Grand Inquisitor Alsophos Bradek used to ask questions to which he knew the answers and cast his judgment accordingly, but now he's faced with an unfamiliar need to know. Journey with him to Montinora to learn: Who is the betrayer, and who is the betrayed?
 

     For seven years since its fall, the city of Montinora lingered as the barren remains of a castle and an armory, a temple and an artisans’ village, all of which the forest had reclaimed since the deciding battle against invaders was lost.

     Alsophos Bradek, the former Grand Inquisitor and leader of the Council, braced his weight on a cane and watched a distant pack of whistling swans, graceful white specks against the dark-gray rubble, fly by. They shadowed ruins of castle ramparts, bastions, towers and bridges awash in cold red sunlight. The curtain wall was down, the granary burned, and the Great Hall smashed to bits. He’d expected this decayed wasteland, but it wasn’t all he found. The city-in-the-caldera sprouted peasant huts and fields all around the perimeter; remnants of life had returned to dwell among the rubble, and Montinora’s defeat appeared forgotten.