by Janny Wurts
pronounced: tray-the
root meaning: traithe – gentleness
TREY—diminutive of Traithe.
TRUE SECT—offshoot branch faith of the religion of Light formed after the Great Schism, when the avatar turned apostate to the doctrine in Third Age Year 5683.
TYSAN—one of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera as defined by the charters of the Fellowship of Seven. Ruled by the s’Ilessid royal line. Device: gold star on blue field.
pronounced: tie-san
root meaning: tiasen – rich
URMALA—town-born croft woman from Kelsing.
pronounced: ur-ma-la
root meaning: urmala – cow
VALENFORD—town located in south Tysan, on the barge route at the River Valendale.
pronounced: va-len-ford
root meaning: valen – braided
VASTMARK—principality located in south-western Shand. Highly mountainous and not served by trade-roads. Its coasts are renowned for shipwrecks. Inhabited by nomadic shepherds and wyverns, non-fire-breathing, smaller relatives of Khadrim. Site of the grand massacre of Lysaer’s war host in Third Age 5647.
pronounced: vast-mark
root meaning: vhast – bare; mheark – valley
VERRAIN—master spellbinder, trained by Luhaine; stood as Guardian of Mirthlvain when the Fellowship of Seven was left short-handed after the conquest of the Mistwraith.
pronounced: ver-rain
root meaning: ver – keep; ria – touch; an – one
original Paravian pronunciation: verria-an
WARDEN OF ALTHAIN—alternative title for the Fellowship Sorcerer, Sethvir, who received custody of Althain Tower and the powers of the earth-link from the last centaur guardian to leave the continent of Paravia in Third Age Year 5100. Prior to then, the titled post was held by a Paravian.
WAYSTONE—spherical-cut amethyst used by the Koriathain to channel the full power of all enchantresses in their order, lost during the great rebellion that threw down the rule of the high kings, and recovered from Fellowship custody by Lirenda in Third Age Year 5647. Currently useless to the order, due to Arithon’s arranged sabotage, which has infiltrated a stray iyat into the stone’s matrix in 5671.
WESTLANDS—originally a term for the western kingdoms of Tysan, Havish, and West Shand. Evolved to mean a specific set of mannered customs mostly practised in Tysan after the great uprising that threw down the high kings in Third Age Year 5015.
WHITEHOLD—city located on the shore of Eltair Bay, Kingdom of Melhalla.
Acknowledgments
My grateful thanks and steadfast appreciation goes to the following individuals for their invaluable support and assistance:
Jeff Watson, Andrew Ginever, Lynda-Marie Hauptman, Gale Skipworth, Charles Whipple, Angus Bickerton, Teri Wiegand, Stefan Raets and Sandra Jacobs
Jonathan Matson
Emma Coode, Sarah Hodgson, Jane Johnson and all of the Voyager Crew
and above all, my husband, Don Maitz, whose constant love and unflagging support exceeds all words.
By the same author
Sorcerer’s Legacy
The Cycle of Fire Trilogy
Stormwarden
Keeper of Keys
Shadowfane
The Master of Whitestorm
That Way Lies Camelot
To Ride Hell’s Chasm
The Wars of Light and Shadow
The Curse of the Mistwraith
The Ships of Merior
Warhost of Vastmark
Fugitive Prince
Grand Conspiracy
Peril’s Gate
Traitor’s Knot
Stormed Fortress
With Raymond E. Feist
Daughter of the Empire
Servant of the Empire
Mistress of the Empire
Copyright
HarperCollinsPublishers
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Published by HarperVoyager
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 2011
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Copyright © Janny Wurts 2011
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-00-721782-3
EPub Edition © 2011 ISBN: 9780007384471
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Set in Palatino by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
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