Overview
Brencis does not reign alone. Whether all vrakhiri do likewise Coen cannot say, but in this valley they have shaped a court: the knyaz with his three boyars, Bakir, Ambrus and Xanthe. Brencis did not sire all three, yet all obey him. Could they defy him — kill him? Could he destroy them? Coen has no answers, only the certainty that some bond ties them together.