Admiral Adam Max MacBride served a degenerating empire and wanted to retire to his own realm. Empress Juliana was something less than an empress, and her consort, Prince Wylan ap Dylan, was worse. According to legend, the prince was a direct descendant of the original Arthur Pendragon who came from a mythical place called Earth through an improbable place called Caer Pedryvan, the revolving castle. MacBride didn't believe the stories of Earth and the revolving castle, but he knew that Arthur had been real enough because his own family was also descended from the Pendragon.
He respected the Druids — the chief religious leaders in the empire — and when a druid, Cynddew, chaplain on the Thunderer, requested to see him on a matter of the utmost urgency, he consented. Cynddew brought a prisoner, a coxswain who he believed was possessed by a polymorph.
The druid was admitted, accompanied by four seamen and a master-at-arms. In their center was a young man, obviously the prisoner.
Adam strode across the room and ...
He respected the Druids — the chief religious leaders in the empire — and when a druid, Cynddew, chaplain on the Thunderer, requested to see him on a matter of the utmost urgency, he consented. Cynddew brought a prisoner, a coxswain who he believed was possessed by a polymorph.
The druid was admitted, accompanied by four seamen and a master-at-arms. In their center was a young man, obviously the prisoner.
Adam strode across the room and ...
