The Death Master Chronicles

Mai Tai and Tiffany's picture, shown above, was taken from an oil painting. The author loves Siamese cats and had this painting commissioned many years ago. They are the two Seal-Point Siamese mentioned in The Ultimatum. They were H. E. Rasske's guardians during residency in Canton, China. During that time, Tiffany contracted kidney disease, which is prevalent to the breed, and had to be put to sleep. Mai Tai died when a bomb from a Japanese aircraft struck Rasske's residence during the sacking of Canton and ended her life. Both animals were loyal guardians and friends. Shortly after this catastrophe, Rasske chose Bayan from a litter of kittens in Rangoon, Burma. He was re-assigned there to monitor Japanese troop movements. Two other pets, Khalifa and Sajhan are introduced in Book Four, The Identity. Sajhan is a shortened version of Sajhancam'd, which means 'beautiful you' in the Mongol dialect. The author mentions several of his little charges in the course of telling the stories of The Death Master Chronicles.