The Goblin Gate

by Hilari Bell

  “I know. I’m sorry to disobey you, and I’ll explain it later. But first…Father, there’s something I have to tell you.”

  A Chronological Glossary of the History of the Realm of the Seven Bright Gods

  BRIGHT GODS: Very early in the history of the Realm, its humans began to organize themselves in a way that valued those who had magic above those who didn’t. This organizational process ultimately resulted in the Church of the Seven Bright Gods, who were held to be the source of priestly magic. These priests were eventually ranked in circles, at first according to magical ability and later more according to political power. Seventh-circle priests are the least powerful, usually representing the church in small rural villages. There are only three first-circle priests, who govern the Northlands, the Midlands, and the Southlands, respectively. Above all of them is the Hierarch, who is chosen by the Seven Bright Gods—who conveniently express their will through the Priests’ Council, which consists of all priests third circle and above.

  THE DARK ONE: According to the church, the Dark One is the source of any magic that doesn’t come from the Seven Bright Gods. Because if someone who isn’t in the church has magic, then it has to come from some evil source. Right?

  THE LESSER ONES: These are those humans whose magic isn’t strong enough for them to enter the church. They know perfectly well that their magic isn’t evil, and they do a lot of good, healing and helping people in small villages who don’t have access to healer priests. Or those in the cities who are too poor to afford healer priests.

  THE GOBLINS: They are the other people whose magic is supposed to come from the Dark One. The goblins know this is nonsense, but not being human, they don’t have to care. The church has tried to drive them out of the Realm in the past—the great Goblin Wall in the north is a remnant of that effort. But goblins were so ubiquitous, and so stubborn, that the priests failed. Goblins sometimes help the common citizens of the Realm, usually in exchange for a bowl of milk set out at the back door—but they’ve also been known to work mischief.

  Goblins organize themselves by the type of magic they work:

  BOOKERIES: whose gifts have to do with reading, writing, and the gathering and use of information.

  FINDERS: whose gift is to locate things.

  FLICHTERS: small, winged, and only half material, the light-minded Flichters don’t do much except make a nuisance of themselves. But they do that really well.

  GREENERS: whose gifts work on live plants of any kind.

  MAKERS: who are the craftsmen of the goblin world.

  STONERS: a subset of Makers who deal with rocks.

  THE DECREE OF BRIGHT MAGIC: This brings us to the time in the Realm’s history when the barbarians, a very different human culture that lives on the other side of the Great Desert, attacked the southern border of the Realm. When the barbarians first started raiding the Southlands, a priest named Timeon Lazur paid attention to the reports from the army that was sent to defend the Realm. Master Lazur soon realized that the Realm’s army wouldn’t be able to defeat the barbarians unless the army was in an extremely defensible position—like defending a very small border from behind a very high wall.

  Unfortunately, the Goblin Wall was on the far northern end of the Realm, and the barbarians were invading from the south. Master Lazur decided that the only way the Realm could survive was to move everyone north of the wall. But this decision would be so unpopular that even the church would be unable to enforce it…as long as the common people had other sources of magic available to them. If they could still be healed by hedgewitches and herb-healers, and assisted by goblins, the Realm’s citizens would probably defy the Hierarch’s command and stay where they were. So before the great relocation was announced, the church, at Master Lazur’s behest, passed the Decree of Bright Magic, which commanded that anyone, human or goblin, whose magic came from the Dark One be put to death.

  THE CONSPIRACY: At about the same time the Decree of Bright Magic passed, and the relocation was decreed, the Realm’s government started going downhill in other ways. Master Lazur and the Priests’ Council were looking out for the relocation. The lords on the Landholders’ Council were looking out for themselves. And the Hierarch, who usually stopped abuses by corrupt landholders and priests…wasn’t doing that anymore. So some of the better landholders and a few priests got together and tried to overthrow Master Lazur’s political cadre, which they saw as the source of the corruption. They failed, and most of them were hanged.

  About the Author

  HILARI BELL used to work as a reference librarian, but she now writes science fiction and fantasy for kids and teens from her home base in Denver, Colorado.

  Hilari’s favorite activity is camping, when she spends all her time reading and hiking. She says, “Camping is the only time I can get in enough reading. Well, I take that back—when it comes to reading, there’s no such thing as enough.” You can visit her online at www.sfwa.org/members/bell.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by HILARI BELL

  THE GOBLIN WOOD

  and

  The Knight & Rogue Novels

  The Last Knight

  Rogue’s Home

  Player’s Ruse

  and

  The Prophecy

  The Wizard Test

  A Matter of Profit

  Credits

  Jacket art © 2010 by Cliff Nielsen

  Jacket design by Hilary Zarycky

  Copyright

  THE GOBLIN GATE. Copyright © 2010 by Hilari Bell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Bell, Hilari.

  The goblin gate / by Hilari Bell.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Jeriah uncovers a web of political intrigue while trying to obtain a spell from Master Lazur that might allow him to rescue his brother Tobin from the Otherworld, where he was taken by the beguiling hedgewitch Makenna and her legion of goblins.

  ISBN 978-0-06-165102-1 (trade bdg.)

  [1. Fantasy. 2. Witches—Fiction. 3. Knights and knighthood—Fiction. 4. Goblins—Fiction. 5. Magic—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.B38894Gnm 2010 2009039666

  [Fic]—dc22 CIP

  AC

  FIRST EDITION

  ePub Edition © August 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-201552-5

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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