Emperor and Clown — Dave Duncan

THE FINAL JOURNEY

The loyal stableboy Rap had fought through hell and high water to rescue Inos, his queen. But at the end of his quest, all his struggle had been in vain.

For Inos had already married the accursed Sultan Azak. Her beauty had been despoiled, her kingdom stolen away. And for her honeymoon, Azak planned the dangerous journey to Hub, capital of the Impire. There, amid the maelstrom of fearsome magic and vicious imperial politics surrounding the ailing imperor, Azak intended to recoup all his losses and be freed from his curse.

A failed and broken man, Rap awaited his fate--at the hands of Azak's torturers. And Inos followed her destiny, and her jealous new lord, on a journey whose outcome even the gods could not have foretold...