The Invisible Ring
THE INVISIBLE RING
Anne Bishop
Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.
First Printing, October 2000 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
Copyright © Anne Bishop, 2000 All rights reserved REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
Printed in the United States of America
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
* Published: June 2008
* Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
* ISBN-13: 9781440637292
* ISBN: 1440637296
A prequel set in the “dark and sensual world”( 11th Hour) of the national bestselling Black Jewels Trilogy.Jared is a Red-Jeweled Warlord bound as a pleasure slave by the Ring of Obedience. After suffering nine years of torment as a slave, he murdered his owner and escaped—only to be caught and sold into slavery once again. The notorious queen who has purchased him, known as the Gray Lady, may not be what she seems.
Soon, Jared faces a difficult choice: his freedom, or his honor.
Black Jewels Series
1. Daughter of the Blood (1998)
2. Heir to the Shadows (1999)
3. Queen of the Darkness (1999)
4. The Invisible Ring (2000)
5. Dreams Made Flesh (2005)
6. Tangled Webs (2008)
7. The Shadow Queen (2009)
8. Shalador's Lady (2010)
9. Twilight's Dawn (2011)
Reviews:
"Bishop will draw you into her world like a spider and never spit you back out -- it is like an addiction. I am not a re-reader, but I re-read this book simply because I love her characters and the depth she gives them -- along with the mystery she is able to weave around each -- leaving you guessing until she's ready to tell you what she wants you to know. It is recommended to read the Black Jewels trilogy for a full understanding of the society, but not necessary."
--SFRevu
Biography
Anne Bishop is a winner of the William L. Crawford Memorial Fantasy Award for The Black Jewels Trilogy, presented by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts. She lives in upstate New York.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
CONTENTS
For Merri Lee and Michael Debany
Acknowledgments
My thanks to Jennifer Jackson, for her continued enthusiasm and support of my work; to Laura Anne Gilman who, among her many other talents as an editor, has the ability to turn a phrase in a way that makes me laugh—even when she says that terrifying word, “clarify”; to Pat York and Lynn Flewelling for their insights; to the Circle, who understand what it means to dance with the Muse; to Kandra, webmaster extraordinaire; to Vince and Felicia for all the wonderful dinners sent over the fence; and to Pat and Bill Feidner for just being there.
JEWELS
White
Yellow
Tiger Eye
Rose
Summer-sky
Purple Dusk
Opal*
Green
Sapphire
Red
Gray
Ebon-gray
Black
*Opal is the dividing line between lighter and darker Jewels because it can be either.
When making the offering to the Darkness, a person can descend a maximum of three ranks from his/her Birthright Jewel.
Example: Birthright White could descend to Rose.
BLOOD HIERARCHY/CASTES
MALES:
landen—
non-Blood of any race
Blood male—
a general term for all males of the Blood; also refers to any Blood male who doesn’t wear Jewels
Warlord—
a Jeweled male equal in status to a witch Prince—
a Jeweled male equal in status to a Priestess or a Healer Warlord
a dangerous, extremely aggressive Jeweled male; in status, Prince—
slightly lower than a Queen
FEMALES:
landen—
non-Blood of any race
Blood
a general term for all females of the Blood; mostly refers to female—
any Blood female who doesn’t wear Jewels witch—
a Blood female who wears Jewels but isn’t one of the other hierarchical levels; also refers to any Jeweled female Healer—
a witch who heals physical wounds and illnesses; equal in status to a Priestess and a Prince
Priestess—
a witch who cares for altars, Sanctuaries, and Dark Altars; witnesses handfasts and marriages; performs offerings; equal in status to a Healer and a Prince
Black
a witch who heals the mind; weaves the tangled webs of Widow—
dreams and visions; is trained in illusions and poisons Queen—
a witch who rules the Blood; is considered to be the land’s heart and the Blood’s moral center; as such, she is the focal point of their society
Lord Krelis, the new Master of the Guard, tried not to fidget as he watched Dorothea SaDiablo slowly pace the length of her private audience room. If she’d been any other woman, he might have openly admired her slender body, might have wondered if the black hair gracefully coiled around her head felt as silky as it looked, might have dared to run a hand over the brown skin that wasn’t covered by her long red dress. He might have enjoyed the way the dress swished in counter rhythm to her swaying hips. He might have wondered if the way she caressed her chin with that large white feather was a subtle invitation for other kinds of caresses.
But Dorothea SaDiablo was a Black Widow, a member of the Hourglass, the most dangerous and feared covens in the Realm of Terreille. Black Widows specialized in poisons and journeys of the mind, in shadows and illusions, in dreamscapes that could ensnare a man and leave him locked in an endless nightmare.
She was also the Red-Jeweled High Priestess of Hayll. Since there were no Queens in the Hayllian Territory who could match the psychic strength that Jewel signified, and since no weaker Queen who wanted to stay whole and healthy challenged her authority, Dorothea ruled as she pleased—which was something no male in Hayll dared to forget.
“Have you seen your predecessor lately?” Dorothea purred as she swished past him. Her coquettish smile didn’t match the vicious pleasure in her gold eyes.
