by Sara Douglas
She stared at Ishbel's stricken face for a long moment, her eyes gloating, victorious, then she turned on her heel and walked away. "Maxel?" she called over her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," Maximilian whispered, staring at Ishbel. "So sorry."
Then he also turned, and walked away.
He paused, just before he vanished from the faint light, and turned his head, ever so slightly, to look over his shoulder at her.
I'm sorry.
Then he was gone, lost to the darkness and to Ravenna.
Ishbel stood, tears streaming down her face, hating Ravenna more than she could ever imagine hating anyone, but feeling above all a tide of despair and sorrow and loss wash over her as she watched the Lord of Elcho Falling walk away from her into the night.
It was then she understood, finally, what her visions had been trying to tell her: that it would be the loss of the Lord of Elcho Falling that would disfigure her life with despair, and she sank slowly to her knees in the snow, weeping with wrenching sobs as her world shattered into a million pieces.
GLOSSARY
Alaric: a nation in the extreme north.
Allemorte, Baron: a nobleman from Pelemere.
Aqhat, Palace of: the home of Isaiah, Tyrant of Isembaard. Armat: one of Isaiah of Isembaard's generals.
Axis: see SunSoar, Axis.
Aziel: archpriest of the Order of the Coil.
Ba'al'uz: court maniac in the Tyranny of Isembaard. Ba'al'uz is pronounced
"bay-uz."
Baxtor, Garth: a physician who employs the Touch (the ability to determine sickness through touch).
Garth was primarily responsible for freeing
Maximilian Persimius from the Veins eight years before this tale begins. Bingaleal: one of the Lealfast.
Borchard: son of King Malat of Kyros, and friend of Maximilian Persimius.
BroadWing EvenBeat: an Icarii, and friend of Maximilian Persimius.
Brunelle, Lady Ishbel: an orphan from Margalit, raised to be archpriestess of the Order of the Coil.
Cavor, Count: cousin to Maximilian of Persimius, Cavor kidnapped Maximilian as a fourteen-year-old youth, imprisoned him in the gloam mines, and seized the throne himself.
Central Kingdoms: a loose term for an alliance between Hosea, Pelemere, and Kyros.
Coil, Order of the: an order that lives in Serpent's Nest. They worship the Great Serpent and use the bowels of living men to foretell the future.
Coroleas: a continent in the west of the Widowmaker Sea, renowned for the immorality and cruelty of its peoples.
DarkGlass Mountain: an ancient pyramid originally built to provide a pathway into Infinity. Once it was known as Threshold.
Doyle: a member of the Emerald Guard and former assassin.
Egalion: captain of the Emerald Guard, and friend to Maximilian Persimius.
Eight, the: Ba'al'uz' eight companions in his journey north of the FarReach Mountains.
Eleanon: one of the Lealfast.
Embeth: lady of Tare in Tencendor. Former lover of Axis and StarDrifter. Now long dead.
Emerald Guard, the: Maximilian Persimius' personal guard, composed of former prisoners of the Veins.
Escator: a poor kingdom on the coast of the Widowmaker Sea. It is ruled over by Maximilian Persimius.
Evenor, Rilm: an experienced battle general of the Outlands.
Ezekiel: Isaiah of Isembaard's most senior general.
Ezra: son of Salome, Duchess of Sidon.
First, the: the top caste of Corolean society comprising the Forty-four Hundred Families. The First commands virtually all of the wealth and power within Coroleas.
Fleathand: the steward of a house in Pelemere.
Forty-four Hundred Families: see the First.
Fulmer: King of Hosea.
Georgdi, Chief Alm: general of the Outlander forces.
Gershadi: a nation to the north of the Central Kingdoms.
Hosea: a city state of the Central Kingdoms alliance. It is ruled by King Fulmer.
Icarii: a mystical race of winged people who once lived in the mountains of Tencendor. The Enchanters among them wielded the Star Dance to produce powerful enchantments. A scattered remnant from the destruction of Tencendor live in the lands about the Widowmaker Sea.
Inardle: one of the Lealfast.
Insharah: captain of a band of Isembaardian soldiers. Friend of Axis SunSoar.
Ional: a former archpriestess of the Order of the Coil at Serpent's Nest.
Isaiah: Tyrant of Isembaard.
Isembaard, Tyranny of: a massive empire below the FarReach Mountains, currently ruled by Isaiah.
Jelial: Lord Warden of the Eastern Plains Province of Gershadi.
Kezial: one of Isaiah of Isembaard's generals.
Kyros: a city state of the Central Kingdoms alliance. It is ruled by King Malat.
Lamiah: one of Isaiah of Isembaard's generals.
