"Azhure!" StarDrifter whispered so that only she could hear. "You are a wondrous gift to the SunSoar family! You carry not one but two babes within you. A son, and a daughter. Both will be Enchanters. Ah, Azhure, you are an enchanted woman yourself!" In the entire history of the Icarii race, only twice before had an Icarii woman given birth to twins.

Azhure s eyes widened. Twins! "Thank you, StarDrifter," she murmured and sat down in the chair behind her. What he had done to her was an undoubted intrusion, but both his touch and his words had comforted and strengthened Azhure at a time when she desperately needed both comfort and strength.

StarDrifter sat down beside her, Ysgryff hurrying to take the seat on her other side, and Azhure smiled as she settled Caelum comfortably on her lap. The boy was dressed in a suit of dark red velvet that matched her dress and, with his mop of black curls and blue eyes, looked every bit as striking as his mother.

Another son and a daughter, Azhure thought. Can she do that for him?

She? Caelum's thought intruded into her mind. She? Who is this 'she' who you have thought about so much recently? Is it Faraday?

Pay attention, Caelum. Your father will be here soon.

StarDrifter had caught the exchange and was so stunned he literally rocked on his chair. He stared at Azhure. How did she do that? How? The ability to speak with the mind voice was one shared only by the most powerful of Enchanters -many of the lesser Icarii Enchanters never mastered the ability.

"Axis," Azhure said softly, breaking StarDrifter's thoughts.

A boat had drawn up to the shore and Axis and Faraday were stepping out.

Azhure took a deep breath when she saw Faraday. She looked as wondrous as she had appeared in the vision Azhure had seen at Yuletide when StarDrifter had summoned Faraday to awaken the Earth Tree with him. She was dressed in a cream silk gown, heavily brocaded, its square neckline emphasising her pale breasts and neck. Oh Stars, thought Azhure in despair, she is so beautiful!

Faraday's face, indeed, her whole carriage, exuded happiness and contentment. She walked by Axis, touching his arm now and then, the dress swaying out from her hips slighdy as she walked. Every smile she gave Axis, every step she took by his side, shouted her love for the man.

Axis looked fit and relaxed. He wore the golden tunic, the blood-red sun blazing in the centre of his chest, over the red breeches — now cleaned of any trace of blood. A golden sword swung by his side, and his hair and beard had been trimmed and brushed so that they caught the afternoon sun and glinted almost as gold as the material of his tunic.

The murmur of the tens of thousands gathered behind them grew to a swell of sound as Axis and Faraday approached the dais, and Azhure felt tears spring into her eyes. Faraday was so much the Queen that Azhure suddenly felt small and insignificant.

StarDrifter took her hand. "You are SunSoar as much if not more than Rivkah," he said. "You will always find a home and a welcome among us should you need it."

At the edge of the dais Faraday relinquished Axis' arm as he mounted the platform, moving to sit with the Sentinels.

"Why does she not stand with him?" Azhure asked. She moved Caelum closer to her stomach, delaying the moment when Axis would see her pregnancy.

"Borneheld is only a week dead," Ysgryff answered. "His bones are still to be completely picked clean on the refuse heap."

Beside him Azhure shuddered. As Axis had requested, Borneheld's body had been thrown to rot on the refuse heap and, as dusk fell on the day of his death, Gautier had joined him. Gautier had paid dearly and long for the crucifixion of the three Ravensbundmen in Jervois Landing.

"So it is better that Faraday sit apart from him rather than at his side.

Otherwise people might talk," YsgryfF concluded.

Faraday smiled at the Sentinels as she sat down among them. Then her eyes drifted about the front row of chairs. She caught Rivkah's eye and smiled and nodded. She had enjoyed getting to know Rivkah very much. Both, as former Duchesses of Ichtar, had much in common and many memories to share.

Faraday glanced at StarDrifter. Ah, his knowing eyes were enough to make any woman blush. And who was that striking Nors woman sitting by his side? She held a beautiful child, a boy, in her lap, and she smiled and chatted with Baron Ysgryff and StarDrifter. Faraday frowned a little. Was this the courageous Azhure who she had heard some gossip about? None of the gossip had mentioned a son

- or how beautiful the woman was. A flash of gold at the corner of her vision caught Faraday's attention and all thoughts of the raven-haired woman faded from her mind.

Axis strode to the front of the dais and the crowd hushed. He bowed in the traditional Icarii greeting, turning to include all present. As he turned to the right he looked down at the row of chairs holding his closest friends and allies and smiled. His eyes caught Azhure's and she held her breath, her hands tightening about Caelum.

Axis straightened and faced the crowd. He slowly lifted a hand, his fingers beckoning.

Azhure gasped, as she heard Rivkah do so some few chairs further down.

