A Fire Rages in Cruachan - Part Two — Bill Stackhouse

Peace has reigned in Cruachan since Seamus, the first High King, united the three kingdoms into a Confederation and, with the assistance of the dwarfs from the Sawtooth Mountains in the north and the elves from the Tangled Woods in the east, drove the occupying Northmen from the island nation. Yet there is an undercurrent of unrest. Some Cruachanians fought for independence, thinking that the hereditary system of government with its shire chieftains and provincial kings would be replaced by a republic. Others, who profited handsomely under the occupiers, still dream of yesteryears' wealth.In A Fire Rages in Cruachan, the third book of the tetralogy, it has been sixteen years since Pádraig, having been instrumental in thwarting a rebellion by the Northern Alliance that would have torn the Confederation of the Three Kingdoms asunder, was consecrated as a master wizard and picked by Déaglán, High King of Cruachan and King of the Western Shires, to be Court Wizard for the Western Shires, replacing the late Venerable Taliesin.Déaglán's son, Crown Prince Liam, functioning as Acting-King of the Western Shires in his father's absence, had objected to the appointment, angry with Pádraig for having included in the Articles of Capitulation that ended the insurrection a clause nullifying Liam's betrothal to his first love, Máiréad, and requiring him to instead marry Teagan, the sister of Ríoghán, King of the Northern Shires.Now, with the passing over to The Otherworld of the Venerable Coinneach, Master of the Academy for the Spiritually Gifted, Liam has convinced Déaglán to appoint Pádraig as Coinneach's successor. Although a prestigious assignment, Pádraig realizes it for what it is-a deprivation posting. A way for Liam to finally get rid of him by sending him to administer the school for aspiring wizards on Blessed Island.Although out of Liam's sight and mind, Pádraig still has his finger on the pulse of happenings on the mainland. Like Coinneach before him, Pádraig oversees The Watchmen, a secret group of like-minded individuals who don't want another conflict foisted upon them because of zealot republicans or former Northman overlord collaborators.As Prime Watchman, Pádraig receives reports of two similar suspicious poisoning deaths in different Northern shires. All indications are that these deaths are merely experiments to test the efficacy of the poison. But, the ultimate target eludes The Watchmen.Pádraig is also made aware that in the Northern Shires, a company quartermaster sergeant from the garrison at North Head has discovered that supply wagons sent out from Fortress Béarra are being surreptitiously diverted into the forest of The Uplands. After reporting the discrepancy to the quartermaster at Fortress Béarra, all the teamsters assigned to the next shipment are killed in a raid, supposedly by bandits. An unfortunate coincidence? Or, a clean-up operation to eliminate any witnesses to the plot?Has the Northern Alliance been reconstituted? If so, under whose auspices? And, how much time before they reveal their hand and strike? These are just three of the many questions to which the Venerable Pádraig and The Watchmen must find answers-and find them quickly.