have been free and...
Blade in surprise. It puffed to mist. Kaladin whipped his spear free and dodged backward. The Shardbearer swung toward him with a gauntleted fist, but missed. Kaladin jumped in and—throwing his full strength behind the blow—rammed his spear into the cracked leg armor again. The Shardbearer screamed even louder, stumbli...
men had bought for him with their blood. The nameless spearman dashed behind him, and the Cobalt Guard fell in around them. A larger force of his troops was ahead, on the escape plateau. The bridge still stood, Adolin waiting anxiously at its head, holding it for Dalinar’s retreat. With a rush of relief, Dalinar gallop...
young man looked up. And, for the first time, Dalinar noticed the slave brands on the youth’s forehead, hidden by the long hair. The youth stood, posture hostile, folding his arms. “You are to be commended,” Dalinar said. “All of you. Why did your highprince retreat, only to send you back for us?” Several of the bridge...
my men back at camp and—with so many men now wounded—we don’t have the proper supplies to run.” The young man turned back to his work, and Dalinar rode Gallant in search of a casualty report. He forced himself to contain his rage at Sadeas. It was difficult. No, Dalinar could not let this turn to war—but neither could ...
if she just started screaming? The king’s own mother, bellowing like an axehound whose antenna had been twisted? She considered it as the soldier waited for a chance to announce her to Sadeas. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a youth in a blue uniform arriving in the staging area, accompanied by a small honor gu...
him an ally. And a friend.” He cursed softly, looking eastward. “They will pay for this. I will see that they pay.” He seemed so earnest that Navani found herself wavering. Poor Renarin, pale-faced and wide-eyed, seemed stunned beyond the means to speak. When the chair arrived, Navani refused it, so Renarin sat, earnin...
began blowing, whipping at pennants and cloaks. The prayer went out, but that was fine. It wasn’t meant to burn long. “Brightlord Sadeas!” an anxious voice called. Navani looked up. Soldiers parted, making way for a runner in green. He hurried up to Sadeas, beginning to speak, but the highprince grabbed the man by the ...
the gift of his son’s gauntlet at first, but had given in to Adolin’s logic. If one of them was going to go without, it should be the younger man. Inside Shardplate, their differences in age didn’t matter—but outside of it, Adolin was a young man in his twenties and Dalinar an aging man in his fifties. He still didn’t ...
Sadeas’s warcamp?” Adolin asked, smiling through his fatigue, edging Sureblood up beside Dalinar. “I don’t know,” Dalinar said. “But the Stormfather bless them for coming.” Seeing their welcome faces, he began to feel it sink in—finally—that he had survived the day. Gallant crossed the last bridge. Renarin was there wa...
it out.” He held her close again, hand on the back of her head, feeling her hair. He wished for the Plate to be gone, to not be separated from her by the metal. But the time for that had not yet come. Reluctantly, he released her, turning to the side, where Renarin and Adolin were watching them uncomfortably. His soldi...
glyph, and Sadeas stepped forward until only inches separated them. They were matched in height. Standing this close, Dalinar thought he could see tension—and anger—in Sadeas’s eyes. Dalinar’s survival had ruined months of planning. “I need to know why,” Dalinar asked, too quietly for any but Sadeas to hear. “Because o...
use this. “He knows it wasn’t you,” Sadeas continued. “I can read that much in him, though he doesn’t realize how transparent he is. Blaming you would have been pointless. Elhokar would have defended you, and I might very well have lost the position of Highprince of Information. But it did give me a wonderful opportuni...
see the deaths of his bridgemen in those eyes. “Take your soldiers and go. Leave my property here.” “Do not press me on this, Sadeas,” Dalinar said. Suddenly, the tension was back. Dalinar’s officers lowered hands to swords, and his spearmen perked up, gripping the hafts of their weapons. “Do not press you?” Sadeas ask...
armored arm. “Wait. You— That— What just happened?” Dalinar turned to him. Then, the highprince laid a hand on Kaladin’s shoulder, the gauntlet gleaming blue, mismatched with the rest of his slate-grey armor. “I don’t know what has been done to you. I can only guess what your life has been like. But know this. You will...
