Thread Slivers (Golden Threads Trilogy) (51 page)
Read Thread Slivers (Golden Threads Trilogy) Online
Authors: Leeland Artra
After several minutes of silence the Warlord said, “Bring me the document cache.”
Everyone remained prostrate, as the two warriors who had carried the trunk quickly stood, taking the trunk and placing it before the Warlord, backing away rapidly to prostrate themselves once again behind Eshra-Zunia. The Warlord didn’t even bother trying to unlock it; he sliced the lock off with his still-drawn odassi. Sheathing the swords, he lifted the top. After a moment Eshra-Zunia heard the sound of a paper crumpling and the Warlord yelled in frustration, kicking the trunk away. In a voice so calm she felt cold to her very core the Warlord addressed her. “Eshra-Zunia, assemble all my generals here in two days. I will present you as the new Warlord. After that I must go to Hisuru Amajoo and offer myself to Grand Warlord Shar-Lumen. We are at war.” The Warlord walked out of the room.
Once he was gone Eshra-Zunia stood and looked. The table was cut completely in two and the trunk lay off to the side of the doorway on its side, empty except for three ingots that had spilled out, which appeared to be made of lead. One of the ingots had landed standing on its side showing perfectly Duke’s sigil stamped on its top. In front of the throne was a crumpled sheet of paper next to the bloody message. She stepped around the broken table and picked up the paper, curiously smoothing it out. The other officers slowly stood looking at her.
The paper read:
‘Warlord, I owe you nothing. You owe me everything. Give my most personal regards to the Grand Warlord when you see him next. — Duke.’
She stood, stunned at the implications.
Duke must know he stripped the Warlord of every possible honor with these actions.
For the first time in many years she felt fear.
I will be Warlord in two days and then I must battle Duke.
The image of the cart of severed heads leading the cart of broken swords sent shivers down her spine.
She picked up the bloody paper and looked at the assembled officers.
They deserve to know.
She barked “Attention!” The officers and her escorts’ heels clicked together as one as they stood at attention. She stood tall and straight, reading the message delivered by their dead brothers’ mouths in a clear voice.
‘There is no honor left to the once-great Nhia-Samri. The Nhia-Samri have committed an act of war on all the realms in the direct assassination of the last heir to the throne and are now our enemies. I am with honor and will not offer silver for two ears and a scalp. Any that renounces their odassi before me, my representative or Dagger officer shall be pardoned. You have four cycles to abandon every outpost and hidden observatory in all the realms safely. After that I will hunt any that remain without mercy. When the realms are purged I will come and level Hisuru Amajoo. Grand Warlord Shar-Lumen will be made to pay for his treachery. The Nhia-Samri sun is setting forever.
Field Marshal Rolly Duke Bensure, Admiral of the Star Legion, Duke of Wellingshire, Imperial Lord of Aelargo, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Armies of Duianna’
Cliffhangers
Like a knife to the heart!
I have a love-hate relationship with cliffhangers. I love and appreciate well-executed cliffhangers. I hate when I suddenly run out of words and have to wait for the next book to get published. I also hate when I finish a book with a cliffhanger and I haven’t written the next book, because I too want to see the rest! I admit I have prodded my favorite authors to hurry up from time to time. If the next book isn’t available yet, trust me I am slaving over the keyboard to get it neatly wrapped up for you. Feel free to prod me to move faster! If the next book is just about ready for publication you can find the first chapter or two on my web site (
www.LArtra.com
). If the next book is already out you can use my website or go to most ebook sales sites and use their “Look Inside” or “Preview” feature to get at the first chapter or two. You can also find more information about this series at the official Facebook Golden Threads page:
www.Facebook.com/GoldenThreadsTrilogy
.
About The Author
Leeland Artra
lives in the Emerald City (Seattle, Washington) with his wonderful wife and idea-inspiring kids. He spent the first half of his life as an avid science-fiction/fantasy reader while becoming a US Navy-trained computer scientist and self-taught table-top gamer. After twenty years of thinking he should publish he finally got serious, pulling out all the notes and ideas he had stored, and set down to learn how to be a professional writer. He soon discovered he got as much joy from writing fiction as he did from reading it. His goal is to transition to full-time writing someday. In the meantime he works as a software engineer and architect at Expedia. In short, by day he helps people take fabulous vacations, and at night he helps people take even more fantastic trips of the imagination, which he finds to be very symmetric.
A Personal Note from Leeland…
I hope you enjoyed reading this book and found the deeper, more complex world history hinted at fun to try to unravel. I spend a lot of time engineering the history and mechanics of my stories. If you enjoyed this book please consider leaving positive feedback at the eBook retailer you purchased it at or Goodreads.com (or both). If you blog about it please send me a link. The more positive feedback I get the more time I can spend writing the next story! I love interacting with my readers, so if you feel like chatting with me about this story or others please visit me. You can find me at:
Lebuin’s Lexicon
LANDS/PEOPLES
Curcumveni Desert
: A vast wasteland of unforgiving desert which spans the entire Duianna continent from east to west along the southern edge of the Halias-Ne Mountains. No known safe path exists across this desert and it is plagued with strange deadly creatures.
Dulgruim
: A dwarven kingdom on the southern tip of the Duianna continent, bordered on the north by Karakia. Capital: Or-Anithi-Umta. Abbreviation: DU.