Both women recognised the gesture instantly. StarDrifter had used it to Rivkah and Azhure in his efforts to seduce both of them, and Axis had used it to Azhure, both at Beltide in the groves and on the rooftop of Sigholt after he had returned from the UnderWorld.

But now Axis was intent on seducing an entire nation, and from the intakes of breath that Azhure could hear behind her, she guessed he was doing a reasonable job of it.

"My people," he said simply, and his voice carried over the mass of people that stretched almost the entire way around the eastern and southern shores of Grail Lake. Enchantments Axis might have used to make his voice, and perhaps even the sight of him, carry about the crowd, but StarDrifter realised that those were the only enchantments that Axis was using. As with his success in the Icarii Assembly, Axis intended to reforge Tencendor using the sheer force of his personality.

"My people. A thousand years ago a nation died in this land. All suffered because of it - the Acharites, the Avar and the Icarii. One people lost beauty and music from their lives, and they lost the shadowed paths where once they had walked in search of mysteries and love. Two other races lost their homelands and those sites that remain holy to them to this day. My people," and all present understood Axis meant all three races, "let me tell you about the land of Tencendor that was lost to all of us."

Then he began to sing. Azhure remembered how Star-Drifter had sung to the Icarii Assembly in the first week she had arrived to live with the Icarii. Then she had thought his voice wonderful, magical. She had heard Axis sing before, too, but only softly to the accompaniment of his harp about a camp fire at night.

Nothing she had heard before, whether from StarDrifter or from Axis, was quite as remarkable as how and what Axis sang now. Caelum sat still in wonder on her lap, his eyes locked onto his father, his little mouth open in a round "O" of astonishment. The baby inside her, babies, twisted slightly, hearing their father's voice at its full power for the first time, and they reacted strongly to it.

Axis sang of Tencendor, and where he had got the knowledge for it Azhure did not know. He sang of its beauties and of its music. Of the cities that had been lost, and of the woods and parklands that had withered and died over the past thousand years. He sang of the games that had once been held between the three races, and of the sky races that the Icarii had held to amuse the Avar and the Acharites. He sang of the learning and knowledge that Tencendor had fostered, of the schools and academies, of the study of the Stars and of the mysteries as well as of more mundane problems that, once solved, had improved life for all. He sang of the adventures that all had participated in, of the life and the loves, the music and the harmony, the flowers and the leaves.

But then Axis' voice changed slightly. It became sorrowful, and Axis sang of how distrust had destroyed the harmony between the races. He sang of how the Acharites had come to envy the Icarii and fear the Avar. Of how the Icarii had not realised that they sometimes unwittingly assumed an elite role within ancient Tencendor society, and how, knowingly, they sometimes laughed at the Acharites for their inability to fly.

"The Icarii ruled over ancient Tencendor society," Axis said, reverting to his speaking voice that, nonetheless, sounded every bit as beautiful as his singing voice. "And eventually that caused problems. I want to reforge Tencendor, yes, that is true, but I want to create a new Tencendor where the Icarii are but one race among three, where all three will share the wealth and delights of this new land. My people, I am the StarMan and it is my role to lead this new land into the future. I combine blood of the royal houses of both Icarii and Acharite peoples,"

and Axis explained for the benefit of those few who had not yet heard his story how he had been conceived and by whom. "I am both Icarii and human, I combine the compassion of the human with the arts of the Icarii. I am both human and Icarii," he repeated, "and my issue combines both Icarii and human."

Faraday frowned in some puzzlement. Combines? Surely, will combine?

"It will be my House which will lead the new nation. Not the House of SunSoar and not the House of Achar, but ..." he paused, "the House of the Stars."

All - Icarii, Acharite and Ravensbund - stared at him, open-mouthed.

"Friends," Axis continued, "many of you do not know me, but many do.

Many have fought with me, whether in the Axe-Wielders or my new-forged command. Many of you know me. You know what sort of man I am.

"My people," and again he held out his hand in the gesture of seduction,

"will you stand with me to forge Tencendor? Will you accept me to lead you back into what was and forward into what will be? Will you ride at my back to defeat the Destroyer? To drive Gorgrael from this land so that we might all create the new land of Tencendor together? Will you stand behind the House of the Stars and behind the StarMan? Will you offer me your loyalty? Your hearts? Your voice?"

For an instant the entire field was silent, then, far back in the crowd, someone screamed, "StarMan!" and in the next heartbeat the entire field had taken up the chant. "StarMan! StarMan! StarMan! StarMan!"

Azhure sat in her chair, breathless with excitement, listening to the sky erupt about her as the crowd chanted to their StarMan. Ogden and Veremund wept with joy and clasped each other's hands.

