her neck, before his gaze slid to Ahm Lin. The mason gave a weary smile, glancing down at the arrowhead protruding from his chest, before his legs gave out and he slipped over the side.
Vaelin instantly followed him into the water, wrapping an arm around his feebly struggling form and striking out for the bank. The multiple snap of many bows filled the air, accompanied by the hiss of swarming arrows and the hard thud of iron on wood.
“No!” Vaelin shouted, seeing Ellese poised to follow him into the water, hauling herself up in defiance of the continuing torrent of arrows. She began to launch herself from the boat but Nortah, face hard with reluctance, lunged forward to catch her about the waist.
“Let go!” she screamed, Vaelin glimpsing her flailing limbs before the fog closed in thick enough to render both boats mere shadows in the gloom.
Ellese called out several more times, before her cries were muffled, presumably by Nortah’s hand. The arrow storm faded as the pounding of drumming hoof-beats sounded from both banks. Thirus hadn’t been alone.
Vaelin got a hand to the bank after a brief few moments’ flailing in the water, reaching beyond it to grasp a handful of grass and haul them clear. Dragging Ahm Lin into the long undergrowth, he drew his sword, ears alive to the sounds drifting through the fog. The hoof-beats had faded now into the snorts and scraped earth that told of horses either halted or at a walk. It was impossible to tell how many.
“The . . . song . . .” Ahm Lin gasped. Vaelin shook his head, lowering his mouth to the mason’s ear.
“Lie still.”
Ahm Lin’s eyes met his, Vaelin seeing the same weary smile on his lips. “The song . . .” he began again, voice a croaking rasp and blood welling over his teeth. “Was clear, brother. From . . . the start . . .”
“Save your strength,” Vaelin whispered back. “Sherin will heal you . . .”
“No . . .” Ahm Lin’s smile became a laugh, rich in irony. “The song . . . was clear. Why I sent . . . Shoala away. Why I . . . waited for you. All songs . . . end, brother. The princess . . . knew that . . .”
He reached for Vaelin’s hand, grasping it with shuddering fingers as he guided it to the arrowhead jutting from his chest, pressing it into the blood welling around the wound.
“My gift,” Ahm Lin said. “To you.”
The blood was warm against Vaelin’s skin, but he began to snatch his hand away as if he had been burned.
“No!” Ahm Lin’s gaze became fierce, his mason’s hand like a vise on Vaelin’s, holding it in place. “You must!” he grated through teeth stained with gore. “To fight him . . . you need a song. If you don’t . . . he wins!”
The final words emerged in a shout, Vaelin hearing the whinny of alerted horses followed by shouted voices. Stahlhast voices.
Images tumbled through Vaelin’s mind as he stared into Ahm Lin’s wide, imploring gaze. The assassinated emissaries in the tower. The princess’s intent. The duel with Obvar. The siege. Varij’s hidden truth. Thirus’s arrow. Had he still possessed a song, how much of it would ever have happened?
Fighting you as you are would be like fighting a child, Kehlbrand had said. The Darkblade had said. And, in that at least, Vaelin knew he hadn’t been lying.
But still the wrongness of it stopped him, disgusted him. The Volarians had made themselves slaves of the Ally by doing this thing. What would it make of him?
He heard Ellese’s voice again, a distant, plaintive call drifting through the fog, soon swallowed by the sound of horses once again at a gallop. Excited shouts filled the air as the Stahlhast closed in, hungry for the renown they craved, and there was much to be had in presenting the head of the Thief of Names to their beloved living god.
“Please, brother . . .” Blood spattered from Ahm Lin’s lips, his eyes growing dull. “Please . . .”
Hearing steel hiss free from a scabbard, Vaelin lowered his mouth to his friend’s mortal wound, drinking deep.
Dramatis Personae
THE NORTHERN REACHES OF THE UNIFIED REALM
Vaelin Al Sorna—Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches
Nortah Al Sendahl—former brother of the Sixth Order; Sword of the Realm and hero of the Liberation War; father to Lohren and Artis; brother to Kerran; renowned drunkard
Kerran Al Verin—merchant and owner of the Honoured Trading House of Al Verin, and Mistress of the Merchants’ Guild of the Northern Reaches; sister to Nortah; aunt to Lohren and Artis
Erlin—former Gifted immortal; resident of Nehrin’s Point
Lohren Al Sendahl—daughter to Nortah; brother to Artis; Gifted seer
Artis Al Sendahl—son to Nortah; brother to Lohren
Ellese Mustor—adopted daughter and heir to Lady Governess Reva Mustor of Cumbrael
Orven Al Melna—Lord Commander of the North Guard
Alum Vi Moreska—hunter to the Moreska Clan; friend to Vaelin
Sehmon Vek—former outlaw and indentured servant to Alum
Tallspear—Cumbraelin bowman and adopted member of the Bear People Clan
Iron Eyes—shaman to the Bear People Clan
Brother Kehlan—brother of the Fifth Order; healer to the North Tower
Cara—Gifted resident of Nehrin’s Point; estranged wife to Lorkan
Lorkan Densah—estranged husband to Cara; former Gifted resident of Nehrin’s Point
Kohn Shen—ambassador from the Court of the Venerable Kingdom to the Unified Realm
Gian Nuishin—commander of the Seventh Cohort of the Venerable Host and ambassador to the Unified Realm
Veiser Mortin—captain of the Sea Wasp, a trading vessel owned by the Honoured Trading House of Al Verin
THE STAHLHAST
Kehlbrand Reyerik—Great Lord of the Hast
Luralyn Reyerik—sister to Kehlbrand and Babukir; Gifted seer of the Divine Blood
Babukir Reyerik—younger brother to Kehlbrand and Luralyn
Obvar Nagerik—Stahlhast warrior of great renown; Kehlbrand’s champion and saddle brother; would-be suitor to Luralyn
Varnko Materk—Skeltir of the Ostra Skeld
Thirus—warrior of the Ostra Skeld
Eresa—Gifted former slave and friend to Luralyn
Varij—Gifted former slave and friend to Luralyn
Juhkar—Gifted former slave and friend to Luralyn
Jihla—Gifted former slave and friend to Luralyn
Kihlen—Gifted former slave and friend to Luralyn
THE VENERABLE KINGDOM
Lian Sha—Merchant King of the Venerable Kingdom
Sho Tsai—captain in the Merchant King’s host; commander of the Red Scouts
Tsai Lin—apprentice officer in the Red Scouts; son to Sho Tsai
The Jade Princess—immortal occupant of the High Temple
Sherin Unsa—former Mistress of Curatives to the Fifth Order of the Faith; healer of great renown known as “The Grace of Heaven”; formerly Vaelin’s lover
Ahm Lin—stonemason and Gifted wielder of a blood-song; friend to Vaelin and Sherin
Pao Len—teashop owner and leader of the Crimson Band
Chien—member of the Crimson Band; daughter to Pao Len
Crab—boatman and member of the Crimson Band
Hushan Shi—governor of Keshin-Kho, capital of the Northern Prefecture of the Venerable Kingdom
Neshim Lhi—deputy governor of the city of Keshin-Kho; later promoted to governor
Corporal Wei—corporal in the Red Scouts
Cho-ka—smuggler and member of the Green Viper outlaw band; later corporal in the Skulls Infantry Company