Split Heirs

Description for SPLIT HEIRS by Lawrence Watt-Evans and Esther M Friesner:

The Ancient & Honorable Kingdom of the Hydrangeans

is now the latest conquest of the mighty Gorgorian warrior

GUDGE.

To Gudge's bride, Queen Artemisia of Hydrangea, are born a set of royal triplets. But traditional Gorgorian belief holds that triplets are a sure sign of the mother's adultery -- for which the traditional Gorgorian punishment is death. And Gudge is nothing if not a traditionalist....

So in secret the Queen sends her faithful servant Ludmilla on a desperate mission, to bear the girl and the younger boy to the secret forest redoubt of the last Hydrangean resistance. The oldest boy will remain, to be raised as the heir.

Unfortunately, Ludmilla takes both boys instead.. .