The Shadow of the
Lion
by Mercedes
Lackey,
Eric Flint & Dave
Freer
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2002 by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint & Dave Freer
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
www.baen.com
ISBN: 0-7434-3523-0
Cover art by Larry Dixon
First printing, March 2002
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lackey, Mercedes.The shadow of the lion / Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint & Dave Freer.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-7434-3523-0
1. Venice (Italy)—History—1508–1797—Fiction. 2. Brothers—Fiction.
3. Monsters—Fiction. I. Flint, Eric. II. Freer, Dave. III. Title.PS3562.A246 S53 2002
813'.54—dc21 2001056466
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH
Printed in the United States of America
To the world's
firefighters;
and, especially:
to the hundreds of those
in the
Fire Department of New York
who died in the line of duty on
September 11, 2001.
BAEN BOOKS by MERCEDES LACKEY
BARDIC VOICES
The Lark & the
Wren
The Robin & the Kestrel
The Eagle & the Nightingales
The Free Bards
Four & Twenty Blackbirds
Bardic Choices: A Cast of
Corbies
(with Josepha Sherman)
The Fire
Rose
Fiddler Fair
Werehunter
Lammas Night
(edited by Josepha Sherman)
The Ship Who Searched
(with Anne McCaffrey)
Wing Commander:
Freedom Flight
(with Ellen Guon)
URBAN FANTASIES
Bedlam's
Bard
(omnibus with Ellen Guon)
Beyond World's End
(with Rosemary Edghill)
Spirits White as Lightning
(with Rosemary Edghill)
The SERRAted Edge:
Chrome
Circle
(with Larry Dixon)
The Chrome Borne
(omnibus with Larry Dixon)
The Otherworld
(omnibus with Mark Shepherd & Holly Lisle)
THE BARD'S TALE NOVELS
Castle of
Deception
(with Josepha Sherman)
Fortress of Frost &
Fire
(with Ru Emerson)
Prison of
Souls
(with Mark Shepherd)
BAEN BOOKS by ERIC FLINT
The Philosophical Strangler
Forward the Mage (with Richard Roach)
The Belisarius series, with David Drake:
An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory
The Tyrant (with David Drake)
(forthcoming)
1632
Mother of Demons
BAEN BOOKS by DAVE FREER
The Forlorn
Rats, Bats, and Vats
(with Eric Flint)
Pyramid Scheme
(with Eric Flint)