“A saga of daring deeds and unlikely romance.” — Library Journal One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold has won numerous accolades and awards, including the Nebula and Locus Awards as well as the fantasy and science fiction genre’s most prestigious honor, the Hugo Award for Best Novel, four times (most recently for Paladin of Souls ). With The Sharing Knife series, Bujold creates a brand new world fraught with peril, and spins an extraordinary romance between a young farm girl and the brave sorcerer-soldier entrusted with the defense of the land against a plague of vicious malevolent beings. Legacy continues the tale of Fawn Bluefield and Dag Redwing Hickory—the dangerous repercussions of their rebellious marriage and the strengthening of their love in the face of dark magic—as duty and disaster call the Lakewalker patroller away from his new bride and toward a peril that could forever alter the lovers and their world. Volume two in the epic fantasy sagaof love and peril, courage and fate,from one of the mosthonored writers in the field—multiple Hugo Award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold Ill-chance brought young Fawn Bluefield together with Dag Redwing Hickory, the seasoned soldier-sorcerer, but it was love and loyalty that joined their fates. While their unorthodox marriage has been grudgingly accepted by the clever farmgirl’s people, Dag’s Lakewalker kin are less tolerant, greeting their union with derision, suspicion, and prejudice. The specterof permanent exile looms above the couple—until a final decision on their lot is diverted by a sudden, viciously magical malice attack on a neighboring hinterland. Sworn to duty, Dag must answer the call, leaving his new bride behind. But what awaits him and his patrol could have serious and unimagined consequences for farmers and Lakewalkers alike,forever altering the lovers, their families, and their world. One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold burst onto the scene in 1986 with Shards of Honor , the first of her tremendously popular Vorkosigan Saga novels. She has received numerous accolades and prizes, including two Nebula Awards for best novel ( Falling Free and Paladin of Souls ), four Hugo Awards for Best Novel ( Paladin of Souls , The Vor Game , Barrayar , and Mirror Dance ), as well as the Hugo and Nebula Awards for her novella The Mountains of Mourning . Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Sharing Knife Volume Two Legacy By Lois Bujold HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2008 Lois Bujold All right reserved. ISBN: 9780061139062 Chapter One Dag had been married for a whole two hours, and was still light-headed with wonder. The weighted ends of the wedding cord coiling around his upper arm danced in time with the lazy trot of his horse. Riding by his side, Fawn— my new bride , now there was a phrase to set a man's mind melting—met his smile with happy eyes. My farmer bride . It should have been impossible. There would be trouble about that, later. Trouble yesterday, trouble tomorrow. But no trouble now. Now, in the light of the loveliest summer afternoon he ever did see, was only a boundless contentment. Once the first half dozen miles were behind them, Dag found both his and Fawn's urgency to be gone from the wedding party easing. They passed through the last village on the northern river road, after which the wagon way became more of a two-rut track, and the remaining farms grew farther apart, with more woods between them. He let a few more miles pass, till he was sure they were out of range of any potential retribution or practical jokers, then began keeping an eye out for a spot to make camp. If a Lakewalker patroller with this much woods to choose from couldn't hide from farmers, something was wrong. Secluded , he decided, was a better watchword still. At length, he led Fawn down to the river at a rocky ford, then upstream for a time till they came to where a clear creek, gurgling down from the eastern ridge, joined the flow. He turned Copperhead up it for a good quarter mile till he found a pretty glade, all mossy by the stream and surrounded by tall trees and plenty of them; and, his groundsense guaranteed, no other person for a mile in any direction. Of necessity, he had to let Fawn unsaddle the horses and set up the site. It was a simple enough task, merely laying out their bedrolls and making just enough of a fire to boil water for tea. Still, she cast an observant eye at him as he lay with his back against a broad beech bole and plucked irritably at the sling supporting his right arm with the hook replacing his left hand. "You have a job," she told him encouragingly. "You're on guard against the mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers and blackflies." "And squirrels," he added hopefully. "We'll get to them." Food did not have t