Dagger of Deception

It is several months after the victorious Battle of the Zinchara (see The Invisible Chains — Part 3: Bonds of Blood) and daily life in Lorseth Castle has returned to normal.

The prince's pages have taken up their usual routine of exercise, study, service, raiding Lorseth's taverns, and bickering among themselves. Everything seems peaceful enough until a village girl accuses one of the pages—and a master of pages, no less—of having raped her, leaving her with child. A charge which Eynurm of Tarnwood vigorously denies.

Since there is no proof and Eynurm has a solid reputation everyone concerned thinks that this straw fire will be easily stomped out. That is, until the maiden in question is found dead with a dagger in her belly. A dagger that bears the crest of Eynurm's House.

Luckily for Eynurm, he has two good friends, Rahendo and Ryhunzo, who believe he has been set up and who swear they won't rest until they have discovered the real murderer…

Dagger of Deception is a historical mystery, set in the medieval World of Anaxantis. The main storyline is called Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse and consists, at the time of first publication of this book (November, 2022), of seven books, a trilogy and a quadrilogy. Although it is parallel to the main series, this is a stand-alone story. It is also far lighter fare than the Dark Tales.

Rahendo and Ryhunzo, the amateur sleuths, are a gay couple. Some vanilla male on male action occurs.