Chapter twenty-oneMy name is Drak Valhan Prescot, and I am the Emperor of Vallia. My wife, Silda Segutoria Valhan Prescot, is the Empress of Vallia.
I must confess I found it extremely difficult to believe my father’s fantastic stories of a world with only one yellow sun, with only a tiny silver moon, and with no diffs at all but only apims like ourselves. Now, I have to believe. For me this all began one pleasant evening as we strolled along the balcony after dinner in the palace of Vondium the Proud City.
A squawk in the air drew my attention. Up there flew a scarlet and golden raptor, a giant hunting bird of remarkable aspect. I’d thought I’d seen such a bird as a youngster; but my father pooh-poohed the idea. Now I know the raptor to be the Gdoinye, the spy and messenger of the Evero