floor, his breastplate cracked just faintly. Dalinar stepped up to him, then delivered another kick to the king’s side, cracking the breastplate again. Elhokar began shouting in panic. “Guards! To me! Guards!” Nobody came. Dalinar kicked again, and Elhokar cursed, catching his boot. Dalinar grunted, but bent down and g...
decided… I…” “You cut your own strap,” Dalinar said, “to create a visible, obvious-seeming attempt on your life. Something that would get me or Sadeas to investigate.” Elhokar hesitated, then nodded again. Dalinar closed his eyes, breathing out slowly. “Don’t you realize what you did, Elhokar? You brought suspicion on ...
forcing himself up to a sitting position. “That’s impossible!” “Far from it,” Dalinar said, looking at his nephew. “He saw a chance to pull out, letting the Parshendi destroy us. So he did it. A very Alethi thing to do. Ruthless, yet still allowing him to feign a sense of honor or morality.” “So… you expect me to bring...
lighteyes like adults. An adult can take a principle and adapt it to his needs. But we’re not ready for that yet. We’re children. And when you’re teaching a child, you require him to do what is right until he grows old enough to make his own choices. The Silver Kingdoms didn’t begin as unified, glorious bastions of hon...
unity. But at least now he had something to work with. Shallan lay quietly in the bed of her little hospital room. She’d cried herself dry, then had actually retched into the bedpan, over what she had done. She felt miserable. She’d betrayed Jasnah. And Jasnah knew. Somehow, disappointing the princess felt worse than t...
the jam? Wouldn’t raising the jar to her nose have been enough? Jasnah hadn’t made any faces at the scent. In fact, Jasnah hadn’t mentioned that the jam had spoiled. She’d just replaced the lid and handed back the jar. Shallan flipped to another blank page and drew Jasnah with a piece of bread raised to her lips. After...
froze. “I wondered why you didn’t notice the switch,” Shallan said, sitting in the room’s other chair. “I spent weeks confused. Had you noticed, but decided to keep quiet in order to catch the thief? Hadn’t you Soulcast in all that time? It didn’t make any sense. Unless the Soulcaster I stole was a decoy.” Jasnah relax...
the truth? “You did all that, Jasnah,” Shallan finished, “with a fake Soulcaster. You hadn’t spotted my swap yet. Don’t try to tell me otherwise. I took it on the night when you killed those three thugs.” Jasnah’s violet eyes showed a glimmer of surprise. “Yes,” Shallan said, “that long ago. You didn’t replace it with ...
wonder she’d created the decoy. “I want to be part of it,” Shallan found herself saying. “Excuse me?” “Whatever you’re doing. Whatever it is you’re researching. I want to be part of it.” “You have no idea what you’re saying.” “I know,” Shallan said. “I’m ignorant. There’s a simple cure for that.” She stepped forward. “...
master… He could hear the dead scream every time he closed his eyes. They grated against his soul, rubbing it to nothing, haunting him, consuming him. So many dead. So very many dead. Was he losing his mind? Each time he went on an assassination, he found himself blaming the victims. He cursed them for not being strong...
and carved a square of rock from the floor, wider at the bottom. As it began to slide down, Szeth infused it with Stormlight, performing half a Basic Lashing upward, making the rock weightless. Next, he Lashed himself upward with a subtle Lashing that left him weighing only a tenth his normal weight. He leapt onto the ...
Szeth said, still wary. “It is a common mistake stone-walkers make. Each life I take weighs me down, eating away at my soul.” The voices… the screams… spirits below, I can hear them howling…. “Yet you kill.” “It is my punishment,” Szeth said. “To kill, to have no choice, but to bear the sins nonetheless. I am Truthless...
are like the hundred doves.” “Easy to release, difficult to keep,” Taravangian said, speaking the words in Shin. Szeth looked up sharply. This man spoke the Shin language and knew his people’s proverbs? Odd to find in a stonewalker. Odder to find in a murderer. “Yes, I speak your language. Sometimes I wonder if the Lif...
did it. But honor prevailed, for the moment. “You see, Szeth-son-son-Vallano,” Taravangian said. “I did not send you to do my bloody work for me. I do it here, myself. I have personally held the knife and released the blood from the veins of many. Much like you, I know I cannot escape my sins. We are two men of one hea...
