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)