Raymond E. Feist: The Firemane Saga

Harper Voyager , an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

Copyright © Raymond E. Feist 2018

Map © Jessica Feist 2018

Raymond E. Feist asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007264858 (HB)

Ebook Edition © April 2018 ISBN: 9780007290246

Version: 2021-01-14

This book is dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Matson.

He was perhaps the finest man I’ve ever known. His generosity, support, and affection went so far beyond any business relationship, he held me together more than once. He never judged; that was the heart of his wisdom, and the wisdom of his heart. His memory will endure and he is missed every day.

Contents

Cover

Title Page RAYMOND E. FEIST KING OF ASHES THE FIREMANE SAGA: BOOK ONE

Copyright Harper Voyager , an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018 Copyright © Raymond E. Feist 2018 Map © Jessica Feist 2018 Raymond E. Feist asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780007264858 (HB) Ebook Edition © April 2018 ISBN: 9780007290246 Version: 2021-01-14

Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Matson. He was perhaps the finest man I’ve ever known. His generosity, support, and affection went so far beyond any business relationship, he held me together more than once. He never judged; that was the heart of his wisdom, and the wisdom of his heart. His memory will endure and he is missed every day.

Map

• Prologue •: A Murder of Crows and a King

• Chapter One •: Passages and Departures

• Chapter Two •: A Task Completed

• Chapter Three •: Dangerous Discovery

• Chapter Four •: New Considerations and an Old Friend

• Chapter Five •: A Parting and Trials

• Chapter Six •: Unequal Talents

• Chapter Seven •: An Incident on the Covenant Road

• Chapter Eight •: An Unexpected Change of Tide

• Chapter Nine •: A Hint of Things More Dire

• Chapter Ten •: In the Crimson Depths

• Chapter Eleven •: A Quick Instruction and Introduction

• Chapter Twelve •: Adrift and Alone

• Chapter Thirteen •: A Short Journey and a Strange Event

• Chapter Fourteen •: A Short Respite and Revelations

• Chapter Fifteen •: An Unexpected Visit and Rumours of War

• Chapter Sixteen •: Hints of Truth and Dark Designs

• Chapter Seventeen •: Unexpected Bounty and Sudden Danger

• Chapter Eighteen •: A Betrayal and Plot

• Chapter Nineteen •: A Change in the Wind

• Chapter Twenty •: Surprises and a Journey

• Chapter Twenty-One •: A Quiet Journey Interrupted

• Chapter Twenty-Two •: Different Ideas and Hasty Decisions

• Chapter Twenty-Three •: An Awakening and Alarm

• Chapter Twenty-Four •: An Arrival and a Sudden Change of Plans

• Chapter Twenty-Five •: Upheaval and Changes

• Chapter Twenty-Six •: A Meeting and Revelations

• Chapter Twenty-Seven •: Fate Wheels and Lives Change

• Chapter Twenty-Eight •: Watching and Waiting

• Epilogue •: Return

Acknowledgements

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Angry dark clouds hurried across the sky, foretelling more rain. A fair match for today’s mood, conceded Daylon Dumarch. The battle had ended swiftly as the betrayal had gone according to plan. The five great kingdoms of garn would never be the same; now the four great kingdoms, Daylon amended silently.

He looked around and saw carrion eaters on the wing: the vultures, kites, and sea eagles were circling and settling in for the feast. To the north, a massive murder of crows had descended on the field of corpses. Rising flocks of angry birds measured the slow progress of the baggage boys loading the dead. The carrion eaters were efficient, conceded Daylon; few bodies would go to the grave without missing eyes, lips, or other soft features.

He turned to gaze at the sea. No matter what the weather, it drew Daylon; he felt dwarfed by its eternal nature, its indifference to the tasks of men. The thought soothed him and gave him much-needed perspective after the battle. Daylon indulged in a barely audible sigh, then considered the beach below.

The rocks beneath the bluffs of the Answearie Hills had provided as rich a meal for the crabs and seabirds as the banquet for the crows and kites on the hills above them. Hundreds of men had met their death on those rocks, pushed over the edge of the cliff by the unexpected attack on their flank by men they had counted as allies but moments before.

Daylon Dumarch felt old. The Baron of Marquensas was still at the height of his power, not yet forty years from his nativity day, but he was ancient in bitterness and regret.

Thousands of men had died needlessly so that two madmen could betray a good king. While others stood by and did nothing, a balance that had existed for nearly two hundred years had been overturned. Art, music, poetry, dance, and theatre would soon follow the army of Ithrace into oblivion.

Daylon did not know exactly what plans the four surviving monarchs of the great kingdoms had for the lofty towers and flower-bedecked open plazas of the city of Ithra, but he feared for the most civilized city in the world, the capital of the Kingdom of Flames. Of the five great kingdoms of Garn, Ithrace had always produced the most artistic genius. Authors of Ithrace had penned half of the books in Daylon’s library, and Ithra was a well-known spawning ground for talented young painters, musicians, playwrights, poets, and actors, despite also providing refuge for thieves, mountebanks, whores, and every other form of unsavoury humanity imaginable.