Emperor's Edge Republic Read Online Free PDF

vex the city. Forge? No, we decimated them, and Starcrest’s new economist is working hand-in-hand with that Curlev woman, right? Some other enemy then? The Nurians? They couldn’t have been pleased with how things worked out.”
    Sicarius was watching her, his face unreadable.
    “What?” she asked, wondering if the term burbling would come up.
    “You sound intrigued.”
    Huh. Was she? A minute ago, she had been cringing at the idea of being called back for some mission. Was it possible she had missed the chaos of the previous year? The need to come up with harebrained schemes on the fly? The need to talk fast and promise faster in order to win allies to her cause? She did miss her friends, that much she had no trouble admitting. As to the rest... perhaps she would welcome new challenges into her life.
    “Maybe I am,” Amaranthe said. “Aren’t you?”
    “Perhaps. Though...” Sicarius let his fingers trail down the riveted steel bulkhead next to him.
    “You don’t want to give back the submarine?” Amaranthe grinned. “Because it’s a sleek mechanical wonder, a Starcrest original, and a prototype among the fledgling new generation of underwater exploration conveyances? Or—” she wiggled her eyebrows, “—are you reluctant to let it go because we made so many unique memories in this little cabin?”
    “Yes,” Sicarius said, the familiar glint in his eyes.

Chapter 2
    M ahliki stood outside the door, tugging at her braids, first the left and then the right, for at least a minute before knocking. She only managed that bit of bravery because university students were roaming up and down the hall, a few giving her odd looks as they swerved to avoid bumping into her.
    A bald man with a couple of extra chins answered the door. “Office hours are in the mornings, as my sign clearly states.” He pointed to a brass plaque on the wall that read Professor Edgecrest and started to close the door.
    Mahliki thrust her shoe into the crack. “Yes, Professor, but I’m not a student.”
    He scowled at this admission. Before he could call security, use her for defenestration practice, or employ whatever other savagery Turgonians applied to trespassers, she rushed to add, “I’m here to see Sespian. I was told he’s assisting you this semester?”
    Her addition didn’t soften the man’s scowl. “He’s too busy to dally with girls right now. In addition to his regular studies, he’s working on his contest entry. The deadline is tomorrow.”
    Mahliki had been nervous enough about seeking out a private conversation with Sespian; she hadn’t thought she would have to conquer some militant Turgonian gatekeeper to simply see him. “I know. My father recommended he enter it.” Relying on Father’s name to get through this man made her feel weak and incapable, but she also didn’t want to spend fifteen minutes trying to find clever methods to bypass his defenses. “It’s his contest, you know.”
    The professor’s scowl abated, and his lips formed a silent, “Oh.”
    “I know Sespian is busy, but I’m here on an errand for my father. An important errand.” That much was true, but said errand had nothing to do with Sespian, and she was technically wasting time by detouring to the university district...
    “Yes, of course.” The gatekeeper stepped aside. “But for the sake of his post-imperial career, I hope you won’t delay him for long. Or frivolously.” He arched his eyebrows with meaning. Not quite believing her story? Probably because she kept twisting the tip of a braid around her fingers. That was a sign of nervous prevarication, wasn’t it?
    “Yes, sir.” Mahliki passed a large desk full of mathematics tests and sketches of bridges with comments scribbled in the margins, and headed for a partially closed door to the side. She knocked and stuck her head into the tiny office—cubby, might be the word—reserved for use by the professor’s assistants.
    Sespian sat on a stool at a large raised desk,