Crossroads and Other Tales of Valdemar

Table of Contents

 

“Fans of Lackey’s epic Valdemar series will devour this superb anthology. Of the thirteen stories included, there is no weak link—an attribute exceedingly rare in collections of this sort. Highly recommended.”

—
The Barnes and Noble Review

 

“This high-quality anthology mixes pieces by experienced author and enthusiastic fans of editor Lackey’s Valdemar. Valdemar fandom, especially, will revel in this sterling example of what such a mixture of fans’ and pros’ work can be. Engrossing even for newcomers to Valdemar.”

—
Booklist

 

“Joseph Sherman, Tanya Huff, Mickey Zucker Reichert, and Michelle West have quite good stories, and there’s another by Lackey herself. Familiarity with the series helps but is not a prerequisite to enjoying this book.”

—
Science Fiction Chronicle

 

“Each tale adheres to the Lackey laws of the realm yet provides each author’s personal stamp on the story. Well written and fun, Valdemarites will especially appreciate the magic of this book.”

—
The Midwest Book Review

available from DAW Books:

 

ARROWS OF THE QUEEN
ARROW’S FLIGHT
ARROW’S FALL

 

MAGIC’S PAWN
MAGIC’S PROMISE
MAGIC’S PRICE

 

WINDS OF FATE
WINDS OF CHANGE
WINDS OF FURY

 

STORM WARNING
STORM RISING
STORM BREAKING

 

THE OATHBOUND
OATHBREAKERS
OATHBLOOD

 

BY THE SWORD
BRIGHTLY BURNING
TAKE A THIEF
EXILE’S HONOR
EXILE’S VALOR

SWORD OF ICE
SUN IN GLORY
CROSSROADS

 

Written with
LARRY DIXON:

 

THE BLACK GRYPHON
THE WHITE GRYPHON
THE SILVER GRYPHON

 

OWLFLIGHT
OWLSIGHT
OWLKNIGHT

 

 

THE BLACK SWAN

 

JOUST
ALTA
SANCTUARY

 

THE SERPENT’S SHADOW
THE GATES OF SLEEP
PHOENIX AND ASHES
THE WIZARD OF LONDON

 

 

And don’t miss:
The VALDEMAR COMPANION
Edited by John Helfers and Denise Little

Copyright © 2005 by Mercedes Lackey and Tekno Books

 

All Rights Reserved

 

 

DAW Book Collectors No. 1346.

 

DAW Books are distributed by Penguin Group (USA).

 

All characters and events in this book are fictitious.
All resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.

 

 

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Printing, December 2005

DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED
U.S. PAT. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
—MARCA REGISTRADA
HECHO EN U.S.A.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-52437-4

Introduction copyright © 2005 by Mercedes Lackey

 

“Transmutation,” copyright © 2005 by Larry Dixon

 

“The Feast of the Children,” copyright © 2005 by Nancy Asire

 

“Death in Keenspur House,” copyright © 2005 by Richard Lee Byers

 

“Dawn of Sorrows,” copyright © 2005 by Brenda Cooper

 

“Horse of Air,” copyright © 2005 by Rosemary Edghill

 

“A Change of Heart,” copyright © 2005 by Sarah A. Hoyt and Kate Paulk

 

“All the Ages of Man,” copyright © 2005 by Tanya Huff

 

“War Cry,” copyright © 2005 by Michael Longcor

 

“Strength and Honor,” copyright © 2005 by Ben Ohlander

 

“The Blue Coat,” copyright © 2005 by Fiona Patton

 

“Safe and Sound,” copyright © 2005 by Stephanie Shaver

 

“Song for Two Voices,” copyright © 2005 by Janni Lee Simner

 

“Finding Elvida,” copyright © 2005 by Mickey Zucker Reichert

 

“Darkwall’s Lady,” copyright © 2005 by Judith Tarr

 

“Naught but Duty,” copyright © 2005 by Michael Z. Williamson

 

“Landscape of the Imagination,” copyright © 2005 by Mercedes Lackey

 

 

 

 

Once there was a computer programmer with ambitions—one might say delusions—of being a writer.

