Seeds of Betrayal
Chapter One
Bistari, Aneira, year 879, Bian's Moon waning
The duke rode slowly among the trees, dry leaves crackling like
a winter blaze beneath the hooves of his Sanbiri bay. Massive
grey trunks surrounded him, resembling some vast army sent
forth from the Underrealm by the Deceiver, their bare, skeletal
limbs reaching toward a leaden sky. A few leaves rustling in a cold wind
still clung stubbornly to the twisting branches overhead. Most were as
curled and brown as those that covered the path, but a few held fast to the
brilliant gold that had colored the Great Forest only a half turn before.
Even here, nearly a league from Bistari, Chago could smell brine in the
air and hear the faint cry of gulls riding another frigid gust of wind. He
pulled his riding cloak tighter around his shoulders and rubbed his gloved
hands together, trying to warm them. This was no day for a hunt. He
almost considered returning to the warmth of his castle. He would have,
had he not been waiting for his first minister to join him. This hunt had
been Peshkal's idea in the first place, and they were to meet here, on the
western fringe of ... read full excerpt from: Seeds of Betrayal ebook