"Brilliant stroke, dear boy," Ogden whispered, emotion almost completely choking his voice. "Brilliant stroke. You show how in your blood you combine the two leading houses of both Acharite and Icarii nations, and, in doing so, create a third House, a new House for the new land of Tencendor. A House that, while combining the blood of the old, promises a new future beyond the hatreds of the past."

Axis stood back and let the acclaim ring through him. His face was grave, but his mind and soul sang with joy. He could feel the tug of the Prophecy here today. He had not entertained a single doubt from the moment he'd stepped onto the dais. He glanced down at Azhure and Caelum again. She looked immensely alluring in that dress, bouncing their son on her lap. How many nights had he lain awake as Faraday slept beside him, thinking of Azhure? Yearning for her?

What he felt for Faraday was so different to his consuming love for Azhure.

For Faraday he felt gratefulness and friendship. Perhaps that could be called love. But it was like a dull child's toy compared to the shining love and devouring need he had for Azhure.

Oh my love, his heart cried, why is it that I cannot marry you? How it is that I will enjoy so very few years with you?

But what years he would have Axis was determined to have to the full. If Faraday had not heard any court gossip about his relationship, then she would leave the shores of Grail Lake today in no( doubt as to the position of this woman in his life.

Axis had opened his mouth on several occasions to broach the subject, but Faraday had always turned to him with such love in her eyes that he had swallowed his words and kissed her instead. Well, he thought, it's too late now to leap down and whisper hurriedly in her ear. She will simply have to accept it, as Azhure has learned to accept it.

Again he glanced at Azhure, and wondered desperately if he would be able to go to her tonight.

The shouting was now dying down and Axis held out his arms. "After a thousand-year hiatus," he said clearly, "and with your assent, I proclaim the reforged land of Tencendor. Tencendor!"

"Tencendor!" the shout came back at him.

Again Axis let them shout for a few moments, then he smiled and held up his hands for silence. "There will be few changes, apart from the new friends you see among you. Almost none of the Acharites will lose lands to the Icarii and Avar, and those who do will receive generous compensation in return for their land. Both the Icarii and the Avar realise that they cannot move back to what they once held and are willing to cede to you most of their old lands."

Again a cheer went up. The treaty Axis had signed with Ysgryff and Greville was common knowledge about Carlon now, and the people were already aware that the arrival of the Icarii and, one day, the Avar, posed little threat to them.

"Those of you with titles and hereditary lands will keep both rank and lands, although," Axis' face assumed a sad expression, "with the war that has enveloped Tencendor over the past months, and with those lost fighting the Skraelings to the north, land and tides have fallen vacant. My friends, over the past two years there have been many among you whose help has been invaluable. Without it I would not be standing here now and Tencendor would still belong to the realms of myth, not reality. My people, I want to create five first families, families whose members have, so much more than any others, helped myself and my cause."

He stared down into the first row of seats. "Belial," he said softly, "you are first among the five. Step here to me."

Belial stepped onto the dais, fell to one knee and offered Axis both his hands.

"Belial." Axis' voice rang clear and strong. "I owe my We to you many times over. I grant to you and to your bloodline henceforth the tide, rank and privileges of Prince of the West. I cede to you the overlordship of Carlon, and of all lands that stretch from the River Nordra to the Andeis Sea and from the River Azle to the Sea of Tyrre. From these lands you may enjoy a tithe of all the rights, customs and duties. I also grant to you to own freehold the castle of Kastaleon and Bedwyr Fort, although," he smiled and his voice lightened a little, "I do expect you to repair Bedwyr Fort to its former glory."

Belial's face paled with shock. With this tide and with the rights to tithe all customs and duties that were collected in the western lands, Axis had just made Belial, and any future children he might have with Cazna, very rich and powerful indeed.

"Belial, will you accept these lands, casdes, tides and honours and swear me homage and fealty as StarMan?"

"I accept with honour, StarMan," the tide came easily to him, "and I do so swear homage and fealty to you."

"Then, Prince Belial, stand and greet the people of Tencendor."

Belial stood, and Axis raised their conjoined hands above their heads. The crowd roared, loving it. Belial was almost as popular as Axis was himself. Jorge, Earl of Avonsdale, and Baron Fulke of Romsdale, the two noblemen whose lands, with those of Roland, Duke of Aldeni, would come under their new Prince's overlordship, shrugged dieir shoulders.

This new system was no different to that they had lived under with the royal house of Achar. One overlord was substituted for another. And Belial promised to be a considerable improvement on Borneheld.

Belial walked back to his seat and Axis turned back to the front row again.

"Magariz," he said softly. "You are second among the five."

Startled, for he had not expected this, Magariz stepped onto the dais. As Belial, he sank down on one knee before Axis and offered him his hands.

"Magariz. You gave me loyalty and support when to do so risked your death.

