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Captain Aruzel Kidron, privateer, has made his reputation raiding alien vessels and colonies in his converted trader, "Magpie". His arch rival is Nomelet of the Calethar, who represents the greatest threat to his ambitions in space.

Sydney, Australia dominates world trade after a 30-year nuclear winter. Few citizens share the benefits and are kept in line by a brutal Security Department. Harry Beatle, once head of Security, is called back to hunt down an old rogue colleague. But Harry finds himself fighting for his own survival.

Third Prince Maddyn Kevleren is one of the few members of his royal family who cannot Wield - cannot access the realm of magic. When he crosses the most powerful magician in the empire, he will be forced to set out across the sea to find the new colony of Kydan to escape her revenge... but even the wide ocean may not be enough to protect him.

After surviving battle and sorcery, the city of Kydan now faces internal division between native and Hamilayan colonist. Strategos Galys Valera and her allies must forge a new city from the old in time to face the threat of a defeated enemy intent on bloody revenge.

Back in the old world, Empress Lerena of Hamilay, flushed with victory over her rivals, finds that she may yet have to go to war to finally secure her place as the most powerful Wielder of the Sefid, the great source of magic that shapes both city and empire.

A final confrontation between old and new, between tyrannical magic and freedom, and between an empire and a growing nation - state that will determine the fate of millions - and not least the brave band of colonists who set out from Hamilay to settle Kydan with courage and hope in their hearts.

In the first novel of a brand-new trilogy, Simon Brown introduces Lynan, the youngest prince of Grenda Lear. Ignored by his family, he is forced to flee his home after he's betrayed. But he vows to return to claim his inheritance - a magical key that could help him change his destiny.

In the second novel of this exciting trilogy, Lynan, the youngest prince, begins to gather an army, vowing to drive his homeland into civil war. In the meantime, his half-sister Areava has been crowned queen of Grenda Lear. The only thing they can both be certain of is that there will be a reckoning between them-one that will threaten all of Grenda Lear...

Prince Lynan was ignored by his family until he inherited the magical Key of Union. Betrayed and driven from his rightful position at court, he was forced into exile. But after war and hardship, Lynan is no longer that callow prince - he will allow nothing to stand between him and his return to the capital... and the throne.

This novelette originally appeared on Eidolon: SF Online, December 1997. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection (1998), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collections Troy (Brown, 2006) and Magic Dirt: The Best of Sean Williams (2008).