Read Online The Riven Shield: The Sun Sword #5 by Michelle West - Free Book Online Page A

who now desire the title will survive the struggle to gain it?”
    His silence was her answer; it was an honest silence. She waited, gaze still upon her home, her life’s work. And then she turned her back upon it, to look once again at the handful of men and women who were Jay’s.
    “I believe that two will not survive. Two will. And those two—whoever they are—will lend their strength and their expertise to the House.”
    “While they circle like vultures.”
    “No. They will accept their defeat. They play the edges of a game that could easily destroy what they desire. The Kings have turned a blind eye toward the struggles of the House—of any of the Houses—when there is a question of succession. Such small wars serve their purpose in a fashion. While such ambition is turned toward one of The Ten, it cannot be turned toward the Thrones.”
    “Only the god-born rule the Empire.”
    “Indeed, that is true. Now. But remember your history; before the god-born, who ruled?”
    It was Teller who said, quietly, “The Blood Barons.”
    Henden cast its long, long shadow. Even the mention of the demon kin was somehow less threatening than the mention of the men who had made the Empire their battleground for so long that all of its traditions and festivals still spoke of the scars.
    “B-but—But that was before the god-born. The Twin Kings can’t be unseated now.”
    Her smile was bitter. “Why do you say that, Arann?”
    “Because—they’re the children of
gods
.”
    “They are not, except by cunning and the consensus of the ruled, more powerful than the magi. They are not more powerful than the talent-born. On a whim, the former bard-master of Senniel College could have forced them to dance to any tune she desired to call. They are not, as the scions of gods, among the most powerful of their kind and—in case it has escaped your notice, and it probably has—they pay for the immortal blood that burns in their veins; their lives are measured in shortened years.
    “And you forget, god-born or no, had the first of the Twin Kings not been the children of Veralaan, had they not possessed the blood of the ‘rightful’ ruler of these lands, they would have received no aid; The Ten would not have joined them in their crusade. The Ten were not god-born,” she added softly, “but they believed, then, that blood mattered more than achievement. Or that it was part of achievement; I confess that I do not understand the niceties of those ancient beliefs, having benefited in a fashion from their demise.” Her smile was brief and plain.
    “You expect much, Arann, from the god-born; they are, after all, mortal. But I digress; The Ten serve a purpose in many, many ways. The ambitious and the powerful are drawn to the Houses like moths to flame. Some achieve greatness within their confines; others achieve merely death. The Kings reign above, and beneath us the rest of the Empire unfolds. We are suspended in a manner of our choosing. We take a risk; we bear the cost.”
    “But not alone,” Teller told her quietly.
    She raised a brow. She had not addressed Teller directly.
    “You called us; we came. Jay’s never called us here, and she comes all the time.”
    “You are perceptive; I expect no less. Do you know who you will be, if you survive this war, Teller ATerafin?”
    His smile was slight. “Teller ATerafin.” And sweet.
    “Of that, I have no doubt,” The Terafin replied. Her voice deepened a moment, her expression shifting in the light as she turned again. “Survive,” she whispered. “Haerrad saw clearly when he came to you.”
    Teller nodded.
    “When I was younger—much, much younger—I felt that friends were a weakness. Had I the choice, I would have gathered men like Duvari around me, and no others.”
    Duvari, Lord of the Compact, was perhaps the coldest man Finch had ever met. He had come, on a handful of occasions, to speak with The Terafin—or Jay—and everything about him made her want to