Informationen zum Autor Kristin Cashore grew up in northeast Pennsylvania and earned her master's degree from the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College. She lives in the Boston area. Her epic fantasy novels set in the Graceling Realm-- Graceling , Fire , Bitterblue, and Winterkeep --are all New York Times bestsellers and have won many awards. Klappentext Make the harrowing journey home with Queen Bitterblue's sister and spy, in the fifth novel in the bestselling Graceling Realm series. Hava sails across the sea toward Monsea with her sister, the royal entourage, and the world's only copies of the formulas for the zilfium weapon she saved at the end of Winterkeep . During the crossing, Hava makes an unexpected discovery about one of the ship's crew, but before she can unravel the mystery, storms drive their ship off course, wrecking them in the ice far north of the Royal Continent. The survivors must endure a harrowing trek across the ice to make it back to Monsea. And while Queen Bitterblue grapples with how to carry the responsibility of a weapon that will change the world, Hava has a few more mysteries to solveand a decision to make about who she wants to be in the new world Bitterblue will build. Leseprobe 1. If you could eavesdrop without anyone knowing­if you could turn yourself into a barrel, or a coil of lines, or a clump of canvas on deck where two people are standing together, whispering secrets to each other­are you sure you wouldn't? Eavesdrop. I wonder where that word comes from. Did people used to climb into the eaves of a house and snoop on conversations? Then drop? Then what? Yell Surprise! and watch people jump and throw their papers around? That would be funny. I've never done that. I asked Giddon his opinion, but he had no ideas about eavesdrop. He said he's fond of the word snowdrop, and he's right; it's a good word. It snows almost every day now here at sea, so it's nice to imagine white petals drifting down onto my face. But it doesn't help me with eavesdrop. He said it aloud, Snowdrop, as we stood on the foredeck of the Monsea, where the plunge of the prow into each wave is more extreme than anywhere else on the ship. I like it there on the foredeck. It feels like exciting things are going to happen. Then he said, Foxglove, that's a nice word too. Moonflower, he added, staring across the gray water like he was having a revelation. Giddon is big and tall and handsome in a noble sort of way, with a neat dark beard and pale skin like mine, and he has a fire inside him that he reserves for Bitterblue. I could see him mentally picking a bouquet for her. Larkspur, he said, so I said, Skunk cabbage, because I was getting tired of Giddon. Skunk cabbage? he said, turning a look of indignation upon me. Of course not. Impatiens, I said significantly, but he wandered down to the main deck with a dreamy expression on his face, and I wished, as I've wished many times, that Giddon and Bitterblue, who's the Queen of Monsea and secretly my half sister, would confess their newfound romantic relationship to me. I'm not stupid. I'm a spy. It's my job to figure things out. And she's my family, even if hardly anyone knows that. They should tell me. I'll ask Teddy about eavesdrop when we get home. Teddy's part of Bitterblue's Ministry of Education. He's clever with words, cleverer than Giddon. My mother once told me, in a moment of lucidity, to keep a list of cherished qualities I would like in a friend. I never have. It's not like people line up for me to choose from, with their qualities listed on their chests. But if I did keep a list, maybe Clever with Words would be on it. </i...

Klappentext

**Make the harrowing journey home with Queen Bitterblue's sister and spy, in the fifth novel in the bestselling Graceling Realm series.**
Hava sails across the sea toward Monsea with her sister, the royal entourage, and the world’s only copies of the formulas for the zilfium weapon she saved at the end of Winterkeep. During the crossing, Hava makes an unexpected discovery about one of the ship’s crew, but before she can unravel the mystery, storms drive their ship off course, wrecking them in the ice far north of the Royal Continent. The survivors must endure a harrowing trek across the ice to make it back to Monsea. And while Queen Bitterblue grapples with how to carry the responsibility of a weapon that will change the world, Hava has a few more mysteries to solve—and a decision to make about who she wants to be in the new world Bitterblue will build.

Leseprobe
1.
If you could eavesdrop without anyone knowing—­if you could turn yourself into a barrel, or a coil of lines, or a clump of canvas on deck where two people are standing together, whispering secrets to each other—­are you sure you wouldn’t?
Eavesdrop. I wonder where that word comes from. Did people used to climb into the eaves of a house and snoop on conversations? Then drop? Then what? Yell “Surprise!” and watch people jump and throw their papers around?

That would be funny. I’ve never done that.

I asked Giddon his opinion, but he had no ideas about eavesdrop. He said he’s fond of the wordsnowdrop, and he’s right; it’s a good word. It snows almost every day now here at sea, so it’s nice to imagine white petals drifting down onto my face. But it doesn’t help me witheavesdrop.

***He said it aloud, “Snowdrop,” as we stood on the foredeck of the *Monsea, where the plunge of the prow into each wave is more extreme than anywhere else on the ship. I like it there on the foredeck. It feels like exciting things are going to happen.

***Then he said, “Foxglove, that’s a nice word too. Moonflower,” he added, staring across the gray water like he was having a revelation. Giddon is big and tall and handsome in a noble sort of way, with a neat dark beard and pale skin like mine, and he has a fire inside him that he reserves for Bitterblue. I could see him mentally picking a bouquet for her. “Larkspur,” he said, so I said, “Skunk cabbage,” because I was getting tired of Giddon.

***“Skunk cabbage?” he said, turning a look of indignation upon me. “Of course not.”

***“Impatiens,” I said significantly, but he wandered down to the main deck with a dreamy expression on his face, and I wished, as I’ve wished many times, that Giddon and Bitterblue, who’s the Queen of Monsea and secretly my half sister, would confess their newfound romantic relationship to me. I’m not stupid. I’m a spy. It’s my job to figure things out. And she’s my family, even if hardly anyone knows that. They should tell me.

***I’ll ask Teddy about *eavesdrop when we get home. Teddy’s part of Bitterblue’s Ministry of Education. He’s clever with words, cleverer than Giddon. My mother once told me, in a moment of lucidity, to keep a list of cherished qualities I would like in a friend. I never have. It’s not like people line up for me to choose from, with their qualities listed on their chests. But if I did keep a list, maybe “Clever with Words” would be on it.

***Not that Giddon lacks good qualities. He would tear off the head of anyone who hurt my sister.

***I used to jump out and surprise my mother, actually, now that I consider it. I would hide myself from her, then make myself visible suddenly. Reach for her, arms outstretched, laughing. One time, when I did that, she screamed in such terror that the king, my father, came running. So I hid quickly, and never did that again. It wasn’t safe to startle my mother. Too often, she wasn’t in her strong mind.

***Anyway, my point is, I don’t have to climb into the eaves to eavesdro…