Janny Wurts - The Complete Empire Trilogy - Daughter of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire, Servant of the Empire

Daughter of the Empire

Servant of the Empire

Mistress of the Empire

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.

Harper Voyager An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

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First published in Great Britain by

Grafton Books 1987

Daughter of the Empire First published in Great Britain by Grafton Books 1987

Copyright © Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts 1987

Servant of the Empire First published in Great Britain by Grafton Books 1990

Copyright © Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts 1990

Mistress of the Empire First published in Great Britain by Grafton Books 1992

Copyright © Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts 1992

The Authors assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Ebook Edition © MARCH 2013 ISBN: 9780007518760

Version: 2018-5-14

Cover

Title Page RAYMOND E. FEIST and JANNY WURTS The Empire Trilogy Daughter of the Empire Servant of the Empire Mistress of the Empire

Copyright

Daughter of the Empire

Servant of the Empire

Mistress of the Empire

About the Author

Also by the Author

About the Publisher

Table of Contents Cover Title Page RAYMOND E. FEIST and JANNY WURTS The Empire Trilogy Daughter of the Empire Servant of the Empire Mistress of the Empire Copyright Daughter of the Empire Servant of the Empire Mistress of the Empire About the Author Also by the Author About the Publisher

Book One of the Empire Trilogy

This book is dedicated to

Harold Matson

with deep appreciation, respect, and affection

Cover Table of Contents Cover Title Page RAYMOND E. FEIST and JANNY WURTS The Empire Trilogy Daughter of the Empire Servant of the Empire Mistress of the Empire Copyright Daughter of the Empire Servant of the Empire Mistress of the Empire About the Author Also by the Author About the Publisher

Title Page RAYMOND E. FEIST and JANNY WURTS Daughter of the Empire Book One of the Empire Trilogy

Dedication This book is dedicated to Harold Matson with deep appreciation, respect, and affection

Map

Chapter One: Lady

Chapter Two: Evaluations

Chapter Three: Innovations

Chapter Four: Gambits

Chapter Five: Bargain

Chapter Six: Ceremony

Chapter Seven: Wedding

Chapter Eight: Heir

Chapter Nine: Snare

Chapter Ten: Warlord

Chapter Eleven: Renewal

Chapter Twelve: Risks

Chapter Thirteen: Seduction

Chapter Fourteen: Acceptance

Chapter Fifteen: Arrival

Chapter Sixteen: Funeral

Chapter Seventeen: Revenge

Acknowledgements

The priest struck the gong.

The sound reverberated off the temple’s vaulted domes, splendid with brightly coloured carvings. The solitary note echoed back and forth, diminishing to a remembered tone, a ghost of sound.

Mara knelt, the cold stones of the temple floor draining the warmth from her. She shivered, though not from chill, then glanced slightly to the left, where another initiate knelt in a pose identical to her own, duplicating Mara’s movements as she lifted the white head covering of a novice of the Order of Lashima, Goddess of the Inner Light. Awkwardly posed with the linen draped like a tent above her head, Mara impatiently awaited the moment when the headdress could be lowered and tied. She had barely lifted the cloth and already the thing dragged at her arms like stone weights! The gong sounded again. Reminded of the goddess’s eternal presence, Mara inwardly winced at her irreverent thoughts. Now, of all times, her attention must not stray. Silently she begged the goddess’s forgiveness, pleading nerves – fatigue and excitement combined with apprehension. Mara prayed to the Lady to guide her to the inner peace she so fervently desired.

The gong chimed again, the third ring of twenty-two, twenty for the gods, one for the Light of Heaven, and one for the imperfect children who now waited to join in the service of the Goddess of Wisdom of the Upper Heaven. At seventeen years of age, Mara prepared to renounce the temporal world, like the girl at her side who – in another nineteen chimings of the gong – would be counted her sister, though they had met only two weeks before.

Mara considered her sister-to-be: Ura was a foul-tempered girl from a clanless but wealthy family in Lash Province while Mara was from an ancient and powerful family, the Acoma. Ura’s admission to the temple was a public demonstration of family piety, ordered by her uncle, the self-styled family Lord, who sought admission into any clan that would take his family. Mara had come close to defying her father to join the order. When the girls had exchanged histories at their first meeting, Ura had been incredulous, then almost angry that the daughter of a powerful Lord should take eternal shelter behind the walls of the order. Mara’s heritage meant clan position, powerful allies, an array of well-positioned suitors, and an assured good marriage to a son of another powerful house. Her own sacrifice, as Ura called it, was made so that later generations of girls in her family would have those things Mara chose to renounce. Not for the first time Mara wondered if Ura would make a good sister of the order. Then, again not for the first time, Mara questioned her own worthiness for the Sisterhood.