Red Sister
It's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge"I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin"At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.
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HarperVoyager an imprint of
HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2017
Copyright © Mark Lawrence 2017
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018 Cover images: © Tomasz Jedruszek (girl), Shutterstock.com (background images)
Mark Lawrence 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 authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008152291
Ebook Edition © April 2017 ISBN: 9780008152314
Version: 2018-10-26
To Celyn, who needs no words for eloquence.
Contents
Rather than place this background information in an appendix at the back where you might not notice it until youâve finished the book (Iâve done that before) Iâm putting it here at the front. However, it is best to skip it and return only if you find you need it. All the information here is given to you in the text and unfolds naturally with the story.
The people of Abeth descend from four âtribesâ. These tribes were:
Gerant â distinguished by their great size
Hunska â distinguished by their speed. A dark-haired, dark-eyed people
Marjal â distinguished by their ability to tap into the lesser magics
Quantal â distinguished by their ability to walk the Path and work greater magics
The great families of empire adopt the suffix -sis when the head of the family is named a lord by the emperor. The emperorâs own family are the Lansis. Other families of note include the Tacsis, Jotsis, Memsis, Galamsis, Leensis, Gersis, Rolsis, and Chemsis.
In the Convent of Sweet Mercy novices move through four classes on their way to taking holy orders. A novice must graduate from each class. The classes are named after the four orders of nun:
Red Class â typical novice age 9-12
Grey Class â typical novice age 13-14
Mystic Class â typical novice age 15-16
Holy Class â typical novice age 17-19
On taking holy orders novices become nuns. They follow one of the following paths:
Bride of the Ancestor (Holy Sister) â a nun concerned with honouring the Ancestor and maintaining the faith. The most common calling
Martial Sister (Red Sister) â a nun skilled in armed and unarmed combat, usually showing hunska blood
Sister of Discretion (Grey Sister) â a nun skilled in espionage, stealth, and poisons. Often showing marjal blood and a talent for shadow-work
Mystic Sister (Holy Witch) â a nun able to walk the Path and manipulate threads. Always showing quantal blood
Dramatis Personae
Nuns (in order of superiority)
Glass: Abbess of Sweet Mercy Convent, also known as Shella Yammal
Rose: Sister Superior, Holy Sister, runs the sanatorium
Wheel: Sister Superior, Mistress Spirit, Holy Sister, teaches Spirit classes
Apple: Mistress Shade, Grey Sister, also known as the Poisoner, teaches Shade classes
Pan: Mistress Path, Holy Witch, teaches Path classes
Rule: Mistress Academia, Holy Sister, teaches Academia classes
Tallow: Mistress Blade, Red Sister, teaches Blade classes
Chrysanthemum: Holy Sister, mostly known as Sister Mop
Flint: Red Sister, Grey Class mistress
Kettle: Grey Sister
Oak: Holy Sister, Red Class mistress
Rock: Red Sister
Novices
Alata: junior novice
Arabella Jotsis: junior novice, quantal and hunska blood
Clera Ghomal: junior novice, Nonaâs friend, hunska blood
Croy: junior novice
Darla: junior novice, gerant blood
Ghena: junior novice, hunska blood
Hessa: junior novice, Nonaâs friend from Giljohnâs cage, quantal blood
Jula: junior novice, Nonaâs friend, studious
Kariss: junior novice
Katcha: junior novice
Ketti: junior novice, hunska blood
Leeni: junior novice
Mally: junior novice, Grey Class head-girl
