The Exiled Blade: Act Three of the Assassini
Read The Exiled Blade: Act Three of the Assassini Online
Authors: Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Table of Contents
Y
J
ON
C
OURTENAY
G
RIMWOOD
The Assassini
The Fallen Blade
The Outcast Blade
The Exiled Blade
Jon Courtenay Grimwood
was born in Malta and christened in the upturned bell of a ship. He grew up in the Far East, Britain and Scandinavia. For five years he wrote a monthly review column for the
Guardian
. He has also written for
The Times
, the
Telegraph
and the
Independent.
Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award twice and the BSFA seven times, he won the BSFA Award for best novel with
Felaheen
, featuring Asraf Bey, his half-Berber detective. He won it again with
End of the World Blues
, about a British ex-sniper running an Irish bar in Tokyo.
His work is published in French, German, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Danish, Finnish and American among others. He is married to the journalist and novelist Sam Baker, currently editor-in-chief of
Red
magazine. They divide their time between London and Winchester.
ORBIT
First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Orbit
Copyright © 2013 by JonCGLimited
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of the publisher, nor be
otherwise circulated in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
eISBN 978-0-748-11287-6
ISBN 978-1-84149-850-8
Orbit
An imprint of
Little, Brown Book Group
100 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DY
An Hachette UK Company
“He’d been proud of her from the moment they met. Her fierce intelligence, the quiet fury with which she met life full on . . .”
For Sam, who shares more with Giulietta than simply red hair
Tycho
, a youth with strange hungers
The Millioni
Marco IV
, known as Marco the Simpleton, duke of Venice and Prince of Serenissima
Lady Giulietta di Millioni
, his young cousin, widow of Prince Leopold, mother of Leo and lover of Tycho
Duchess Alexa
, the late duke’s widow, mother to Marco IV. A Mongol princess in her own right. She hates . . .
Prince Alonzo
, Regent of Venice, who wants the throne
Marco III
, known as Marco the Just. The late lamented duke of Venice, elder brother of Alonzo, godfather of Lady Giulietta and the ghost at every feast
Members of the Venetian court
Lord Bribanzo
, member of the Council of Ten, the inner council that rules Venice. One of the richest men in the city. Sides with Alonzo
Lord Roderigo
, Captain of the Dogana, Alonzo’s ally
Lady Maria Dolphini
, heiress
Captain Weimer
, new head of the palace guard
Amelia
, a Nubian slave and member of the Assassini
Pietro
, an ex-street child, now a royal page
Prince Frederick zum Bas Friedland
, bastard son of Sigismund, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, one-time suitor for Lady Giulietta and a guest at the court
Late members of the Venetian court
Atilo il Mauros
, once adviser to the late Marco III, and head of Venice’s secret assassins. Alexa’s lover and long-term supporter. Was engaged to the late Lady Desdaio, daughter of Lord Bribanzo
Prince Leopold zum Bas Friedland
. Also dead. Until lately leader of the
krieghund
, Emperor Sigismund’s werewolf shock troops. (Brother of Prince Frederick)
Dr Hightown Crow
, alchemist, astrologer and anatomist to the duke. Using a goose quill he inseminated Giulietta with Alonzo’s seed, leaving her with child
Iacopo
, once Atilo’s servant and member of the Assassini
Captain Towler
, mercenary leader in Montenegro
The Three Emperors
Sigismund
, Holy Roman emperor, King of Germany, Hungary and Croatia. Wants to add Lombardy and Venice to that list
John V Palaiologos
, the Basilius, ruler of the Byzantine Empire (known as the Eastern Roman Empire), also wants Venice. He barely admits Sigismund is an emperor at all
Tamburlaine
, Khan of Khans, ruler of the Mongols and newly created emperor of China. The most powerful man in the world and a distant cousin to Duchess Alexa. He regards Europe as a minor irritation
“There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now . . .”
Hamlet
, William Shakespeare
Austria
The emperor rode ahead on a high-stepping stallion draped with a cloth of gold, and behind him came his flag bearer, the double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire snapping in the winter wind. A small group of carefully selected courtiers followed wrapped tightly in furs against the early snow. Old men riding down a valley towards a troop of younger men who were the future if they lived long enough.
Sigismund of Germany had come to meet his son.
The emperor was in his fifties, long-facedx and tired eyed, exhausted by the effort of controlling an empire for which he hadn’t provided a proper heir. The boy he approached was a youthful indiscretion. Well, as Frederick was seventeen, perhaps not that youthful on Sigismund’s part, but still an indiscretion.