Something unseen stirred in the distance. Noll shivered. The soldiers who drank poison were all dead, their faces white, their bodies exhibiting the first signs of decay.
Noll inched toward the ring of statues.
For all his life he’d waited for this moment, he’d dreamed of meeting the gods.
He quailed when a draft made the dust shift and the statues appear as if they were moving. He steeled himself and took a step forward. At the foot of Sekhem Den, he kneeled like a pilgrim and bowed his head.
The great chamber was quiet.
He put his ear to the stony head of Sekhem Den, but immediately recoiled.
He kneeled alongside a second statue. Then he bowed before a third, listening until there could be no mistake.
The twelve figures looked like nothing more than statues—cold, lifeless, inanimate things—but inside those black shells, the Soleri were screaming.
GLOSSARY
Adad, Enger: a Harkan general, commander of the outer legion.
Ahti and Samia: Merit’s waiting women.
amaranth: the sacred crop, raised in the highland Oasis of Desouk, and tended only by the Mithra cult, a gift from the gods themselves. The leaves of the plant form a thick paste that makes the dry soil of Solus fertile.
amber: a type of ale, made from ground millet and emmer.
Amber Throne: the throne of the Soleri emperor, located behind the Shroud Wall of the Empyreal Domain.
Amunet, Pouri: former Mother Priestess of Desouk, Sarra’s predecessor, now deceased.
Amunet, Sarra: the Mother Priestess of the Desouk, ceremonial wife of Mithra-Sol and high priestess of the Mithra cult.
Antechamber: the seat of office of the First Ray of the Sun.
Anu, Ined: the Protector at the time of the War of the Four, the man who drove the Harkans out of Solus, the first to call himself the Ray of the Sun.
Anu, Suten: the Ray of the Sun, the sole representative of Emperor Tolemy V, the living god.
Asar: an island in the Wyrre, birthplace of the Mother Priestess.
Asni, Garia: a lector and priest of the Mithra cult.
Ata’Sol: located beneath the Temple of Mithra at Solus, home of the Mithra cult in the capital of Sola.
Atourin: sister of Arko, married to a Rachin lord.
Atum: home of Mithra-Sol, from the time before the making of the world.
badgir: a wind catcher, used to cool Harkana homes.
Barca, Haren: a former captain of the Outer Guard of Sola, now a rebel and a traitor.
Barsip: a Harkan city, located near the Feren Rift valley.
Basin of Amen: the low desert flatland that separates Harkana from Sola.
Battered Wall: a section of Harwen’s fortifications, damaged during the War of the Four and preserved as a war memorial.
Blackrock: a Harkan city, south of Harwen.
Blackthorn Chathair: an ancient ironwood stool, the throne of Feren, also refers to the room in which the stool is housed.
Book of the Last Day of the Year: one of several holy texts used by the Mithra cult, the tome that contains the prayers read during the Devouring.
Caer Rifka: the Feren citadel and high seat of power, located in the city of Rifka, home to the Blackthorn Chathair.
calash: a desert carriage favored by Harkan lords.
Catal: a desert stronghold, the ancient seat of Feren power.
Chaldaan: the Rachin code of honor.
Children’s War: the second revolt, led by Arko’s father, Koren, when he refused to send Arko to the Priory.
Chime Gate: the gate at Caer Rifka, made from suspended wooden logs.
Coin: a common board game.
crescent: a coin carved from the ancient currency of the Soleri Middle Kingdom, resembles a crescent moon, the common currency of the Soleri Empire.
Dalla: Kepi’s servant in Caer Rifka.
Dasche, Sirin: a Harkan commander, Sarra’s escort in the Shambles.
Dawn Chorus: the singing of birds before dawn; in Feren, the hymn of the kite, sung in the Blackthorn Chathair for the crowning of the Kitelord.
Dawn Crier, the: the acolyte who sings the “Song of Changes” each day, at the Temple of Mithra at Desouk.
Den: in the time of the Children’s War, the surname of the emperors of the Soleri.
Den, Sekhem: last in the line of Den, former emperor of the Soleri during the War of the Four, two hundred years ago.
Denna hills: the highlands, south of Solus, home to the Desouk priesthood and the amaranth fields.
Desouk: in the Denna hills, the city of priests and scholars, home to the Mithra cult and the Repository at Desouk.
Devouring: the high festival, the solemn rite of the Soleri, the time each year when the moon eclipses the sun, when Mithra-Sol blesses the emperor and his servants.
Dromus: built during the Middle Kingdom, a circular wall running astride the border of the kingdom of Sola, separating Sola from the lower kingdoms.
Eilina: sister of Arko, married to a Rachin lord.
Elba: an amber house in Blackrock.
eld: a many-horned, four-legged species, similar in appearance to a deer, but larger, and some say a god.
Elden Hunt: Harkana’s sacred rite, the right of kings; every Harkan king since Ulfer has taken the eld horns and fashioned a sword from them.
Empyreal Domain: guarded by the Shroud Wall, the precinct of the Soleri; only the First Ray of the Sun may pass in and out of this sacred ward.
Eye of the Sun: the gem worn by the First Ray of the Sun, a signifier of his power and position.
Fahran, Adin: the son and only heir of Barrin Fahran, the former king of Feren, a friend of Ren.
Fahran, Barrin: Barrin the Black, the Worm King of the Gray Wood, the former king of Feren, father of Adin, deposed by Dagrun Finner, now deceased.
Fahran, Dalach: during the Children’s War, the king of the Ferens.
Femin, Khai: an acolyte of the Mithra cult, from the Wyrre.
Feren: a woodland kingdom, north of Sola, ruled by Dagrun Finner, known for its plentiful resources, its blackthorn forest, its use of slave labor, and its large army.
Feren Rift valley: a narrow defile, defines the southern border of Feren.
Finner, Dagrun: the king of the Ferens, a merchant who purchased a mercenary army and took the Feren throne by force.
First Ray of the Sun: the eyes and ears of the Soleri emperor, the only man permitted to pass through the Shroud Wall and into the Empyreal Domain.
Frith, Roghan: Kepi’s first husband, a minor Feren lord, now deceased.
Garah, Seth: Kepi’s lover, a servant of the Hark-Wadi family, born in the Barsip, in Harkana.
Gate of Coronel: the southern gate of the Dromus, the sea gate, located along the southern coast of Sola, on the black-sand beach, three days’ ride from Solus.
Golden Hall: built during the Middle Kingdom of the Soleri, the formal and public seat of Soleri power, the place where the First Ray of the Sun observes the Devouring each year.
Gray Wood: the blackthorn forest of Feren.
Hacal, Asher: the captain of the Harkan kingsguard.
Hall of Histories: located beyond the Shadow Gate, along the path that leads to the Empyreal Domain, this corridor contains large-scale carvings depicting the history of the Soleri Empire.
Harkan Cliff, the: a massive precipice, separates the Harkan kingdom from Rachis.