Lealfast: an Icarii-like race of the frozen north.
Lixel, Baron: Maximilian Persimius' ambassador to the Outlands.
Madarin: an Isembaardian soldier.
Malat: King of Kyros.
Margalit: the major city of the Outlands, and Ishbel Brunelle's childhood home.
Maximilian Persimius: see Persimius, Maximilian.
Morfah: one of Isaiah of Isembaard's generals.
Outlands, the: a province to the east of the Central Kingdoms, renowned for its wild nomadic culture.
Pelemere: a city state of the Central Kingdoms alliance. It is ruled by King Sirus.
Persimius, Maximilian: King of Escator. Maximilian endured seventeen years in the gloam mines, as a youth and young man when his cousin Cavor seized the throne.
Prata: master of a small Corolean fishing vessel.
Privy Council of Preferred Nobles: also Privy Council.
Ravenna: a marsh witch-woman who patrols the borderlands between this world and the Land of Dreams. Her mother is Venetia.
Sakkuth: capital of the Tyranny of Isembaard.
Salamaan Pass: the only relatively easy access through the FarReach Mountains into Isembaard.
Salome, Duchess of Sidon: the most powerful woman in Coroleas, and perhaps the most hated.
Second, the: the Thirty-eight Thousand Families who comprise the second caste within Corolean society.
The Second is comprised mostly of the educated intelligentsia, traders, and minor landowners.
Serge: a member of the Emerald Guard and former assassin.
Serpent's Nest: a mountain on the coast of the Outlands.
Sirus: King of Pelemere.
Skraelings: wraithlike creatures inhabiting the ice and snowbound wastes of the far north.
Star Dance: Enchanters among the Icarii wielded the music of the stars (the music made as the stars move about the heavens, and which the Icarii call the Star Dance) in order to create powerful enchantments. The Star Dance is no longer available to those Icarii remaining alive, because the Star Gate, which filtered the Star Dance through to them from the heavens, was destroyed during the final Tencendor wars.
Star Gate: a magical portal that once existed in Tencendor, the Star Gate filtered the magic of the Star Dance, which the Icarii Enchanters used to create their enchantments. Demons destroyed the Star Gate during the final wars of Tencendor.
StarWeb: an Icarii, and lover to Maximilian Persimius.
SunSoar, Axis: formerly a hero from Tencendor and a member of the Icarii race, Axis once reigned over Tencendor as its StarMan before relinquishing power to his son, Caelum. Axis died five years ago during the destruction of Tencendor.
SunSoar, StarDrifter: Axis' father, and a powerful Icarii prince and Enchanter.
Tencendor: a continent that once lay in the western region of the Widowmaker Sea. It was lost five years before this tale begins in a catastrophic war with demons.
Third, the: the third caste within Corolean society, mostly comprised of workers.
Thirty-eight Thousand Second Families: see the Second. Th
reshold: see DarkGlass Mountain.
Turmebt: father of Isaiah, Tyrant of Isembaard.
Twisted Tower, the: a palace of memories.
Veins, the: the gloam mines of Escator where Maximilian Persimius was imprisoned for seventeen years.
Venetia: a marsh witch-woman who patrols the borderlands between this world and the Land of Dreams.
Ravenna is her daughter.
Viland: a nation in the extreme north. The Vilanders often have trouble with Skraelings.
Vorstus: abbot of the Order of Persimius, Vorstus aided Garth Baxtor and Ravenna in freeing Maximilian Persimius from the Veins eight years before this tale begins.
Weeper, the: a strange but immensely powerful Corolean bronze deity.
Zeboath: an Isembaardian physician.
Zeboul: the most senior among the Eight.
About the Author SARA DOUGLASS has worked as a nurse and has a Ph.D. in early modern European history. Her first fantasy adventure, The Axis Trilogy, had an overwhelming response from readers (Starman won the 1996 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel). This was followed by the bestselling Wayfarer Redemption trilogy, among other novels. Sara lives in an 1880s-era house, Nonsuch, in Cornelian Bay,
Tasmania.
www.saradouglass.com Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
ALSO BY
SARA DOUGLASS
FICTION
WAYFARER REDEMPTION
Wayfarer Redemption
Enchanter
Starman
Sinner
Pilgrim
Crusader
STAND-ALONES
Threshold (September 2003)
Beyond the Hanging Wall (July 2003)
TROY GAME SERIES
Darkwitch Rising
God's Concubine
Hades' Daughter
The Druid's Sword
THE CRUCIBLE SERIES
The Nameless Day
The Wounded Hawk
The Crippled Angel
Credits Jacket design by Ervin Serrano
Jacket illustration by Steve Stone/
Bernstein & Andriulli, Inc.
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