The Blood King (60 page)

“Still doubt the Lady’s hand?” Carina asked. “Or are you chalking all this up to gambler’s luck?”

“Thinking about being on the receiving end of the Goddess’s attention doesn’t make me sleep well at night, to tell you the truth,” Vahanian replied.

“They say the Lord of Dark Haven is favored by the Dark Lady,” Carina said mischievously. “Gabriel told me so.”

“The last time I felt favored, I almost died,” Vahanian said, remembering the illusion in the Nargi camp. “There’s something to be said for anonymity.”

Carina barely hid a snicker. “Then by all means, go on believing you’re anonymous. It’s just your phenomenal luck at work.”

Tris chuckled at the banter. He looked back to the acrobats who tumbled and whirled in the great hall. “Look there,” Kiara said, nodding toward the crowd.

Gabriel and Riqua stood together against the back wall, resplendent in fine silks and bro-cades, unremarkable among the guests except for a pallor that was nearly hidden by the candlelight. All of the Blood Council was in attendance except for Uri. While both Tris and Vahanian shared a sense of foreboding about Uri’s absence, both refused to worry about it on this day of celebration.

“You add new meaning to the part of the litany about being ‘king of the realm, master of the living and the dead,’” Kiara said dryly. “Until now, I always thought that was just a nice overstatement.”

Tris grimaced. “I’m still getting used to that part,” he admitted. “And the palace ghosts have brought their own list of grievances to be redressed. I have a feeling that once I get down to the work part of being king, I may never get a moment’s rest.”

Kiara gave him a mischievous grin. “Let me take care of that,” she said, placing her hand over his.

Just then the doors to the greatroom opened, and a hush fell over the celebration. A single robed fig-ure stood in the doorway. Dressed in the plain-spun brown robes of the Sisterhood, the figure made its way through the crowd that wordlessly parted to make a pathway to the dais. Tris rose to his feet. The woman’s cowl fell back, revealing Sister Taru’s face.

“The Sisterhood, too, has a gift for the new king,” Taru announced. She reached beneath her cloak and withdrew a gleaming sword. Its grip was beautifully worked, its steel etched with runes that seemed to burn in the torchlight. From the way it laid across her open hands Tris knew it was perfectly balanced, the weapon of a master blade maker.

Tris made his way down to stand before the sor-ceress. “Welcome, esteemed Sister,” he said respectfully. “We’re honored at your presence.”

“You are the grandson of Bava K’aa,” Taru said, offering him the sword that lay across her out-stretched hands. “Heir of blood and heir of power. Take her sword to replace Mageslayer. It will serve you well.” And in a voice that only Tris could hear, Taru said, “You may find it harbors a vestige of her power, as well as her memory.”

Tris accepted the sword, taking it carefully on his open palms. With his touch, the runes along its blade burst into flame that neither burned nor smoked. The audience gasped. When Tris looked again to thank Taru, she had disappeared.

“That certainly took care of any doubts your guests might have had about you being a real spook,” Vahanian observed dryly.

Tris sheathed the sword carefully, and the runes faded to indistinct tracings.

“I’m going to have to ask Royster about that inscription.” The musicians struck up their tunes again and the guests resumed their conversation.

Tris looked out over the ballroom; he let his mind wander with the music. It was more than he had hoped just to be alive. Everything around him was starting to change. Shekerishet—and Margolan—would never be as it had been under Bricen. That truth was sad but undeniable. In time, Tris hoped that Jared’s legacy would fade, and that Margolan’s wounds could be healed without added bloodshed. It would take a strong king to do that. Tris fervent-ly hoped that he was up to the challenge.

He smiled, looking at his friends amid the mix of coronation guests. Carroway, thoroughly at home in charge of the festivities, was fully enjolying the role of Master Bard. Soterius, now Margolan’s youngest general, had earned such deep loyalty from the rebel army that he would be playing an essential part in rebuilding the kingdom’s defenses. Vahanian and Carina were headed together to Dark Haven, with its promise and danger. Harrtuck, Royster and Cam—all of them had been forever changed by the quest to unseat Jared. They stepped into a future that none of them could have foreseen.

As the music swelled, Tris’s attention returned to Kiara. In just a few months, many of these same guests would return to Shekerishet for their wedding. The thought was exhilarating and unsettling all at the same time. Kiara looked at him quizzically, but before she could speak Carroway slipped up behind them.

“Quit upstaging me with that sword,” Carroway hissed, chasing down an errant cupbearer. “Good entertainers are hard to get.”

“So are good dancing partners,” Kiara said. She made a little bow, and reached out to take Tris’s arm. “Shall we, Your Majesty?”

“At your service, milady,” Tris replied with an answering bow. “Now and forever.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Gail Z. Martin discovered her passion for science fiction, fantasy and ghost stories in

elementary school. The first story she

wrote—at age five—was about a vampire.

Her favorite TV show as a preschooler was

Dark Shadows. At age fourteen, she decided

to become a writer. She enjoys attending

science fiction/fantasy conventions,

Renaissance fairs and living history sites.

She is married and has three children, a

Himalayan cat and a golden retriever.

You can visit Gail at: www.myspace.com/chronicleofthenecromancer www.chroniclesofthenecromancer.com

Read her blog: blog.myspace.com/chronicleofthenecromancer MAIN CHARACTERS

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ALAINE

Sister Landis’s assistant.

ALLE

A spy and member of the Margolan resistance.

ALYZZA

A half-mad mage who traveled with Linton’s cara-van as a hedge witch and helped Tris with his first efforts to learn control of his magic.

ASTASIA

One of the vayash moru nobles on the Blood Council.

