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The course of history is deteres, or usurpations, but by the actions of the individual The strongest city, the largest army is, at its most basic level, a collection of individuals Their decisions, their passions, their foolishness, and their dreams shape the years to come If there is any lesson to be learned from history, it is that all too often the fate of armies, of cities, of entire realms rests upon the actions of one person In that dire ood or bad, right or wrong, big or se the world

But history can be quite the slattern One never knoho that person is, where he ht h to s of Gaius Primus First Lord of Albra

PROLOGUE

"Please, Tavi," wheedled the girl in the predawn darkness outside the stead-holt&039;s kitchen "Just this one little favor?"

"I don&039;t know," said the boy "There&039;s so much work today"

She leaned in closer to hiainst his, soft and lower-scented and delightful She pressed her mouth to his cheek in a slow kiss and whispered in his ear, "I&039;d be very grateful"

"Well," the boy said "I&039;ain and whispered, "Please"

His heart pounded ht I&039;ll do it"

Chapter 1

Aant bull, going over the plan in her head Thethe chill out of thethe dark wool of her skirts Behind her, the axles of the cart squeaked and groaned beneath their loads The slave collar she wore had begun to chafe her skin, and she made an irritated row used to it, before the nextshe survived this one, of course

A tremor of nervous fear ran down her spine and hten A her eyes for a ht except for the sensations around her: sunlight on her face, swaying of the pungent gargant&039;s long strides, creaking of the cart&039;s axles

"Nervous?" asked the led from his hand, but he hadn&039;t lifted it in the entire trip He h his head barely cah He wore the plain clothes of a peddler: brown leggings, sturdy sandals, with a padded jacket over his shirt, dark green on horeen without eher

"No," A ahead

Fidelias chuckled "Liar It&039;s not a brainless plan It lance "But you have a suggestion?"

"In your graduation exercise?" Fidelias asked "Crows, no I wouldn&039;t dream of it, academ It would cheapen your performance"

Amara licked her lips "But you think that there&039;s soave her a perfectly guileless look "I did have a few questions"

"Questions," A to be there in a few moments"

"I can ask them e arrive, if you prefer"

"If you weren&039;t hed

"That&039;s sweet of you to say," Fidelias replied "You&039;ve co way since your first term at the Academy You were so shocked when you found out that the Cursors didthat story even though you know I hate it"

"No," Fidelias said with a grin "I love telling that story because I know you hate it"

She looked down at hi you away on missions, I think"

"It&039;s a part of reed "Now, then My first concern-"

"Question," Amara corrected

"Question," he allowed, "is with our cover story"

"What question? Arler, and I&039;m your slave You heard there was a market out this way, and you came to see what money could be made"

"Ah," said Fidelias "And what do I tell theot the ore? It isn&039;t just found by the roadside, you know"

"You&039;re a Cursor Callidus You&039;re creative I&039;"

Fidelias chuckled "You&039;ve learned delegating skills, at least So, we approach this renegade Legion with our precious ore" He nodded back toward the squeaking cart "What&039;s to stop the it?"

"You&039;re the harbinger of a s several interests in the business Your trip is being watched, and if the results are good, otherssupplies as well"

"That&039;s what I don&039;t understand," Fidelias said, his expression innocent "If this is indeed a renegade Legion, as ruh Lords, in preparation for overthrowing the Crown-aren&039;t they going to object to any word about the out? Good, bad, or indifferent?"

"Yes," Alanced down at him "Which works in our favor You see, if you don&039;t return fro to spread all around Alera about this encaet out anyway One can hardly keep an entire Legion secret for long"

"It&039;s our best shot," A better?"

"We sneak in close, furycraft ourselves into the camp, obtain evidence, and then run like the croere after us"

"Oh," Amara said "I considered it I decided it was too brainless and predictable"

"It has the advantage of simplicity," Fidelias pointed out "We recover the inforive solid evidence to the Crown, and let the First Lord launch a n"

"Yes, that&039;s si this camp knows that they have been observed by the Cursors, they will simply disperse and move their operations elsewhere The Croill siain-and even then, whoever is putting out the et away"

Fidelias glanced up at her and let out a lohistle "So you want to get in and out undetected, get word to the Crown and-then what?"

"Lead a few cohorts of Knights Aeris back down here and crush them where they lie," Aainst their backers, and wrap it all up right here"

"Aerous, too If they catch on to us, they&039;ll kill us And it&039;s reasonable to expect that they&039;ll have Knights as well-and that they&039;ll be on the lookout for a Cursor or two"

"That&039;s e don&039;t get caught," Aler and his slave, haggle for all the et from them, and leave"

"And keep the eneral principle, I like any mission that involves a profit But, A with this one"

"We are the First Lord&039;s ers, are we not? His eyes and ears?"

"Don&039;t quote the Codex at me," Fidelias snapped, annoyed "I was a Cursor before your mother and father had called their first furies Don&039;t think that because the First Lord has taken a shine to you that you know better than I do"

"You don&039;t think it&039;s worth the risk?"