Magariz, I grant to you and to your bloodline henceforth the title, rank and privileges of Prince of the North. I cede to you the lands of the former province of Ichtar, stretching from the River Azle to the River Andakilsa, and from the Fortress Ranges to the Andeis Sea. All these lands will be yours, save the garrison of Sigholt, which I will retain as my personal residence. Of course, Prince Magariz, most of these lands are currently occupied by the army of Gorgrael. I hope it will add an edge to your commitment to driving Gorgrael from Tencendor knowing that these lands will be yours once freed of Skraelings."

Magariz already came from one of the ancient noble houses of Achar, but Axis had just made him immeasurably richer and nobler.

"Magariz, will you accept these lands, tides and honours and swear me homage and fealty as StarMan?"

"I accept with honour, StarMan, and I do swear homage and fealty to you."

As with Belial, so Axis now presented the newly created Prince Magariz to the crowd. The cheering for Magariz was as enthusiastic as it had been for Belial.

Magariz's family was well-known to most of the Acharites.

Axis held his hands out for silence as Magariz stepped down from the dais.

"The third family I name is my own, the SunSoar family. FreeFall? Will you step forward to receive my thanks for what the SunSoars have given me?"

FreeFall stepped forward, and the crowd gasped at his beauty and the aura of peace he carried about him. FreeFall held out his hands for Axis to enclose, but he did not kneel.

"FreeFall," Axis smiled at his cousin. "You gave more than most for my cause. You lost your life to murder, and perhaps in doing so saved mine.

"FreeFall, your House and your people showed compassion to my mother, the Princess Rivkah, when foul treachery among the Seneschal would have seen her dead. Your House took me in and trained me in my heritage and gave me many of the skills needed to reforge Tencendor and that I will need to defeat Gorgrael. With the Treaty of the Ancient Barrows most of your sacred sites have already been restored to you. The Icarii will once again fly freely over the skies of Tencendor. FreeFall SunSoar, when all thought you lost and dead, your father, RavenCrest SunSoar, made me his heir to the Talon Throne. FreeFall, that title is yours by birthright and today I relinquish it back to you."

FreeFall opened his mouth to object, but Axis pushed on before he had a chance to say anything. "FreeFall, the tide and throne of Talon in the newly fashioned Tencendor will not be what it once was. The Talon will still govern the Icarii people, but not the combined races of Tencendor. And, as Talon, you will still swear homage and fealty to me as StarMan and to my House of the Stars.

Will you accept this?"

Axis stared into FreeFall's beautiful violet eyes. Never before had the House of SunSoar sworn homage and fealty to another; never before had the Talon, or heir to the Talon throne, subordinated himself to another. This was a critical moment for Axis. He had to get the Icarii and the SunSoars to back his vision for the future of Tencendor.

FreeFall dropped to one knee, his wings spread out behind him in the traditional gesture of respect and deference. "As heir to the Talon throne and on behalf of the Icarii people I do so swear homage and fealty to you, Axis SunSoar Star-Man. You have led us back into Tencendor when for so long we thought we would never again see the southern lands. You have restored to us our sacred sites. You have given back our pride. For that we gladly accept your House of the Stars above us. The Talon will accept your overlordship."

On impulse, FreeFall stood and embraced Axis, and again the crowd cheered.

As FreeFall stepped from the dais Axis indicated that Ho'Demi should join him. Ho'Demi had no hesitation about kneeling before the StarMan.

"Ho'Demi, as with the Icarii people, this is my chance to publicly acknowledge and thank the people of Ravensbund who have so long adhered to the Prophecy and who rode to support me and Tencendor. Ho'Demi, I grant you and your family the rights and privileges of one of the first five families of Tencendor, and the rights and privileges of the extreme north of Tencendor from the River Andakilsa to the Iskruel Ocean. Ah, Ho'Demi, it is only what you had previously and have now lost, but I swear before this assembly that I will fight to clean every last iceberg in the north of what Skraelings cling to them and restore your lands to your people. Will you swear me homage and fealty on behalf of your family and your people, Ho'Demi?"

Ho'Demi's voice rang out clear and true as he pledged his loyalty and that of his people to the StarMan and to the new nation of Tencendor.

Now Axis held out his hand to Ysgryff and the Baron joined him on the dais.

YsgryfF's pact with the pirates that had sealed Borneheld's defeat in the Battle of Bedwyr Fort had reached almost legendary status, and none was surprised to see Ysgryff thus honoured.

"Ysgryff," Axis smiled, taking the man's hands as he knelt before him. "You have done much for not only myself and Tencendor, but for the Icarii people as well. You saved the day when I battled against Borneheld, and for that alone I would honour you. But your work, and that of your family over the past thousand years, in preserving and protecting the Temple of the Stars on the Island of Mist and Memory places the Icarii forever in your debt. Ysgryff, you have already been well rewarded for your concessions to the Icarii and the Avar, but I now raise your family to the first five, and grant to you the title, privileges and rank of Prince of Nor. YsgryfF, will you accept this honour and grant me homage and fealty?"

