Anne Bishop - 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 TRADEMARKMARCA 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 escapedonly 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 laugheven 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 doesnt 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 doesnt wear Jewels witch

a Blood female who wears Jewels but isnt 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 lands heart and the Bloods 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 shed 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 wasnt 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 pleasedwhich 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 didnt 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, Haylls 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 hed 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.