When going to war, hire allies stronger than your enemy. Not stronger than you. Otherwise getting rid of them can be a problem. That was how the Horse Lords came to Alba, and how they came to rule it. That was how Bayrd ar'Talvlyn rose from a mere captain's rank to become lord of his own clan. And that was how the Art Magic became a part of life and death for the Horse Lords, sowing the seeds of conflict for years to come. Later chronicles sought to cast the newcomers' deeds in a better light. They didn't mention how an entire country had been stolen from its rightful owners at sword's point and any resistance crushed in the invaders' iron fist. And most of all they didn't talk about why a haughty people who'd at first disdained the Art Magic then started to use it like any other weapon... or how this new development triggered the terrible Clan Wars that followed. This is the tale the Book of Years dared not tell...