In this 75,000-word novel set in the main character through-line of the Door Into… series, sorceress
and swordswoman Segnbora tai-Enraesi – last scion of one of the Forty
Noble Houses of Darthen and hero of the great War against the Shadow –
is forced to come to grips with the one part of her life she’s
successfully avoided for more than a decade: her day job.
Segnbora’s
been preoccupied with the demands of motherhood and the continuing
business of supporting her husbands King Freelorn of Arlen and Herewiss
Hearn’s son in consolidating Freelorn’s hold on the Arlene throne. But
now her liege-lady and lover Eftgan of Darthen calls on Segnbora to take
up her rightful role as Head of House tai-Enraesi and begin restoring
her diminished Household to its proper position among the Forty.
Reviving
the fortunes of a House sunk into decline over two lifetimes will be
difficult work, Segnbora knows. But she doesn’t suspect how
difficult until, while visiting her lands in Darthen’s rural north, she
discovers that one Holding of House tai-Enraesi conceals a danger
unexpected enough to challenge even a companion of Dragons and a wielder
of the blue Fire of Power…
The Landlady is the second of five novelettes and short novels being published
during 2018-2019, spanning the years between Book 3 of the Tale of the
Five, The Door Into Sunset, and the forthcoming The Door Into Starlight.
Out now at Ebooks Direct: TALES OF THE FIVE #2: THE LANDLADY