The Simbul's gift - Lynn Abbey [0]
The Nobles 06 - The
Simbul's Gift
Notes for an examination,
Written by Mehgrin, apprentice at Candlekeep,
placed, by accident, in Cirian's Concise History
and filed with it
(The day was very dreary, and the headache very bad)
…
The Simbul’s Gift
Book 6 of the Nobles series
A Forgotten Realms novel
by
A ProofPack Release
Proofed and formatted by BW-SciFi
Ebook version 1.0
Release Date: March, 15th, 2005
For a heartbeat, Bro believed he'd lost something more precious than his mother's love. Then, with the knife hilt stinging his palm, he saw danger for him and the colt he'd raised. He saw, as well, that no matter what he did, the colt was doomed: Zandilar would have Dancer, had always had him. Bro found the strength to release the knife and wrap his arms around a trusting neck, to hide his face in a coarse, black mane.
"Good-bye," he whispered, not a word he'd trained the colt to understand.
Then, with a last pat, he offered the rope to Zandilar who had no use for it. Her mist-made form dissolved around the colt, obscuring him, consuming him, drawing him back into the small dark hole.
THE SIMBUL'S GIFT
©1997 TSR, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc.
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Distributed worldwide by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and regional distributors.
Cover art by Todd Lockwood.
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First Printing: October 1997
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number; 96-60830
987654321
8581XXX1501
ISBN:0-7869-0763-0
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From the Concise History of the Chosen Seven written by Cirian,
Master Chronicler at Candlekeep, in the Year of the Blue Flame.
Filed – misfiled – by Mehgrin, apprentice at Candlekeep,
on a dreary day when she had a headache.
The queen of Aglarond, called the Simbul and the witch-queen and many, many other, less complimentary names, is, in fact, Alassra Shentrantra, sixth of The Seven Chosen Sisters. The circumstances of her birth in Neverwinter in the Year of the Yearning are recorded elsewhere. Suffice to say, she was not yet two years of age when her mother, Elue Shundar, died and her father, Dornal, vanished from her life. The mage Elminster entrusted her to the Witches of Rashemen for her upbringing, telling the witches that Alassra was an orphan and without siblings.
Neither statement was true, but the witches, trusting Elminster, believed him, and Alassra grew up believing the witches.
Alassra left Rashemen at the age of sixteen, leaving neither roots nor regrets. For decades she roamed Faerun in search of magic. She stopped wherever there was something to learn, and stayed only until she had mastered it. Deep in a bat-ridden cave, while she was searching for the living pearls of Mysotic, Alassra Shentrantra discovered that though she was human and vulnerable to death, she did not age as other humans did-could not age as they did.
With the pearls in her purse, Alassra returned to Rashemen, hoping to learn more about her origins. But the witches who had raised her were dead, their successors