Rain Wilds Chronicles (166 page)

Credits

Cover design by Richard L. Aquan

Cover illustration © by Jackie Morris

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

CITY OF DRAGONS
. Copyright © 2012 by Robin Hobb. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-06-156163-4

EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780062101068

12 13 14 15 16
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RRD
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedication

I miss you, Ralph.

Contents

C
AST OF
C
HARACTERS

T
HE
R
AIN
W
ILDS
C
HRONICLES

THE KEEPERS AND THEIR DRAGONS

ALUM: A pale-skinned keeper with silvery gray eyes, very small ears, and an almost flattened nose. Enamored of Skelly. His dragon is Arbuc, a silver-green drake.

BOXTER: This short, copper-eyed, stoutly built keeper is cousin to Kase. The orange drake SKRIM is his to tend.

HARRIKIN: Tall and slim, at twenty he is older than the other keepers. Lecter is his foster brother, and they are very close. He is a protector of Sylve, and their bond is a strong one. His dragon is Ranculos, a scarlet drake with silver eyes.

ICEFYRE: This ancient black drake was entrapped in ice and still bears the signs of that long encasement. Freed from the ice by human intervention (
Fool's Fate
), he has become Tintaglia's default mate. He bears no love for humanity.

JERD: This blond female keeper is heavily marked by the Rain Wilds. She is as aggressive and assertive in getting what she wants as her dragon, Veras, a dark green queen with gold stippling.

KASE: Boxter's cousin has copper eyes and, like him, is short, stout, and heavily muscled. His dragon is the orange drake Dortean.

LECTER: Orphaned at seven, he was raised by Harrikin's family, and the two remain close. His dragon is Sestican, a large blue drake with orange scaling and small spikes on his neck. He has an uneasy partnership with Davvie.

NORTEL: This competent and ambitious keeper has clashed in the past with Tats over Thymara. His dragon is the lavender drake Tinder.

RAPSKAL: Heavily marked by the Rain Wilds since birth, he seems as changed in his mind as his body. His peculiarities are offset by his sincere, boyish charm and handsome features. He is absolutely certain that Thymara will be his. His dragon is the small red queen Heeby, who may be slow-witted but was the first of the dragons to take flight.

SYLVE: Youngest of the keepers, but more mature and thoughtful than many of the male keepers. She is slight, blond with pink and gold scaling. Harrikin is her protector and partner. Her dragon is golden MERCOR. He is not the largest of the drakes but is the most thoughtful and often asserts a quiet leadership.

THYMARA: Sixteen years old, Thymara was born with black claws instead of nails and was exposed at birth. Rescued by her father and resented by her mother, she has grown up with a deep awareness of the restrictive rules imposed on those changed by the Rain Wilds. A competent hunter, she struggles to determine what her role will be in the new society in Kelsingra. She has an uneasy bond with azure Sintara, the largest and most dominant of the queens.

TATS: He is the only keeper not born in the Rain Wilds. Son of a slave, he still bears the facial tattoos of that status. His attraction to Thymara threatens his friendship with Rapskal. Small and feisty green Fente is his queen.

TINTAGLIA: The sole dragon to hatch from the ancient wizardwood cases, she emerged a true queen capable of flight immediately. Initially she assisted the serpents to migrate up the Rain Wild River in the hopes of seeing a new generation of dragons emerge (the Liveship Traders trilogy), but has apparently since abandoned the crippled creatures. She created the Elderlings Malta and Reyn and took young Selden Vestrit as her poet.

WARKEN: This tall, long-limbed keeper lost his life on the journey to Kelsingra. Baliper, his scarlet drake, has refused to accept a new keeper.

 

THE BINGTOWNERS

ALISE KINCARRON FINBOK: Descended from a poor but respectable Bingtown Trader family, Alise entered into a loveless marriage arrangement with Hest Finbok. The gray-eyed, freckled redhead has repented at leisure and has now become involved with Captain Leftrin. She has been rebuilding her childhood friendship with Sedric.

HEST FINBOK: A handsome, well-established, and wealthy Bingtown Trader's son, perhaps the only action he has ever been forced to perform was marrying Alise. He is ruthless in the pursuit of his own pleasures and has concealed from Alise and his family the true nature of his relationship with Sedric Meldar.

REDDING: Hest's current paramour, he is very pleased to have replaced Sedric in Hest's life. He hopes to enjoy Hest's extravagant lifestyle with him while building his own fortune through Hest's connections.

SEDRIC MELDAR: Secretary and former lover to Hest Finbok, and friends with Alise since childhood. He has accidentally bonded with the copper queen Relpda. Now partnered with Carson Lupskip, he is struggling to adapt to his new life in Kelsingra.

TRADER FINBOK: Hest's father is a successful Bingtown Trader who is growing weary of his son's self-indulgence and his failure to produce an heir. Married to Sealia Finbok, Hest's doting mother.

 

THE CREW OF THE
TARMAN

BELLIN: Deckhand. Married to Swarge, she is a quiet, powerful woman and a stabilizing influence on the crew.

BIG EIDER: Deckhand. A large and powerful man of simple thoughts and a good heart.

