“It doesn’t mean I have to be like that.” Nona stared up at Clera who flinched, guilty before those black eyes. “We have a whole church built on ancestors.” She waved an arm at the dome. “Family. Dead family.” She took Ara’s hand in hers. “You choose your friends. If you’re going to worship dead people you didn’t choose, then perhaps the bonds of friendship shouldn’t be so easily broken. No?”
Clera shook her head. “You’re a fool, Nona Grey. Are you going to kill me now, or let someone else do it?”
“Ara could live. If we get her to Sister Rose. Now!” Nona glanced back towards the convent. They were coming. The old sisters and the young girls. Sister Thorn had vowed to protect them. Sister Cage to fight alongside them.
Clera waved her hand at the distant nuns, exasperated. “Let them take her. I don’t care. I didn’t come for Ara. She was just in the way.”
Nona released Ara’s hand with a squeeze and stood. “I’ve missed you, Clera. It’s been too many years.”
Clera glanced out across the plateau. “We were children, Nona. Children make and break friendships all the time. It’s not important. This, what we’re doing now, this is important. It’s about sides in the great game that’s being played. And you’re on the wrong one. The losing one. You should change sides.”
Nona shook her head. “I’m not playing. And I’ve always been on your side, Clera. You’ve just not properly understood it.”
Clera looked down at Ara. “I wanted her to run.”
“I know.”
“She should have run. There were too many of them for her. Why did she have to be so stupid?”
Nona shrugged. “Where is Lano Tacsis?”
“You know the Tacsis.” Clera nodded towards the plateau stretching out beyond the pillars. “They like to let you spend your power against people they consider expendable, then arrive to finish the job if anything’s left to finish.”
“They do.”
“He’s out there with his soldiers and eight Noi-Guin. His teachers from the Tetragode. Others too.”
Nona looked down at her sword. “My power’s not spent.”
“You think you can kill me without reaching for the Path, little Nona?” Clera drew her sword, a twin to Nona’s, taken from the body of a Red Sister.
Nona turned away, her back to Clera, looking out across the plateau.
“I think I won’t need to kill you,” Nona said. “I think you’ll fight them with me. Sister.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to Jessica Wade for taking on the task of putting Red Sister into your hands. Her enthusiasm for the book has made working with her a pleasure. Thanks also to the other good folk at Ace who have laboured with dedication to get the First Book of the Ancestor into print, including Diana Gill, who first acquired Red Sister for Ace, and Alexis Nixon, who has spread the word far and wide.
Agnes Meszaros also deserves special thanks. She has been hugely supportive during the creation of this trilogy, both as beta-reader-in-chief and as supplier of chocolate! Thanks too for early reads from Mia Caringal, Tom Brown, Nimue Brown, Nadine Kharabian, and Helen Mazarakis. Finally, let’s have another round of applause for my agent, Ian Drury, and the team at Sheil Land for all their sterling work.
Mark Lawrence is a research scientist working on artificial intelligence. He is a dual national with both British and American citizenship, and has held secret-level clearance with both governments. At one point, he was qualified to say, “This isn’t rocket science—oh wait, it actually is.” He is the author of the Broken Empire trilogy (Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns, and Emperor of Thorns) and the Red Queen’s War trilogy (Prince of Fools, The Liar’s Key, and The Wheel of Osheim). Married with four children, he lives in Bristol. Visit him online at marklawrence.buzz, facebook.com/MarkLawrenceBooks, and twitter.com/Mark__Lawrence.
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Mark Lawrence, Red Sister
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