RAYMOND E. FEIST
Prince of The Blood
Book One of Krondors Sons
Copyright
HarperVoyager An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpervoyagerbooks.com
First published HarperCollins Science Fiction & Fantasy 1990
Copyright © Raymond E. Feist 1990, 2008
Cover Illustration © Nik Keevil
Raymond E. Feist asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780007176168
Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2012 ISBN: 9780007385355
Version: 20190115
This book is dedicated
with love to my wife
Kathlyn Starbuck
who makes everything make sense
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Map
Chapter One: Homecoming
Chapter Two: Accusation
Chapter Three: Stardock
Chapter Four: Concerns
Chapter Five: Southward
Chapter Six: Dilemma
Chapter Seven: Captive
Chapter Eight: Escape
Chapter Nine: Welcome
Chapter Ten: Companion
Chapter Eleven: Hunting
Chapter Twelve: Evasion
Chapter Thirteen: Jubilee
Chapter Fourteen: Bargain
Chapter Fifteen: Snares
Chapter Sixteen: Stalking
Chapter Seventeen: Traps
Chapter Eighteen: Triumph
Continue the Adventure
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by the Author
About the Publisher
Map
CHAPTER ONE
Homecoming
THE INN WAS QUIET.
Walls darkened by years of fireplace soot drank in the lantern light, reflecting dim illumination. The dying fire in the hearth offered scant warmth and, from the demeanour of those who chose to sit before it, less cheer. In contrast to the mood of most establishments of its ilk, this inn was nearly sombre. In murky corners, men spoke in hushed tones, discussing things best not overheard by the uninvolved. A grunt of agreement to a whispered proposal, or a bitter laugh from a woman of negotiable virtue, were the only sounds to intrude upon the silence. The majority of the denizens of the inn, called The Sleeping Dockman, were closely watching the game.
The game was pokiir; common to the Empire of Great Kesh to the south and now replacing lin-lan and pashawa as the gamblers choice in the inns and taverns of the Western Realm of the Kingdom. One player held his five cards before him, his eyes narrowed in concentration. An off-duty soldier, he kept alert for any sign of trouble in the room, and trouble was rapidly approaching. He made a display of studying his cards, while discreetly inspecting the five men who played at the table with him.
The first two on his left were rough men. Both were sunburned and the hands holding their cards were heavily callused; faded linen shirts and cotton trousers hung loosely on lank but muscular frames. Neither wore boots or even sandals, barefoot despite the cool night air, a certain sign they were sailors waiting for a new berth. Usually such men quickly lost their pay and were bound again for sea, but from the way they had bet all night, the soldier was certain they were working for the man who sat to the soldiers right.