Heir Of Novron: The Riyria Revelations (99 page)

“My man’s at the caravanserai,” she said. “One of the princes s’posed to be coming in, and they’ll be hungry. Took all the pigs with. Sell ’em all if we’re lucky. Get enough silver to see us through storm season.”

He listened to her voice and also the stirring in his blood. The last part had been a lie. She
didn’t
believe that the silver would last. He wondered if it worried her, and if there was some way he could see she had what she needed. He would try, at least. Before he left.

“What about you, you poor shit?” she asked, her voice soft and warm. “Whose sheep did you fuck that you’re begging work from me?”

The apostate chuckled. The warm food in his belly, the fire at his side, and the knowledge that a pallet of straw and a thin wool blanket were waiting for him outside conspired to relax his shoulders and his belly. The Yemmu woman’s huge gold-flecked eyes stayed on him. He shrugged.

“I discovered that believing something doesn’t make it true,” he said carefully. “There were things I’d accepted, that I believed to my bones, and I was… wrong.”

“Misled?” she asked.

“Misled,” he agreed, and then paused. “Or perhaps not. Not intentionally. No matter how wrong you are, it’s not a lie if you believe it.”

The Yemmu woman whistled—an impressive feat, considering her tusks—and flapped her hands in mock admiration.

“High philosophy from the water grunt,” she said. “Next you’ll be preaching and asking tithes.”

“Not me,” he said, laughing with her.

She took a long slurp from her own bowl. The fire crackled. Something—rats, perhaps, or insects—rattled in the thatch overhead.

“Fell out with a woman, did you?” she asked.

“A goddess,” he said.

“Yeah. Always seems like that, dunit?” she said, staring into the fire. “Some new love comes on like there’s something different about ’em. Like God himself talks whenever their lips flap. And then…”

She snorted again, part amusement, part bitterness.

“And what all went wrong with your goddess?” she asked.

The apostate lifted a scrap of something that might have been a potato to his mouth, chewed the soft flesh, the gritty skin. He struggled to put words to thoughts that had never been spoken aloud. His voice trembled.

“She is going to eat the world.”

Theft of Swords

Rise of Empire

Heir of Novron

A
BNER
G
ALLSWORTH
:
  Aquesta city administrator

A
DAM
:
  Wheeler from Ratibor

A
DDIE
W
OOD
:
  Mother of Thrace/Modina, wife of Theron, killed in Dahlgren

A
DELINE
:
  Queen of Alburn, married to Armand, sons: Rudolf and Hector, daughter: Beatrice

A
DWHITE
, S
IR
:
  Knight and poet, wrote
The Song of Beringer

A
LBERT
W
INSLOW
:
  Landless viscount used by Riyria to arrange assignments from the gentry

A
LBURN
:
  Kingdom of Avryn ruled by King Armand and Queen Adeline, member of the New Empire

A
LENDA
L
ANAKLIN
:
  Daughter of the marquis Victor Lanaklin and sister of Myron the monk

A
LGAR
:
  Woodworker in Hintindar

A
LLIE
:
  Daughter of Wyatt Deminthal, half-elf, once held hostage by Merrick Marius

A
LRIC
E
SSENDON
, K
ING
:
  Ruler of Melengar, brother of Arista, son of Amrath

A
LVERSTONE
:
  \al-ver-stone\ Dagger used by Royce

A
LYSIN
:
  Elven afterlife

A
MBERTON
L
EE
:
  Hill with old ruins not far from Hintindar, site where Arista killed two seret

A
MBROSE
M
OOR
:
  Administrator of the Manzant Prison and Salt Mine

A
MILIA
:
  Secretary to the empress, carriage maker’s daughter, born in Tarin Vale

A
MITER
, Q
UEEN
:
  Second wife of King Urith, sister of Androus, killed by Imperialists

A
MRATH
E
SSENDON
, K
ING
:
  \am-wrath\ Former ruler of Melengar, father of Alric and Arista, killed by the Nyphron Church

A
MRIL
:
  \am-rill\ Countess that Arista cursed with boils

A
NDROUS
B
ILLET
:
  Viceroy of Ratibor, murdered King Urith, Queen Amiter, and their children

A
NKOR
:
  Tribe of Ghazel

A
NNA
:
  Chambermaid of Empress Modina

A
NTUN
B
ULARD
:
  Historian and author of
The History of Apeladorn
, passenger on the
Emerald Storm
, hired to find the Horn of Gylindora

A
PELADORN
:
  \ah-pell-ah-dorn\ The four nations of man, consisting of Trent, Avryn, Delgos, and Calis

A
PELANESE
:
  Language spoken by the four kingdoms of men

A
QUESTA
:
  \ah-quest-ah\ Capital city of the kingdom of Warric, seat of power for the New Empire

A
RBOR
:
  Baker in Hintindar, married to Dunstan, shoemaker’s daughter, first love of Hadrian

A
RCADIUS
V
INTARUS
L
ATIMER
:
  Professor of lore at Sheridan University, caretaker of Allie

A
RCHIBALD
B
ALLENTYNE
:
  Earl of Chadwick, commander of Sir Breckton, promised providence of Melengar for service to the New Empire, infatuated with Empress Modina, nickname: Archie