“Those who Soulcast? Do they actually use fabrials, or is it all a hoax?” “No, Soulcasting fabrials are real. Quite real. So far as I know, everyone else who does what I—what we—can do uses a fabrial to accomplish it.” “What of the creatures with the symbol heads?” Shallan asked. She flipped through her sketches, then ...
the creatures in metaphor. A hundred battles—ten tenfolds…” Flame and char. Skin so terrible. Eyes like pits of blackness. Music when they kill. “We defeated them…” Jasnah said. Shallan felt a chill. “…but the legends lie about one thing,” Jasnah continued. “They claim we chased the Voidbringers off the face of Roshar ...
what did I do today? Slaughter Parshendi in order to save Alethi. What of that? They aren’t innocent, but neither are we. Not by a faint breeze or a stormwind.” Syl didn’t reply. “If I hadn’t gone to save Dalinar’s men,” Kaladin said, “I would have allowed Sadeas to commit a terrible betrayal. I’d have let men die who ...
judging him. “Why did your bridge crew come for us? Why, really?” “Why did you give up your Shardblade?” Dalinar held his eyes, then nodded. “Fair enough. I have an offer for you. The king and I are about to do something very, very dangerous. Something that will upset all the warcamps.” “Congratulations.” Dalinar smile...
higher rank have no authority over you.” “All right,” Kaladin said. “But these soldiers I train, I want them assigned to patrolling, not plateau runs. I hear you’ve had several full battalions hunting bandits, keeping the peace in the Outer Market, that sort of thing. That’s where my men go for one year, at least.” “Ea...
as Rock cooked them a pot of stew. They were listening to Teft, who sat with his arm bandaged, speaking quietly. Shen was there; the quiet parshman sat at the very edge of the group. They’d recovered him, along with their wounded, from Sadeas’s camp. Teft cut off as soon as he saw Kaladin, and the men turned, most of t...
been used as bait. If it helps you survive, it’s good. That’s all that needs to be said about it.” “So can you teach it?” Moash asked. “Can you show us how to do what you do?” “I… I don’t know if it can be taught,” Kaladin said, glancing at Syl, who bore a curious expression as she sat on a nearby rock. “I’m not certai...
if we can’t learn it. This thing is part of you, and you’re one of us. Bridge Four. Right?” Kaladin looked at their eager faces and couldn’t stop himself from nodding. “Yes. Yes, you can help.” “Excellent,” Sigzil said. “I’ll prepare a list of tests to gauge speed, accuracy, and the strength of these bonds you can crea...
The Voidbringers are the parshmen. I can see no other conclusion.” Jasnah smiled, looking oddly pleased with herself, considering that she’d only convinced one person. “So what next?” Shallan asked. “That has to do with your previous studies.” “My studies? You mean your father’s death?” “Indeed.” “The Parshendi attacke...
ways to escape.” Jasnah sounded exhausted. “I can’t just abandon my brothers.” Shallan’s insides twisted again. “But this is bigger than them. Damnation—it’s bigger than me or you or any of us. I have to help, Jasnah. I can’t walk out on this. I’ll find some other way to help my family.” “Good. Then go pack our things....
rock, jagged and rough, extending in all directions. Off into eternity. Amorphous shapes made of curling grey smoke rose from the ground. Like smoke rings, only in other shapes. Here a chair. There a rockbud, with vines extended, curling to the sides and vanishing. Beside him appeared the figure of a man in uniform, si...
like the vision he had seen before, with Nohadon. That wasn’t the Kholinar of the distant past; he could see the rubble of his own palace. But there was no rock formation like the one he stood on near Kholinar in the real world. Always before, these visions had shown him the past. Was this now a vision of the future? “...
the vision continued. The figure turned to him. “I am sorry to do this to you. By now I hope that what you’ve seen has given you a foundation to understand. But I can’t know for certain. I don’t know who you are, or how you have found your way here.” “I…” What to say? Did it matter? “Most of what I show you are scenes ...
