Page 4 (1/1)

That is possible, saidto say that would save me He was insane; that was obvious Why else turn rulership of the world into a contest prize? If he died tomorrow, Relad and Sciht not end for decades And for all he kneas an idiot If by soain the throne, I could plunge the Hundred Thousand Kingdo He had to know that

One cannot argue with , one can understand it Why?

He nodded as if he had expected my question Your mother deprived me of an heir when she left our farave, I snapped Do you honestly want revenge against a dead wohter It is a esture with his left hand, and another courtier detached hi Unlike the first manindeed, unlike most of the courtiers whose faces I could seethe mark on this erated frown He knelt before the dais that held Dekartas chair, his waist-length red braid falling over one shoulder to curl on the floor

I cannot hope that your ht you duty, Dekarta said to me over this ued savage I allowed thisan indulgence I have often regretted So I will assuage that regret by bringing you back into the fold, Granddaughter Whether you live or die is irrelevant You are Arameri, and like all of us, you will serve

Then he waved to the red-hairedthat I should follow hirandfather, and thus began my first day as an Arameri It was not the worst of the days to come

2

The Other Sky

THE CAPITAL OF MY LAND is called Arrebaia It is a place of ancient stone, its walls overgrown by vines and guarded by beasts that do not exist We have forgotten when it was founded, but it has been the capital for at least two thousand years People there walk slowly and speak softly out of respect for the generations that have trodden those streets before, or perhaps just because they do not feel like being loud

Skythe city, I meanis only five hundred years old, built when some disaster befell the previous Araoand a rude, uncouth one at that As es went past in a clatter of wheels and horseshoes People covered every sidewalk, bu They all seemed in a hurry The air was thick with fanant water amid indefinable scents, soht

What was I?

Oh, yes The gods

Not the gods that reht Itempas There are others ere not loyal Perhaps I should not call theods, since no one worships theod?) There must be a better name for what they are Prisoners of war? Slaves? What did I call them beforeweapons?

Weapons Yes

They are said to be soible vessels and kept under lock and key and ic chain Perhaps they sleep in crystal cases and are awakened on occasion to be polished and oiled Perhaps they are shown off to honored guests

But sometimes, sometie new plagues Occasionally the population of an entire city will vanish overnight Once, jagged, stea pits appeared where there had been mountains

It is not safe to hate the Arameri Instead we hate their weapons, because weapons do not care

My courtier companion was Tvril, who introduced himself as the palace steward The nae at once, but he went on to explain: he was a halfbreed like me, part Amn and part Ken The Ken inhabit an island far to the east; they are fae red-colored hair careth, died tragically young o, Tvril explained He spoke briskly as alked through Skys white halls, not sounding particularly broken up about the tragedy of the dead lady Kinneth was just a child at the tirow up to be aneed to remarry When Kinneth, er, left the family fold, he turned to the children of his late brother There were four of theest Twinsruns in the family Alas, their elder sister oes