[Book Two is available on Amazon through Kindle Unlimited, as an ebook, and as a paperback book. At the least, I’m going to use this page to anchor additional information, episodes, and compendium lore.]

Spoiler Alert: You may want to read the book first. I did try to be descriptive and cryptic so that the Book is worth reading, but doing any synopsis at all reveals a lot.

Prologue

Andrew, an imperial watch officer, makes an important decision. Aidan, Craig, Phelan, Randolph, and Sebastian are working their problems.

Tricolles, the imperial capital, and Paradise, the temporary capital of the Republic, are prominent settings.

Francesca’s Tale

Duchess Francesca is making her moves. The leader of the Great Slave Revolt of the South finds a new ally.

Paradise and its sister city in the south, Promise, are the settings.

Thomas’s Tale

Thomas of Dent figures out how to channel his rage.

Paradise is the setting.

The Exiles’ Tales

Harald Krieger brings his band of exiled mercenaries into Duke Aidan’s service. Far to the north, Imboden continues to advance his plans. In Paradise, Duchess Gloriana ponders how to behave as a widow. Gregory of Paradise, formerly of Baden, forms an unlikely bond with a nomad chieftain.

The events take place on the island of the Seven Kingdoms and in Paradise.

Interlude One

On the way to Ravenwood, Aidan and Phelan spearhead an attack on Newholm. Isabella D’Saron of Baden and Orlando Sorenson arrive for a conference. Elsewhere, an Emperor and an Empress have an argument. Sebastian pursues his personal reading agenda in a library.

The city of Westwood is a main setting.

Valerian’s Tale

How the Empire lost the service of its best general.

The settings include imperial army encampments, Kimmelsport, Ravenwood, and nomad encampments.

Ahern’s Tale

Ahern is a pseudonym adopted by a mercenary captain with an interesting story.

Interlude Two

Aidan meets General York and the Seventh Legion at Barden’s Fortress, where the remnants of Ravenwood’s armies are defending against the Tiberian Empire’s Western Army.

The Tale of Aidan’s Mistake

On the positive side of the ledger, Aidan proves again that he is a man of his word. On the negative side, one reckless action almost dooms the Alliance’s entire war effort. Fortunately, Konrad, John Berry, Madam Lovely, and the rest of the Trickers save him from his foolishness.

Interlude Three

Randolph and Gillian discuss a shared purpose and a shared worry. They are Watchers, and they are worried about Aidan’s judgment.

The Mercenary’s Tale

Ahern and his company arrive at Barden’s Fortress with the second wave of mercenaries. They encounter some resistance along the way. Yet another employer tries to recruit Ahern, and he and Aidan have a frank conversation.

Interlude Four

Duke Aidan and his allies begin their march north, and he managed to engage a detached portion of the Tiberian Western Army.

The setting is south and central Ravenwood.

Gregory the Glassmaker’s Tale

Bullies offend the sensibilities of decent men and women, and such men and women are not as helpless as they might first appear.

Kimmelsport is the setting.

Raul’s Tale

Raul’s decision to prepare for a possible war occurs after he perceives the need to defend his family. His wife Jacinta is formerly from the Tiberian Empire.

The setting is Northport, the most powerful of the Free Cities.

Interlude Five

Aidan achieves a deal with the western nomads and confronts the Tiberian Empire’s Western Army. Sir Robert, a Ravenwood knight and one of his half-brother Kerry’s old friends, fights against the invaders.

The events occur in central and north central Ravenwood.

Giuseppe’s Tale

If an institution decides to reform itself, words will not suffice. The Church will need a hammer, too.

The action unfolds in Khartras and, mostly, in the Seven Kingdoms.

Cedric’s Tale

Duke Cedric, Aidan’s father, failed to stop Emperor Marcus and the Stradagh. But his failure was not due to a lack of effort or a lack of preparation. He saw the storm coming; it was simply more unpredictable than he expected. The Stradagh Archers do have a reputation for stealth.

The setting is the capital city of Ravenwood and its environs.

Interlude Six

Aidan and company encounter Poggio the Librarian.

The setting is Duke Cedric’s Library in central Ravenwood.

Northport’s Tale

Emperors and empires, people like Imboden and the Stradagh Elders, apparently cannot resist abusing their power and, eventually, overreaching. But even an idiot should have enough intelligence to be wary of angering Raul of Northport.

Gavin, along with a guardsman named Owen, prevented a disaster, but they also witnessed the events that roused Raul to all-out war.

Ravenwood’s Tale

Duke Aidan’s attack on the capital city leans fairly heavily on soldiers like Craig, Farrell, and Daniel. Daniel was a simple soldier simply doing his duty as a decent man would understand it.

Interlude Seven

Randolph and Gillian always take the long view. They are Watchers, but they are also men who try to make their own luck.

The setting is The Scholar’s Haven, a tavern in Ravenwood.

Richard’s Tale

Richard is a knight in the Order of the Righteous Blades.

The setting is the area of land between the Tiberian Empire, the eastern nomads, and the Free Cities.

The Watch’s Tale

Baronet Farrell gives Captain Gabriel and his men a new job, not an easy one, in West Crossing.

Epilogue

Raul of Northport changes the course of the war.