by Sarah Zettel
They did not move toward each other, Natharie and her mother, but neither did they look away. It would be a long time before there was peace between them. Samudra understood that, just as it would be a long time before he fully understood and forgave what his own mother had done. But at least now they would both have that time, as she and he would have time to remake their lives and their lands and make good on the promise of the debts and wagers and miracles that had brought them to this place. Then she and he would return to the Palace of the Pearl Throne. Bandhura still waited in the small domain. What would she do when she found her husband had fallen? Would she stand by him? Samudra found himself inclined to believe she would. In her own way she loved him and he did not believe she would forsake him now.
What then would he do with the both of them? And what would he do with the whole of Hastinapura, which was now his to guide and guard until Death came once again to stand him before Mother A-Kuha?
Samudra sighed. He had been wrong before. This was not the end.
It was the beginning.
About the Author
Sarah Zettel, author of numerous fantasy and science fiction novels, won the Locus Award for the Best First Novel for Reclamation (1996), and was runner-up for the Philip K. Dick Award for the best paperback original SF novel for Fool’s War (1997). Sword of the Deceiver is the fourth fantasy novel in her Isavalta series. She lives with her husband and young son outside Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Copyright © 2007 by Sarah Zettel
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Published in association with Athans & Associates Creative Consulting
Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 10: 1-4405-4861-7
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-4861-1
eISBN 10: 1-4405-4377-1
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-4377-7