The Goblin Mirror
by By Cherryh, C. J.
Category: Fiction , Fantasy , General

To the princes of Maggiar, over-mountain was a land they knew only from gran's stories; few people in their little kingdom had ever ventured so far from their valley. But now the wizard Karoly announced that he must make the journey there to seek advice from his witch-sister. For things hadn't been right in Maggiar this last season, not right at all...The princes Tamas and Bogdan were to go with Karoly, along with the huntsman Nikolai. Yuri, the youngest prince, chafed at being left behind. So when Tamas' dog chased after his master, Yuri followed. Soon the young prince had traveled far enough into the woods to wonder if he might not catch up with his brothers after all.His brothers had worries of their own. No sooner were they over-mountain, than their party was ambushed and scattered. The kingdoms they had come to find had all been ravaged. The goblins had declared war.Tamas, separated from the rest, fell in with Ela, a witch's apprentice. He found himself caught up in a battle of magic. For Ela held a shard broken off the goblin queen's mirror, a mere fragment that could wield a magic so strong and unpredictable that no other witch dared touch it. With this single sliver of magic, Ela planned to challenge the goblin queen herself...