Catherine Fisher - The Margrave-crow 4

HE TOOK SOME OF the Earth books, pushing them into Carys’s pack.

“What are these?” she asked.

“I want to take them. Don’t tell Galen.”

“You’re not his scholar anymore, Raffi. Take what you want.” Shoving them down in the pack she said, “What will happen if we get to Tasceron?”

“Felnia will be crowned.” Galen stood in the doorway, the Sekoi behind him. “And we will call a great meeting of the Order. Everyone left alive will come, keepers and scholars, out of hiding, out of terror.” He put an arm around Raffi’s shoulders. “We will choose a new Archkeeper.”

“It should be you.”

“Not me.” Galen laughed darkly. “The Crow will have much to do. There is a whole world to be remade; it will not happen quickly.”

Tugging the straps on the pack tight, Carys was silent a moment. Then she looked up. “Galen. You’ve lost your scholar.”

“Not lost.”

“Yes, but what I mean . . .” The strap would not go through the buckle; she threw it down in exasperation. “What I mean is, are you looking for another? Another scholar?”

He scowled. “Carys, if you mean that nephew of Alberic’s, I’m sorry but . . .”

“I mean me.”

“ You!”

“Yes.” She couldn’t help grinning. She had finally done it. For the first time since she had known him she had utterly astonished him.

He stared at her, wordless.

“Don’t you think I can do it?”

“Of course you could,” Raffi said.

“I agree,” the Sekoi said softly.

Galen took a breath. His voice was quiet. “I am not an easy master, Carys.”

“Oh, I know. Neither was the Watch. And I warn you, I’m not going to be the easiest of scholars. Is there some test I have to pass?”

The keeper said, “If there were, you would have already passed it.” He put his hand in his pocket, took out the beads that had been Raffi’s, and tossed them to her. “Welcome home, Carys,” he said quietly.

RAFFI WAS THE LAST to climb over the lip of the pit. The Sekoi helped him up, and he stared in utter joy at the sunlight, the pale moons, at the blue dome of the sky. All around them after the rain, the desert had bloomed, a glorious flood of tiny fragile flowers, red and palest pinks. They stood among it all in silence. And along the sense-lines a voice came to him, and the voice was Flain’s.

“I have been here before you, Raffi,” it said. “And the Deepest Journey starts here.”

Carys looked back at him. Galen said, “They will still come.” He looked out at the miles of sunlit land. “Remember those words we heard in the House of Trees. Wait. We might have completed their work, but we still need them.”

Raffi nodded. “I know,” he whispered.

Praise for INCARCERON

“A thriller of the highest order; Fisher could give the show 24 a run for its money with her twists and messed-up characters. I read one chapter and putting it down took a serious act of will.”

—Junot Diaz quoted in The Wall Street Journal

★ “Fisher’s dystopic future, in which technology and decay coexist in a dazzling kaleidoscope of images and time periods, is brilliantly realized . . .”

— The Horn Book , starred review

★ “A tour de force . . . [for] fans of steampunk and epic fantasy alike . . .”

— School Library Journal, starred review

★ “Breathless pacing . . . shocking twists and a killer ending . . .”

— Booklist , starred review

★ “Like the finest chocolate, a rich confection of darkness, subtlety and depth, bittersweet and absolutely satisfying.”

— Kirkus, starred review

★ “Fisher scores a resounding success in this beautifully imagined science fantasy.”

— Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Intricately plotted and richly imagined . . . The surprise ending will leave readers clamoring for the sequel.”

— The Washington Post

Praise for SAPPHIQUE

★ “A modern masterpiece.”

—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Fisher further explores themes of reality, illusion, and freedom without losing her intensely original worldbuilding and authentic characters.”

— Booklist, starred review

“A dark, interesting foray into vivid imagery, danger, surprising twists, and intriguing revelations.”

— School Library Journal

“Readers who have pieced together Incarceron’s clues will no doubt find satisfaction in its sequel as they unlock its secrets.”

— The Bulletin

“The plot builds to an inexorable climax—a fitting finial on Fisher’s grand invention.”

— The Horn Book

About the Author

CATHERINE FISHER, acclaimed poet and novelist, was born in Newport, Wales. She graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in English and a fascination for myth and history. She has worked in education and archaeology, and as a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Glamorgan. She is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.

Of the Relic Master series, Catherine says, “This quartet of science fiction/fantasy novels are especially important to me; first because of the characters (Galen, Raffi, Carys, and the Sekoi, some of my favorite characters out of all those I’ve written about), and second because it was the first time I had really let rip and created a whole new world and everything in it.”