spoke in a clear, crisp voice. “Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. Speak again the ancient oaths and return to men the Shards they once bore.” He turned to Dalinar, meeting his eyes. “The Knights Radiant must stand again.” “I cannot comprehend how that can be done,” Dalinar said so...
to arrive.” That made the guards more uncomfortable. A highstorm was not predicted this night. Wit began playing the enthir. “Let us have a conversation to pass the time. Tell me. What is it that men value in others?” The music played toward an audience of silent buildings, alleys, and worn cobblestones. The guards did...
with that exact level of skill, were to make the same accomplishments the very next month? Would she find similar acclaim? No. She’d be called derivative. “Intellect. If a great thinker develops a new theory of mathematics, science, or philosophy, we will name him wise. We will sit at his feet and learn, and will recor...
his side, he carried a massive Shardblade, point down, sticking about a finger’s width into the stone, his hand on the hilt. The Blade reflected torchlight; it was long, narrow, and straight, shaped like an enormous spike. “Welcome, lost one,” Wit whispered. “Who are you!” one of the guards called, nervous, as one of t...
and below said storms. ARS ARCANUM THE TEN ESSENCES AND THEIR HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS The preceding list is an imperfect gathering of traditional Vorin symbolism associated with the Ten Essences. Bound together, these form the Double Eye of the Almighty, an eye with two pupils representing the creation of plants and cr...
only just been discovered, and already the possibilities for exploitation are being conjectured. There appear to be some unexpected limitations to this form of fabrial, though I have not been able to discover what they are. WARNING FABRIALS There is only one type of fabrial in this set, informally known as the Alerter....
of the three Lashings. The Windrunner would infuse something, give a mental command, and create a pull to the object that yanked other objects toward it. At its heart, this Lashing created a bubble around the object that imitated its spiritual link to the ground beneath it. As such, it was much harder for the Lashing t...
B, Mi’chelle Trammel, Matthew R Carlin, Ollie Tabooger, John Palmer, Henrik Nyh, and the insoluble Peter Ahlstrom. Ars Arcanum TABLE OF THE HEIGHTENINGS Heightening Number Approximate Breaths Needed to Reach This Heightening Effectsof theHeightening First 50 Aura Recognition Second 200 Perfect Pitch Third 600 Perfect C...
them to master and to discover. Breath Recognition: Those few persons who have reached the Seventh Heightening gain the ability to recognize the auras of objects, and can tell when something has been Invested with Breath via Awakening. Command Breaking: Any persons of the Eighth Heightening or more gain the ability to ...
with the massive metropolises in other nations. She liked it the way it was, even with the muddy streets, the thatched cottages, and the boring—yet sturdy—stone walls. Women chasing runaway geese, men pulling donkeys laden with spring seed, and children leading sheep on their way to pasture. A grand city in Xaka, Hudre...
a pot, which bore the calm scent of boiling potatoes. “Went to the hills again, didn’t you? Skipped your tutorial sessions, I’ll bet.” Siri smiled, then pulled out another of the bright yellow ﬂowers, spinning it between two fingers. Mab rolled her eyes. “And been corrupting the city youth again, I suspect. Honestly, g...
a sense, a wisdom beyond her instinct for spices and broths. However, she also tended to fret. “You’re worrying about nothing, Mab. You’ll see.” “I’m just saying that this is a bad time for a royal princess to be running around with ﬂowers, standin’ out and inviting Austre’s dislike.” Siri sighed. “fine, then,” she sai...
his eye. The burly man stood waiting, his hands clasped behind his back, his thick beard tied in three places. He was the only other person in the room. Dedelin glanced back at the letter. The paper was a bright pink, and the garish color stood out on his desk like a drop of blood in the snow. Pink was a color one woul...
of the frame. He was a harsh man born of harsh winters. But he was also as good a man as Dedelin had ever known—a part of the king longed to marry Vivenna to the general’s own son. That was foolishness. Dedelin had always known this day would come. He’d crafted the treaty himself, and it demanded he send his daughter t...
thinking of Vivenna in the God King’s arms, being forced to bear that creature’s child...it nearly made his hair bleach with concern. That child would become a stillborn monster who would become the next Returned god of the Hallandren. There is another way, a part of his mind whispered. You don’t have to send Vivenna.....
sure how Vivenna managed it so well. Poor girl never even had a childhood, he thought. From birth, Vivenna’s life had been pointed toward this single event. His firstborn child, the girl who had always seemed like a part of himself. The girl who had always made him proud; the woman who had already earned the love and r...
