Bridge of Swords (54 page)
Authors: Duncan Lay
Discover Duncan Lay’s trilogy
THE DRAGON SWORD HISTORIES …
THE WOUNDED GUARDIAN
THE DRAGON SWORD HISTORIES
,
BOOK ONE
Martil is a haunted man — a war hero, now derided as the ‘Butcher of Bellic’. Leaving his beloved homeland he is set upon by bandits and tricked into taking a small child, Karia, to her uncle. But they only find one ex-bandit in the town, along with the Dragon Sword, a magical relic belonging to the rulers of Norstalos.
Norstalos’s first-ever queen is trying to keep her crown. Her cousin, Duke Gello, wants it and is prepared to do anything to get it.
Martil can find no way out of caring for a child, fighting for a queen and discovering that even a magical sword is no guarantee of victory …
THE RISEN QUEEN
THE DRAGON SWORD HISTORIES
,
BOOK TWO
Martil and his Rallorans are trying to gain control of the north for Queen Merren but winning the hearts of the people is proving impossible.
King Gello the usurper is planning to lead a massive army to crush the budding rebellion but, even if a way can be found to defeat him, the Fearpriests stand ready to come to his aid …
Karia is trying to persuade Martil that she has all the answers, while Merren is considering desperate solutions to the problems facing her and Norstalos. Perhaps the despised primitive ‘goblins’ might be the answer.
But on Dragonara Isle, the dragons have their own plans for Martil and particularly for the Dragon Sword …
THE RADIANT CHILD
THE DRAGON SWORD HISTORIES
,
BOOK THREE
Norstalos stands on the brink of destruction. But the three invading armies are probably the least of Queen Merren’s problems.
Her people despise their would-be saviours, the army of goblins she has won to her side, while the dragons want Martil and the fabled Dragon Sword for themselves.
Now Merren must make the most painful choice of her life … marry Count Sendric for the good of the Royal House or the man who loves her, the troubled Champion, Martil.
A book does not end up on the shelves without a great deal of work by a great many people. I need to thank my beta reader Belinda Lay, agent Sophie Hamley, publisher Stephanie Smith, editor Kate Burnitt, copy-editor Abigail Nathan, proofreader Ron Buck and designer Darren Holt. Without their help, advice and eagle eyes,
Bridge of Swords
would not be the same book. My name is on the cover yet they all helped to make it better and stronger, as well as hide flaws, correct mistakes and eliminate my talent for repeating key words and phrases.
An interview with legendary American fantasy writer Raymond E Feist inspired Duncan Lay to try his hand at fantasy writing. He writes on the train, while commuting from his Central Coast home to his other job as Masthead Chief of
The Sunday Telegraph
. This is his second fantasy trilogy.
Connect with Duncan Lay at:
duncanlay.blogspot.com
facebook.com/duncan.lay
Twitter @DuncanLay
T
HE
D
RAGON
S
WORD
H
ISTORIES
The Wounded Guardian
(1)
The Risen Queen
(2)
The Radiant Child
(3)
E
MPIRE OF
B
ONES
Bridge of Swords
(1)
Harper
Voyager
An imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
First published in Australia in 2012
This edition published in 2012
by HarperCollins
Publishers
Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Duncan Lay 2012
The right of Duncan Lay to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968
, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollins
Publishers
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Lay, Duncan.
Bridge of swords / Duncan Lay.
ISBN 978 0 7322 9418 2 (pbk).
ISBN 978 0 7304 9697 7 (epub)
Lay, Duncan. Empire of bones; 1.
Fantasy fiction.
A823.4
Cover design by Darren Holt, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images by shutterstock.com
Map by Darren Holt, HarperCollins Design Studio