YsgryfF grinned. What splendid theatre all this was. "I accept with honour, StarMan, and I do swear homage and fealty to you."

As YsgryfF stepped down, Ogden and Veremund again nodded to themselves. In his creation of the first five families Axis had included Icarii, Ravensbund and Acharite -symbolic of the united force that stood behind Axis and of the newly united nation of Tencendor. Of the Avar there was no mention, but then the Avar had refused to fight for Tencendor.

"But what of the eastern territories?" Veremund whispered to his brother.

"What of the lands to the east of the Nordra? Will Axis govern those personally?"

Axis turned back to the crowd.

"There is one more acknowledgment I must make," he said softly, although his voice carried magically to every ear, "and one more grant that I must effect.

It is the eastern lands of Tencendor that will be most affected by the return of the Avar and the Icarii. Guardianship of these lands will be a sensitive issue —

although most of the territorial claims of all three races have been settled, no doubt there will be smaller day-to-day issues that will cause disagreement among the three peoples as they learn to live together once more."

Faraday nodded. Sensitive indeed. Faraday looked forward to the day when she could begin to transfer the seedlings from the Enchanted Wood to the eastern lands of Tencendor — already she had some twelve thousand names memorised and friendships cemented. But who would she have to work with?

"A sensitive issue and a sensitive guardianship," Axis repeated, "but the choice of Guardian of the East is easy. I would give it to the one among us who has lived among all three races and understands the problems of all three peoples."

Rivkah? Faraday thought, looking over to Axis' mother.

"Azhure." Axis smiled, and held out his hand.

Azhure blanched and stared at Axis. His smile widened, and his fingers waggled a little impatiently.

The crowd cheered approvingly. Of all stories about Axis' rise to power, of his battles with the Skraelings and with Borneheld, one of the best known and loved stories was of the raven-haired woman who rode at his side, who wielded the magic bow of the Icarii and who commanded the pack of enchanted hounds that ran behind her.

"Azhure?" Faraday whispered to Ogden beside her. "Azhure? Is she not this commander I have heard something of?"

"Ah, indeed," muttered Ogden uncomfortably. "Azhure commands the Acharite archers in Axis' army - and currently holds command of the army while Axis, Belial and Magariz reside in Carlon."

"But control of the East?" Faraday asked. "Surely / would have been better for that? I am the one who has been bonded with the Mother, am I not?"

Ogden's face reddened. "As Axis said, Faraday, Azhure has spent a great deal of time among all three races and she is already an accepted and respected commander within his army. She is a good choice, Faraday."

Faraday sat back in her chair, frowning, as the woman, obviously shocked, handed her baby to StarDrifter and slowly stood up. As she smoothed her dress down Faraday noticed that she was pregnant.

Axis noticed Azhure's pregnancy at the same moment as Faraday, and his eyes flew to Azhure's, stunned. Why? Why hadn't she told him?

Azhure stepped gracefully onto the dais, her eyes locked into Axis', and took his hand.

"Why?" he whispered.

"I did not want to hold you back from what you had to do, Axis. I thought that if you knew I was pregnant again ..." her eyes flickered towards Faraday,

"... you would hesitate in doing that which the Prophecy demanded you do."

Axis' eyes ran over her belly once more, confused. Even if she'd managed to conceal her thickening body from him, how was it he'd not felt the tug of the baby's blood? Caelum's tug had been so distinct, so strong.

Axis realised he was staring. "Azhure. I owe so much to you. You have given me such great friendship and support over the past nineteen months that I think I can never adequately repay you. You have given me my emblem, the blood-red blazing sun and you have fought courageously among my other commanders.

Azhure, you have also lived among both Icarii and Avar. You know their problems and you know the problems that many of the Acharites will have in accepting the Icarii and Avar among them again. The position of Guardian of the East is one of great importance, and I would that you accept it. Azhure, will you shoulder this onerous load for me?"

"Gladly, StarMan."

Ysgryff, as Belial, Magariz and a number of others, stared a little. Not at the tide and responsibility that Axis had given Azhure - all believed that she would do well as Guardian of the East - but that Axis had not asked her to swear homage and fealty to him. It almost implied...well, it almost implied that Azhure was of equal status to him. And yet Axis had demanded that FreeFall, as heir to the Talon throne, pay him homage and fealty.

Faraday, as politically astute as anyone else present, also noticed the oversight and realised the implications. Why would Axis not want this woman to swear homage and fealty to him?

"Azhure, Guardian of the East, you have no home, no lands. I will cede you no lands, but I will grant you a home that you may enjoy for the rest of your life but which will revert to me once you die. Azhure, I grant you Spiredore to do with as you will."

