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Chapters (78)
  1. Cover
  2. Available now from Mercedes Lackey and Titan Books
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Exile’s Honor: Book One of Exiles of Valdemar
  6. Dedication
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One: Exile’s Choice
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. Part Two: The Tedrel Wars
  17. 8
  18. 9
  19. 10
  20. 11
  21. Part Three: The Last Battle
  22. 12
  23. 13
  24. 14
  25. 15
  26. 16
  27. 17
  28. 18
  29. 19
  30. 20
  31. Epilogue
  32. Exile’s Valor: Book Two of Exiles of Valdemar
  33. Dedication
  34. 1
  35. 2
  36. 3
  37. 4
  38. 5
  39. 6
  40. 7
  41. 8
  42. 9
  43. 10
  44. 11
  45. 12
  46. 13
  47. 14
  48. 15
  49. 16
  50. 17
  51. 18
  52. 19
  53. 20
  54. 21
  55. Take a Thief: Book Three of Exiles of Valdemar
  56. Dedication
  57. 1
  58. 2
  59. 3
  60. 4
  61. 5
  62. 6
  63. 7
  64. 8
  65. 9
  66. 10
  67. 11
  68. 12
  69. 13
  70. 14
  71. 15
  72. 16
  73. 17
  74. 18
  75. 19
  76. 20
  77. About the Author
  78. Also Available from Titan Books and Mercedes Lackey

He returned to the salle and headed for his shared living quarters with the feeling, on the whole, that he was rather pleased than otherwise with the way that the day had gone. But Dethor’s first words, spoken as he walked into the midst of a conversation that had certainly been going on for at least a mark before he arrived, put a chill on his good humor.

“There you are,” Dethor said, as the other two Heralds in the room looked up at his entrance. “What do you know about a group that calls themselves the ‘Tedrel Mercenaries’?”

7

7

“What of the Tedrels do I know? Huh. Nothing good,” Alberich replied, but only after standing there for a moment, blinking stupidly; such a completely unexpected question left him feeling slightly stunned. The Tedrels? What on earth could that sinister group have to do with Valdemar? And why ask him about them?

“Why?” he asked, as the others sat there looking at him, waiting for him to say something more.

“Because there’s word Karse is hiring them.” Dethor’s eyes could have pierced a hole in steel, but evidently Alberich’s reaction of further shock pleased him, for his expression softened immediately.

The Tedrels? Why would Karse hire them? Who could have learned of them to hire them in the first place? Most people in Karse had never heard of them, let alone anyone this far north. The only reason he knew anything about them was because of Aksel.

And the only reason that Aksel knew anything about them was because he still had contacts within the Mercenary Guild, friendly contacts, which was not within the norm for anyone in the Sunsguard. One evening Aksel had told him that the Mercenary Guild was issuing warnings about the Tedrel Companies; since that was just before Alberich was commissioned out of the cadets, Aksel had seen fit to warn his protégé in case he came up against any Tedrels in the course of his duties. He’d shown Alberich the broadside carrying the message, in fact.

Don’t trust them, said those warnings. Don’t fight with them, and don’t take a fight against them. And the reasons for these flat edicts had been chilling…