Foreword

This is the final story in a four part series about Rachael of Ashtarak. The series is set in the ninth century fictional country of Emarukistan, a world inspired by the artwork of Emarukk.

Stories in sequence:
Rachael, Slave of Emarukistan
Rachael and the Sultan’s Daughters
Rachael and the Grey Monks (limited publication)
Rachael and the Warlord

Story so far: Twenty-six year old Rachael is the only child of one of Rahim’s slave concubines. She spent her formative years as a hard working slave in her father’s caravanserai at Wadi Halaf, tending to the needs of the trading caravans that regularly pass through Ashtarak. Unexpectedly given her freedom when her father became city warlord, Rachael initially struggles to adjust to freedom in a world where the strong enslave the weak without hesitation. After spending time re-enslaved at a slave training house called the Halls of Valhalla, Rachael ends up owning the Halls, along with its slaves. Her cousin Zoe is among those slaves.

Rachael purchases two former sultanas, Amina and Farai, who, along with their sisters, found themselves forced into slavery after fleeing a brutal war in the west. Rachael, Zoe, Amina and Farai successfully run the Halls of Valhalla for several years.

During a visit by the widely distrusted Grey Monks, Rachael becomes the unwitting victim of political intrigue. She is offered as a hostage to the visiting Grey Monks by Samvel, a city alderman. Rachael is taken north to the city of Bolnisi. Unable to prove that she is a free woman, Rachael spends several months as a slave of the city’s ruler. Eventually she is given her freedom once again, and Rachael returns to Ashtarak...