As rumblings of discontent begin to be heard throughout the kingdom, Elias’ brother Josua disappears-to plot rebellion, some say.Įlias’ misrule upsets many, including Duke Isgrimnur of Rimmersgard and Count Eolair, an emissary from the western country of Hernystir. The order of things is breaking down, and the king’s subjects are losing confidence in his rule, but nothing seems to bother the monarch or his friends. Soon outlaws roam the roads and people begin to vanish from isolated villages. but a drought comes and plague strikes several of the nations of Osten Ard. The brothers’ feud is a cloud of foreboding over castle and country.Įlias’ reign as king starts well. Josua, Elias’ somber brother, nicknamed Lackhand because of a disfiguring wound, argues harshly with the king-to-be about Pryrates, the ill-reputed priest who is one of Elias’ closest advisers. Soon ancient King John will die, so Elias, the older of his two sons, prepares to take the throne. When the old man invites Simon to be his apprentice, the youth is overjoyed-until he discovers that Morgenes prefers teaching reading and writing to magic. When Simon can escape his kitchen-work he steals away to the cluttered chambers of Doctor Morgenes, the castle’s eccentric scholar. His parents are dead, his only real family the chamber maids and their stern mistress, Rachel the Dragon. Simon, an awkward fourteen year old, is one of the Hayholt’s scullions.

Prester John, High King of all the nations of men, is its most recent master after a nearly life of triumph and glory, he has presided over decades of peace from his skeletal throne, the Dragonbone Chair. Men have long ruled this greatest of strongholds, and the rest of Osten Ard as well. This might be construed as a somewhat dubious honor, but ’tis mine own to bestow.)įor eons the Hayholt belonged to the immortal Sithi, but they had fled the great castle before the onslaught of Mankind.

(By the way, all the above mentioned are just the kind of folk I want at my side if I’m ever ambushed by Norns. Also, and as usual, special thanks go to my brave editors, Betsy Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert, who have labored mightily through both storm and drought. Their insightful comments and suggestions have taken root-in some instances, putting forth rather surprising blossoms. I am indebted to Eva Cumming, Nancy Deming-Williams, Paul Hudspeth, Peter Stampfel and Doug Werner, who all had a hand in the cultivation of this book. She also induced in me a lifelong desire to make my own discoveries, and to share them with others. This series is dedicated to my mother, Barbara Jean Evans, who taught to me a deep affection for Toad Hall, the Hundred Aker Woods, the Shire, and many other hidden places and countries beyond the fields we know.

Tad williams stone of farewell