This isn’t the way any of it is supposed to happen! And yet it had. Nothing made sense. The carriage bumped, but she just sat, numb. At the very least, she thought, they could have let me ride horseback, rather than forcing me to sit in this carriage. But that, unfortunately, wouldn’t have been an appropriate way to en...
for Idris when this war comes.” When this war comes. Vivenna looked up, meeting his eyes. “I was going to stop the war, Father. I was to be the God King’s bride! I was going to speak with him, persuade him. I’ve been trained with the political knowledge, the understanding of customs, the—” “Stop the war?” her father as...
Vivenna. Besides, Ridger— Vivenna’s younger brother—had been groomed as heir for years. She had been preserved for no reason. It seemed a punishment, in some ways. She’d listened, prepared, learned, and practiced. Everyone said that she was perfect. Why, then, wasn’t she good enough to serve as intended? She had no goo...
the trees finally began to crowd the road, Siri began to realize that there was something no tome or tale could adequately describe. Colors. In the highlands, ﬂower patches were rare and unconnected, as if they understood how poorly they fit with Idris philosophy. Here, they appeared to be everywhere. Tiny ﬂowers grew ...
order of things even further, Vivenna thought. What right do I have to take his place from him? She allowed this aspect of the conversation to lapse, however. She’d been arguing the point for several minutes now, and it wouldn’t be proper to continue. Proper. Rarely before had Vivenna felt so frustrated at having to be...
He rolled over, feeling weak as he sat up in his majestic bed. Visions and memories pestered his mind, and he shook his head, trying to clear away the fog of sleep. Servants entered, responding wordlessly to their god’s needs. He was one of the younger divinities, for he’d Returned only five years before. There were so...
began to file in, bearing various dishes of food. Mundane, human food. As a Returned, Lightsong didn’t really need to eat such things—they would not give him strength or banish his fatigue. They were just an indulgence. In a short time, he would dine on something far more...divine. It would give him strength enough to ...
in a square around the outside of the building. Lightsong walked on plush rugs from the northern nations, passing the finest pottery from across the Inner Sea. Each room was hung with paintings and gracefully calligraphed poems, created by Hallandren’s finest artists. At the center of the palace was a small, square roo...
of the Gods, filled with its palaces, where gods could be nurtured, protected, and— most importantly—fed. Priests hustled forward to lead the girl out of the room. It is nothing to her, Lightsong told himself again. Nothing at all... Her eyes met his as she left, and he could see that the twinkle was gone from them. Sh...
life because they didn’t want anyone to know that Lightsong the Bold had actually died from a stomach cramp. To the side, the lesser priest disappeared with the jungle painting. It would be burned. Such offerings were made specifically for the intended god, and only he—besides a few of his priests—was allowed to see th...
reviews, intentionally adding cryptic meanings. Lightsong didn’t have the patience for such tricks, especially since all anyone ever really seemed to want from him was honesty. He gave this last painting the time it deserved. The canvas was thick with paint, every inch colored with large, fat strokes of the brush. The ...
control the Lifeless was needlessly complex. However, being one of the four gods to hold Lifeless Commands did make him rather important at times. The priests began to chat quietly about preparations. Lightsong waited, still thinking about Susebron and the impending wedding. He folded his arms and rested against the si...
the carriage, as if wishing they could climb inside and hide from the overwhelming sight. T’Telir was built up against the shore of the Bright Sea, a large but landlocked body of water. She could see it in the distance, reﬂecting the sunlight, strikingly true to its name. A figure in blue and silver rode up to her carr...
The wall’s top was curved in massive half-circles, like rolling hills, and the rim was plated with a golden metal. The gates themselves were in the form of two twisting, lithe sea creatures who curved up in a massive archway. Siri passed through them, and the guard of Hallandren cavalrymen—who appeared to be living men...
right up to the water, forming a crescent shape. The city wall, then, only had to run in a half-circle, abutting the sea, keeping the city boxed in. It didn’t seem cramped. There was a lot of open space in the city—malls and gardens, large swaths of unused land. Palms lined many of the streets and other foliage was com...
