“I’ll use the time to familiarize myself with the western situation.” And, he thought, begin the fruitless search for someone able to replace Pan ku.

“Very well. I can’t force you to take a vacation, though I wish you would.”

“I’ve been in harness too long, Mistress. One more question. Did Ragnarson and the wizard patch it up? That will be important.”

Mist smiled, rose, stepped down, embraced him momentarily. “Thank you, Lord Ssu-ma. For everything you’ve done.” And, as she started away, “No. They didn’t. The woman tried to make peace. Varthlokkur has much too stiff a neck.”

And inside his beastmask Lord Ssu-ma Shih-ka’i smiled himself.

After the challenge in the east anything else looked easy.

An Ill Fate Marshalling

An Ill Fate Marshalling

Contents

Prologue: Year 1013 After the Founding of the Empire of Ilkazar; Castle Greyfells in Duchy Greyfells, in Northern Itaskia

One: Year 1016 AFE; Rulers

Two: Year 1016 AFE; Conversations

Three: Year 1016 AFE; Captures

Four: Year 1016 AFE; Family Life

Five: Year 1016 AFE; Mystery Attackers

Six: Year 1016 AFE; Victory Ball

Seven: Year 1016 AFE; Decisions

Eight: Year 1016 AFE; Michael’s Journey

Nine: Year 1016 AFE; Rising Tide

Ten: Year 1016 AFE; Homecomings and Birthdays

Eleven: Year 1016 AFE; Interlude

Twelve: Year 1016 AFE; On the Move

Thirteen: Year 1016 AFE; At the Ready

Fourteen: Year 1016 AFE; There and Back Again

Fifteen: Year 1016 AFE; Unpleasant Surprises

Sixteen: Year 1016 AFE; A Plea from the East

Seventeen: Year 1016 AFE; The Great Championship Match

Eighteen: Year 1016 AFE; Tightening Screws

Nineteen: Year 1016 v; Born to Trouble

Twenty: Year 1016 AFE; As the Sparks Fly Upward

Twenty-one: Year 1016 AFE

Twenty-two: Year 1016 AFE

Twenty-three: Year 1016 AFE

Twenty-four: Year 1016 AFE

Twenty-five: Year 1016 AFE

Twenty-six: Year 1016 AFE

PROLOGUE: YEAR 1013
AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE EMPIRE OF ILKAZAR CASTLE GREYFELLS IN DUCHY GREYFELLS, IN NORTHERN ITASKIA

The Colonel stalked through the quiet corridors, each step charged with the nervous energy of a caged panther. Servants got out of his path, turned to watch after he passed. His tension surrounded him with an aura of danger.

He reached the door of the chamber to which he had been summoned. He stared at it, rose onto the balls of his feet, settled back. He was afraid of what might lie on the other side. This was more than the portal to a room. It was a doorway to tomorrow, and he didn’t like the smell of it.

Something was afoot. He had come to the castle last evening, and had found it infested with tension. The Duke was planning something. His people were scared. All the recent dukes had become involved in schemes that failed, and each failure had brought violence down on the family and its retainers.