While Jocelynn faced her trial on the frozen ground of the Vale of Mists, her father worked late into the night in Blackwell Manor, unaware of the dangers she faced.
The candles in the great chandelier had burned down to stubs hours ago. Only the oil lamp on the corner of his desk still burned, throwing a small circle of golden light across the charts spread over the old blackwood desk.
Count Rhys Blackwell leaned over the charts with his elbows planted on either side, and traced a calloused finger north along the coast, past Astier's Point and Riven Isle and the neatly marked line that ran between the two before extending off across the sea.
By longstanding agreement with the crown, Rhys's dominion over the high seas ended at the Riven Line, as did his responsibility to patrol the seas for piracy and other threats to the kingdom. North of the line, the Royal Fleet patrolled the frigid waters, launching from their slips in Cobalt Bay and the Ice Breaker Isles.
