King of Foxes

King of Foxes
Raymond E. Feist

The whole of the magnificent Riftwar Cycle by bestselling author Raymond E. Feist, master of magic and adventure, now available in ebookTalon, last of the Orosini tribe, has been transformed by the Conclave of Shadows from a trusting young boy to a dashing nobleman. He is now Talwin Hawkins, Roldem’s premiere swordsman, and he has one desire – to avenge the massacre of his family.Two of the culprits are already dead by his hand, but Tal will not rest until he uncovers the reason for the murders and punishes their architect. But the Conclave demands its membership price: he must investigate Leso Varen, a magician of terrible power. To do this means service to the sorcerer’s master, Duke Kaspar of Olasko.He must swear loyalty to the very man he suspects of slaughtering his family, even if it means tracking down the Duke’s enemies – the members of the Conclave and Talon’s own friends.King of Foxes is the second book of Raymond E. Feist’s trilogy Conclave of Shadows. The third and final book in the trilogy is Exile’s Return.

RAYMOND E. FEIST

King of Foxes

Conclave of Shadows Book Two

For Jessica

With all the love it’s possible for a father to give.

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#ued573ce5-040f-5004-ae82-e9937a118d98)

Title Page (#u552a3e22-7429-5ef3-92e7-ec848adea4bc)

Maps of Midkemia (#u7f8ba6bd-7f7e-58ee-817d-92c8243e3999)

Part One: Agent (#uae4fd258-db1b-5c50-b272-2fd966036550)

Chapter One: Return (#u31382e32-beb4-5cca-b554-7f366387ba03)

Chapter Two: Reception (#ub2f5c0ed-87d6-5d9d-9373-c63c93f5e92f)

Chapter Three: Hunt (#u29c214d0-865e-5551-ad14-38d8233366e0)

Chapter Four: Choice (#uf02d4b19-5b37-585b-8746-0c4830e9aab8)

Chapter Five: Service (#u96b94e54-638b-544d-8730-f41c17430e02)

Chapter Six: Rillanon (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven: Oath (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight: Task (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine: Emissary (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten: Discovery (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven: Salador (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve: Betrayal (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Two: Soldier (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen: Prison (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen: Cook (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen: Escape (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen: Survival (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen: Mercenaries (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen: Deception (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen: Assault (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty: Resolution (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue: Retribution (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

By The Same Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Maps of Midkemia (#ulink_05486704-4a13-5c1b-8f0c-7c07b78126d1)

Part One Agent (#ulink_46089386-60f6-58aa-a0df-a146abc67c7a)

‘In the service of Caesar, everything is legitimate’

Pierre Corneille, La Mart de Pompée

• Chapter One • Return (#ulink_f28d3825-2fbb-5dcb-9ff5-707fa268e651)

A BIRD SOARED OVER THE city.

Its eyes sought out a figure in the throng on the docks, one man amidst the teeming surge of humanity occupying the harbour-side during the busiest part of the day. The Port of Roldem, harbour to the capital city of the island kingdom of the same name, was one of the most crowded in the Sea of Kingdoms. Trade goods and passengers from the Empire of Great Kesh, the Kingdom of the Isles, and half a dozen lesser nations nearby came and went daily.

The man under scrutiny wore the travel clothes of a noble, all sturdy weave and easily cleaned, with fastenings which allowed him to remain comfortable in all weathers. He sported a jacket designed to be worn off the left shoulder, leaving his sword arm unencumbered. Upon his head was a black beret adorned with a silver pin and a single grey feather, and upon his feet he wore sturdy boots. His luggage was being offloaded and would be conveyed to the address he had specified. He travelled without servant, which while unusual for a noble was not unheard of – for not all nobles were wealthy.

He paused for a brief second to drink in the sights. Around him people scurried: porters, sailors, stevedores, and teamsters. Wagons loaded so high their wheels appeared on the verge of buckling rolled slowly by him, cargo heading into the city or out to the ferry barges which would load them onto outbound ships. Roldem was a busy port by any standard; not only were goods delivered here, but also transhipped, for Roldem was the trading capital of the Sea of Kingdoms.

Everywhere the young man looked he saw commerce. Men bargaining over the cost of goods to be sold in distant markets, others negotiating the price of offloading a cargo, or insuring one against pirates or loss at sea. Still others were agents of trading concerns eagerly watching for any sign that might prove an advantage to their sponsors, men who sat in coffee houses as far away as Krondor or as close as the Traders Exchange, just one street away from where the young man now stood. They would dispatch young boys with notes who would run to those men who awaited news on arriving cargo, men trying to sense a shift in a distant market before buying or selling.

The young man resumed his walk, and avoided a gang of urchins dashing past with determined boyish purpose. He forced himself not to pat his purse, for he knew it was still where it was supposed to be, but there was always the possibility the boys were sent by a gang of pickpockets on the look-out for a fat purse to rob. The young man kept his eyes moving, seeking out any potential threat. He saw only bakers and street vendors, travellers and a pair of guardsmen. It was exactly who he would have expected to see in the crowd on Roldem’s docks.