Sword of Cho Nisi book 1 by D.L. Gardner

Author:D.L. Gardner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy Saga, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery
Publisher: D.L. Gardner
Published: 2021-05-25T00:00:00+00:00

She’d been watching the window, waiting for dawn, wondering how long after the trial before her execution. Wondering if it will be a civil sort of death. A hanging, or perhaps they’ll shoot her with a bow the way she murdered King Rolland. She wondered what her father would think when he got word. For that she felt bad. She didn’t mean to hurt Father.

Darkness loomed in the stairwell when they came for her. She could see them on the road coming from the king’s stables. Only two soldiers.

She lifted her chin and buried the fear of death. Numb to the world, she regretted her foolishness. Coming to Cho Nisi had, in the end, been a sacrifice. She allowed herself to be in Arell’s hands so he could implement reprisal and satisfy his people. Not admitting to guilt earlier had been expedient, for now he did not need to be lenient.

Iron padlocks rattled, and heavy oaken doors creaked. Footsteps sounded hollow as the soldiers neared. One of them opened her cell and handed her a bundle.

“Wear this,” he said, his voice gentle. He stepped away.

She pulled a white chiton from the bundle, a dress that resembled the one Serena often wore. A simple smock that wrapped over one shoulder and hung loosely over her body. She left her trousers, chemise, and armor in the cell. Soon, the sound of an iron lock clanked against stone and two men, not natives but Moaton soldiers in uniforms escorted her. One walked in front and one behind. They left the cell door open. Before they unlocked the ingress to the courtyard, one man pointed at her feet. “Take your shoes off,” he said. No explanation why. Perhaps so she wouldn’t run away. It’s an island. Where would she go? She slipped them off.

The sun streaked the horizon, though there were still stars in the sky and crispy cold air that smelled like the frosty dew on a winter’s morning. Perhaps the mountains near her home were blanketed with snow already. A sick yearning twisted her gut. How she wished she were home with her father, her brother, and her sisters. How she wished she could relive those moments on the dock when she decided to sail to the island. Better, she wished she could relive the moment she begged her father to let her fight in Tellwater. King Rolland would still be alive.

She waited in the courtyard with the soldiers as a stable boy ran to the barn and brought back three horses. The horse they put her on had a white coat.

Erika had spent all night awake thinking about this hour and decided the state of dissociation would serve her best—to see herself as not in her body because soon she wouldn’t be. The men helped her on the white horse, untied her hands so she could balance herself, and took the lead rope, mounting their own steeds. They rode through Moaton where she’d met the old man. The town slept. A

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