by Evie Manieri
Isa called out to Falkar, their silent Norlander language giving her aching throat some relief at last. She could feel his dark determination like a gray cloud around him.
She tried to hide the flash of panic she’d felt seeing those triffons heading straight for her as she flew in front of them to cut them off.
Falkar brought his mount alongside her and both triffons instinctively fell into formation, beating their wings in unison.
Falkar gave the order to return to the ashadom and though Isa could feel the others griping, they had just enough discipline left to obey him. He brought his triffon around and flew away back to the cave, following his men.
Isa took in a great breath of the night air as soon as he was gone and tried to focus. Daryan needed her. She wouldn’t think about anything else. She wouldn’t think about the pain shooting down from her shoulder into her missing arm, or what she would do when the Nomas’ pain pills were gone. Above all, she wouldn’t think about the fact that she would eventually have to go back to the ashadom, to live among people who considered her an abomination, because she had nowhere else to go.
Flying up over the ashadom with the moon setting over the water behind her, Isa caught sight of her shadow on the cliff-face, elongated by the moonlight into a silent, string-limbed specter atop a gigantic winged beast. The leaning cross of Blood’s Pride poked out from her saddle, stark and menacing. Where her face should have been was a blank oval, incapable of seeing anyone’s suffering or offering any pity, and yet she knew it was looking right back at her.
Acknowledgments
My dear friends and family, too many to name now, for their excitement, encouragement and general awesomeness. There are two more books in this series, so there’ll be loads more to come. For now …
My agent Becca Stumpf, recipient of my 99th query letter (I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere), whom I can never adequately thank for rescuing me from the slush pile or for her tireless work and reliably cheerful support ever since …
Jo Fletcher of Jo Fletcher Books and Stacy Hill of Tor Books, for taking a chance on me; for their marvelously insightful and sensitive editing, and for the magic trick of providing amazingly different but never contradictory notes; and for putting up with my rookie nonsense with remarkable patience …
Fellow author and unspeakably lovely person Laura J. Snyder, who blithely assured me that my book would be published the very first time we met, but who otherwise seems perfectly sane …
My amazing mother Joanne Manieri, for always believing that I could do something wonderful provided I took adequate precautions against natural disasters, terrorists, deer ticks, black ice, under-cooked poultry and killer bees …
My daughter Prudence, who at nine years old is the kindest and most compassionate person I have ever met. Her good qualities will serve humankind well when she rules over us all as Goddess of the Uber-Nerds …
My husband Lou Flees—penultimately, of course, since that’s his favorite word—for being unfailingly gracious when awakened at 4am to inspect suspicious moles or identify distant beeping sounds. Without his support I could not possibly have written this book, or have had the chance to describe him in print as “Clooney handsome” (his phrase) …
And finally, the steadfast and true Lisa Rogers, who loses ten points for almost completely derailing this project by introducing me to Howard Overman’s Misfits, but gains a million points for making me a snow-globe with Simon’s picture in it. I can always rely on her to tell me to get down off the ledge, out from under the covers or away from the keyboard, as the situation requires—now being one of those times.
About the Author
Evie Manieri graduated from Wesleyan University with a double major in medieval history and theater. This is her first novel. She lives with her husband and daughter in New York City.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BLOOD’S PRIDE
Copyright © 2012 by Evie Manieri
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Kekai Kotaki
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Manieri, Evie.
Blood’s pride / Evie Manieri.—First U.S. edition.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-3234-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-5995-7 (e-book)
1. Warriors—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3613.A5453B56 2013
813'.6—dc23
2012038822
e-ISBN 9781429959957
Published in Great Britain in 2012 by Jo Fletcher Books
First Edition: February 2013