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Godsgrave
Jay Kristoff
A ruthless young assassin continues her journey for revenge in this new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff.WINNER OF THE THE AUREALIS AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY NOVELConquer your fear, conquer the worldMia Corvere, destroyer of empires, has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry do not believe she has earned it.Her position is precarious, and she's still no closer to exacting revenge for the brutal death of her family. But after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.When it is announced that Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself into slavery for a chance to fulfill the promise she made on the day she lost everything.Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold, secrets are revealed and the body count rises within the collegium walls, Mia will be forced to choose between her loyalties and her revenge.
Copyright (#ulink_fde1114b-5fff-5f4f-b6ef-c35efd6bcc59)
HarperVoyager
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2017
Copyright © Neverafter PTY LTD 2017
Cover Layout Design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
Cover Illustration © Kerby Rosanes
All other images © Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com)
Jay Kristoff asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.
Source ISBN: 9780008180065
Ebook Edition © September 2017 ISBN: 9780008180058
Version: 2018-06-04
Dedication (#ulink_72b51bf9-e665-5fc4-b900-2f33e773f4bd)
for my enemies
I couldn’t have done it without you
Contents
Cover (#u3e6509fd-a7bd-5a31-ad37-933f8d507ceb)
Title Page (#ub09d2488-72c5-5673-86df-69bc5bcd75f3)
Copyright (#uf29540ff-e452-53ef-bb11-025e113c2274)
Dedication (#uaa37256c-b05b-5cd8-9415-327f3f1c4fb7)
Maps (#u286546e6-71a9-5a90-9b41-0b80e6093eca)
Dramatis Personae (#ubee50630-936e-579b-90f5-33d968fda259)
Epigraph (#u725f6db0-551e-5f0f-a4a6-13f807816d01)
Book 1: The Red Promise (#ueea51cec-d4b8-578a-a788-a7171c051aed)
Chapter 1: Perfume (#ue3317aab-7e85-5318-8420-67b2f6c25569)
Chapter 2: Firemass (#ubb08844c-77f3-5a58-b1e0-467b1225b2f8)
Chapter 3: Shadows (#u7801d972-2b07-5760-8a52-d0305b4b1aa3)
Chapter 4: Offering (#uef45b5b9-412b-5a73-8923-7a670137e857)
Chapter 5: Devotion (#ua8aec1b4-c01d-5a30-ac48-9b597f3b0174)
Chapter 6: Mortality (#u2704c737-42dd-5379-a6f7-0e545404c993)
Chapter 7: Hungers (#ue41a5e41-aded-5076-92c4-dd3802450ff3)
Chapter 8: Prayers (#u28b24f48-5da7-5c94-bbba-5741058235a8)
Chapter 9: Stepping (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10: Secrets (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11: Thunder (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12: Epiphany (#litres_trial_promo)
Book 2: Blood And Glory (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13: Egress (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14: Breathing (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15: Right (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16: Honey (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17: Stormwatch (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18: Gloria (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19: Yield (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20: Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21: Please (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22: Quiet (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23: Whitekeep (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24: Obsidian (#litres_trial_promo)
Book 3: The Game (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25: Rot (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26: Silver (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27: Serving (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28: Scars (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 29: Rise (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 30: Interlude (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 31: Truelight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 32: Gently (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 33: Begin (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 34: Magni (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 35: Gone (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 36: Godsgrave (#litres_trial_promo)
Dicta Ultima (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
Bonus Content (#litres_trial_promo)
Footnotes (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Also by Jay Kristoff (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Maps (#ulink_7dddcd2b-a267-584a-a3f1-8a1e2e9c628e)
Good turn to you, gentlefriends. It’s lovely to see you again.
I confess, I missed you in our time apart. And now, reunited, would that I could simply greet you with a smile, and let you be about the business of murder and revenge and occasional lashings of tastefully written smut. But before we slip back between the pages together, I should impart a warning true.
Memory is a traitor, and a liar, and a good-for-nothing thief. And though our drama’s cast is doubtless inked indelibly on your psyche, we must sometimes make allowances for the lesser among you mortals.
So, perhaps a refresher is in order?
DRAMATIS PERSONAE (#ulink_7bb028ea-24ba-5334-a348-d531cc219c37)
Mia Corvere—assassin, thief, and heroine of our tale—if our tale can be said to have one at all. Her father, Darius, was executed under order of the Itreyan Senate and, vowing vengeance, she became a disciple of the Republic’s most feared cult of assassins, the Red Church.
Though she failed the Church’s trials, Mia was inducted as a Blade (aka assassin) after rescuing the Church’s ministry during an assault by Luminatii legionaries.
Mia is of mixed Itreyan-Liisian blood. She is also darkin—one who controls the darkness itself. She has little understanding of her powers, and the only other darkin she has ever met died before he could give her the answers she desired.
Tragic, I know.
Mister Kindly—a daemon, passenger, or familiar (depending on who one asks) made of shadows, who eats Mia’s fear. He saved her life as a child, and claims to know very little about his true nature, though he’s been known to lie from time to time.
He wears the shape of a cat, though he is nothing close to a cat at all.
Eclipse—another shadow daemon, who wears the guise of a wolf. Eclipse was passenger to Lord Cassius, former head of the Red Church. When Cassius died during the Luminatii assault, Eclipse bound herself to Mia instead.
Like most dogs and cats, she and Mister Kindly do not get along.
Old Mercurio—Mia’s trainer and confidant in the time before she joined the Red Church. Mercurio was a Church Blade himself for many years, but is now retired in Godsgrave. The old Itreyan runs a store named Mercurio’s Curios and serves as an information broker and talent scout for the servants of the Black Mother.
A grumpier old bastard was never found under any of the three suns.
Tric—an acolyte of the Red Church, also Mia’s friend and lover. Tric was of mixed Itreyan-Dweymeri heritage. He was poised to be inducted into the Blades, but Ashlinn Järnheim stabbed him repeatedly in the heart and pushed him off the side of the Quiet Mountain.
As a promise to Tric, Mia assassinated Tric’s grandfather, Swordbreaker, king of the Dweymeri Isles, after the boy’s death.
Which wasn’t all that sensible, when you think about it …
Ashlinn Järnheim—an acolyte of the Red Church and formerly one of Mia’s closest friends. Ash was born in Vaan, and is the daughter of Torvar Järnheim, a retired Blade of the Church. As vengeance for a maiming he received in the Mother’s service, he and his children hatched a plot that almost brought the entire Church to its knees, though their conspiracy was finally foiled by Mia.
Ash’s brother, Osrik, was killed in the process, but Ashlinn escaped.
Ash’s feelings about Mia are best described as … complicated.
Naev—a Hand (aka disciple) of the Red Church and close friend of Mia, who manages supply runs in the desolate Whisperwastes of Ashkah. Naev was disfigured by Weaver Marielle out of jealousy, but as reward for Mia’s assistance during the Luminatii assault, Marielle restored Naev’s former beauty.
