Chapter One

The old wizard brushed aside the curtains of the entrance and found himself facing a familiar stonework chamber, though a place he had not visited in years. As he entered, he spied three faces beneath the torches hanging from the walls of the round room. These three he also had not visited in some while.

“Thank you for coming, Master Markwood.” The middle-aged speaker’s bronzed chest plate glinted in the firelight as he motioned the wizard forward.

Markwood glanced at the other two. Romule, another wizard from the College of Magic, lounged on a sofa to the left, his girth jiggling beneath violet robes and multiple chins. To the right sat a thin fellow with a thin mustache, Lalo the Finder, who appeared at ease. Perhaps a little too at ease.

Markwood stared directly ahead again, at the man in the heavy wooden seat the size and shape of a throne. “First Councilor Menoch, I did not realize there were others invited.”

The leader of West Ursia glanced from the mage to the two men seated at his sides. “My apologies, Master Markwood, but this is a matter of utmost importance. Master Romule is here in his duties as chief magic adviser to the Council. Sir Lalo ... has ties to the situation.”

Markwood nodded. “Very well, then.” He snapped his fingers and another chair appeared, a simple iron seat cushioned with a silk pillow. The wizard sat, facing the First Councilor.