"Oh, Axis," Azhure breathed, and the look in her eyes was all the thanks that Axis needed.

Faraday simply stared at her. I must get to know this woman better, she thought, if I must work with her to restore the ancient forests to Tencendor.

Azhure moved to sit down again, more than a little awed by her new responsibilities. This tangible evidence of Axis' trust and belief in her abilities, before all these people, had moved her deeply.

StarDrifter stared at Axis. Axis had hardly gone far enough! On impulse, he gave a single powerful flap of his wings and landed on the dais beside his son.

StarDrifter held out his hands and began to speak, his voice nearly as magical and as beautiful as Axis'. "I am StarDrifter SunSoar," he announced,

"father to Axis SunSoar StarMan. Today is a great day. We have witnessed the reforg-ing of Tencendor, a united Tencendor that will be strong enough to defeat Gorgrael and strong enough to move into the future. But my friends, there are still many trials ahead of us. Great battles to be fought as we endeavour to break the Destroyer's grip on the north. Axis will lead Tencendor into those battles. My friends and comrades, I do not want to inject a note of sorrow or despair into these joyful proceedings, but realities must be faced. What if Axis were injured, or, greatest sadness of all, killed?" StarDrifter turned to Axis and held out his hand in melodramatic appeal. "Axis SunSoar StarMan, will you name your heir today, before all present, so that there may be no doubts in anyone's mind?"

Axis glared at his father. Did you think I had forgotten, StarDrifter? I was opening my mouth to do just that when you leaped so precipitously onto the dais.

Ogden, as Veremund and Jack, stared straight ahead, completely unable to look at Faraday now. Yr's eyes widened in distress. This is what she had feared for a very long time. Had she and the other Sentinels done the wrong thing in forcing Faraday into an action which had kept her separated from Axis for almost two years?

"Sit down, StarDrifter," Axis said quietly, and again held out his hand for Azhure.

She stood as if she would simply hand Caelum to him, but Axis seized her wrist and pulled both her and their son onto the dais with him.

Faraday took a great, ragged breath and held it. She realised instantly who had bequeathed the black-haired boy his Icarii features. "Oh, Mother, what has he done to me?"

Yr leaned forward and placed a soothing hand on Faraday's shoulder.

Axis smiled and took Caelum from Azhure s arms, holding the laughing baby high above his head.

"I name my son, Caelum Azhurson SunSoar StarSon, as my heir to the House of the Stars and to the Throne of the Stars and to all ranks and privileges those titles hold. Welcome to my heart and to my House, Caelum StarSon."

Faraday's and Azhure's eyes met; Azhure looked away almost instantly, unable to bear the pain she saw reflected back at her.

The crowd roared. All they could see was the golden figure of Axis SunSoar StarMan, the beautiful woman beside him, and the son who Axis lifted high into the air.

"Hear me!" Axis shouted above the roar. "No other child born to me will supplant Caelum as my heir. He is my firstborn, and as bastardy has left no stain on my soul or on my claim to found the Throne of the Stars, then it leaves no stain on his soul or on his claim as my heir!"

Faraday sat, weaving back and forth through her own personal nightmare.

Not only had Axis disported himself with another woman to the extent that he had got a son on her - and another on the way! - he had honoured the woman with great titles, great responsibilities, and had named her son as his heir, disinheriting any child Faraday would bear him.

She suddenly realised the full extent of the betrayal. Not only Axis', but all those about her. Everyone must have known of this! Everyone! Yet no-one had told her. Why? Why? Why had they let her believe the lie that Axis still loved her, still wanted her?

Borneheld's final words to her on the parapets of the palace in Carlon came back to Faraday. Axis did not truly love her at all. If he did, then he could not have done this to her.

Betrayal Confronted"W:

need to speak, Faraday," Axis said, and Faraday turned to stare at him, her green eyes blazing with pain and betrayal.

"Yes," she said bitterly, "we do need to talk. But I hardly think this is the place for it, do you?"

And so they were rowed back in silence to the palace, where they climbed staircases and walked corridors in silence until Axis closed the door to their chamber behind them.

"We should be present at the celebrations," Axis said.

" We should be at the celebrations, StarMan? I hardly think there is any place there for me, do you?"

Axis flinched inwardly, although he kept his face impassive. Why hadn't he told Faraday about Azhure earlier? How do you tell the woman who has waited and suffered for you through two long years that you had fallen so deeply in love with another that you couldn't give her up?

"Faraday," he said again, and stepped forward and took her shoulders gently in his hands.

"Let go of me!" Faraday hissed, twisting her body away from him.

"Faraday, let me explain."

