The Complete Empire Trilogy (56 page)
Read The Complete Empire Trilogy Online
Authors: Raymond E. Feist
To Daniel P. Mannix IV for both being an example of what a writer is, and for giving us a terrific place to work (the ducks notwithstanding).
And to Barbara A. Feist for putting up with one of us.
Raymond E. Feist
Janny Wurts
Frazer, PA, June, 1986
RAYMOND E. FEIST was born and raised in southern California. He was educated at the University of California, San Diego, where he graduated with honours in Communication Arts. He is the author of nine bestselling and critically acclaimed series:
The Riftwar Saga
,
The Empire Trilogy
(with Janny Wurts),
Krondor’s Sons
,
The Serpentwar Saga
,
The Riftwar Legacy
,
Legends of the Riftwar
,
Conclave of the Shadows
,
Darkwar Saga
,
Demonwar Saga
and
Chaoswar Saga
.
JANNY WURTS is the author of numerous successful fantasy novels, including the acclaimed
Cycle of Fire
trilogy. She is also co-author, with Raymond E. Feist, of the worldwide bestselling
Empire
series. Her skill as a horsewoman, offshore sailor and musician is reflected in her novels. She is also a talented artist and illustrates her own covers. Janny lives in Florida, USA.
Her website can be found at: www.paravia.com/JannyWurts
BY RAYMOND E. FEIST AND JANNY WURTS
Daughter of the Empire
Servant of the Empire
Mistress of the Empire
BY RAYMOND E. FEIST
Magician
Silverthorn
A Darkness at Sethanon
Faerie Tale
Prince of the Blood
The King’s Buccaneer
Shadow of a Dark Queen
Rise of a Merchant Prince
Rage of a Demon King
Shards of a Broken Crown
Krondor: The Betrayal
Krondor: The Assassins
Krondor: Tear of the Gods
Talon of the Silver Hawk
King of Foxes
Exile’s Return
Flight of the Nighthawks
Into a Dark Realm
Wrath of a Mad God
Rides a Dread Legion
At the Gates of Darkness
A Kingdom Besieged
A Crown Imperilled
With William R. Fortschen:
Honoured Enemy
With Joel Rosenburg:
Murder in LaMut
With Steve Stirling:
Jimmy the Hand
BY JANNY WURTS
The Cycle of Fire Trilogy:
Stormwarden
Keeper of the Keys
Shadowfane
Sorcerer’s Legacy
Master of Whitestorm
That Way Lies Camelot
To Ride Hell’s Chasm
The Wars of Light and Shadow:
The Curse of the Mistwraith
The Ships of Merior
Warhost of Vastmark
Fugitive Prince
Grand Conspiracy
Peril’s Gate
Traitor’s Knot
Voyager
An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
77–85 Fulham Palace Road,
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpervoyagerbooks.com
First published in Great Britain by
Grafton Books 1987
Copyright © Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts 1987
The Authors assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
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EPub Edition © AUGUST 2012 ISBN 9780007375646
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and
JANNY WURTS
Servant of the Empire
Book Two of the Empire Trilogy
Dedicated to the memory of
Ron Faust,
always a friend
Chapter Seventeen: Grey Council
Chapter Eighteen: Bloody Swords
Chapter Twenty-One: Keeper of the Seal
Chapter Twenty-Four: Breakthrough
Chapter Twenty-Five: Confrontation
Chapter Twenty-Six: Resolution
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Beginnings
Slave
The breeze died.
Dust swirled in little eddies, settling grit over the palisade that surrounded the slave market. Despite the wayward currents, the air was hot and thick, reeking of confined and unwashed humanity mingled with the smell of river sewage and rotting garbage from the dump behind the market.
Sheltered behind the curtains of her brightly lacquered litter, Lady Mara wafted air across her face with a scented fan. If the stench troubled her, she showed no sign. The Ruling Lady of the Acoma motioned for her escort to stop. Soldiers in green enamelled armour came to a halt, and the sweating bearers set the litter down.
An officer in a Strike Leader’s plumed helm gave his hand to Mara and she emerged from her litter. The colour in her cheeks was high; Lujan could not tell if she was flushed from the heat or still angered from the argument prior to leaving her estate. Jican, the estate hadonra, had spent most of the morning vigorously objecting to her plan to purchase what he insisted would be worthless slaves. The debate had ended only when she ordered him to silence.
Mara addressed her First Strike Leader. ‘Lujan, attend me, and have the others wait here.’ Her acerbity caused Lujan to forgo the banter that, on occasion, strained the limits of acceptable protocol; besides, his first task was to protect her – and the slave markets were far too public for his liking – so his attention turned quickly from wit to security. As he watched for any sign of trouble, he reasoned that when Mara busied herself in her newest plan she would forget Jican’s dissension. Until then she would not
appreciate hearing objections she had already dismissed in her own mind.
Lujan understood that everything his mistress undertook was to further her position in the Game of the Council, the political striving that was the heart of Tsurani politics. Her invariable goal was the survival and strengthening of House Acoma. Rivals and friends alike had learned that a once untried young girl had matured into a gifted player of the deadly game. Mara had eluded the trap set by her father’s old enemy, Jingu of the Minwanabi, and had succeeded with her own plot – forcing Jingu to take his own life in disgrace.
Yet if Mara’s triumphs were the current topic of discussion among the Empire’s many nobles, she herself had barely paused to enjoy the satisfaction of her ascendancy. Her father’s and brother’s deaths had taken her family to the brink of extinction. Mara concentrated on anticipating future trouble as she manoeuvred to ensure her survival. What was done was behind, and to dwell on it was to risk being taken unawares.
While the man who had ordered the death of her father and brother was finally himself dead, her attention remained focused on the blood feud between House Acoma and House Minwanabi. Mara remembered the unvarnished look of hatred on the face of Desio of the Minwanabi as she and the other guests passed his father’s death ceremony. While not as clever as his sire, Desio would be no less a danger; grief and hatred now turned his motives personal: Mara had destroyed his father at the height of his power, while he hosted the Warlord’s birthday celebration, in his own home. Then she had savoured that victory in the presence of the most influential and powerful nobles in the Empire as she hosted the Warlord’s relocated celebration upon her own estates.
No sooner had the Warlord and his guests departed Acoma lands than Mara had embarked on a new plan to
strengthen her house. She had closeted herself with Jican, to discuss the need for new slaves to clear additional meadow-lands from the scrub forests north of the estate house. Pastures, pens, and sheds must be completed well before calving season in spring, so the grass would be well grown for the young needra and their mothers to graze.