Toward A Hybrid Joy

Augston is going through troubled times. First, a council of regents, jealous of their privileges and stubbornly individualistic, is the only country-wide governance it has until the possible kings are of an age to be elected. Then, a few years into the regency, a disease wipes out most of the herds of cattle that Augstonians rely on for much of their diet.

The banditry that began once the council took over forced Burgravine Brynhild Von Meiser to marry Duke Ivan for an army. He left her in a precarious position when he died two years later, and his cousin Helmut has schemed to steal the port of Meiser from her since.

But when her beloved neighbor Wilhelm loses his last bull, she can't help but reach out to her aristocratic connections to replace them. The only response she gets is from a Lady Bayalun of Luronia, but it might hold the answer for Augston's food supply: a herd of sturdy yak-cow hybrids that can restart their economy.

The strange new herd is a gamble, and Helmut cannot wait to use it against her in his attempt to steal her port. And someone is plotting against the herd, ready to use any and all means to eliminate the struggling bovines. Who is this stranger? How can the stranger and Helmut be thwarted so that the port of Meiser and the country of Augston can flourish once more? Brynhild has only her friends Ministeriales Steward Alfred, Lady Butler Bigitte, and Ministeriales Marshal Karl, and young Lady Jutta to help her discover the villains and stop their underhanded attacks. Can our little band find the cow-killer and save the port too?