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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

Exile’s Valor: Book Two of Exiles of Valdemar

EXILE’S VALOR

book

BOOK TWO OF EXILES of VALDEMAR

Dedication

Dedicated to the members of the NYFD, lost 9/11/01

Engine 1: Andrew Desperito; Michael Weinberg

Engine 4: Calixto Anaya Jr.; James Riches; Thomas Schoales; Paul Tegtmeier

Engine 5: Manuel Delvalle

Engine 6: Paul Beyer; Thomas Holohan; William Johnston

Engine 8: Robert Parro

Engine 10: Gregg Atlas; Jeffrey Olsen; Paul Pansini

Engine 21: William Burke, Jr.

Engine 22: Thomas Castoria; Michael Elferis; Vincent Kane; Martin McWilliams

Engine 23: Robert McPadden; James Pappageorge; Hector Tirado, Jr.; Mark Whitford

Engine 26: Thomas Farino; Dana Hannon

Engine 33: Kevin Pfeifer; David Arce; Michael Boyle; Robert Evans; Robert King, Jr.; Keithroy Maynard

Engine 37: John Giordano

Engine 40: John Ginley; Kevin Bracken; Michael Dauria; Bruce Gary; Michael Lynch; Steve Meteado

Engine 50: Robert Spear, Jr.

Engine 54: Paul Gill; Jose Guadalupe; Leonard Ragaglia; Christopher Santora

Engine 55: Peter Freund; Robert Lane; Christopher Mozzillo; Stephen Russell

1

1

Muted light, richly colored, poured gold and sapphire into the sparsely furnished sitting room in Herald Alberich’s private quarters behind the training salle.

Now that the colored window was installed, and the protective blanket taken off, it made that little room look entirely different. Alberich hardly recognized it.

The four Journeymen glassworkers who had helped their Master install the piece were gone now, leaving Alberich alone with the artist himself.

Both of them gazed on the finished product in silence, while behind them a warm fire crackled on the hearth. It was a staggeringly beautiful piece of stained-glass work; in fact, Alberich thought, it would not be exaggerating to say it was a masterpiece. Not that he had expected less than a fine piece from the Master of the Glassworkers Guild, but this was over and above those expectations.

The artisan responsible for its creation stepped forward and gave the top right-hand corner a final polish with a soft cloth, removing some smudge not visible to ordinary eyes. He flicked off an equally invisible dust mote as well, and stepped back to view the expanse of blues and golds with a critical eye. A man gone gray in his profession, he was tall, but not powerful, with wiry, knotty muscles rather than bulging ones. His expression was unreadable, a square-jawed, hook-nosed fellow whose face might have been stone rather than flesh.

“It’ll do,” he grunted finally, his long face betraying nothing but a flicker of content.

“A work of power and beauty, it is,” Alberich replied, unusual warmth of feeling in his voice. “It is exceeding my expectations, which were high already. Your skill is formidable, Master Cuelin.”

“It’ll do,” the artisan repeated, but with just a touch more satisfaction in his own voice. “I’ll not praise myself, but it’ll do.”