Dark of the Moon

by P. C. Hodgell

  "This is going to be hard," he said. "For both of us. But we'll find some way to make it work. We have to."

  Burr appeared around the corner of the tent. "My lord, the Council members are coming down from the main camp. I can see their torches."

  Torisen took a deep breath. "So now the game begins again." Under Burr's disapproving eyes, he deliberately emptied his posset onto the ground, almost as if pouring a libation. "Ready?"

  "Sweet Trinity. Of course not."

  "Nor I, but here we go anyway." The Highlord stepped forward to greet his guests, whose voices now clearly sounded by the tent's far side. "Oh, and by the way," he said over his shoulder to Jame with a sudden, wry smile, "welcome back."

  Appendix I:

  The High Council

  The above are all major houses, located in the Riverland. Minor houses such as the Harth of East Kenshold and the Min-drear of the High Keep are located near the Barrier and help to maintain it. Once all the houses did, but since they became concentrated in the Riverland, their attention has turned more toward the affairs of Rathillien. Some argue that this is why the Barrier has weakened in such spots as the Haunted Lands.

  Appendix II:

  The Master's Generation

  Lorien, Cethron, and Periel were all Knorths. Daron was a Randir. No one knows who Keral's mother was, or Bane's. Both were Kendar.

  The Master's generation may look improbably complicated, but its mix of full and half siblings is fairly typical of Highborn families. Most lords have a number of consorts during their lifetimes. Their contract specifies how long the arrangement will last and whether or not the lady is authorized by the head of her father's house to bear her consort children. If she does, they stay in their father's house even if she moves on. This has always been so, although before the Fall Highborn women had a far greater say in determining their own fates. They still have more influence than their menfolk realize. Now as then, they can usually control conception at will, which is fortunate because childbirth is often fatal for them. If they do die, their child and its sire are both more or less blacklisted as future breeding stock. The rare illegitimate child is considered as having no family and its mother, again, is blacklisted.

  The point of all this, of course, is to control the ways in which various houses are linked through bloodlines. At the time of this story, the aim is purely political. Historians suggest, though, that long ago the Highborn may have been trying to breed Shanir, from whose ranks the Tyr-ridan or chosen three will come to lead the Kencyrath in final battle against Perimal Darkling. The way to get the most powerful Shanir, however, is to inbreed, hence the custom of mating twins. But since the Fall, Shanir have become less popular and cross-breeding between houses has become more and more the rule. Now all the lords of the High Council have mixed blood except Torisen and Adric. The Ardeth have always had a special interest in the Shanir. As for the Knorth, because of their divine mandate to provide Highlords, they have always chosen leaders from among the purest of their blood. Now only Torisen and Jame are left.

  Maps

  THE END

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