Maia

NOTE

Readers of Shardik will observe that the maps, included in this story, of the Beklan Empire and of Bekla itself differ from those in the earlier book. These maps are not, however, inconsistent with those. Certain places, e.g., Lak and Tissarn, shown on the Shardik maps have been omitted here, since they form no part of Maia's story. Conversely, other features, e.g., Lake Serrelind, Nybril and Suba, played no part in Shardik, and accordingly were not shown on those maps.

The events in this story ante-date Shardik by a few years.

"Maia" rhymes with "higher" (not with "layer").