The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #3)

by Brian Staveley

“There is always another war.”

mountain tarns,

Evidently Annur lacked the craftsmen to sculpt starvation, or terror, or death.

See the world, he told himself, taking a long breath then letting it out, not your dream of the world.

It is possible that we will never know the true story of the Spear.

See the fact, not the fear.

You would have made a good monk.

Rishinira is more than a thousand years old, and once helped to destroy half the world.

“They trusted me to rule a whole continent once, girl, and I let it burn. I burned it.”

Give it to the fucker, Gwenna thought. He knows how to keep cool.

Most people, even Kettral, would be edgy walking alone into a closed, locked space controlled by trained soldiers of questionable allegiance.

go after the Eyrie. Who could destroy an island packed with Kettral?”

“Your order destroyed itself.”

“I’ll tell you when you lose,” Gwenna spat. “You lose when the entire ’Kent-kissing Eyrie destroys itself.”

The last Malkeenian. Alone in the city. Riding south.

I am a fool, Adare thought bleakly, the truth a lash across the face.

I am a fool, and people have died for my folly.

“A hard way to live,” Rouan murmured.

“Good thing we like swimming,” Gwenna snapped.

she was trying to do her ’Kent-kissing job.

“Your Radiance,” she growled.

Nothing to do with what is happening in your republic right fucking now.”

It would be a shame to swim all this way just to pass out in the surf.”

“And the Kettral aren’t there anymore,” Talal said. “To keep them in line.”

If he expects to make a speech, Gwenna thought, he’s going to be disappointed.

It ought to be pretty clear that it was time to start killing people.

That knowledge did nothing to stop the nightmares.

Gwenna Sharpe. Annick Frencha.”

You destroyed an empire that brought peace and prosperity for hundreds of years

“When I took the Unhewn Throne,” she said finally, quietly, “I thought you were dead.” “I don’t care about the throne, Adare.”

We can figure this out together.”

midmorning,

Definitely a red eagle.

fisher cat.

Fen.

balsam

Freeport,

Ennel the Bent.

“Never touch me,” he hissed.

He’s a warrior.

He’s a killer.

We’re too late.

Urghul.

Kwihna

What if they were friends?

but as long as they were talking, as long as they were focused on each other, no one was murdering his family.

“Each time I see you, you kill my men.”

“Ride or fight, Huutsuu. Ananshael can sort out the rest.”

Something that might have been a smile twisted the stranger’s lips.

“Getting tired of stealing the food from this kid’s trap anyway.”