“Yes, Priestess,” Krelis replied, trying to keep his voice neutral. When he and a troop of men had gone into the slums of Draega, Hayll’s capital, to round up some of the dregs for expendable labor, he had seen his former commander stumbling out of a filthy alleyway.
The former Master of the Guard was now a maimed, tortured mockery of the man he’d been. Worse, his inner web, that intimate core of Self that made the Blood who and what they were, had been shattered so that he could no longer wear the Jewels, could do no more than basic Craft, if even that. The keen tactical mind that had protected Dorothea for so many decades had been split open like a melon and scraped clean. But not completely. If the haunted eyes in the scarred face were any indication, enough thought had been left for him to remember what he had been. And who had done this to him.
Dorothea swished past Krelis again. Sweat beaded his forehead as he blanked his mind and prayed to the Darkness that she wouldn’t sense anything that would make her want to open his inner barriers and sample his thoughts.
“I gave your predecessor an important task, and he failed me.” Stopping in front of him, Dorothea smiled as she brushed the feather against his cheek.
“Now he belongs to the Brotherhood of the Quill.”
Krelis shuddered. Mother Night! To be shaved of all the organs that made a man a man. To need one of those large quills to ...
“Are
you
going to fail me?” Dorothea purred, leaning close to him.
“No, Priestess,” Krelis stammered. “Tell me what you wish of me, and I’ll do it.”
“A wise man.” She tickled his lips with the feather before turning away.
“You know of the Gray Lady?”
Had he failed already? Oh, he’d heard vague whispers a few months ago, but he’d still been a Third Circle guard at the time—and commanders weren’t in the habit of telling their men more than was necessary. Feeling sick, he swallowed hard, and managed to whisper, “No, Priestess.”
Dorothea flashed a malicious, amused look at him before resuming her leisurely pacing. “She’s a dangerous enemy, a Gray-Jeweled Queen who rules the Territory called Dena Nehele on the other side of the Tamanara Mountains. She’s been a thorn in my side since she set up her court forty years ago, and she continues to fight my attempts to bring the Realm of Terreille under the beneficent guidance of Hayll.”
Krelis said hesitantly, “Since she’s not from one of the long-lived races, surely she must be old by now.”
“But still strong,” Dorothea snapped. “As long as she continues to live, Dena Nehele will be able to resist being drawn into Hayll’s shadow, and the Territories bordering it will be strengthened by that resistance. Even if she died tomorrow, it would still take at least one of their generations to eliminate her influence.”
“You intend to declare war on this Gray Lady?”
Dorothea’s gold eyes turned hard yellow. “Hayll does not lower itself to such barbarities as war. What would be the point of acquiring a Territory that had been savaged by the kind of war the Blood fight?” She tapped the feather against her chin. “There are subtler ways of making a Territory ripe for the plucking. But that doesn’t concern you.”
Krelis stared at the floor. “No, Priestess.”
“Your task is to eliminate the Gray Lady.”
He didn’t think before he blurted out, “
How
?”
She looked disgusted. Was she regretting savaging the old Master and losing that tactical mind? Then her expression changed.
“Poor boy,” she murmured, gently stroking his cheek. “I’ve been cruel to you, haven’t I? No, darling”—she pressed her fingers against his lips—“you needn’t deny it. There’s no reason why you would know that bitch’s habits.”
She stepped back and sighed. “Grizelle is too well protected in her own Territory for you to reach her there. However, over the past few years, she’s come out of her lair twice each year for the slave auctions at Raej.”
“Slave auctions.” Krelis’s gold eyes lit up.
Dorothea shook her head. “Raej is considered neutral ground. If a Queen were killed there for any reason, others might hesitate to visit, and then how would everyone sell the toys they’re ready to discard and buy new ones?”
“A slave could be replaced with a loyal servant and then—”
“She doesn’t buy anyone from Hayll, and there are no loyal servants outside of our own people. Sometimes not even within our own people.”
Krelis leashed his frustration. This was the first important task she’d given him since he became Master of the Guard a few months ago. He wouldn’t fail. He wouldn’t. “Then what should I do, Priestess?”
Dorothea stopped pacing. “Lord Krelis, you’re the Master of the Guard.
How you accomplish this is entirely up to you.” Her expression softened.
“However, if you wish me to, I’ll use my particular Craft to assist you in whatever way I can.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Priestess.”
Dorothea studied him for just a little too long. Then she smiled. “I knew I’d made the right choice in my new Master of the Guard. I made the same offer to your predecessor, but he didn’t want my help. Since the bitch escaped his trap rather easily, that was reason enough to doubt his loyalty, don’t you think?”
Remembering what the former Master’s face looked like now, Krelis shivered. “Yes, Priestess.”
“I’m not going to have to worry about
your
loyalty, am I?”
“No, Priestess.”
Dorothea walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You know, darling, I’m very generous with a male who pleases me.” She rubbed her breasts against his chest, kissed him thoroughly, then purred, “That’s to remind you of the rewards that come from serving me well. And this”—she tucked the large white feather into his belt—“will remind you of the penalties of failure.”