Karakia
: A mixed nation of tribes spanning the central part of the South Duianna continent from the Darain Ocean on the east to the Occiduis Ocean on the west. The northern border is the Curcumveni Desert and on the south the Dulgruim Nation. Capital: None. Abbreviation: KA.
Laeusia
: A human kingdom which lies between the Duianna Empire and the Kingdom of Yalthum.
Nae-Rae
: An elven kingdom spanning the eastern third of the North Duianna continent, bordered on the north by the White Ocean, the south by the Burga Mountains, the east by the Darain Ocean, and the west by the Duianna Empire. Capital Rea-Na-Rey. Abbreviation: NR.
Nasur
: A human kingdom on the southeastern edge of the North Duianna continent, bordered on the north by the Onasa Channel, the south by the Halias-Ne Mountains, the east by the Sea Princes’ Kingdom of Aelargo, and the west by the Western Burga Spine Mountains. Capital: Thilis. Abbreviation: NA. Known to be friendly with the Nhia-Samri.
Niya-Yur
: The world. The elves called the world Nhia in ancient times. The dwarves called the world Garduan-ka-Gadriel (loosely translated means Gadriel’s Flesh).
Oslald
: A human kingdom on the southeastern edge of the North Duianna continent, bordered on the north by the Burga Mountains, the south by the Sea Princes’ Kingdom of Aelargo, the east by the Onasa Channel, and the west by the Darain Ocean. Capital: Stegen. Abbreviation: OS. Strong supporter of the Duianna Covenant.
Rhonia
: An island kingdom in the northern Darian Ocean, famous for rare and pungent spices and unique animals.
Sea Princes’ Kingdom of Aelargo
: A human kingdom on the southeastern edge of the North Duianna continent, bordering on the northern edge of the Halias-Ne Mountains between the Darain Ocean and the Kingdom of Nasur. Capital: Llino. Abbreviation: AE. Commands the largest known navy and tightly controls all sea trade.
Yalthum
: A human kingdom spanning the entire west coast of the North Duianna continent from the Halias-Ne Mountains on the south to the northern ice fields. Yalthum is as old as the Duianna Empire, has never attempted to expand its borders, but has bitterly defended its borders and western sea lanes.
GODS
Argos
: The All-Father God of the Universe, who oversees the magicians in all lands; is considered the chief deity.
Dalpha
: Goddess of healing, woods, and the elves, represented by large temples in almost every major city in the realms.
Gadriel
: God of the dwarves.
Lothia
: Primary Goddess of Karakia, and wife of Argos, she often takes the form of a large raven.
PLACES
Algan
: Inland farming city on the western border of the Kingdom of Aelargo.
Alorn Mountain
: An ancient volcano now dormant on the north western point of the Kingdom ofAelargo.
Blue Dolphin Inn
: Dagger Home and merchant’s inn that has a huge stainless steel hoop mounted on the roof with a platform which the owners and legends claim was the main port of call for the Emerald Heart.
Breorchy
: Onasa Channel port city on the northwestern border of the Kingdom of Aelargo.
Burga Mountains
: A blue mountain range which cuts east-west across the southern part of the North Duianna Continent from the Darain Ocean to the Onasa Channel.
Burga Spine Mountains
: A blue mountain range which cuts north-south from the Onasa Channel to the Windy Pass.
Delivery Channel
: A waterway system of all ancient port cities which connects one or more rivers together to flow under the city, creating a simple, smooth-flowing, barge-friendly means of transporting large loads.
Dorn Hills
: A large range of hills on the north edge of the border between the kingdoms of Aelargo and Nasur.
Eralci
: An unknown kingdom or city in ancient times now lost.
Greyrhan
: A province of the Duianna Empire in the far north just south of the great ice fields.
Halias-Ne Mountains
: A thick rocky mountain and volcano range which cuts the entire Duianna continent in half, spanning from the Darain Ocean on the east to the Occiduis Ocean on the west.
Llino
: The Sea Prince’s stronghold and capital. Notable places: Blue Dophin Inn, the Night Market.
Loren Sound
: An inlet of the Darian Ocean bordering the southeastern part of the north Duianna Continent.
Miumi
: Port trade city on the Loren Sound on the eastern border of Oslald.
Night Market
: A unique black market in Llino in which any service or goods may be purchased through brokers known as Hands. The market opens every day at sunset and closes at sunrise.
Onasa Channel
: Inlet of the Loren sound which traverses through hundreds of miles of canyons northerly to the great Empire Lakes, generally salt water transitioning to fresh water near the Empire Lake outlets. Also known as the Onasa River.
Rhini Wood
: The old-growth forest along the northwestern edge of Bear Foot Sea in the Kingdom of Aelargo. Also the name of the village and farming lands in the same location.
Windy Pass
: A series of hills and valleys which separate the Burga Spine Mountains from the Halias-Ne Mountain Range, bordering Nasur on the east and Laeusia on the west.
TITLES/POSITIONS
Apprentice
: Any tradesman under training for a guild (Mages’ Guild included).
Blade
: A professional soldier, mercenary fighter, sword master.
Councilor
: A member of Leading Council of the Argos Guild of Mages.
Dagger
: Professional warrior specialists for hire that hold to a strong set of ideals based on commitment, courage, and honor.
