The Black King: The Seventh Book of The Fey by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Author:Kristine Kathryn Rusch [Rusch, Kristine Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: WMG Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2012-11-21T08:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

Bridge had never felt like a supplicant in his life. He had always had a place to go, a job to do. Even when he had come to Blue Isle, he felt as if he were in charge of something—maybe not as important as the Empire, but a leader, nonetheless. Now he stood beside Lyndred at the base of the ramp and stared at Gift’s ship.

Over Bridge’s shoulder he carried some of his possessions. The rest were being stored by the loyal members of his crew. His ship had been confiscated by Arianna, and his crew dismissed. If things worked the way he hoped, he might get them work on Gift’s vessel.

Bridge had never expected to be thrown out of the palace. He had thought that Arianna might send him back to his position in Nye. He’d never expected to lose that position completely.

Perhaps he should have. Lyndred had told him that Arianna had brought an Assassin into the North Tower while Lyndred was there. The message was clear: Arianna could find a way to destroy them if she wanted to. That she hadn’t was evidence that she still thought them useful somehow.

“I’m going, Daddy,” Lyndred said. “You can do what you want, but I think we’re better off on the ship.”

He stared at the masts. There were more than he was used to. “I think we should just leave Blue Isle and go back home.”

He had never referred to Nye as home before, but he guessed it was the closest thing he’d ever had. He hated the place, but he felt safer there. And his daughter would be safer too.

“What can we do on Nye?” Lyndred asked. “At least here we might have a chance.”

“A chance for what, honey?” He had his hand on the rope railing. The deck of the ship looked very far away. “A chance to overthrow a Black Queen we don’t like? A chance to be banished just like Gift? What sort of chance do you see?”

“I think Gift might find a way to force her to step down.”

“And what if he does? Are you hoping that something will happen to him? Are you hoping that you’ll be able to step into his place?”

Lyndred gave him a withering look. “I’m worried about the Empire.”

“So am I.”

She ignored him, starting up the ramp instead. It shook beneath her weight. She didn’t look back, and the implication was clear. He could do what he wanted. She was going onto this ship.

He sighed and followed her.

A Nyeian met them on the deck. Bridge thought it odd that Nyeian sailors would be on a Tashil ship. Then he remembered the Co clothing of the woman Gift had introduced as his guide. This was a diverse crew, filled with people from all over the Empire. In some ways, Lyndred was right. Gift knew more about the Empire than Arianna ever could. Gift, at least, had traveled across the length and breadth of it, and understood there were a hundred different cultures, co-existing uneasily under Fey rule.

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