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Mazes of Power (The Broken Trust, Band 1) - Hardcover

Buch 1 von 3: The Broken Trust

Wade, Juliette

 
9780756415747: Mazes of Power (The Broken Trust, Band 1)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0756415748 ISBN 13: 9780756415747
Verlag: DAW, 2020

Inhaltsangabe

This debut work of sociological science fiction follows a deadly battle for succession, where brother is pitted against brother in a singular chance to win power and influence for their family.

The cavern city of Pelismara has stood for a thousand years. The Great Families of the nobility cling to the myths of their golden age while the city's technology wanes.

When a fever strikes, and the Eminence dies, seventeen-year-old Tagaret is pushed to represent his Family in the competition for Heir to the Throne. To win would give him the power to rescue his mother from his abusive father, and marry the girl he loves.

But the struggle for power distorts everything in this highly stratified society, and the fever is still loose among the inbred, susceptible nobles. Tagaret's sociopathic younger brother, Nekantor, is obsessed with their family's success. Nekantor is willing to exploit Tagaret, his mother, and her new servant Aloran to defeat their opponents.

Can he be stopped? Should he be stopped? And will they recognize themselves after the struggle has changed them?

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Juliette Wade's habit of asking "why" about everything has led her to explore the world both above and below the ground. She has lived in Japan and France, and holds degrees in linguistics and anthropology. The author of many published short stories, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her Aussie husband and her two sons, who support and inspire her.

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1

Chapter One



Change



Tagaret believed in music the same way he believed in the sky. It was unreachable, invisible, transcendent, and somehow a promise that there had to be more to life than this. Mother had always assured him, when they'd fallen back into that vague, wistful state after the grand concerts were over, that they must be grateful to have been born into the nobility and have their health, too-that no better life could be had in all Varin. With her beside him, he could believe that it was true. But then Father's official appointment as Alixi of Selimna had stolen her away across the surface wilderness, leaving him and his brother behind.



Up there, traveling on the Roads, Mother had seen the sky out her window. She'd told him about it in her very first letter.



Vast, bright, deep-Tagaret, I try, but these words fail to describe its full, terrifying beauty. Somehow, the sight of it changes everything.



He'd shivered over her words and waited to hear more, to hear how everything was different now. A beautiful sight couldn't bring back the days before the decline, before the yearly Announcements that cataloged defects and deaths. If it had eased Mother's tears, it must mean something important . . . but she'd never mentioned it again, and after that the notes of hope disappeared from her letters.



Some experiences could change your entire life. Not necessarily for the better.



With yet another Announcement looming, Tagaret clung to the promise in the music. In the five years since Mother's departure, he'd attended every concert, hoping to feel his heart uplifted. Tonight's piece promised to be unlike anything written before: a controversial new symphony, The Catacomb, described by advance listeners as an experience that would change the image of the Kartunnen artisan caste, change the meaning of music-change everything.



Tagaret looked down at his ticket: thick paper with looping calligraphy in black and gold. He could imagine himself twelve again, and Mother handing it to him, pointing out his seat while she described the music to come in a voice ringing with excitement . . .



"Change everything," he whispered.



He stepped through the doors into the Eminence's grand ballroom, with his three best friends following behind him.



All the finest people were here. Announcements brought out a bigger crowd than musical events. Politicians, gentlemen, and ladies murmured in anticipation, their jewel-colored suits and gowns glittering in the electric light of the chandeliers. Tagaret led his friends into the right-side aisle, feeling the gossip-hungry eyes evaluate his new height, his poise, and his maturity before moving on.



"Fifth row," he said, as the chandeliers dimmed slightly. He handed extra tickets back to Fernar, Gowan, and Reyn.



"Wow," said Fernar. "Right up front-how'd you get such good tickets to an Announcement?"



Tagaret sighed. "They're for the concert, Fernar. My mother's the patron of the concert series."



"Great," said Gowan. "We can look right up at the Speaker of the Cabinet."



Reyn aimed a punch at Gowan's shoulder. "Come on. Tagaret just said, we're here for the music."



