Sacrifice: The First Book of the Fey

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by Rusch, Kristine Kathryn


  But nothing happened. The new Rocaan took his hands away. Jewel removed the cloth and smiled at the Prince. He smiled back. He seemed to be feeling the same odd joy that Jewel was.

  In Nye the new Rocaan said, “It is done.”

  His tone made Rugar look at him. The new Rocaan was no happier about this than the rest of them. But Jewel didn’t seem to notice. She hugged her father. “We made it,” she whispered.

  “Yes,” he said. They had made it through the treacheries of her first Vision. The Shaman stood beside him—he could smell her faintly cinnamon scent. Jewel put her arm through the Prince’s—Nicholas. Rugar would have to remember that since they had just become relations—and she spoke to the Islander King.

  “We will have peace now,” the Shaman said in Fey.

  Rugar gave her a startled look. She was watching Jewel laugh.

  “This will work?” Rugar asked.

  “Parts of it,” the Shaman said, her voice soft and raspy at the same time. “You always forget, Rugar, that children hold the key to the future. It is a place we travel ever so briefly, a place they will know intimately.”

  A cool breeze had come up from the water. It ruffled his hair. “You’re telling me that Jewel made the right choice,” Rugar said.

  The Shaman continued to follow Jewel’s movement through the barge. “Jewel made the only choice for peace. Would that you always do the same, Rugar.”

  He straightened. “You forget yourself,” he said. “I am a warrior.”

  “I forget nothing,” she said, and walked away from him, her white robes trailing on the wood. He bit back a curse. He always had such elliptical discussions with her, and he hated them.

  The barge started moving back toward the harbor. Jewel and her new husband stood at the rail, watching the shore come up to meet them. She had decided to live in the Islander palace, the symbol of power on Blue Isle, she had reminded him. He had said nothing. He knew how much she wanted to be out of the Shadowlands.

  She waved him over. Rugar took a deep breath and crossed the deck. He hated moments like this, moments after the wars ended, when the Fey and their former enemies had to coexist as best they could.

  When he stopped beside her, she took his hand with her free one. Her fingers were warm, her grip tight. “We beat the Visions, Papa,” she said in Fey.

  “Yes,” he said again. He could say no more. He didn’t want to spoil her obvious joy. They had defeated her Vision, but not his. He had always seen her walking through the halls of the Islander palace as if she owned it. Only he had thought they would come to that moment through a military victory, not through loss and treachery.

  “We are sailing toward the future,” Nicholas said softly in Nye. His words were meant for Jewel, but Rugar heard them.

  The future. The Shaman said it had no place for warriors.

  Rugar wondered if she was right.

  About the Author

  Kristine Kathryn Rusch, the former editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, has won a World Fantasy award and two Hugo awards for her work in science fiction and fantasy. She has also won France’s most prestigious fantasy award, Le Prix Imaginales. Her fantasy novels, including the stand-alone novels, The White Mists of Power, Heart Readers, and Traitors have won praise around the world.

  She also writes science fiction. Io9 has called the hero of her Retrieval Artist series one of the top ten science fiction detectives of all time. Her mystery novels, published under the name Kris Nelscott, are classics of the genre. And her romance novels, published under the name Kristine Grayson, are actually lightweight fantasy novels hiding in another genre.

  To find out more about her work, go to kristinekathrynrusch.com.

  To find out more about the Fey, go to thefeyseries.com.

  Full Table of Contents

  Vision

  One

  Battle

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Twenty-two

  Twenty-three

  Twenty-four

  Twenty-five

  Twenty-six

  Twenty-seven

  Twenty-eight

  Twenty-nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-one

  Thirty-two

  Thirty-three

  Thirty-four

  The Siege

  Thirty-five

  Thirty-six

  Thirty-seven

  Thirty-eight

  Thirty-nine

  Forty

  Forty-one

  Forty-two

  Forty-three

  Forty-four

  Forty-five

  Forty-six

  Forty-seven

  Forty-eight

  Forty-nine

  Fifty

  Fifty-one

  Fifty-two

  Fifty-three

  Fifty-four

  Fifty-five

  Fifty-six

  Fifty-seven

  Fifty-eight

  Fifty-nine

  Sixty

  Sixty-one

  Sixty-two

  Sixty-three

  Sixty-four

  Sixty-five

  Sixty-six

  Sixty-seven

  Sixty-eight

  Sixty-nine

  Seventy

  Seventy-one

  Seventy-two

  Seventy-three

  Seventy-four

  Seventy-five

  Seventy-six

  Seventy-seven

  Seventy-eight

  Seventy-nine

  Eighty

  Eighty-one

  Eighty-two

  Eighty-three

  Eighty-four

  Eighty-five

  Eighty-six

  The Meeting

  Eighty-seven

  Eighty-eight

  Sacrifice

  Eighty-nine

 

 

 


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