Wild Magic. Tamora Pierce

      

      

       Copyright

      HarperVoyager

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

      Copyright © Tamora Pierce 1992

      Map copyright © Isidre Mones 2017

      Jacket design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018

      Tamora Pierce asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008304072

      Ebook Edition © August 2018 ISBN: 9780008304089

      Version: 2018-09-11

       PRAISE FOR TAMORA PIERCE

      ‘Tamora Pierce didn’t just blaze a trail. Her heroines cut a swathe through the fantasy world with wit, strength, and savvy. Pierce is the real lioness, and we’re all just running to keep pace.’

      LEIGH BARDUGO, #1 New York Times bestselling author

      ‘Tamora Pierce creates epic worlds populated by girls and women of bravery, heart, and strength. Her work inspired a generation of writers and continues to inspire us.’

      HOLLY BLACK, #1 New York Times bestselling author

      ‘Tamora Pierce’s books shaped me not only as a young writer but also as a young woman. Her complex, unforgettable heroines and vibrant, intricate worlds blazed a trail for young adult fantasy – and I get to write what I love today because of the path she forged throughout her career. She is a pillar, an icon, and an inspiration.’

      SARAH J. MAAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author

      ‘I take more comfort from and as great pleasure in Tamora Pierce’s Tortall novels as I do from Game of Thrones’

       Washington Post

      ‘Tamora Pierce and her brilliant heroines didn’t just break down barriers; they smashed them with magical fire.’

      KATHERINE ARDEN, author of The Bear and the Nightingale

       Dedication

       To Raquel Wolf-Sister and Tas Horse-Hearted

       who opened my heart to the songs of all beasts

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      Praise for Tamora Pierce

      Dedication

      Map

      Chapter 1: Girl with a Pony

      Chapter 2: The Hawk

Chapter 3: Spidrens and Meditation

       Chapter 4: The Queen’s Riders

       Chapter 5: Wild Magic

       Chapter 6: Magelet

       Chapter 7: Buzzard Rocks

       Chapter 8: Pirate’s Swoop

       Chapter 9: Siege

       Chapter 10: Listening Far Enough

       Epilogue

       Afterword

       Read on for a preview of Wolf-Speaker: Book Two of the Immortals Quartet

       Also by Tamora Pierce

       About the Publisher

       Map

       CHAPTER 1

       GIRL WITH A PONY

      Each year, at the end of March, a great fair was held in Cría, the capital of Galla. Like thousands of others in the Eastern Lands, Onua Chamtong went there to do business: buying ponies, in her case. This year she had another transaction to make and was having no luck with it. By the end of her fifth day at the fair, it seemed she would never find the assistant she required. The prospect of taking her animals south, with no one to help, was an unpleasant one.

      ‘Excuse me – Trader Onua?’ The speaker was a girl, shy and country bred. ‘I heard you was hiring. I’m’ – she paused, then went on – ‘a fair hand with animals, all kinds.’ She waited as Onua looked her over: a girl in a green wool dress, skirts short enough to show leggings and boots. Brown curls tamed by a head-scarf fell to thin shoulders. A soft, full mouth said she was vulnerable; her chin was entirely stubborn. A quiver filled with long arrows hung on her back, a bow rested in her hand, unstrung.

      ‘Is that yours?’ the trader asked, pointing.

      Blue-grey eyes flashed. ‘I’d not have the nerve to carry it otherwise.’

      ‘Hmph. String it.’ The girl hesitated. ‘Just what I thought,’ Onua jibed. ‘Whose is it, really?’

      The girl brought a coiled string out of her sash. With ease she fitted it to one end of the bow and set it against her foot. Raising the free end of the string, she brought the other end of the bow down, hooking them together neatly. The bow strung and in her grip, she turned sideways to it, caught the string in two fingers, and drew it back to her ear in a smooth, practised gesture. Now Onua could see she wore an archer’s wrist- and armguards.

      ‘I’d put an arrow up,’ the girl said, gently releasing the string, ‘but I’d hit someone, surely.’