Traitor Savant (Second Seal of the Duelists)

by Giacomo, Jasmine

  Trainees: unranked students at the Duelist Academy. They wear heavy iron bracelets and practice the six sacred motions, spell forms, and meditation daily for two seasons or so, before they’re ever allowed to cast magic

  Treinfhir: the Tuathi anima caster who fought Bayan and his hexmates at the Battle of the Kheerzaal. Full of secrets, the Tuathi becomes an element for division within Bayan’s hex.

  Tuathi: nomadic clans of horsemen who live in the hills west of the Maam Ardcath. Historically, they have clashed with the Waarden and their allies on numerous occasions, and once sacked Akkeraad, forcing the emperor to flee. The Dunfarroghan are their “domesticated” descendants. The Tuathi are known for their warlike ways, their disdain for the soft, settled lives of imperial farmers and merchants, and for the use of the unnatural and forbidden anima magic

  Tuq: god of the Raqtaaq. His worship is forbidden now that the Waarden Empire has made the Raqtaaq lands into mere provinces. The sacred soil in which devout followers of Tuq kneel and pray is severely restricted, but certain powerful individuals can still smuggle some from its location on the old Aklaa palace grounds

  Tuur Langlaren: Headmaster of the Duelist Academy and a Hexmagic Duelist

  Twervel Sea: a southern sea between Shawnash’kote and Raqtaaq provinces

  Uunaq: an indentured handmaid who was in service to, and colluding with, the mad princess Qivinga

  Vagary: a roadside bandit, from the old empire term “vagaries of travel”

  Victory in Pallithea Day: a summer holiday that celebrates the end of the War of Steel

  Villagers: specifically, the inhabitants of Peace Village. Also a general term used by duelists to refer to anyone who doesn’t possess magic

  Void, the: a state of emotionless detachment. Duelist trainees are taught to embrace the Void long before they’re allowed to cast spells, since emotional outbursts make elemental magic go wild

  Waarden: the ruling people of the Waarden Empire. Their blood type is dominant over all others. Sometimes nicknamed “wisp”

  War of Secrets: Tuathi term for what the Waarden call the First Tuathi War

  War of Steel: the shortest war in imperial history, between Karkhedon and the Teresseren Empire, due to the empire’s determination to wipe the forbidden metal from their lands, as well as all those who wielded it

  Warmaster: the rank held by selected powerful duelists, and the Academy Headmaster, in times of war. The headmaster is responsible for marshaling the students and teachers into battle hexes, though such desperate circumstances haven’t occurred since the Second Tuathi War

  Waskukone’yen: a citrus-scented flower export from Kemada

  Wateyo tes’Eshkin: one of the emperor’s Lord Ministers, and a wealthy, powerful nobleman in his own right, he controls the Ministry of Ways and employs Philo Sallas as his best surveyor. Married to Iyanu K’mokamo, father of Kiwani t’Eshkin

  Wekshi: the Academy’s Wind Instructor, she holds the rank of Avatar Duelist

  Wisnuk Bay: a bay in Kemada, surrounded by fertile land that is populated by wealthy families with long noble ancestries, like the Eshkin family.

  Yewakma: a Kemada town where Odjin runs his potioneer business

  About the Author

  Jasmine Giacomo writes from Washington State, where she lives with her husband and two children. She graduated last millennium with a degree in English Literature from a college built atop a volcano.

  Though she's been writing since the age of four, she also enjoys geocaching, history, science and games, and holds a black belt in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. She particularly enjoys reading and writing fight scenes.

  Her current writing project is book three in the Seals of the Duelists series. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, G+, Amazon, and www.jasminegiacomo.com.

  Table of Contents

  Maps

  Pronunciation Guide

  Prologue

  The Telling

  New Expectations

  The Lost Secret

  Shattered

  Far From Home

  A Bitter Potion

  Forcing and Bonding

  Secrets in the Labyrinth

  Questions for the Sints

  The Temple Exile

  Clandestine Maneuvers

  A Spell to Chase Away Hiccups

  The Impossible Enemy Returns

  A Chanter’s Curse

  Fair Play

  Hairy Feet and Cinnamon Flowers

  Doomed to Fail

  Ripples in the Telling

  A Cursed Hex

  A Bit of Nocturnal Songwork

  Hexing

  Anakna

  A Full Hex

  A Hero Falls

  Old Magic Made New

  Mistress of Flame, Master of Betrayal

  Beneath the Temple

  Not A Murder

  Calder Loses Focus

  Before the Octet

  The Heart of the Web

  Hexing Savants

  Absolute Power

  Traitor Savant

  Untempered

  Epilogue

  About the Author