The Guns of Empire Read Online Free

punching effortlessly through flesh and bone. A moment later the three tendrils withdrew, and the uhlans collapsed like puppets with their strings cut, blood leaking from neat holes in their brows the size of a pencil.
    Alex let out a ragged breath.
Done.
There was no taking it back.
Now food, and socks, and—
    There was the
crack
of a pistol shot, and she stumbled forward, as though she’d been punched in the side. She managed to stay on her feet, turning to see a fourth uhlan stumbling out of the opposite ditch, his pants still unfastened.He was fumbling with his pistol, clawing at the pouch on his belt for another cartridge.
    â€œDemon!” he shouted. “M-m-monster—”
    Another line of darkness speared out, going through his throat like a flat-bladed spear. When it withdrew, blood fountained, drowning his cries.
    Four horses,
Alex thought muzzily,
and
four
men.
    She found herself lying on the ground, with no memory of how she’d gotten there. One of the horses had come over to investigate her, its hot breath brushing her face. Her side stung, the first tendrils of a pain that promised much worse to come.
    Get up. Find out how bad it is.
Alex closed her eyes, then forced them open.
I didn’t give up when they had me chained to the bed of a cart. I’m not giving up now.
    She raised her head and fumbled with her shirt. It was slick with blood, but it seemed to be leaking, rather than spurting, which was probably good. Her probing fingers found the wound, all the way to one side of her torso. She tried to remember long-ago lessons. If the ball had torn her guts, she would fester and die, sure as sunrise, but she didn’t
think
it had.
    I could go back to the Mountain.
If she could make it that far, Abraham would help her whether he was angry at her or not.
I could . . .
    No.
    Slowly, one hand pressed against her side, Alex sat up, then got to her feet. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she stumbled toward the nearest horse and pulled open the saddlebags, looking for bandages.
    The horses would take her south. And somewhere to the south was Janus bet Vhalnich and the army of Vordan, and the best chance she would ever have to get her revenge on the Priests of theBlack.

C HAPTER O NE

RAESINIA
    T albonn was not a city with a great deal to recommend it, in Raesinia’s opinion.
    It stood at Vordan’s northern frontier, the last major settlement before the Murnskai border. The highway that passed through it was an important artery of commerce, but it didn’t look the part. It barely looked like a road at all, more like a track worn in the mud by a bunch of animals all going the same way. Which was more or less the truth—the biggest trade here was cattle from the Transpale, driven north along this road in exchange for heavy wagonloads of timber and iron from the freezing forests of vast, empty Murnsk. Talbonn was the sort of city that grows up to cater to carters and cattlemen, with filthy, stinking streets, low, mean buildings, and an overabundance of winesinks and whorehouses.
    Nevertheless, it had made an effort to rise to the occasion. Uniformed armsmen stood at regular intervals along the main road, which had been swept clean of dung and broken glass for the benefit of the noble visitors. The largest hotel in the city, which called itself the Grand in pale imitation of the real thing back in Vordan, was a four-story eyesore of plaster and gilt with pretensions to architecture, covered with unnecessary buttresses and ornamental balconies. Raesinia rolled her eyes at it as her carriage drew closer and pulled into the circular drive, passing footmen with too many shiny buttons.
    â€œWhen we stop,” Sothe said, “remember not to open the door until the second carriage pulls up.”
    â€œWe’ve been over this,” Raesinia said. “More than once.”
    â€œForgive me,” Sothe said. “You have a habit of ignoring my