It is the last day of the Ricarny Races and the charming but penniless Viscount Charles Draxton (sixth in line to the throne) has just made an unwise bet with his cousin Edmund (fifth in line). If he loses he faces bankruptcy and exile – but if he wins he could be branded a traitor and executed. Can Draxton take another gamble to see a way out of his predicament and find an ally in the race-meet crowds who will help him finish the day a nose ahead?

'A Knight At The Races' first appeared in Villains!, an anthology of fantasy stories told from the point of view of the bad guys, edited by Neil Gaiman and Mary Gentle. It has been out of print for twenty years. It's a low-fantasy story from a high-fantasy world, with a cast of characters from the pages of classic British dark comedy.

It's a short(ish) story. Not a whole book. Just to make that clear.

James Wallis is the author of fifteen books including Mark of Damnation, Mark of Heresy and Hammers of Ulric (with Dan Abnett) for the Black Library, the award-winning Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen RPG, and some Sonic the Hedgehog novelisations that he prefers not to talk about.