by Ash, Sarah
Bogatyr Askold (leader of the druzhina)
Gorian One-Eye, Askold’s second-in-command
Semyon, lieutenant
Dunai, Askold’s son (steward of Kastel Nagarian)
Vasili, Dunai’s younger brother
Vartik, Ilsi’s younger brother
Tarakh and Radakh, Gorian’s twin sons
Ivar and Movar, grooms
Ilsi, housekeeper of Kastel Nagarian
Sosia, Kiukiu’s aunt
Ninusha, housemaid
Kion, Ninusha’s baby son (by Lieutenant Andars of Tielen)
Lord Boris Stoyan, boyar of Azhkendir and governor of Azhgorod
Oris Avorian, the Nagarian family lawyer
Abbot Yephimy of Saint Serzhei’s Monastery
TOURMALISE
Lilias Arbelian/Arkhel, an adventuress from Muscobar
Dysis, her maid and companion
Lord Ranulph Arkhel
The Hon. Lady Tanaisie, his wife (Tansie) nee Caradas
Toran Arkhel, their son and heir
Fleurie and Clarisse Arkhel, Toran’s younger sisters
Ryndin, Iarko, Temir, retainers
Captain Montpelier, Master of Ceremonies at the Sulien Pump Room
Aristide Touchet, bailiff
Cardin’s Iron Works in Paladur
Gerard Bernay, ingenieur
Rasse Cardin, owner of the Iron Works
Mahieu, foreman of the Iron Works
Paladur Military Academy
The Hon. Elyot Branville, Second Year cadet
Lorris, Aubin, Morsan, First and Second Year cadets
Colonel Mouzillon
Major Bauldry
KHITARI
Chinua, tea merchant, shapeshifter and shaman (his name means ‘wolf’)
Khulan, praise singer to Khan Vachir
TIELEN/ROSSIYA
Emperor Eugene
Empress Astasia
Crown Prince Rostevan (their baby son)
Princess Karila
Stavyomir Arkhel, Lilias’s young son, the Emperor’s ward
Count Gustave, private secretary to the Emperor
Baron Sylvius, imperial spymaster
Chancellor Maltheus, chief minister
Colonel Nils Lindgren
Lovisa, Countess of Aspelin (Eugene’s cousin)
Tielborg University
Professor Altan Kazimir
Doctor Guy Maulevrier
SAPAUDIA (canton of Allegonde)
Kaspar Linnaius, the Magus
Azhkanizkael, Nahaliel, Serapiel, Auphiel and Asamkis, his wouivres
In Exile in Serindher
Andrei Orlov, the Empress’s brother
Oskar Alvborg, the Emperor’s illegitimate half-brother
Guardians of the Second Heaven (Raquia)
Prince Galizur, Ruling Prince of the Second Heaven
Ardarel, Angel of Fire
Taliahad, Angel of Water (of the Seven Seas)
Sehibiel, Angel of Healing
A modified version of the Prologue and Chapter 8 first appeared as “Song for a Naming Day” in the anthology Anniversaries edited by Ian Whates and Ian Watson (2010) Newcon Press
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks to my editor, Colin Murray for his attention to detail and asking those essential questions every writer needs to be reminded of!
For the breathtakingly beautiful cover art, my thanks go to Edward Miller (and Les and Val Edwards)
For the distinctive wouivre chapter header my thanks go to the ever-creative Marcelle Natisin
And my thanks to Chantal Chevalier and all at eBook Partnership too!
The Arkhel Conundrum is dedicated to all those kind readers who liked The Tears of Artamon enough to ask me what happened next to Gavril, Kiukiu, Eugene and Kaspar Linnaius. The tale is far from finished...and will continue in Book 5...
Sarah Ash
www.sarah-ash.com
Moths to a Flame
Songspinners
The Lost Child
The Tears of Artamon Trilogy
1/ Lord of Snow and Shadows
2/Prisoner of the Iron Tower
3/Children of the Serpent Gate
4/ The Arkhel Conundrum
Alchymist’s Legacy
1/ Tracing the Shadow
2/ Flight into Darkness
Tide Dragons (2014-16)
1/ The Flood Dragon’s Sacrifice
2/ Emperor of the Fireflies
Scent of Lilies 2019 (published by Manifold Press)