From Chaos Born (In Her Name, Book 7) by Michael R. Hicks

Author:Michael R. Hicks [Hicks, Michael R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michael R. Hicks
Published: 2012-03-12T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Kunan-Lohr had always taken great risks in battle, for without great risk, there could be no great victory. Yet every battle he had fought, be it his blade against another’s in ritual combat or leading his city’s legions, had been well-considered, the risks weighed and balanced against what could be lost and what could be gained. Honor, of course, had always been the common and most important factor.

This time, he knew, things would be different. While breaking a covenant of honor was not unheard of, it was very rare. The reason was simple: few had been the times when one in authority had acted with such dishonor that his or her vassals were so aggrieved that they considered breaking the covenant that bound them. The sense of honor that drove them was trained into them from early childhood by the priests and priestesses of the kazhas. Those who acted with dishonor were ostracized from society at best, and, at worst, had their hair shaved, dooming them to eternal spiritual darkness.

That was the fate that he would have wished upon the Dark Queen for her outrageous plot against his child. Yet, he knew that would not come to pass, at least by his hand.

The three legions he had led from Keel-A’ar had been bled dearly, for he could sense many missing voices in the song that echoed in his blood. The challenge that lay before him was to extract the survivors from among the other legions that remained loyal to the queen. He hoped that eventually, when word of her deed came to light, they would turn upon her, but that would not help him now.

He had a plan that he hoped would work, but the first obstacle was getting word to Eil’an-Kuhr at the queen’s encampment, telling her that he was breaking the covenant of honor with the queen. Even though he had given his Sign of Authority to Ulana-Tath, according to tradition, any object readily associated with its owner would do. He held his dagger, which had a wicked curved blade and had a handle made from a polished genoth bone. It had been handed down through his paternal side for over twenty generations. He had never known his father, for he had died shortly after Kunan-Lohr had been born. The heirloom had been left with the wardresses of his creche, who had given it to the priest of the kazha near the city. The priest there had presented it to Kunan-Lohr when he had survived his seventh and final Challenge.

“Take this.” He held the dagger out to Dara-Kol, the eldest of the three young warriors who had come with him. Like her two companions, she was draped in the dark blue robes of the builder caste. They had no choice but to leave behind their armor, for its shape would have given away the disguise. They still carried their weapons, tied close to their bodies under the loose robes. “Eil’an-Kuhr will accept this as a Sign of Authority and act on the instructions I have given you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.