CARSON LUPSKIP: Hired by the Trehaug Rain Wild Council as a hunter for the expedition, Captain Leftrin's old friend has now become a dragon keeper as well. Spit is a small, temperamental, and potentially dangerous silver dragon. Tall, powerfully built Carson is partnered with Sedric.

DAVVIE: Apprentice hunter to Carson Lupskip and the son of his old friend, Davvie is like a nephew to Carson. The fifteen-year-old is bonded to Kalo, the largest of the drakes. The blue-black dragon's previous keeper, Greft, proved a traitor to the expedition. Davvie is partnered with Lecter.

GRIGSBY: Ship's cat. Orange and insouciant.

HENNESEY: First mate on the
Tarman
and something of a ladies' man. Competent and loyal to his shipmates.

JESS: This hired hunter had a secret agenda of his own. He lost his life on the upriver journey.

LEFTRIN: Captain of the liveship
Tarman,
he has lived and served aboard the ship since he was a boy. Heir to his family, he is now bonded to
Tarman
for life. He has gray eyes, brown hair, and a robust build. He has fallen in love with Alise.

SKELLY: Leftrin's niece and presumed heir currently serves as a deckhand so that she will know every position on the liveship she expects to inherit. She is infatuated with the keeper Alum, but has an arranged marriage and a fiancé awaiting her in Trehaug.

SWARGE: The tillerman for
Tarman
. Quiet and knowledgeable of the river and its ways, he has served aboard the ship for more than fifteen years. Married to Bellin.

TARMAN: The oldest existing liveship is a river barge, long and low, with many secrets of his own as to why he is able to attain such speeds and go where few ships can follow. He has painted eyes on his bow, but no figurehead.

 

MISCELLANEOUS CHARACTERS

ALTHEA VESTRIT: First mate on the liveship
Paragon
out of Bingtown (the Liveship Traders trilogy). Aunt to Malta Khuprus and Selden Vestrit, she is married to Brashen Trell.

BEGASTI CORED: Chalcedean merchant, this bald, rich trading partner of Hest Finbok's has been forcibly recruited by the Duke of Chalced to obtain dragon parts by any means.

BRASHEN TRELL: Captain of the liveship
Paragon
out of Bingtown. Married to Althea Vestrit.

CHANCELLOR ELLIK: Adviser and “sword arm” to the aging Duke of Chalced. Once they rode to war together and were comrades. Now he is reduced to serving the Duke. He is dismayed to see the Duke's health and power unraveling and anxious to seize power before the Duke's death plunges Chalced into civil disorder.

CHASSIM: Eldest daughter of the Duke of Chalced. Widowed several times, she has once more become a part of the Duke's household.

DETOZI: Keeper of the messenger birds at Trehaug, she is engaged to Erek, a bird keeper from Bingtown.

DUKE OF CHALCED: Chalced's aging despot is ruthlessly desperate for the dragon parts he believes will restore his health and vitality. He is capable of any cruelty to get what he wants.

EREK: Bird Keeper of Bingtown, and engaged to Detozi, he is a knowledgeable bird handler who takes his duties very seriously.

JANI KHUPRUS: Matriarch of the Rain Wild Trader family, she is a powerful and determined woman. At one time, the Khuprus family controlled the lion's share of the trade in wizardwood and built many of the surviving liveships. Mother to Reyn Khuprus, her family fostered Selden Vestrit.

KIM: Keeper of the Birds, Cassarick. A Tattooed, this former slave came to the Rain Wilds seeking a better life and is endeavoring to build a fortune.

MALTA KHUPRUS: Born a Vestrit of Bingtown, the Elderling “queen” now resides in Trehaug with her husband, Reyn. Malta and Reyn were tormented and then claimed by the dragon Tintaglia, and their bond has never been an easy one (Liveship Traders trilogy).

PARAGON: Once called the
Pariah,
the mad liveship has entered a more stable time in his life, but remains a challenging vessel. He helped escort the serpents up the Rain Wild River on their journey to becoming dragons. Fiercely attached to his humans.

REYALL: Acting Keeper of the Birds at Bingtown; nephew of Detozi.

REYN KHUPRUS: Younger son of the powerful Rain Wild Trader family, he married Malta Vestrit and was claimed by the dragon Tintaglia (the Liveship Traders trilogy).

SELDEN VESTRIT: Youngest son of the Vestrit family, he was claimed by the dragon Tintaglia when he was still a boy and changed by her to an Elderling. He has been missing for some time after setting out on an errand for Tintaglia to collect news of any other surviving dragons (the Liveship Traders trilogy).

SINAD ARICH: A Chalcedean merchant who strikes a deal with Captain Leftrin via blackmail of the captain. The Duke of Chalced holds his family hostage.

THE CHALCEDEAN: Hest's nemesis is a Chalcedean nobleman. Under duress from the Duke to obtain dragon parts, he has become a tormented and ruthless man who will do whatever he must to ransom his family. Proper name Lord Dargen.

TILLAMON: Older sister to Reyn Khuprus, she is heavily changed by the Rain Wilds and has begun to live the life of an outcast within her own society. Unwed and isolated, she seizes the opportunity to build a new life for herself.