A Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron
In all the years he’d known her it was the most Vargus had ever heard her say about her needs. The strain was starting to show on her face.
He settled her frantic hand by wrapping it in both of his. Her skin was rough from years of hard labour, but it was also warm and full of life. For the first time since he’d arrived she looked him in the eye. Her sharp blue eyes were uncertain.
“I can’t,” Vargus said gently. “It’s not who I am.”
Carla pulled her hand free and Vargus looked away first, not sure if he was sparing her or himself.
“What about the legend of the Gath?”
He dismissed it with a wave. “It was already fading, and me with it. There aren’t many that believe, fewer still that are afraid. It’s my own fault, I guess. I kept it too small for too long. It would only keep me for a few more years at best. This war is my best way.”
Carla was the only one in the village who knew some of the truth about him. She didn’t claim to understand, but she’d listened and accepted it because of who he was and what he could do. It seemed churlish to hide anything from her at this point. He waited, but to his surprise she didn’t ask for the rest.
“So you’ll fight?”
“I will,” declared Vargus. “I’ll travel to Charas to fight and bleed and kill. For the King, for the land and for those who can’t defend themselves. I’ll swear an oath, by the iron in my blood, to fight in the war until it’s done. One way or the other.”
Carla was quiet for a time. Eventually she shook her head and he thought he saw a tear in her eye, but maybe it was just his imagination.
“If anyone else said something like that, I’d tell them they were a bloody fool. But they’re not just words with you, are they?”
“No. It’s my vow. Once made it can’t be broken. If I stay here, I’ll be dead in a few years. At least this way, I have a chance.”
Reaching under the counter Carla produced a dusty red bottle that was half empty. Taking down two small glasses she poured them each a generous measure of a syrupy blue spirit.
“Then I wish you luck,” said Carla, raising her glass.
“I’ll drink to that, and I hope if I ever come back, I’ll still be welcome.”
“Of course.”
They tapped glasses and downed the spirit in one gulp. It burned all the way down Vargus’s throat before lighting a pleasant fire in his belly. They talked a while longer, but the important words had been said and his course decided.
In the morning, Vargus would leave the village that had been his home for the last forty years, and go to war.
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Map
Prologue
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
By Miles Cameron
Praise for Miles Cameron and The Traitor Son Cycle
extras
meet the author
A Preview of The Shadow of What was Lost
A Preview of Battlemage
Orbit Newsletter
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Miles Cameron
Excerpt from The Shadow of What Was Lost copyright © 2016 by James Islington
Excerpt from Battlemage copyright © 2015 by Stephen Aryan
Cover design by Lauren Panepinto
Cover illustration by Alejandro Colucci / Epica Prima
Title typography by Zelda Devon
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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Simultaneously published in Great Britain and in the U.S. by Orbit in 2016
First U.S. Edition: October 2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cameron, Miles, author.
Title: The plague of swords / Miles Cameron.
Description: First U.S. edition. | New York : Orbit, 2016. | Series: The traitor son cycle ; 4
Identifiers: LCCN 2016023717 | ISBN 9780316302425 (paperback) | ISBN 9781478942924 (audio bk. cd) | ISBN 9781478913467 (audio bk. (downloadable))
Subjects: LCSH: Knights and knighthood—Fiction. | Imaginary wars and battles—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Fantasy / Epic. | FICTION / Fantasy / Historical. | FICTION / Action & Adventure. | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction.
Classification: LCC PR9199.4.C3456 P58 2016 | DDC 813/.6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023717
ISBNs: 978-0-316-30242-5 (trade paperback), 978-0-316-30241-8 (ebook)
E3-20160906-JV-PC
Miles Cameron, A Plague of Swords