Prologue

Fate

Is it the gods amusing themselves by playing puppeteer with the lives of mortals? Is it the clockwork mechanism of the universe, ticking slowly towards some inexorable conclusion, heedless of the souls that are ground in its gears? Or is it just a word we assign in retrospect to those whose deeds shape their world? Is the path of those to whom we give the title “Destined” truly written in the stars? Or are they subject to the same vagaries of good fortune and bad luck, inspired insight and poor choices, faith, doubt, courage, and cowardice that afflict us all? History is written by those who survive it, and the stories of those who fall by its wayside hold little interest for the generations that follow.

Six People

with nothing in common save the touch of a monster. Six people who would count themselves cursed. Six people who walk a path that begins in loss and death, and leads to a destination no less murky than that of any other mortal.

Erin  Nelsson. Unable to forgive herself for the disappearance of her sister, she has devoted herself to the service of Iomedae, to protect others who cannot protect themselves, and to steel herself to never again make the kind of mistake that cost her her family.

 

Jax. One of the lucky few to have escaped the notorious child slaver, Gaedren Lamm, he is haunted by the memory of one who did not escape, and the knowledge that she died in his place.

 

Wren. Another former Lamm’s Lamb, she will not speak of how she escaped, nor of the horrors she suffered during her captivity. A devotee of Pharasma, the Lady of Graves, she fears that a world that allows the existence of one such as Gaedren Lamm is a world too painful to live in.

 

Shadow. Outwardly happy-go-lucky and carefree, this half-elf is a former shiver addict, and is tortured by memories of things he did while in thrall to the drug and the terrible cost that others paid as the price of his addiction.

 

Tomas Jentaine. The younger son of a prominent Korvosan family, he brought shame upon his house when he was drummed out of the Sable Company for betraying his oath and duty. His actions were a futile attempt to free his older brother from Lamm’s clutches, and his brother paid with his life.

 

Natan Dorré. Wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, Natan lost everything – his mother, his reputation, his place at the Acadamae – to Gaedren Lamm’s vile scheming.

Six People

with nothing connecting them save the black thread that Gaedren Lamm has wrapped around their hearts. Is this thread part of the fabric of fate, woven on the loom of the Gods? Only time – and history – will tell.