"Right," said Tagaret. "Thanks, Reyn." Fernar and Gowan would never quite understand the anxiety he and Reyn felt before Announcements because they hadn't lost parents to leadership positions in the provincial cities.



"Actually, I'm here for young ladies, too," Fernar said, nodding toward the stage. "That's quite a view-let's skim on over there."



Tagaret followed his gaze. A group of girls sparkled near the base of the stage, talking and laughing in a tight cluster. Each was guarded by a man or woman in black silk: members of the Imbati servant caste, marked with the curving forehead tattoos of bodyguards. Jewels inside a wall of coal. The view alone almost pushed Announcements out of his mind, but Tagaret held Fernar back. Someone else had had the same idea: two boys on the opposite side of the stage were pushing toward the group.



"Those boys are Tenth Family," Gowan whispered. "Let's see if they mess this up."



As the boys drew close, the girls' attendant bodyguards shifted subtly, tracking them. Tagaret gulped in sympathy. Surely, they wouldn't be fool enough to speak or touch . . .



A bodyguard moved. In a split second the taller boy dropped, laid out facedown on the floor with the bodyguard pinning one arm behind his back. Girls gasped, and startled members of the crowd pulled back. The bodyguard immediately released his grip and bowed, and the boy's friend helped him to his feet. The downed boy held both hands over his face as he scrambled away.



"Ouch," Reyn muttered. "They'll wish they didn't have to show their faces at school tomorrow."



Gowan snorted. "They've got a lecture coming from their Family Council, too-Tenth Family fools."



Fernar laughed aloud. "Guys, come on, we can do better than that. All we'll do is walk up and past. Our reputation will be brilliant for weeks."



"So long as the Imbati don't humiliate us," said Gowan.



Tagaret gulped a breath, with a glance at Reyn. "We're fine so long as we all behave. Agreed?"



"Agreed," the others said.



What better opportunity would they get? To catch the scent of the girls' hair or their hand oil-maybe even to have one look him in the eye-oh, yes . . .



Tagaret strode to the front, making sure the others stayed close, and turned into the aisle that crossed the base of the stage. All around, the eyes were watching. Fernar liked other boys to see them be so daring; Gowan liked the attention of politicians. Whichever group was looking, they'd win more reputation if they supported each other shoulder to shoulder.



Two of the bodyguards had noticed them now. So had all the girls. One of Tagaret's cousins in the First Family met his gaze and nodded; the other girls whispered with fingers held before their lips. Though his heart raced, Tagaret carefully turned his eyes downward as he drew closer. Imbati escorts didn't permit much attention to their mistress' faces. He quivered, sneaking glances. Mm, the curve of a pale shoulder. A ruby bodice-long amethyst skirts-graceful hands-a sway of dark braids . . . Then his eyes caught on an arresting pair of brown eyes that had been following his movements, and he gazed at the girl's face a moment too long.



An Imbati woman in black skirts flowed smoothly between them.



Mercy-Tagaret swerved off fast before the Imbati could make a move on him. Breathing down the adrenaline, he walked to the stage and looked up at the instruments. Above him was the yojosmei with its priceless wooden frame, and double keyboards of polished stone, where the symphony's composer would soon sit.



Someone else came close and looked up. Not Reyn, Fernar, or Gowan. A girl.



By Sirin and Eyn, why would a girl leave the main group? To see him? Impossible. Surely, she was here for the instruments. But maybe, just maybe, she had come to see him, and liked music, too. He leaned toward her without thinking; she had radiant copper hair and a long emerald-green dress that fell over her curves in a slow caress he wanted to follow with his own fingertips. Thank heavens she wasn't any closer, or he'd have been on the floor by now. Her male Imbati escort had graying hair, and looked powerful enough to throw him all the way to the fifth row. But, if asked politely, might he consent to give his Lady's name?



"Tagaret, well done!" Fernar clapped his shoulder, and he...

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Verlag
DAW
Erscheinungsdatum
2020
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0756415748
ISBN 13 
9780756415747
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
416
Kontakt zum Hersteller
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Verantwortliche Person
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