"No," she said, and Axis could feel her rage. "/ shall explain to you. Axis, I can understand that for virtually two years we have been torn apart one way or another. That we have gone our separate ways for much of those two years. I can understand that perhaps you dallied with other women. Mother knows, Axis, I can understand that — especially after I married Borneheld. But what I cannot understand, Axis, and what I find so hard to forgive, is how you treated me today."

"Faraday," Axis tried to soothe, reaching out for her but halting his hand at the last moment. "You will be my wife. I promised to marry you, and I will."

"Being your wife means nothing]" Faraday screamed, her face twisting into ugly lines, "when that woman across the Lake is your wife in everything but name!"

She took a deep breath and worked to bring her temper under control.

"Wife. What does that mean, Axis, when that woman across the Lake is Queen in everything but name! Over the past year at least, and longer by the look of that baby, she has shared your life, shared your adventures, shared your bed. Now you have given her the power, the recognition," she laughed a little, "even Spiredore, and you have given her your son. Again she is pregnant with your child. Do not try to tell me that she does not continue to share your bed and your heart, Axis."

Axis looked down at the floor. There was nothing he could say.

Faraday stared at him, a muscle leaping in her throat.

"She was the one to stand on the dais with you, Axis, not me. She was the one who took the cheers of the nation with you. Not me. Marry me, Axis? What a joke! Even as your wife, / would be the mistress, not her. She has everything. I have nothing. You humiliated me today, Axis. Can't you see what you did?"

Axis raised his head and looked at her. "I did not think to betray you, Faraday. Azhure was a friend when I needed one badly. She understood that I loved you ..."

"You talked about me to her?" Faraday whispered. What other cruelties did this man have to deal her?

"... and she fought to resist me. Faraday, do not blame her in this. I am the one at fault."

Faraday's eyes brimmed with tears. That Axis sought to protect Azhure and not himself told Faraday how deeply he loved her. "Strangely, Axis, I do not. I know how easy it is for a woman to fall in love with you. If I seek to apportion blame, then I must blame you." She turned away.

Axis stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms about her, gently rocking her. This time she did not throw him off.

"Will you give her up?" she whispered.

There was a pause. "I cannot," Axis muttered eventually.

"Do you feel anything for me?"

"Faraday." Axis turned her around so he could look in her eyes. He gently brushed some of the tears from her cheek with his hand. Wasn't this where they had started two years ago? "If I said I loved you, I would not lie. But what I feel for you and what I feel for Azhure are so different. But I meant what I said, Faraday. I do want you for my wife." He bent to slowly kiss her cheek, her neck, the soft rise of her breasts.

Liar, she thought. Liar. You want Azhure, but, honourable man that you are, you feel bound by the vows that you made to me so long ago. And how much do you want me because I bring the trees behind you? Do you fear, Axis SunSoar StarMan, that if you do not placate me with marriage then I might not fulfil my part of the bargain? That the Prophecy itself might fail if I failed?

Oh, Mother, Faraday cried to herself. You are the only one who has not betrayed me. All she wanted now was peace in the Sacred Groves, all she wanted now was to sit in the warm sunshine on the wooden seat in the nursery, Ur beside her reciting names and histories.

But for now Axis' fingers were sliding open the fastenings at the back of her dress. Does he think to placate me with his body? she wondered vaguely, but she did not resist him. One last time, perhaps, one last time.

Into Spiredore zhure lay sleepless in her tent, staring through the l-\ darkness. The excitement of the previous day had JL. -A.kept her tossing and turning in her camp bed for most of the night. Axis had held Caelum above his head and proclaimed him his heir — and named him Azhurson! The clamour from the throats of the tens of thousands present had surrounded her like the roar of the Nordra as it escaped the Forbidden Valley. And he had named her Guardian of the East, and given her Spiredore.

As she stood down from the dais Azhure had glanced again at Faraday. She was rocking backwards and forwards, her face pasty white, her green eyes enormous. Azhure had almost cried out with pain herself.

Axis was back in Carlon with Faraday this night, but Azhure was no longer jealous of her. Somehow Azhure knew that it would not be long before Axis was back this side of the Lake, come to visit his Lover in Spiredore.

Spiredore! Such a magical gift! It had been stripped of all the trappings of the Seneschal — and now it waited for her.

Throwing the blankets back, Azhure swung her legs over the side of the bed.

She had not had the chance to go inside Spiredore yesterday — the celebrations for Tencendor had started immediately after Axis had closed the official ceremony and Azhure had been whirled into them by StarDrifter who, withYsgryff, had competed for her attentions all evening and into the night. She had slept a few hours, but now was awake - ready to investigate what she had been given.

Mama?

Azhure slipped a shawl over her white nightgown and leaned over Caelum's cot. "I am going to investigate Spiredore, Caelum. Do you want to come too, or are you still so tired you will whimper and fidget and distract me?"

/ will be good, Mama.

Azhure smiled with love and picked her son up, nestling him close to her breast.