A
RISTA
E
SSENDON
, P
RINCESS
:
  Sister of Alric, daughter of Amrath, Princess of Melengar, leader of rebel victory in Ratibor, former mayor pro tem of Ratibor, former regent of Rhenydd, Witch of Melengar, imprisoned in Aquesta after trying to free Degan Gaunt

A
RMAND
, K
ING
:
  Ruler of Alburn, married to Adeline, sons: Rudolf and Hector, daughter: Beatrice

A
RMIGIL
:
  Brew mistress of Hintindar, family friend of the Blackwaters

A
RT, THE
:
  Magic, generally feared due to superstition

A
RVID
M
C
D
ERN
:
  Son of Dillon McDern of Dahlgren

A
SENDWAYR
:
  Tribe of elves, hunters

A
VEMPARTHA
:
  Ancient elven tower, home of Gilarabrywn that attacked Dahlgren

A
VRYN
:
  \ave-rin\ The central and most powerful of the four nations of Apeladorn, located between Trent and Delgos

A
YERS
:
  Proprietor of The Laughing Gnome in Ratibor

B
A
R
AN
A
RCHIPELAGO
:
  Island of the goblins

B
A
R
AN
G
HAZEL
:
  Goblins of the sea

B
ACKING
:
  Rigging a sail such that it catches the wind from its forward side, having both backed and regular rigged sails can render a ship motionless

B
AILEY
I
NN
, T
HE
:
  Boardinghouse routinely used by Riyria when in Aquesta

B
AILIFF
:
  Officer who is employed to make arrests and administer punishments

B
ALDWIN
:
  Lord whose landholdings include Hintindar

B
ALLENTYNE
:
  \bal-in-tine\ The ruling family of the earldom of Chadwick

B
ANNER
:
  Crew member of the
Emerald Storm
, one of the few survivors

B
ARAK
:
  Ghetto in Trent inhabited by dwarves

B
ARKERS
:
  Refugee family living in Brisbane Alley of Aquesta, father Brice, mother Lynnette, sons Finis, Hingus, and Wery

B
ARTHOLOMEW
:
  Carriage maker of Tarin Vale, father of Amilia

B
ARTHOLOMEW
:
  Priest in Ratibor

B
ASIL
:
  Officers’ cook on the
Emerald Storm
, died at sea

B
ASTION
:
  Servant in the imperial palace

B
ATTLE OF
M
EDFORD
:
  Skirmish that occurred during Arista’s witch trial

B
ATTLE OF
R
A
M
AR
:
  Bloody fight that Hadrian once fought in

B
ATTLE OF
R
ATIBOR
:
  Rebellion against Imperialists, led by Emery Dorn and Arista

B
EATRICE
, P
RINCESS
:
  Daughter of King Armand, Princess of Alburn, sister to Rudolf and Hector

B
ELINDA
P
ICKERING
:
  Extremely attractive wife of Count Pickering, mother of Lenare, Mauvin, Fanen, and Denek

B
ELLA
:
  Cook at The Laughing Gnome in Ratibor

B
ELSTRADS
:
  \bell-straads\ Noble family from Chadwick, including Sir Breckton and Wesley

B
ENDLTON
, B
ROTHER
:
  Cook at the rebuilt Winds Abbey

B
ENNINGTON
:
  Guard in Aquesta

B
ENTLY
:
  Sergeant in the Nationalist army, promoted by Hadrian to adjunct general

B
ERNARD
:
  Lord Chamberlain of the imperial palace

B
ERNARD
G
REEN
:
  Candlemaker from Alburn, living in Aquesta

B
ERNICE
:
  Former handmaid of Arista, killed in Dahlgren

B
ERNIE
D
EFOE
:
  Topsail crew member of the
Emerald Storm
, former member of the Black Diamond thieves’ guild, hired to find the Horn of Gylindora

B
ERNUM
H
EIGHTS
:
  Wealthiest residential district in Colnora

B
ERNUM
R
IVER
:
  Waterway that bisects the city of Colnora

B
ERYL
:
  Senior midshipman on the
Emerald Storm
, died at sea

B
ETHAMY
, K
ING
:
  Ruler reputed to have had his horse buried with him

B
ETRAYAL IN
M
EDFORD
:
  Imperialist version of the play
The Crown Conspiracy

B
IDDINGS
:
  Chancellor of the imperial palace

B
ISHOP
:
  Lieutenant aboard the
Emerald Storm
, died at sea

B
LACK
D
IAMOND
:
  International thieves’ guild centered in Colnora

B
LACKWATER
:
  Last name of Hadrian and his father, Danbury

B
LINDEN
:
  Quartermaster’s mate on the
Emerald Storm
, died at sea

B
LOOD
W
EEK
:
  Time of the year when stock that won’t be able to be fed during the winter is butchered

B
LYTHIN
C
ASTLE
:
  Castle in Alburn

B
OATSWAIN
:
  Petty officer on a ship who controls the work of other seamen

B
OCANT
:
  Family who built a lucrative industry from pork, second-wealthiest merchants in Colnora

B
OTHWICKS
:
  Family of peasant farmers of Dahlgren, father: Russell, mother: Lena

B
RAGA
, P
ERCY
:
  Former Archduke and Lord Chancellor of Melengar, expert swordsman, uncle-in-law to Alric and Arista, killed by Count Pickering, commissioned the murder of Amrath

B
RAND
:
  Street urchin, reputed to have killed a kid in a fight to win a tunic, nickname: Brand the Bold