Heritage of Cyador (saga of recluce Book 18) (80 page)

Majer Altyrn always said that you would do great and unexpected deeds, and that I should not be surprised at where your deeds led you. I am surprised. I was also disappointed at first, and that is why this letter, I freely admit, has been so long in coming, but both your mother and Maeroja counseled me that what has happened has turned out for the best …

When he had read those words the first time, for a moment, Lerial had been surprised, but now he understands. His mother has always feared that his abilities would outshine his older brother’s and cause difficulties for Lephi and incidentally for the future of Cigoerne, but mainly for Lephi. Now those difficulties will not exist. There may be others, but not those.

… I have always hoped for better relations between Afrit and Cigoerne. That was why I dispatched you and your companies to assist Duke Atroyan, as you well know.

In time, once matters have settled slightly, I would hope that we might see you and your consort, either here in Cigoerne or in Swartheld, a possibility I had thought might never be practical in my lifetime. Nor did your mother and I ever entertain the possibility that we might have grandchildren ruling differing lands.

As for your aunt, I can only wish her the best. I have written her as well to tell her that. We will miss her, and Ryalah will miss Amaira, but they both deserve what happiness they can grasp in an uncertain and changing world.

Lerial nods as he reads those words, his hand resting lightly on Kyedra’s shoulder, making it slightly easier for him to sense already the life within Kyedra, although he cannot tell whether the child will be a boy or girl. Either way, he and Rhamuel, and Kyedra—especially Kyedra—will work it out.

T
OR
B
OOKS
BY
L. E. M
ODESITT
, J
R
.

T
HE
S
AGA
OF
R
ECLUCE

The Magic of Recluce

The Towers of the Sunset

The Magic Engineer

The Order War

The Death of Chaos

Fall of Angels

The Chaos Balance

The White Order

Colors of Chaos

Magi’i of Cyador

Scion of Cyador

Wellspring of Chaos

Ordermaster

Natural Ordermage

Mage-Guard of Hamor

Arms-Commander

Cyador’s Heirs

Heritage of Cyador

T
HE
C
OREAN
C
HRONICLES

Legacies

Darknesses

Scepters

Alector’s Choice

Cadmian’s Choice

Soarer’s Choice

The Lord-Protector’s Daughter

Lady-Protector

T
HE
I
MAGER
P
ORTFOLIO

Imager

Imager’s Challenge

Imager’s Intrigue

Scholar

Princeps

Imager’s Battalion

Antiagon Fire

Rex Regis

Madness in Solidar
(forthcoming)

T
HE
S
PELLSONG
C
YCLE

The Soprano Sorceress

The Spellsong War

Darksong Rising

The Shadow Sorceress

Shadowsinger

T
HE
E
COLITAN
M
ATTER

Empire & Ecolitan
(comprising
The Ecolitan Operation
and
The Ecologic Secession
)

Ecolitan Prime
(comprising
The Ecologic Envoy
and
The Ecolitan Enigma
)

The Forever Hero
(comprising
Dawn for a Distant Earth, The Silent Warrior,
and
In Endless Twilight
)

Timegod’s World
(comprising
Timediver’s Dawn
and
The Timegod
)

T
HE
G
HOST
B
OOKS

Of Tangible Ghosts

The Ghost of the Revelator

Ghost of the White Nights

Ghost of Columbia
(comprising
Of Tangible Ghosts
and
The Ghost of the Revelator
)

The Hammer of Darkness

The Green Progression

The Parafaith War

Adiamante

Gravity Dreams

The Octagonal Raven

Archform: Beauty

The Ethos Effect

Flash

The Eternity Artifact

The Elysium Commission

Viewpoints Critical

Haze

Empress of Eternity

The One-Eyed Man

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

L. E. Modesitt, Jr., lives in Cedar City, Utah. He has a website at
http://www.lemodesittjr.com/
.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

HERITAGE OF CYADOR

Copyright © 2014 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

All rights reserved.

Cover art by Matt Stawicki

Cover design by Carol Russo

Maps by Ellisa Mitchell

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

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New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-0-7653-7613-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4668-6101-5 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781466861015

First Edition: November 2014