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Two men who hate each other. One impossible mission. A legend in the making.Hadrian Blackwater, a warrior with nothing to fight for, is paired with Royce Melborn, a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm's most prized possessions. But it isn't gold or jewels that the old wizard is after, and if he can just keep them from killing each other, they just might do it.

A dear friend is brutally beaten. Two thieves want answers. Riyria is born.

For more than a year Royce Melborn has tried to forget Gwen DeLancy, the woman who saved him and his partner Hadrian Blackwater from certain death. Unable to get her out of his mind, the two thieves return to Medford but receive a very different reception -- Gwen refuses to see them. The victim of abuse by a powerful noble, she suspects Royce will ignore any danger and seek revenge. By turning the thieves away, Gwen hopes to protect them once more. What she doesn't realize is what the two are capable of, but she's about to find out.

The Rose and the Thorn is the second book in The Riyria Chronicles, a prequel series featuring the early adventures of Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater. Taking place twelve years before the events in Michael J. Sullivan's bestselling The Riyria Revelations, the books can be enjoyed either in order of publication or chronological order.

Three times they tried to kill her. Then a professional was hired. So was Riyria.

When the last member of the oldest noble family in Avryn is targeted for assassination, Riyria is hired to foil the plot. Three years have passed since the war-weary mercenary Hadrian and the cynical ex-assassin Royce joined forces to start life as rogues-for-hire. Things have gone well enough until they're asked to help prevent a murder. Now they must venture into an ancient corner of the world to save a mysterious woman who knows more about Royce than is safe and cares less about herself than is sane.

A daughter vanishes. Two rogues are paid a fortune to find her. It isn't enough.

When Gabriel Winter's daughter mysteriously disappears and is presumed dead, the wealthy whiskey baron seeks revenge. Having lived in Colnora during the infamous Year of Fear, he hires the one man he knows can deliver a bloody retribution - the notorious Duster.

Ride with Royce and Hadrian as the cynical ex-assassin and idealistic ex-mercenary travel to a mysterious old-world city filled with nobles claiming descent from the imperial aristocracy. Riyria's job appears easy: discover what happened to the missing duchess and, if she lives, bring her home... if not, punish those responsible. But nothing is simple in the crowded, narrow, mist-filled streets of Rochelle, where more than one ancient legend lurks.