"I think there&039;s a lot you don&039;t know," Fidelias said, and he looked very old for soo inside You stay here, and I&039;ll pick you up on the way out There&039;s no reason to risk both of us"

"No," she said "In the first place, this is my mission to run In the second, you will need your full attention to play your role I&039;ll be able to argant&039;s broad

back, and the bull snorted up a small ind of trail dust in response "I&039;ll also be able to watch our backs If I get the iet out of there"

Fidelias uise to pose as travelers Get close and slip into the ca in and e&039;re certain to arouse suspicion if we&039;re seen?"

He blew out a breath "All right," he said "All right We&039;ll do it your way But you&039;re ga yourself with the crows"

Aain, and she pressed a hand to it, trying to will the fear away It didn&039;t leave "No," she said "I&039;ant&039;s plodding steps seereat beast&039;s thick-clawed feet ate thethe way, adding to the layers of blubbery fat beneath its hide If allowed, the huraze, but Fidelias handled it with a sure and cal the road, while he marched at the quickstep beside it

A mile more, by Amara&039;s estient Legion&039;s camp She tried to remind herself of her role- that of a bored slave, sleepy and tired from days of travel-but it was all she could do to keep thein her shoulders and back What if the Legion turned out to be nothingmission, so carefully outlined and planned, turned out to be a costly waste of time? Would the First Lord think less of her? Would the other Cursors? It would be a paltry introduction into the ranks, indeed, if she stepped forth froht into a rew, like bands of iron stretching across her shoulders and back, and her head started to pound fro turn? The old trail they followed seemed too orn to be an abandoned lu Wouldn&039;t they be seeing the sion&039;s fires? Wouldn&039;t they hear so, by now, if they were as close as she suspected?

A down to call to Fidelias, to ask his advice, when abreastplate and helmet melted into view beneath the shadows of a tree on the road no more than ten strides in front of the of any

kind, without a flicker ofinvolved, then, and a fairly skilled orking at that He was a giant of a man, nearly seven feet tall, and he bore a heavy blade at his side He lifted one gloved hand and said, his tone bored, distant, "Halt"

Fidelias clucked to the gargant bull, slowing the beast to a stop after several steps The wagon creaked and groaned, settling onto its wheels beneath the weight of the ore

"Goodnervous, obsequious good cheer The senior Cursor doffed his hat and clutched it in his slightly tre on this fine autu trail," said the dark giant His tone was dull, almost sleepy, but he laid a hand on the hilt of his weapon "This land is not friendly to travelers Turn around"

"Yes, master, of course ill, master," Fidelias sio in the vain hope of finding a ready ood master, only for the chance to attempt to recoup my losses on this most excellent but lamentably ill-tied one foot through the dust of the trail "Iron" He shot the giant a sly sood master I&039;ll be on my way"

The dark man stepped forward and said, "Hold, lanced back at him "Master?" he asked "Can I perhaps interest you in a purchase?"

The dark ed He stopped a few feet from Fidelias and asked, "How ood ant is all but done in"

The aze up it, to Aood , wheedling tone "She&039;s for sale, if you like the look of her, -and ht&039;s pleasure At two lions, she&039;s surely a bargain"

The man snorted "Your hard worker rides while you walk, merchant It would have been smarter for you to travel alone" He sniffed "And she&039;s as skinny as a boy Take your beast and follow me"

"You wish to buy, ave him a look and said, "I didn&039;t ask you, merchant Follow me"

Fidelias stared at the soldier and then sed, an alulp "Aye, aye, master We&039;ll be only a pace or three behind you Coant&039;s lead straps in shaking fingers and stirred the great beast into runted and turned to start walking back down the road He let out a sharp whistle, and a dozen men armed with bows appeared from the shadows and brush on the sides of the trail, just as he had a moment before

"Keep the men here until I return," thepast"

"Yes, sir," one of the men said Amara focused on that one The men all wore the sareen and dark brown The speaker, in addition, wore a black sash around his waist-as the first soldier had Amara checked around, but none of the other men wore a sash-only those two She hts? Possibly One of the woodcrafter, to have hidden so ht What if this rebel Legion turns out to have a full contingent of Knights to go with it? With that many men, that many powerful furycrafters, they could he a threat to any city in Alera

And, as a corollary, it wouldAny furycrafter strong enough to be a Knight could command virtually what price he wished for his services They could not be casually bought by any disgruntled h Lord to lower taxes Only the nobility could afford the cost of hiring a few Knights, let alone a contingent of theh Lords was preparing to turn against the First Lord, then there were dark days ahead indeed

She looked down at Fidelias, and he glanced up at her, his face troubled She thought she could see the reflection of her own thoughts and fears there in his eyes She wanted to talk to Fidelias, to ask hihts on the round her teeth and dug her fingers into the pad of the gargant&039;s riding saddle and tried to calain, while the soldier led theargant&039;s plodding steps brought them

around a bend in the trail and over a small hill, into the valley beyond and behind it There, the camp spread out before theht It looks like a city

Her mind took down details as she stared The caion lines: a stake-wall and ditch fortification built in a huge square, surrounding the soldier&039;s encampment and stores Tents of white fabric had been erected within, row after row of the, laid out in neat, precise roo gates, opposite one another, led into the camp The tents and lean-tos of the caed disarray, like flies buzzing around a sleeping beast