title: Servant: The Dark God Book 1 (Volume 1)
author:  John D. Brown 
description: "It's great!"<br />~ <b>BRANDON SANDERSON</b>, New York Times best-selling author<br /><br />"Engrossing debut . . . Readers will be rewarded with a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy adventure."<br />~ <b>PUBLISHERS WEEKLY</b><br /><br />"A book that copies nothing I have read before and which goes its own way brilliantly."<br />~ <b>DAVID DRAKE</b>, best-selling author<br /><br />"Engrossed enough to pound through this novel in a couple of sittings."<br />~ <b>LARRY CORRIEA</b>, New York Times best-selling author<br /><br />"A provocative, suspenseful beginning of a new series."<br />~ <b>BOOKLIST </b><br /><br />"A welcome addition to large-scale fantasy."<br />~ <b>LIBRARY JOURNAL</b> (Starred Review!)<br /><br />"Thoroughly engrossing from the first page to the last!"<br />~ <b>DAVID FARLAND</b>, New York Times best-selling author<br /><br />"I will say, in utter candor, that Servant is a work that truly stands out from other fantasy books on the market. What makes this book work so well is that it's a story about family first, and a fantasy adventure second."<br />~ <b>ORSON SCOTT CARD'S INTERGALACTIC MEDICINE SHOW</b><br /><br />"Like another reviewer, I picked up this book with reluctance, but by the third chapter I found myself completely under its spell."<br />~ <b>CACHE MAGAZINE</b><br /><br />"There are moments of cliffhanger suspense and scenes of tender compassion. Terrible things happen, but powerful good rises to meet the challenge, though this is no "and they all lived happily ever after" kind of story. Face it, a fantasy novel that pulled me in so thoroughly, has to be good."<br />~ <b>JENNIE HANSEN</b>, Meridian Magazine
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Dark Lord
  
  By Kathryn Le Veque
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright 2008 by Kathryn Le Veque  
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
  manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
  quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.  
    
  Printed by Dragonblade Publishing in the United States of America  
    
  
  Text copyright 2008 by Kathryn Le Veque  
  Cover copyright 2008 by Kathryn Le Veque
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To Mrs. Catherine Tribble,
  
  My grandmother
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ‘Doomsman of Deeds and dreadful Lord, -- Woe for that man  
  who in harm and hatred hales his soul to fiery embraces’
  
  \- Beowulf, Chapter II
  
  CHAPTER ONE
  
  May, 1180 AD
  
  Scots Borderlands, England
  
  He had her by the hair; strands of spun gold clutched in the dirty mailed
  glove. Perhaps it was because she had tried to bite him and he did not want to
  chance another encounter with her sharp white teeth. Or perhaps it was because
  he was a brute of a man, sworn to Ajax de Velt and k