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Quillifer the Knight

Page 53

by Walter Jon Williams


  “My lord of Wenlock!” said my Queen. “Kindly unhand the Count of Selford!”

  You swept down the corridor toward me with your company of ladies and the surprised ambassador of Thurnmark. A look of thwarted anger crossed Wenlock’s face, and he released me. His lackeys fell back in embarrassment.

  “We will not have these brawls in our home!” you proclaimed, and looked Wenlock in the eye. “Now apologize to his lordship, and get you gone—you will return at once to your home in Ethlebight, and come not to court until you are summoned!”

  Wenlock purpled in anger, but he did as commanded, and hastened away along with his following. I barely heard his words, for echoing through my head were those words—Count of Selford—and as I looked at you in rising astonishment, I saw the confirmation in your eyes.

  “You had best go back to your apartment,” you said, “and change your linen and hose. You are somewhat soiled, my lord.”

  “I obey, Your Majesty.” I bowed, and waited till you and your party passed, and then, as elation blazed through my blood, I returned to my rooms—where later, in the soft silent hours of the night, I would await Your Majesty’s pleasure.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  With thanks again to Ada Palmer, for a lucid explanation of the differences between assurgo, cresco, and convalo.

  More from this Series

  Quillifer

  Book 1

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PHOTO BY COURTNEY WILLIS

  WALTER JON WILLIAMS is an award-winning author who has been listed on the bestseller lists of the NewYork Times and the Times of London. He is the author of more than thirty novels and collections of short fiction, in addition to works in film, television, comics, and the gaming field. In 2000, he won a Nebula Award for his novelette “Daddy’s World” and again in 2004 for “The Green Leopard Plague.”

  Williams is a world traveler, scuba diver, and black belt in Kenpo karate. You can visit him at walterjonwilliams.net.

  FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:

  SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Walter-Jon-Williams

  SimonandSchuster.com

  Facebook.com/SagaPressBooks

  @SagaSFF

  ALSO BY WALTER JON WILLIAMS

  NOVELS

  Quillifer

  Ambassador of Progress

  Knight Moves

  Hardwired

  Voice of the Whirlwind

  Angel Station

  Days of Atonement

  Aristoi

  Implied Spaces

  The Rift

  METROPOLITAN SERIES

  Metropolitan

  City on Fire

  STAR WARS: THE NEW JEDI ORDER

  Destiny’s Way

  Ylesia

  MAIJSTRAL SERIES

  The Crown Jewels

  House of Shards

  Rock of Ages

  Ten Points for Style (omnibus of The Crown Jewels, House of Shards, and Rock of Ages)

  DAGMAR SHAW SERIES

  This Is Not a Game

  Deep State

  The Fourth Wall

  DREAD EMPIRE’S FALL SEQUENCE

  The Praxis

  The Sundering

  Conventions of War

  Investments

  Impersonations

  COLLECTIONS

  Facets

  Elegy for Angels and Dogs Tor Double (with Roger Zelazny’s The Graveyard Heart)

  Frankensteins and Foreign Devils

  The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories

  HISTORICAL NOVELS (AS JON WILLIAMS)

  To Glory Arise (published as The Privateer)

  The Tern Schooner (published as The Yankee)

  Brig of War (published as The Raider)

  The Macedonian

  Cat Island

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  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. † Text copyright © 2019 by Walter Jon Williams † Jacket illustration copyright © 2019 by Alejandro Colucci † All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Saga Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 † SAGA PRESS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. † For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com. † The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. † Cover design by Greg Stadnyk † Cover photography by Thinkstock © 2017 † Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. † ISBN 978-1-4814-9001-6 † ISBN 978-1-4814-9002-3 (eBook)

 

 

 


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