The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)

by Samantha Shannon

‘Lasia was ruled then by Selinu, High Ruler of the House of Onjenyu. One day, his daughter, Princess Cleolind, was chosen as the sacrifice.’ Ead spoke that name softly, reverently. ‘Though her father offered his subjects jewels and gold, and pleaded with them to choose another, they stood firm. And Cleolind went forth with dignity, for she saw that it was fair. ‘On that very morning, a knight from the Isles of Inysca was riding for Yikala. At the time, these isles were riven by war and superstition, ruled by many overkings, and its people quaked in the shadow of a witch – but many good men dwelt there, sworn to the Virtues of Knighthood. This knight,’ Ead said, ‘was Sir Galian Berethnet.’ The Deceiver. That was the name he now had in many parts of Lasia, but Sabran had no idea of that. ‘Sir Galian had heard of the terror that now abided in Lasia, and he wished to offer his services to Selinu. He carried a sword of extraordinary beauty; its name was Ascalon. When he was close to the outskirts of Yikala, he saw a damsel weeping in the shadow of the trees, and he asked why she was so afeared. Good knight, Cleolind answered, thou art kind of heart, but for thine own sake, leave me to my prayers, for a wyrm doth come to claim my life.’ It sickened Ead to speak of the Mother in this way, as if she were some swooning waif. ‘The knight,’ she pressed on, ‘was moved by her tears. Sweet lady, he said, I should sooner plunge my sword into my own heart than see thy blood water the eart...

Political lore