Jonathan Moeller - The Ghosts 05 - Ghost in the Stone Read Online Free PDF Page A

hurried towards the end of the alley. From here she would circle east, through Seatown until she reached the district of Westshadow and then the Plaza of Majesty at the foot of the Stone…
    Caina froze.
    A shape in a cloak stood at the end of the alley, staring at her. She could not see the figure’s face beneath the cowl, but the front of the cloak opened, and she caught a glimpse of chain mail and a sheathed sword.
    Another Kindred assassin?
    She raised her dagger and braced herself.
    The cloaked figure turned and disappeared to the left.
    Caina cursed and ran to the end of the alley. It terminated in a street leading east from the plaza, lined on either side with shabby houses. She saw no trace of the cloaked figure, or of the Kindred assassin in the yellow robe.
    Caina hastened for the Plaza of Majesty.
    She wondered what Theodosia would make of Barius’s fate.

Chapter 3 - The Lords of Cyrica

    Caina slipped unnoticed through the crowds, merely another figure in a red Cyrican cloak. 
    She had to admit that the Plaza of Majesty lived up to its name.
    It sat at the base of the Stone, broad and wide, paved with white marble chosen to match the peculiar white rock of the Stone. On the northern side of the Plaza stood the massive temples of the gods of the Empire. On the western side stood the basilica of the Magisterium’s chapterhouse, stern and grim. Across the Plaza from the chapterhouse rose the black, pyramidal shape of a temple to the Living Flame, the chief god of Cyrica and Anshan. And at the base of the Stone itself a broad ramp climbed the face of the hill to the Palace of Splendors itself. 
    Lord Governor Armizid Asurius and his chief magistrates awaited Lord Corbould at the end of the ramp. Around them stood a company of the city’s militia, wealthy merchants, minor nobles, and a host of other hangers-on. Citizens of Cyrioch lined the Plaza, watching the spectacle, held back by a line of militia spears. 
    Lord Corbould Maraeus entered the Plaza from the other end, flanked by a troop of black-armored Imperial Guards.
    Caina slipped through the crowds, which proved easy of enough, since most of the commoners had their attention focused on the nobles. She passed Lord Corbould and his guards and came to the rear of the column. The chariot drivers Corbould had brought walked there, followed by the singers and stagehands of the Grand Imperial Opera. Caina spotted Theodosia, clad in a brilliant red gown with black trim, her hair covered by a scarf of similar color. 
    Caina approached, and Theodosia smiled. 
    “Ah,” she said. “There you are. Did you get the things I asked for?”
    “No,” said Caina, keeping her voice disguised. “Things…did not go well.”
    Theodosia’s smile faded. “This is an outrage! An outrage! Why, I shall speak to Lord Corbould himself! I have his ear, you know. I’ll have you shipped back to Malarae as a kitchen drudge! I’ll…”
    Theodosia went on in that vein for some time, much to the amusement of the other members of the company. Bit by bit their attention wavered, and turned to Lord Corbould’s ceremonial entrance into the Plaza of Majesty. Theodosia looked at them and nodded.
    “There,” she murmured. “They ought to be distracted now. What happened? What did Barius tell you?”
    “Nothing,” said Caina.
    Theodosia frowned. “Is he dead?”
    “Yes. Maybe,” said Caina. “I don’t know.”
    “Hearken!” boomed the voice of Lord Corbould’s herald. “Corbould, Lord of House Maraeus, once Lord Governor of the Imperial Pale, twice Lord Governor of Marsis, and four times Lord Marshall of the Legions, has come! He sends greetings to his brother Armizid, Lord Governor of Cyrica, and requests permission to enter the city!”
    “Come with me,” said Theodosia. “I want to watch this, since whoever hired the Kindred to kill Corbould is probably in the Plaza right now. You can tell me what you found once I have a better view.” 
    Caina nodded and pushed