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    Nocturnall
    Nocturnall
    Nocturnall
    Ebook51 pages39 minutes

    Nocturnall

    By Claire O'Dell

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Thirty-five years have passed since Ilse Zhalina and Raul Kosenmark were crowned king and queen of Veraene. They've dedicated their lives to the kingdom and to the will of the gods--but both long for the day when they can set aside the endless politics and transform themselves into two ordinary people. When an old enemy reappears, they find their wish might be fulfilled.

    The world of Nocturnall is a world of magic and multiple lives, where the choices made in one lifetime ripple throughout history.

    "This is a darkly romantic story of magic and loss and moving on."
    --Martha Wells, author of The Books of the Raksura

    "Nocturnall is a graceful, moving, and satisfying coda that brings O'Dell's River of Souls trilogy to a fitting close."
    --Kate Elliott, author of Cold Magic and Court of Fives

    "A thrilling and bittersweet conclusion to the River of Souls trilogy. Nocturnall deals with love, the passage of time, and the acceptance of change."
    -- Aliette de Bodard, Nebula Award-winning author of The House of Shattered Wings

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherClaire O'Dell
    Release dateDec 1, 2015
    ISBN9781311039071
    Nocturnall
    Author

    Claire O'Dell

    Claire O’Dell is the author of dozens of short stories and a number of SF/F novels, including the SF mystery series, The Janet Watson Chronicles, and the epic fantasy series River of Souls. Her first novel, Passion Play, won the 2010 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Epic Fantasy and was long-listed for the James Tiptree award. Her novel A Study in Honor won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery. She currently lives in Connecticut with her family and two idiosyncratic cats.

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      Book preview

      Nocturnall - Claire O'Dell

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

      NOCTURNALL

      Copyright © 2015 Claire O'Dell

      www.claireodell.com

      COVER ART

      Copyright © 2015 Jessica Shirley

      http://jessicashirleyart.com

      INTERIOR ART

      Copyright © 2015 Jessica Shirley

      http://jessicashirleyart.com

      All rights reserved.

      First Edition: December 2015

      Book Design: Robert Bernobich

      Ilse and Raul

      Nocturnall

      by Claire O'Dell

      When Ilse Zhalina was a young girl, living with her merchant family in the port-city of Melnek, she told herself stories about her future. About the books she would read, and the city where she would live. What her marriage would be like. Could be like. She confined herself to the possible, of course—a modest house, with a practical garden she would tend herself. Several dozen books, not the several hundred of her unruly imagination. As for marriage...

      There her speculation had retreated from specifics, but one thing she had vowed. Her life would be nothing like her parents’.

      That much I had right.

      Ilse selected a practice sword from the weapons rack. It was a plain blade, precisely sized for her height and reach, and the polished steel gleamed in the morning light.

      Across the way, Raul Kosenmark had begun a practice pattern. His blade slashed through the air, sending dust motes whirling about as he attacked his invisible enemy. When Ilse took her place in the opposite corner, he grinned at her and lunged forward, sword extended. His knees cracked, and a grunt escaped him.

      Ilse suppressed a smile of sympathy. Ah, my love. You and I are no longer as young as we once were.

      She pretended to examine her blade so he would not notice that she had noticed. He could be so vain, her king and husband.

      The blade met her inspection, as she knew it would. Though Benedikt Ault no longer served as weapons master, he continued to care for the king’s and queen’s equipment. If anything, he was more particular now than when Ilse had first met him in Raul’s household in Tiralien, all those years ago. She let the leather-wrapped hilt settle into her palm. A good weight, a good balance. Sharp enough to face her enemies, if she needed to.

      She slid one foot back and swung her blade around slowly, letting the motion and sunlight warm her muscles. More than thirty-five years had passed since she first took a weapon in hand. Time’s passage had robbed her of some grace and strength, but had gifted her in other ways. With skill and experience and a greater patience.

      Her speed increased as she moved through the familiar sequence of strikes and blocks. The stone tiles of the courtyard turned hot beneath her bare feet, and sweat trickled down her back. Ilse hardly needed to hear the bells chiming to know when half the allotted hour had passed. Immediately, she plunged into the next series of thrust and counterthrust. Her muscles protested, but momentum carried her over the length of the drill yard toward Raul. Immediately, he spun to face her, and they joined together in a more complex pattern, their swords chasing each other through the air as they circled around. It was like the dance of politics, as she and Raul maneuvered through the many factions in Duenne’s council, and

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