The Emperor's Consort

BOOK FOUR
The Welcome Greeting
The Flight
Held!
Jan's Last Words
The Passing of Katrina
The Burial of the Emperor



BOOK ONE


THE BEATING HEART

Jan of Ruffluck Croft never tired of telling about the day when his
little girl came into the world. In the early morning he had been
to fetch the midwife, and other helpers; all the forenoon and a
good part of the afternoon he had sat on the chopping-block, in the
woodshed, with nothing to do but to wait.

Outside it rained in torrents and he came in for his share of the
downpour, although he was said to be under cover. The rain reached
him in the guise of dampness through cracks in the walls and as
drops from a leaky roof, then all at once, through the doorless
opening of the shed, the wind swept a regular deluge in upon him.

"I just wonder if anybody thinks I'm glad to have that young one