Blood and Bone
About the Book
In the western sky, the bright emerald banner of the Visitor descends like a portent of annihilation.
On the continent of Jacuruku, the Thaumaturgs have mounted another expedition to tame the wild jungle that is their neighbour. Yet this is no normal wilderness. Named Himatan, it is said to be both of the spirit realm and of the earth. It is also said that it is ruled over by a powerful entity some call the Queen of Witches and others the ancient goddess Ardata. Saeng has grown up knowing only life under the Thaumaturgs – but it is the voices of her country’s forgotten past that speak to her. And when these magician rulers begin their invasion of Himatan, the voices strengthen – urging Saeng and her brother to undertake a desperate mission.
To the south, the desert tribes are united by the arrival of a foreign war leader, a veteran commander in battered mail. His men call him the Grey Ghost and he will lead these tribes on a raid like none that has gone before – deep into the heart of Thaumaturg lands.
And then the mercenary Crimson Guard are issued a contract against a renegade of their ranks. Skinner has returned to Jacuruku and is rumoured to want to reclaim a kingdom he once held. And who are the Guard to refuse the command of a god?
Contents
This novel is dedicated to the memory of my father,
John Roy Esslemont, 1934–1989.
You are greatly missed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is with gratitude that I acknowledge my time at the University of Minnesota, where I was encouraged to pursue my interest in nineteenth-century travel writing, colonial texts, and the myths of imperialism. I hope to return to this rich material some day. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Thaumaturg Villagers
Saeng | A descendant of local priestesses |
Hanu | Her brother |
Himatan Villagers
Oroth-en | Village headman |
Ursa | A female warrior |
The Mountain Bandits
Kenjak Ashevajak | The Bandit Lord |
Loor-San | |
Myint | |
Thet-mun | |
Of the Thaumaturg
Golan | Commander of the Army of Righteous |
| Chastisement |
U-Pre | Second in Command |
Thorn | Principal Scribe of the army |
Waris | An officer of the army |
Pon-lor | A newly trained Thaumaturg |
Tun | An overseer of the army (similar to a sergeant) |
Surin | The Prime Master of the ruling Circle |
| of Masters |
Servants of Ardata
Rutana | A witch |
Nagal | A warrior |
Citravaghra | The ‘man-leopard’ |
Varakapi | The ‘man-ape’ |
Of the Tribes of the Adwami
Jatal | A prince of the Hafinaj |
Andanii | Princess of the Vehajarwi |
Ganell | A chief of the Awamir |
Sher’ Tal | Horsemaster of the Saar |
Pinal | Horsemaster of the Hafinaj |
The Warleader | A mercenary commander |
Scarza | His lieutenant |
Of the Crimson Guard Avowed
K’azz D’Avore | Commander |
Shimmer | A captain |
Gwynn | A mage, once of Skinner’s company |
Lor-sinn | A mage |
Turgal | |
Cole | |
Amatt | |
Of the Disavowed
Skinner | Captain |
Jacinth | Lieutenant |
Mara | A mage |
Petal | A mage |
Red | A mage |
Shijel | Weaponmaster |
Black the Lesser | |
Hist | |
Leuthan | |
Of the Malazan Mercenaries
Yusen | Captain |
Burastan | Lieutenant |
Murk | A mage |
Sour | A mage |
Ostler | A soldier |
Tanner | A soldier |
Dee | A soldier |
Sweetly | A scout |
Others
Ardata | Also known as the Queen of Witches |
The Queen of | Also known as the Enchantress, T’riss |
Dreams | |
Ina | A Seguleh, of the top thousand fighters, the |
| Jistarii |
The Witch Queen | Also known as the Queen of Monsters, Ardata |
Old Man Moon | An elder |
Ripan | One of his offspring |
Sister Spite | Daughter of Draconus |
Osserc | A Tiste Liosan, worshipped by some as a |
| sky god |
L’oric | Son of Osserc |
Gothos | A Jaghut |
PROLOGUE
In the third moon of the third year of the Great Drought, we put out to sea from the estuary of Holy Ubaryd. On the fifteenth day of the third moon we arrived at an island of the barbarian Falarese. From then on, we were harassed by contrary winds, which delayed our arrival. Further, we encountered treacherous fields of ice that could only be navigated with the greatest care. It was not until the eleventh moon when we finally dropped anchor at the mouth of a great river. Certain it is that so short a visit cannot encompass all the customs and peculiarities of this country, yet we may at least outline its principal characteristics.
Ular Takeq
Customs of Ancient Jakal-Uku
GHOSTS RULED THE
jungles of Jacuruku. Saeng remembered staying awake through the night as she strained to understand their whispered calls. Somehow their murmuring beckoned so much more seductively than her own dreams. One of her earliest memories was of walking alone through moonlit leaves hunting for the source of the jungle’s voice. She’d been utterly self-composed and without fear – as only a child could be. Long into her wandering she distinctly recalled a hand taking hers and guiding her through the dense fronds and stands of damp grasses back to the village. Her mother swept up then, her face wet with tears, to squeeze her to her bony chest while Saeng calmly explained that everything was all right. That there was no need to cry. That a friend had brought her back.
And of course later everyone swore to seeing her wander in from the dark alone.
Since then the leagues of impenetrable jungle surrounding the village had held no fear for her. A dangerous and, she could admit, rather reckless attitude in a land where flower garlands and prayer scarves festooned trees in honour of countless spirits, restless dead, ghosts, lost forgotten gods, and far too many missing children and adults.