Do not pretend that you are anything other than you are. You have come because he desires it, and you will obey. Otherwise, you will be put aside and another will be chosen in your place—which, I think, might bode unfavorably for your rebel friends in the highlands.” The priest turned his horse, then clopped his way to...
was glad to be in T’Telir. The city was large enough and filled with enough oddities— from Lifeless soldiers to Awakened objects serving everyday functions—that he probably wouldn’t stand out too much. Of course, that didn’t take Nightblood into account. Vasher moved through the crowds, carrying the overly heavy sword ...
enough money to feed a peasant family for fifty years. “Well?” Vasher asked. Bebid actually jumped at the sound. Vasher sighed, closing his eyes. The priest was not accustomed to these kinds of clandestine meetings. He wouldn’t have come at all, had Vasher not exerted certain...pressures on him. Vasher opened his eyes,...
“A terrible idea. Kalad’s Phantoms, man! Idris won’t go easily, no matter what people in the court say. This won’t be like squashing that fool Vahr. The Idrians have allies from across the mountains and the sympathies of dozens of kingdoms. What some are calling a ‘simple quelling of rebel factions’ could easily spin i...
the street, then turned down an alley, where he found Nightblood—still sheathed—sticking from the chest of the thief who had stolen him. Another cutpurse lay dead on the alley ﬂoor. Vasher pulled the sword free, then snapped the sheath closed—it had only been opened a fraction of an inch—and did up the clasp. You lost ...
the magnificent city of T’Telir, engulfed in ﬂames. He could almost hear people crying out in pain, he could nearly hear...what? Soldiers marching and fighting in the streets? Lightsong shook his head, trying to dispel the phantom memories. The ship he’d seen in his dream had been burning too, he now remembered. It did...
politics.” “Some say the two are the same, Your Grace.” “Nonsense. War is far worse. At least where politics is going on, there are usually nice hors d’oeuvres.” As usual, Llarimar ignored Lightsong’s witty remarks. Lightsong would have been offended if he hadn’t known there were three separate lesser priests standing ...
She’d come to the palace to be wed, and was determined to make a favorable impression on the God King. But she really was just terrified. Why hadn’t she run? Why hadn’t she wiggled out of this somehow? Why couldn’t they have all just let her be? There was no escape now. As the serving women led her down a corridor into...
pleasant than I expected. Maybe...maybe the God King isn’t as terrible as everyone says. “Ah, good,” a voice said. “We’re right on schedule. Perfect.” Siri froze. That was a man’s voice. She snapped her eyes open to find an older man in brown robes standing beside the tub, writing something on a ledger. He was balding ...
some things we need to discuss,” Bluefingers continued, voice distorted by the water in Siri’s ears. “I presume you have been taught the proper method of treating His Immortal Majesty?” Siri glanced at him, then looked away. She probably had been taught, but she didn’t remember—and either way, she wasn’t in a frame of ...
going to take her body and do with it as he wished. Part of her felt a rage at that—but it was the rage of frustration. The rage that came from knowing that something horrible was coming, and from being unable to do anything at all about it. The serving women backed away from her, leaving her half-ﬂoating in the soapy ...
to the plush chair. “He represents all colors and each of the Iridescent Tones. Therefore, each room is decorated with a different shade.” Siri sat, and the women began to work on her nails. Another tried to brush out the snarls that had come from the hearty washing. Siri frowned. “Just cut it off,” she said. They hesi...
of life before she was forced into the responsibilities of childbearing. Fate had taken that opportunity away from her. Now she was faced by the imminent prospect of going to a man’s bed. A man who wouldn’t speak to her, and who wouldn’t care who she was or what she wanted. She knew the physical requirements of what wo...
touched me. She cringed, skin writhing. It was wrong to take the Breath from another person. It was the ultimate in arrogance, the complete opposite of Idris philosophy. Others in Hallandren simply wore bright colors to draw attention to themselves, but Awakeners...they stole the life from human beings, and used that t...

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