High Deryni

HIGH DERYNI

Deryni books available from Ace

DERYNI RISING

DERYNI CHECKMATE

HIGH DERYNI

KING KELSON’S BRIDE

IN THE KING’S SERVICE

CHILDE MORGAN

HIGH DERYNI

KATHERINE KURTZ

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
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Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright © 1973, 2007 by Katherine Kurtz.
The Eleven Kingdoms map copyright © 2004 by Grey Ghost Press, Inc., www.derynirealms.com; graphic design by Daniel M. Davis, Ann Dupuis, James A. Fox-Davis, and Martine Lynch.

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
ACE and the “A” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First revised edition: December 2007
Originally published in 1973 by Ballantine Books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kurtz, Katherine.

High Deryni / Katherine Kurtz.—1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-1012-0885-4

1. Deryni (Fictitious characters)—Fiction. 2. Gwynedd (Imaginary place)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3561.U69H54 2007
813'.54—dc22 2007021621

For Margaret Frances Carter,
because every mother
with an offspring who writes
should have a book from her Author-Child.

And with special thanks to
Tania Ryan,
for scanning both Deryni Checkmate
and High Deryni from the original
paperback editions.

CONTENTS

INTERLUDE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

INDEX OF CHARACTERS

INDEX OF PLACE NAMES

PARTIAL TIME LINE FOR THE HISTORY OF THE ELEVEN KINGDOMS

THE GENETIC BASIS FOR DERYNI INHERITANCE: 1974