Shattered Pillars (47 page)

Authors: Elizabeth Bear

The Scholar-God did indeed have a reason for letting him live,
al-Sepehr thought.
His existence drives them into my hands.

“Come outside with me,” said al-Sepehr, and before they could protest that too, he went to the door. “I want to show you something.”

* * *

In the gray morning, like a fog rolling over the battlements of the keep, like a breaking wave, the blood ghosts came. Al-Sepehr stood unmoved, Shahruz at his right hand, and kept his eyes open and unfocused until they had finished feeding on the last of Qori Buqa’s men.

The exhaustion of the summoning made him want to stagger. It made his boots feel heavy as if caked with mud. But he went to the gate, still sealed for the night. When he struggled with the massive bolt, Shahruz intervened and threw it for al-Sepehr.

Before him, new light was spilling over the half-rebuilt city. The first tradesmen and merchants in the streets paused and turned; the gates of the keep were not usually thrown wide by a pregnant girl.

Saadet clung to the bolt as if that were all that held her upright. She raised her voice; she raised her unveiled face and cried, “Blood ghosts! Blood ghosts within the keep! Loyal men of Qarash, to me! To the son of Qori Buqa!”

Merchants and tradesmen, they came. They
ran.

Behind al-Sepehr, there was blood. There was dust. Before him, Saadet disappeared into a swirl of embroidered coats and drawn knives.

Against a turquoise sky, a hot pale sun rolled up the western horizon to shine on a land that had not seen it before.

TOR BOOKS BY ELIZABETH BEAR

A Companion to Wolves
(with Sarah Monette)

The Tempering of Men
(with Sarah Monette)

All the Windwracked Stars

By the Mountain Bound

The Sea Thy Mistress

Range of Ghosts

Shattered Pillars

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

Elizabeth Bear was the recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2005. She has won two Hugo Awards for her short fiction, a Sturgeon Award, and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Bear lives in Brookfield, Massachusetts.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

SHATTERED PILLARS

Cover art by Donato

Map by Ellisa Mitchell

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

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New York, NY 10010

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®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Bear, Elizabeth.

Shattered pillars / Elizabeth Bear.—1st ed.