The Book of Athyra
Read The Book of Athyra Online
Authors: Steven Brust
HE
C
YCLE
Phoenix sinks into decay
Haughty dragon yearns to slay.
Lyorn growls and lowers horn
Tiassa dreams and plots are born.
Hawk looks down from lofty flight
Dzur stalks and blends with night.
Issola strikes from courtly bow
Tsalmoth maintains though none knows how.
Vallista rends and then rebuilds
Jhereg feeds on others’ kills.
Quiet iorich won’t forget
Sly chreotha weaves his net.
Yendi coils and strikes, unseen
Orca circles, hard and lean.
Frightened teckla hides in grass
Jhegaala shifts as moments pass.
Athyra rules minds’ interplay
Phoenix rises from ashes gray.
The Adventures of Vlad Taltos
JHEREG
YENDI
TECKLA
TALTOS
PHOENIX
ATHYRA
ORCA
DRAGON
ISSOLA
DZUR
Anthologies
THE BOOK OF JHEREG
THE BOOK OF TALTOS
THE BOOK OF ATHYRA
T
HE
B
OOK OF
A
THYRA
Contains the complete text of
Athyra and Orca
Steven Brust
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
The Book of Athyra
copyright © 2003 by Steven Brust.
Athyra
copyright © 1993 by Steven Brust.
Orca
copyright © 1996 by Steven Brust.
Cover art by Ciruelo Cabral.
Cover design by Rita Frangie.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
ACE is an imprint of The Berkley Publishing Group.
ACE and the “A” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PRINTING HISTORY
Ace trade paperback edition / February 2003
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brust, Steven, 1955–
[Athyra]
The book of Athyra / Steven Brust.
p. cm.
“Contains the complete text of Athyra and Orca.”
ISBN: 978-1-101-66574-9
1. Taltos, Vlad (Fictitious character)—Fiction. I. Brust, Steven, 1955– Orca. II. Title.
PS3552.R84 A94 2003
813’.54—dc21
2002033263
Version_1
Author’s Note
One of the questions I’m most often asked is: “In what order would you recommend reading these books?” Unfortunately, I’m just exactly the wrong guy to ask. I made every effort to write them so they could be read in any order. I am aware that, in some measure at least, I have failed (I certainly wouldn’t recommend starting with
Teckla
, for example), but the fact that I was trying makes me incapable of giving an answer.
Many people whose opinion I respect believe publication order is best; this volume reflects that belief. For those who want to read the books in chronological order, it would go like this:
Taltos, Yendi, Dragon, Jhereg, Teckla, Phoenix, Athyra, Orca, Issola.
The choice, I daresay, is yours. In any case, I hope you enjoy them.
Steven Brust
Minneapolis
March 1999
RONUNCIATION
G
UIDE
| Adrilankha | ah-dri-LAHN-kuh |
| Adron | Ā-drahn |
| Aliera | uh-LEER-uh |
| Athyra | uh-THĪ-ruh |
| Baritt | BĀR-it |
| Brust | brūst |
| Cawti | KAW-tee |
| Chreotha | kree-O-thuh |
| Dragaera | druh-GAR-uh |
| Drien | DREE-en |
| Dzur | tser |
| Iorich | ī-Ō-rich |
| Issola | î-SŌ-luh |
| Jhegaala | zhuh-GAH-luh |
| Jhereg | zhuh-REG |
| Kiera | KĪ-ruh |
| Kieron | KĪ-rahn |
| Kragar | KRAY-gahr |
| Leareth | LEER-eth |
| Loiosh | LOI-ōsh |
| Lyorn | LI-orn |
| Mario | MAH-ree-ō |
| Mellar | MEH-lar |
| Morrolan | muh-RŌL-uhn |
| Norathar | NŌ-ruh-thahr |
| Rocza | RAW-tsuh |
| Serioli | sar-ee-Ō-lee |
| Taltos | TAHL-tōsh |
| Teckla | TEH-kluh |
| Tiassa | tee-AH-suh |
| Tsalmoth | TSAHL-mōth |
| Verra | VEE-ruh |
| Valista | vuhl-ISS-tuh |
| Yendi | YEN-dee |
| Zerika | zuh-REE-kuh |
THYRA
For Martin, and it’s about time
knowledgme
nts
A whole bunch of people read early stages of this book and helped repair it. They are:
Susan Allison
Emma Bull
Pamela Dean
Kara Dalkey
Fred Levy Haskell
Will Shetterly
Terri Windling
As always, I’d like to humbly thank Adrian Charles Morgan, without whose work I wouldn’t have a world that was nearly so much fun to write about.
Special thanks to Betsy Pucci and Sheri Portigal for supplying the facts on which I based certain portions of this book. If there are errors, blame me, not them, and, in any case, don’t try this stuff at home.
W
OMAN, GIRL, MAN, AND
boy sat together, like good companions, around a fire in the woods.
“Now that you’re here,” said the man, “explanations can wait until we’ve eaten.”
“Very well,” said the woman. “That smells very tasty.”
“Thank you,” said the man.
The boy said nothing.
The girl sniffed in disdain; the others paid no attention.
“What is it?” said the woman. “I don’t recognize—”
“A bird. Should be done, soon.”
“He killed it,” said the girl, accusingly.
“Yes?” said the woman. “Shouldn’t he have?”
“Killing is all he knows how to do.”
The man didn’t answer; he just turned the bird on the spit.
The boy said nothing.
“Can’t you do something?” said the girl.
“You mean, teach him a skill?” said the woman. No one laughed.
“We were walking through the woods,” said the girl. “Not that
I
wanted to be here—”
“You didn’t?” said the woman, glancing sharply at the man. He ignored them. “He forced you to accompany him?” she said.
“Well, he didn’t
force
me to, but I had to.”
“Hmmm.”
“And all of a sudden, I became afraid, and—”
“Afraid of what?”
“Of—well—of that place. I wanted to go a different way. But he wouldn’t.”
The woman glanced at the roasting bird, and nodded, recognizing it. “That’s what they do,” she said. “That’s how they find prey, and how they frighten off predators. It’s some sort of psychic ability to—”
“I don’t care,” said the girl.
“Time to eat,” said the man.
“I started arguing with him, but he ignored me. He took out his knife and threw it into these bushes—”
“Yes,” said the man. “And here it is.”
“You could,” said the woman, looking at him suddenly, “have just walked around it. They won’t attack anything our size.”
“Eat now,” said the man. “We can resume the insults later.”
The boy said nothing.
The woman said, “If you like. But I’m curious—”
The man shrugged. “I dislike things that play games with my mind,” he said. “Besides, they’re good to eat.”
The boy, whose name was Savn, had remained silent the entire time.
But that was only to be expected, under the circumstances.
I will not marry a dung-foot peasant,
I will not marry a dung-foot peasant,
Life with him would not be pleasant.
Hi-dee hi-dee ho-la!
Step on out and do not tarry,
Step on back and do not tarry,
Tell me tell me who you’ll marry.
Hi-dee hi-dee ho-la!
S
AVN WAS THE FIRST
one to see him, and, come to that, the first to see the Harbingers, as well. The Harbingers behaved as Harbingers do: they went unrecognized until after the fact. When Savn saw them, his only remark was to his little sister, Polinice. He said, “Summer is almost over; the jhereg are already mating.”