Even When Finding Oneself Engaged In Interstellar War, Good Form Must Be Observed. Our Story Is Set Thousands Of Years After The Terran Exodus, Where Two Powerful, Planet-dominating Families -- The Elegant House Jakabitus And The Less Refined Hahn Empire -- Have Reached A Critical Point In Their Generations-long War. Master Hennik, The Hahn Ruler's Only Son, Has Been Captured, And The Disposition Of His Internment May Represent A Last And Welcome Chance For Peace. Enter Wollard, The Impeccably Distinguished And Impossibly Correct Master Of Formalities For House Jakabitus. When He Suggests That Master Hennik Be Taken In As A Ward Of The House, Certain Complications Arise. Wollard Believes Utterly And Devotedly In Adhering To Rules And Good Etiquette. But How Does One Inform The Ruler Of A Planet That You Are Claiming His Son As Your Own -- And Still Create Enough Goodwill To Deescalate An Intergalactic War? --p. [4] Of Cover.