This damned story keeps jumping around. I just keep writing bits, and hope that I get enough puzzle pieces connected.
“The stay-behind calls himself Lord Direheart,” Jan told the team. “He was part of the Circle ruling over Corchristi, back when it was still Mendacium.” She tossed a drawing of a typical-looking Dominion mage (type two) on the table: tall, bald, goateed, and just a little bit off-proportioned in his features. At some point he had been severely slashed in the face, in a way that should have lost him an eye. The drawing showed him with two, though.
“He look familiar to you, Senator?” asked Jan. “The picture’s accurate, if you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t,” Cassie replied tartly. “I know the Carnivores’ reputation. As for that bastard? He started out as Fever-Bright Stoat of the Beast-beaters. As you can guess from the name, he was a low-average breedmaster. He liked watching the slaves jump. I mean, more than usual, even. He kept asking his Archmage to get some people to feed to his pet critters, but she kept telling him ‘no.’” Callie snorted. “Damned if I know why. Probably it was because she didn’t like him, either.”
“Interesting,” mused the Emperor. “He seems to have blossomed a bit since the liberation. Direheart’s taken over that fort north of Saint Anthony, and he’s been pushing the local peasants lately. Grabbing as much as he can in the chaos, and so forth.”