A whirlwind of intrigue, lies, politics, and adventure swirls around one woman—and the prize she’s been sent to reclaim . . .
It was her talent for tracking magic that got Anna Zhdanov sent to catch a thief. A scholar’s daughter sold as a bond servant, she has no desire to recover the Emperor’s jewel for herself. But a chance to earn her freedom has driven her to the untamed Eddalyon province, awash with warm breezes, lapping waves, and more danger than she could possibly guess.
Within days her cover as an indolent noblewoman is in question, and it’s clear there’s more to Anna’s task than she knows. Soon she’s the captive of the unpredictable pirate captain Andreas Koszenmarc, hunted by the Emperor’s guard, besieged by a brigand queen, and at odds with her only friend. She must trust someone if she is to survive. But when all that’s certain is that everyone is hiding something, it’s no simple thing to choose. . .
Novels by Claire O’Dell
The Mage and Empire Series
A Jewel Bright Sea
The River of Souls Series
Passion Play
Queen’s Hunt
Allegiance
The Janet Watson Chronicles
A Study in Honor
The Hound of Justice
Writing as Beth Bernobich
The Time Roads
Fox & Phoenix
A Handful of Pearls & Other Stories
Table of Contents
Look for Anna and Andreas’s continuing story in The Empire’s Edge, available from Rebel Base Books.
A JEWEL BRIGHT SEA
Claire O’Dell
REBEL BASE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
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Kensington Publishing Corp.
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Copyright © 2019 by Claire O’Dell
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Rebel Base and Rebel Base logo Reg. US Pat. & TM Off.
First Electronic Edition: September 2019
eISBN-13: 978-1-63573-079-1
eISBN-10: 1-63573-079-1
First Print Edition: September 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1-63573-081-4
ISBN-10: 1-63573-081-3
Printed in the United States of America
CHAPTER 1
The innkeeper at Iglazi had promised her ruins—magnificent, ancient ruins, which surely dated from an age before the Empire conquered these islands. He had not uttered the word romantic, but that was implicit in his description of