Actually she’d had ambitions for a very long time. As a kid, she had written Andre Norton pastiches and illustrated them too (and somewhere she still has some of those illustrations) and occasionally told them as bedtime stories to the kids she babysat. As a teenager she continued to write, submitting short story after short story to her high school literary magazine (and she has some of those somewhere as well). And in college she created an ongoing story arc about a team of psychic spies that she wrote as letters to amuse a friend.

She actually went so far as to take a creative writing honors course with the one college professor who was interested in science fiction and fantasy. His advice: find out what you like, break it down to see what you like about it, then do that. It was good advice, and she’s been following it ever since.

Writing kind of went by the wayside for a while as she (OK,
I
) struggled to make a living. But when things weren’t quite so hard, I went back to the writing, pounding stuff out on an old typewriter for fanzines. Good heavens, someone even had a set of those things they asked me to autograph recently. I was joking when I offered to buy them back; but truth to tell, I have a lot of affection for those old zines and stories. I had a lot of fun writing them.

But then one day, at the point where I was actually that computer programmer, something switched over and I decided to get serious.

A novel of Valdemar was not the first book I tried to write. Actually, the germs of that first book became the books I co-wrote with James Mallory. But it was the second. And
Arrows of the Queen
was the first one I actually finished.

By that time I had written and actually sold several Tarma and Kethry stories—also in the same world—and some Darkover fiction. Most sold to Marion Zimmer Bradley, but some also sold to fantasy magazines. That was the point where C.J. Cherryh volunteered herself as my mentor, looked at the book, said “Commit trilogy,” and it all proceeded from there.

I was incredibly lucky to hook up with Elizabeth Wollheim and the folks at DAW with this first effort. It has been a great relationship all the way.

Even better, the whole world seems to have inspired other people to want to come play in it. Each person has had his or her own take on it that has made it just that much more varied and interesting, and come up with things that made me smile, made me cry, and sometimes made me say, “Boy I wish I had thought of that!”

Two volumes of Valdemar short stories have been published already, and you hold in your hands the third. It’s been a great trip so far, and even better for having all these wonderful folks along for the ride.

 

V
ALDEMAR weathered the Mage-Storms, and all the nations and peoples of Velgarth worked to stabilize in the aftermath. In the north of Valdemar, Darien and his compatriots returned from their quest to find Darien’s parents. Errold’s Grove, Kelmskeep, and the newest Hawk-brother Vale, k’Valdemar, forged ahead alongside the western refugees while in the east, ancient Iftel opened its borders for the first time, and to the south Hardorn and Karse were no longer the threats they once were.

The trouble now, though, was from within. A trade baron named Farragur Elm and a coalition of major tradesmen, distributors, and warehousers seized all resources in the vicinity of Deedun and created a putative secessionist movement, using the entire—stolen—livelihoods of the region’s workers as leverage. The strong arm of the plan was a mercenary force, once under Haven’s pay, hired over to Elm’s side. The Crown sent Heralds, Guard Regulars, and Cavalry to test the situation. In the first engagement with the mercenaries, Cavalry officer Hallock Stavern was mortally wounded, and dragged back to camp—whereupon he was put in medical isolation as an untreatable casualty. He heard a commotion outside, and discovered that a gryphon, sent from Kelmskeep in the north to scout the situation, dove in and smashed a mercenary attack against Valdemaran troops—but was himself gravely hurt. The gryphon, given only the crude medical treatment available and expected to expire soon, was housed with Stavern. They shared each others’ company with stories of their homes and loves. Hallock told the gryphon, Kelvren, about his wife Genni. Charmed by the tales of Genni’s love for the man, Kelvren is soothed, but then Hallock critically weakens—and would have died, if not for Kelvren’s desperate Healing spellwork to save him.