release date for the thrilling sequel in the fantasy epic, We
I’m excited to announce the release of the second book in the fantasy epic, We, this December. In celebration, I’m going to publish a few exclusive looks at the new book here. Beware: spoilers abound. If you haven’t read We Gather yet and want to be stunned by its stunning twists, keep reading at your peril.
A missing spy
There were only six cells in the basement of the palace and it was rare they should be occupied, at least in her lifetime. Probably there had been periods in their past when they must turf each prisoner out while the corpse was still cooling because there was a queue. Whether it was fair to claim that her antecedents had been more ruthless than her, Necavos couldn’t say, but certainly they’d had the power to act on it. In the days when Barracheh’s emperors had real authority, people had been forced to rebel, they hadn’t just been able to show up at the palace and take over.
The stair was a spiral descending into a deep, square hole, tight and precipitous. It burrowed down into the stone like the throat of a well, which you couldn’t help but dwell on as you descended it. It felt like there was something down there. Waiting for you.
There were no lights in the stairwell, but faint illumination drifted up from below, the warm yellow glow of what looked like a single lantern. By the time the descent finally came to an end, it felt as if they had traveled much further than a single story.
She had only been here once, at the age of twelve. They came down here together, but it was her idea, Sathriel had been afraid. He was obsessed with battle, she’d pointed out; why was one death more upsetting than any other? She had chosen not to tell him about the nightmares she had afterward, but he may have guessed. He had never said anything—I told you so, for starters—but he had always been so sensitive, so keenly aware of the moods of the people around him.
The lantern had been knocked onto its side, casting a confused puddle of light upon the floor and the lowest margin of the wall closest to it. It was guttering and Moere hurried forward to turn it upright before the flame could expire. Light swooped across the ceiling and wobbled before stabilizing. Now the wick was submerged in the lamp’s oil again, it swelled. Necavos took a step back when she realized the mound of shadows in the center of the room wasn’t the result of a knocked-over lantern.
Then she took a few steps to the side, until the face of the person lying on the floor was revealed to her. It was clear she was looking at a soldier, one of her own, but only as she circled the corpse did the blood become visible. She had fallen on her side and the imperfect light hid the wound that felled her. Her sword lay on the floor near one hand, where she had dropped it. Why she had been killed wasn’t obvious, but she wouldn’t have been up to date on events, perhaps she had attacked the Timerians who came looking for their missing emperor. Perhaps they had thought she was guarding the escape route Necavos used.
More puzzling still, the cells were vacant. She could see this instantly because the doors were set into the floor and all six of them had been unlocked, the grates pulled up so that someone could look into them. Just to be sure, Necavos turned a lap of the room, looking down while Moere held the lantern for her. Empty, empty, empty. Stone-sided holes not broad enough to lie down in or tall enough to stand up, walls wet and covered in moss. Empty. Empty, empty.
She rotated in a circle in the room’s center after she checked each of them, too puzzled to do more than shiver absently. She had sent a man here only hours ago, why was he not where she put him? If his masters had freed him from his cell, it was strange that they seemed to be unaware of it. He should have been with them; at the very least, they should have been up-to-date on his status.
“Where did you go?” she said quietly. “Who took you from me? And why is it a secret?”
Comments are closed