Oath of Fealty

Zusatztext “No one writes fantasy quite like Moon.”— The Miami Herald “Sheer delight . . . an engrossing new adventure.”—Anne McCaffrey “ Oath of Fealty is the best kind of fantasy: familiar but complex! with substance behind the accomplished style.”— Contra Costa Times   “Well-crafted storytelling . . . hard to put down.”—SF Site Informationen zum Autor Elizabeth Moon  grew up on the Texas border, served three years of active duty in the USMC (1968–71), and now lives with her husband, also a veteran, near Austin, Texas. She has published more than twenty-five novels, including Nebula Award winner  The Speed of Dark,  Hugo finalist  Remnant Population,  and the enduring epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Paksenarrion. She has published more than fifty short-fiction pieces in anthologies and magazines and in four of her own short-fiction collections, most recently  Moon Flights  and  Deeds of Honor . When not writing, Moon enjoys photographing native plants and wildlife, knitting socks, and cooking. Klappentext In the original trilogy starring Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter! Paks follows her dream of becoming a hero by running away to join the army. In this new series! Paks's former comrades in Duke Phelan's Company assume new roles and the story follows their adventures. Chapter One Verella     A small boy clambered from a cellar wall into an alley. He picked his way through the trash along the wall to a nearby street, walked quickly to the next turning, went left, then right. The street widened a little; the people he passed wore warmer clothes. He ducked into an alcove and pulled off the ragged jacket that had concealed his own unpatched shirt and tunic, folded the ragged one into a tidy bundle, and tucked it under his arm. Now he moved at a steady jog into the wealthier part of the city, nearer the palace. Finally he turned in to a gap between buildings, found the trapdoor he sought, and went belowground again.   In the cellar of a tall house within a few minutes of the palace gates, he gave a coded knock. A hard-faced man with a spiked billet opened the door. "What d'you want, rat?" the man asked.   "For Duke Verrakai's hand only," the boy said. "From the Horned Chain."   "I'll take him," another man said, stepping out of looming shadows. He wore the red and black of Liart, and the horned chain was about his neck. "Come, boy."   Shaking with fear, the boy followed, up stairs and along a corridor, to a room where another man, in Verrakai blue and silver, sat writing at a table by a fire.   "I am Duke Verrakai. You have a message for me: give it."   The boy seemed to choke, and then, in a deep voice not his own, spoke the words Liart's priest had bade him say. "The man is free, and his companions; the paladin is ours. Without her aid, he can be taken. He must not reach Lyonya alive."   "He will not," Duke Verrakai said. "Is there more?"   The boy dug into his tunic and pulled out a folded paper; Verrakai took it and read it. "Well," he said, with a glance at the man in red and black. "It seems we must return this boy with our answer." He wrote on the reverse of the message, folded it, and handed it to the boy. "Go the way you came, swiftly."   Less than a half-glass later, a man in Verrakai blue rode out the south gates of Verella and turned east on the river road. Later, after the turn of night, Kieri Phelan, newly revealed king of Lyonya, also rode through the gates, with an escort of the Royal Guard.       Duke's Stronghold, North Marches, seven days later  Jandelir Arcolin, senior captain of Duke Phelan's Company, rested his forearms on the top of the stronghold walls, where he had the best view to the south. On one side of the road to Duke's East, Stammel was putting his own cohort through an intricate marchi...

Product details

• Authors: Elizabeth Moon
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 01.03.2011
• EAN: 9780345524164
• ISBN: 978-0-345-52416-4
• No. of pages: 480
• Dimensions: 109 mm x 175 mm x 25 mm
• Series: Legend of Paksenarrion; Legend of Paksenarrion; Paladin's Legacy; Random House Worlds
• Subject: Fiction > Science fiction, fantasy