BAN SOTERIUS

Captain of King Bricen’s guard on the night of the coup and a close friend of Tris Drayke.

BAVA K’AA

Mother of Queen Serae, grandmother to Tris and his sister Kait. A powerful Summoner, Bava K’aa fought the Obsidian King during the Mage Wars and was responsible for binding his spirit in the orb Soulcatcher. Until her death, Bava K’aa led the Sisterhood, an elite group of mages.

BERRY (BERWYN)

Daughter of King Staden of Principality, she first meets Tris as a captive of slavers, where she hid her identity to lessen her risk.

BRICEN OF MARGOLAN

King of Margolan, father to both Martris (Tris) Drayke and his half-brother, Jared. Killed by Jared and Foor Arontala on the night of the Feast of the Departed (Haunts) along with Queen Serae and their daughter, Kait.

CARINA JESTHRATA

Healer to King Donelan of Isencroft, distant cousin to Kiara Sharsequin and sister to the fight-er Cam. Sent to find an elixir to heal King Donelan from a mage-sent illness, Carina and Cam were traveling incognito with Maynard Linton’s caravan when Tris and his friends also took refuge with the caravan on their way north to find sanctuary.

CARROWAY

A gifted bard in the court of King Bricen and a close friend of Tris Drayke.

CURANE

A Margolan noble who is among Jared’s most loyal supporters.

DARRATH

A senior general in the Principality army. He is an expert tactician, provided by Staden to help Tris plan his strike against Jared.

ELAM

The Sister in charge of the citadel in Principality City, and a close friend of the late Bava K’aa.

FALLON

A member of the Sisterhood who oversees a citadel in northern Margolan.

FOOR ARONTALA

A Fire Clan mage and one of the undead vayash moru, Foor Arontala is mage-advisor to Jared of Margolan, Arontala seeks to reawaken the spirit of the Obsidian King from its prison in the orb Soulcatcher and permit the spirit to possess him, incarnating the greatest dark Summoner the Winter Kingdoms has known.

GABRIEL

A vayash moru lord who travels with Tris and his friends as their friend and protector. One of the Blood Council.

HANT

King Staden’s spymaster.

JARED DRAYKE

Son of King Bricen of Margolan and half-brother to Tris Drayke. As the eldest son, no one questioned Jared’s position as heir to the throne. With the help of his dark mage, Foor Arontala, Jared murdered his father and all of the royal family except for Tris. He seeks to destroy Tris and solidify his hold on Margolan.

JONMARC VAHANIAN

A gifted fighter with a checkered past, Vahanian has twice before been brought to grief by Arontala. Harrtuck gets Tris to hire Vahanian as a guide to take the group safely through the northern mountains.

KIARA SHARSEQUIN

Daughter of King Donelan of Isencroft and the late Queen Viata, Kiara is sent by the Oracle of the god-dess on a coming of age Journey that takes her into dangerous territory across Margolan. Bound by an old pact, Kiara is desperate to avoid an arranged marriage to Jared of Margolan, to whom she was betrothed at birth.

LANDIS

One of the senior Sisters at the citadel in Principality City.

LEMUEL

A great Summoner and the lover of Bava K’aa. Lemuel was possessed by the spirit of the Obsidian King. Bava K’aa bound the Obsidian King’s spirit in the orb Soulcatcher rather than destroy him because she hoped that Lemuel still existed within

the Obsidian King’s power and could someday be freed.

MACARIA, HALIK AND PAIVA

Three bards from the Margolan court who are close friends of Carroway.

MARTRIS DRAYKE

Known as Tris to his friends, Prince Drayke is the

only survivor of the coup against his father, King Bricen of Margolan, except for Jared the Usurper. Grandson of famed sorceress Bava K’aa, Tris learns that he has inherited his grandmother’s powerful spirit magic and is a Summoner, a mage who can intercede among the living, dead and undead. Although as Bricen’s second son Tris never desired or expected the crown, he realizes that he is the only one who can challenge Jared and bring peace to Margolan and the Winter Kingdoms.

MAYNARD LINTON

A smuggler and long-time friend of Jonmarc Vahanian, Linton ran the caravan which provided cover for Tris and his friends on their flight from Margolan.

MIKHAIL

A vayash moru from Gabriel’s undead ‘family’ who served King Hotten, Tris’s ancestor, over 200 years ago.

OBSIDIAN KING

The powerful evil spirit of a great Summoner from long ago. His spirit possessed the mage Lemuel a generation before Tris Drayke’s birth. In Lemuel’s body, the Obsidian King waged war against the Winter Kingdoms in what became the Mage Wars. He was defeated and his spirit was bound in the orb Soulcatcher by Bava K’aa.

PELL, TABB AND ANDRAS

Margolan soldiers loyal to King Bricen who desert-ed after the coup and are among the refugees in Principality.

RAFE

A powerful vayash moru who is one of the Blood

Council.

RlQUA

A wealthy and powerful vayash moru who serves on the Blood Council.

ROYSTER

Librarian and Keeper at the Library at Westmarch.

SAHILA

A leader among the Margolan refugees.

STADEN

King of Principality and the father of Princess Berwyn.

TADRIE

A Margolan farmer whose family was rescued from angry guards by Kiara. Now a leader among the Margolan refugees.

TARU

One of the mages of the Sisterhood responsible for Tris’s training.

TOV HARRTUCK

A loyal guardsman to King Bricen who helped Tris, Soterius and Carroway escape on the night of the coup. Harrtuck’s friendship with Jonmarc Vahanian and their shared past as mercenaries connected the group with Vahanian as a guide.

URI

One of the vayash moru lords on the Blood Council.