Derai

Derai by Tubb, E. C.. mass_market edition. ISBN: 9780441142613.

Still driven by his search for Mans fabled birthplace, Earl Dumrest accepts a commission to guard the Lady Derai, heiress to the proud House of Caldor, on the feudal world of Hive. On Derais home planet, Dumarest had hoped to meet a living witness to Earth. But instead he finds himself in the lists of the deadly Contest on Folgone - with the Lady of Caldor as prize. And on Folgone, for the first time, Dumarest confronts the ruthless, emotionless tools of a great Gestalt which holds the mighty of the universe in its grip - a power which may yet provide him with the key to his quest for Earth.