The Shadow Queen

Anne Bishop
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    Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements

PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 2 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 3 - Ebon ASKAVI
CHAPTER 4 - Ebon ASKAVI
CHAPTER 5 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 6 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 7 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 8 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 9 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 12 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 13 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 14 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 15 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 16 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 17 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 18 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 19 - Ebon ASKAVI
TERREILLE
CHAPTER 21 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 22 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 23 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 24 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 25 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 26 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 27 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 28 - TERREILLE
CHAPTER 29 - KAELEER
CHAPTER 30 - TERREILLE

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    ALSO BY ANNE BISHOP
    The Ephemera Series
    Sebastian
Belladonna

    The Black Jewels Series
    Daughter of the Blood
Heir to the Shadows
Queen of the Darkness
The Invisible Ring
Dreams Made Flesh
Tangled Webs

    The Tir Alainn Trilogy
    Pillars of the World
Shadows and Light
The House of Gaian

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    FOR CASS, MAGGIE, CHERIL, AND DEE

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    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    My thanks to Blair Boone for continuing to be my first reader, to Debra Dixon for being second reader, to Doranna Durgin for maintaining the Web site, to Anne Sowards and Jennifer Jackson for being enthusiastic about this story, to Pat Feidner just because, and to all the friends and readers who make this journey with me.

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    JEWELS
    WHITE
YELLOW
TIGER EYE
ROSE
SUMMER-SKY
PURPLE DUSK
OPALGREEN
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.

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    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 Prince—a dangerous, extremely aggressive Jeweled male; in status, slightly lower than a Queen

    FEMALES
    landen—non-Blood of any race
    Blood female—a general term for all females of the Blood; mostly refers to 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 Widow—a witch who heals the mind; weaves the tangled webs of 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

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    PLACES IN THE REALMS
    TERREILLE
    Dena Nehele
    TAMANARA MOUNTAINS
    GRAYHAVEN—BOTH A FAMILY ESTATE AND A Town

    Ebon Askavi (aka the Black Mountain, the Keep)

    Hayll

    Zuulaman

    KAELEER (THE SHADOW REALM)
    Askavi
    Ebon ASKAVI (AKA THE BLACK MOUNTAIN, THE KEEP)
    Ebon RIH—VALLEY THAT IS THE KEEP’S TERRITORY
    RIADA—BLOOD VILLAGE in Ebon Rih

    Dea al Mon

    Dharo
    WEAVERS FIELD—BLOOD VILLAGE
    BHAK—BLOOD VILLAGE
    WOOLSKIN—LANDEN VILLAGE
    Dhemlan
    AMDARH—CAPITAL CITY
    HALAWAY—VILLAGE NEAR SADIABLO HALL
    SADIABLO HALL (THE HALL)

    Nharkhava
    TAJRANA—CAPITAL CITY

    Scelt ( shelt )
    MAGHRE (MA-GRA)—VILLAGE

    HELL (THE DARK REAlM, THE REALM OF THE DEAD)
    Ebon Askavi (aka the Black Mountain, the Keep)
    SADIABLO HALL

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    PROLOGUE
    TERREILLEE
    two years ago

    S till shaken by the storm of power that had destroyed half the Blood in Dena Nehele only a few days before, the rogues came down from their camps in the Tamanara Mountains to face an unexpected enemy.
    The landens, who had been brutalized for generations by the “caretakers of the Realms,” hadn’t wasted time. When they realized the surviving Blood were stunned by the violent loss of Queens and courts, they rebelled—and decided that dying by the thousands was an acceptable price to pay in order to wipe out the Blood in Dena Nehele.
    So the landens died during those first days of the uprising. Oh, how they died.
    But so did the Blood.
    The males in the Blood’s