Chapter 1
The Blood-Red CrescentTaramis, Queen of Khauran, awakened from a dream-haunted slumber
to a silence that seemed more like the stillness of nighted
catacombs than the normal quiet of a sleeping place. She lay
staring into the darkness, wondering why the candles in their
golden candelabra had gone out. A flecking of stars marked a
gold-barred casement that lent no illumination to the interior of
the chamber. But as Taramis lay there, she became aware of a spot
of radiance glowing in the darkness before her. She watched,
puzzled. It grew and its intensity deepened as it expanded, a
widening disk of lurid light hovering against the dark velvet
hangings of the opposite wall. Taramis caught her breath, starting
up to a sitting position. A dark object was visible in that cir
