"Cede--? But that is--he cannot expect--" Moria inhaled sharply. "He does not expect it. He is asking for what he cannot have. He means to incite war."
"Yes, apparently even a child can see his true purpose." The emperor shot a glare at his marshal. "It would be difficult for me to make any concessions to an exiled traitor. If he were, however, to ask for something reasonable, such as a pardon, negotiations could be held. This is beyond negotiations. He will have war. The destruction of Fairview and the death of Edgewood's children would lie at my feet."
"But . . ." Ashyn's head shot up from her reading. "Fairview? The children? Are they lost, then?"
"No, child. Rescuing them will be our first priority, one that can hopefully be accomplished before Alvar Kitsune realizes we've refused his generous offer."
"But war?" the marshal said. "How does he imagine he'd win that? His mercenaries cannot outnumber our troops."
"I'm quite certain he hopes to win some of his former men to his side. I'm equally certain he already has, and they are merely awaiting his signal." He gave his marshal a hard look. "You have told me that your warriors are content. Now we will see the truth of that."
"But war?" the chancellor said. "Against shadow stalkers?"
"And more," Ashyn said quietly.
They all turned to her, but she seemed unable to go on.
"He has raised more than shadow stalkers," Moria said. "Ashyn encountered death worms in the Wastes. I fought a thunder hawk. I have a feather in my pack to prove it. That may mean he has plans to do battle with more than men and shadow stalkers."
"Then we must be prepared," the emperor said. "For a war unlike any the empire has seen."
About the Author
When librarians finally granted KELLEY ARMSTRONG an adult card, she made straight for the epic fantasy and horror shelves. She spent the rest of her childhood and teen years happily roaming fantastical and terrible worlds, and vowed that someday she'd write a story combining swords, sorcery, and the ravenous undead. That story begins with Sea of Shadows.
Armstrong's first works for teens were the New York Times bestselling Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising trilogies. All of her novels for teens have been New York Times bestsellers. She lives in rural Ontario with her husband, three children, and far too many pets. You can visit her online at www.kelleyarmstrong.com.
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Credits
Photograph of forest (c) 2014 Ildiko Neer / Trevillion Images
Thunderhawk icon (c) 2014 Rhythm and Hues
Cover design by Sarah Nichole Kaufman
Copyright
Sea of Shadows
Copyright (c) 2014 by KLA Fricke Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Armstrong, Kelley.
Sea of shadows / Kelley Armstrong. -- First edition.
p. cm.
Summary: "Twin sisters Ashyn and Moria must embark on a dangerous journey when the spirits they're charged with protecting turn vengeful"-- Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-207124-8 (hardback) EPUB Edition FEBRUARY 2014 ISBN 9780062071262
[1. Adventure and adventurers--Fiction. 2. Twins--Fiction. 3. Sisters--Fiction. 4. Spirits--Fiction. 5. Supernatural--Fiction. 6. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.A73362Se 2014
2013032809
[Fic]--dc23
CIP
AC
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14 15 16 17 18 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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