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Authors: Raymond E. Feist

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BOOK: The Complete Empire Trilogy
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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

About the Author

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

Also by the Author

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

Copyright

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

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

EPub Edition © AUGUST 2012 ISBN 9780007375646

About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Canada
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http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand

HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
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Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com

RAYMOND E. FEIST
and
JANNY WURTS
Servant of the Empire

Book Two of the Empire Trilogy

 

 

 

Dedicated to the memory of
Ron Faust,
always a friend

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter One: Slave

Chapter Two: Planning

Chapter Three: Changes

Chapter Four: Vows

Chapter Five: Entanglement

Chapter Six: Diversions

Chapter Seven: Target

Chapter Eight: Reconciliation

Chapter Nine: Ambush

Chapter Ten: Masterplot

Chapter Eleven: The Desert

Chapter Twelve: Snares

Chapter Thirteen: Realignment

Chapter Fourteen: Celebration

Chapter Fifteen: Chaos

Chapter Sixteen: Regrouping

Chapter Seventeen: Grey Council

Chapter Eighteen: Bloody Swords

Chapter Nineteen: Warlord

Chapter Twenty: Disquiet

Chapter Twenty-One: Keeper of the Seal

Chapter Twenty-Two: Tumult

Chapter Twenty-Three: Sortie

Chapter Twenty-Four: Breakthrough

Chapter Twenty-Five: Confrontation

Chapter Twenty-Six: Resolution

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Beginnings

About the Author

Also by the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

• Chapter One •
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.

BOOK: The Complete Empire Trilogy
6.81Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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