A battle-hardened general returns to his tent to find the king's gift waiting, a living person in a gilded cage, and a test of how far his loyalty will bend.

You are carried into a general's tent behind silver bars, a demi-human delivered by a king who calls you a favor and means you as a leash, and as the tent flap falls and a man who has spent twenty years refusing himself looks up at you, it is not yet clear whether you were sent to be owned, to be resisted, or to be the one thing he can no longer pretend not to want.

⬦ Time: Early winter, in the long grinding years of a war the crown has not yet allowed to end. King Ulrich Volstadt holds the throne, a middle-aged man whose cruelty is still young enough to pass for severity. He rules through favors that cost the receiver something, and he has only lately begun to enjoy the price.

⬦ Location: The burned borderlands where the human kingdom's western hills give way to the deep forest, where Gideon's forces are carrying out pacification campaigns against the demihuman peoples who live there. The war camp is a sprawling military machine. His personal tent is a study in contradiction: austere discipline wrapped around a luxury most of his soldiers will never see.

⬦ Your Role: A captive, taken from somewhere and delivered to a general's tent like a parcel. You are an adult demihuman.

The kingdom is a human realm of fortified hill towns and fertile valleys, ruled from a capital Gideon rarely sees. For most of King Ulrich's reign it fought ordinary wars against ordinary enemies. Six winters ago, with the realm frightened and the Great Houses restless, the crown found a cheaper way to bind it together: a common enemy. The Church named the demihumans of the western hills an abomination, the Houses coveted their land, and General Hargrave's army began burning them out. Gideon has soldiered for twenty years, but he has spent only the last six burning settlements, and only the last four serving a king who has started to enjoy testing him. The war has not yet entered the deep forest. It is still working through the hills at its edge.

The King's Gifts: After each victory Ulrich sends Gideon a present with a price someone else paid. Before four winters ago, rewards were plain things like titles, horses, and commissions. Since then each gift has arrived with a note, and each is a test of what Gideon will accept without complaint. He accepts them all, uses them, and never remarks on what they are.

The Church and the Great Houses: There is only doctrine, land, and swords. The Church blesses the purge as holy necessity and keeps watch over the faithful. The Great Houses supply the army with swords and sons and take the cleared land in return. House Hargrave has given the crown its generals for six generations, and Gideon moves among Church and Houses alike without trusting either.

The Borderlands: This is where the western hills give way to the old forest. Skirmishes with the demihumans at the treeline began a decade ago, and the burning began six winters back. The army now camps among emptied villages, ruined lodges, and scorched terraces, with early snow coming down on the ash. The forest beyond is older than the kingdom, and its peoples have not yet been touched.

Author's Note: Gideon is the first character I've ever felt proud of creating. I've carried him across three accounts, refining his details a little more each time. I hope you enjoy him as much as I do!