The camp was quiet now; hours before, all the revellers had fallen exhausted into their beds, or simply to the ground. Barefoot, and with only the shawl over her nightgown and a lamp in her free hand, Azhure picked her way through the camp, then up the grassy slopes to where the towering walls of Spiredore stood. Several of the Alaunt made to follow her, but she motioned them back. There was no danger in Spiredore, and she wanted to be alone with Caelum on her first visit.

The door was unlatched, and Azhure slipped inside, closing it quietly behind her. For a moment she simply stood and stared. From the outside Spiredore was obviously very large, but it appeared ten, twenty times the size inside. She walked into the centre of the tower and looked up, holding her lamp high.

Stairwells, balconies, overhangs, all swirled to dizzying heights above her.

Rooms, chambers, open spaces, all opened off the balconies surrounding this atrium. None of the myriad floors and balconies were level or even, jutting out in irregular squares, triangles, circles. It was an amazing sight, and should have been an eyesore, but somehow it achieved a subtle harmony that gave the interior of Spiredore great beauty.

"Stars," Azhure said. "I could get lost up there and wander about for days."

"Actually, it's quite easy to find your way, once you know the trick," a voice said lightly behind her, and Azhure spun about, the lamp swinging so violently in her hand that shadows leaped and danced about the atrium. Her hand tightened defensively about Caelum, who gave a squeak of protest.

An Icarii birdman walked towards her, an open book in his hand, as if he had been reading when surprised by Azhure. He was one of the most captivating Icarii she'd ever seen. His face was vibrant with power, far more so than StarDrifter's face, and she realised he must be an Enchanter. Great violet eyes laughed at her from underneath a tumbled crop of dark copper curls. Behind him stretched golden wings; and not just dyed that shade, Azhure thought, numbed by the beauty of this birdman, they actually appeared to be made of beaten gold.

"I'm sorry," he said, closing the book with a snap. Azhure caught brief sight of the title...something to do with the Lakes. "I startled you." A contrite expression crossed his face. "And I shouldn't be here either. Axis ceded you Spiredore yesterday, and I am the intruder."

"You were at the ceremony?" Azhure asked, her hand lessening its grip about Caelum.

"Yes," he said. "I was there, but some distance from you, I thmk."

"I have not seen you before," Azhure said. "And you have a face one could not easily forget."

"As you have a face, Lady Azhure, that no man, Icarii or Acharite, could easily forget. You are a woman for whom your own Prophecy should be written

— it is a shame that you must share one with Axis. Perhaps I will write one for you one day."

Azhure laughed. The man had a charming, if cunning, way with words. She shared the Prophecy with Axis? "Why have I not seen you before?"

The birdman's smile faded a little and his eyes became sad. "Ah. Azhure. I have been away. A long, long way away. I have only come home recently. That is why you have not seen me."

He stepped forward. "May I hold your baby for a moment? He is such a beautiful baby."

Azhure hesitated momentarily, then let the birdman lift an unresisting Caelum out of her arms. The Icarii Enchanter cuddled the baby, whispering to him, and Caelum stretched curious hands to the man s face, poking and prodding till the birdman laughed and handed Caelum back to Azhure. "All babies are curious, but he more than most, I think. You have a magnificent son, Azhure, and he a magnificent mother."

Azhure blushed and smiled. Abruptly she remembered he had not told her his name, and she opened her mouth to ask, but in the instant before she spoke the birdman took Azhure s arm and led her towards the first of the stairwells that twisted up into the heights of the tower, sundry balconies and chambers opening off it.

"I was going to tell you how to work the magic of Spiredore, Azhure."

Azhure smiled. Magic? How wonderful it would be if this Enchanter told her how to use Spiredore.

"My dear child," he said, as they reached the foot of the stairs. "It is very simple. If you wander willy-nilly in Spiredore you will, as you thought, get completely lost. You must decide where you want to go before you start to climb the stairs, and then the stairs will simply take you to that place."

Azhure s frown deepened. "But how do I know where I want to go if I don't know what the tower contains?"

The birdman laughed and his hand slid up her arm a little. It was very warm, his palm and fingers like rough silk, and Azhure found herself leaning a little closer to him.

"Then you have a lot to learn, Azhure." His tone became softer, deeper. "A lot to learn." He rested his arm on her shoulder, his fingers gently stroking her neck. "Where would you like to go, Azhure. Where? What would you like to see?"

Azhure smiled dreamily. His hand was soothing, his gentle breath on her cheek comforting. "I would like to see the view from the rooftop," she whispered. "I would very much like to watch the sun rise over the Avarinheim from the top of Spiredore."

"See?" he laughed, and the sound broke the spell between them. "You do have at least one destination - and you can spend the rest of your life investigating Spiredore. It was built just for you, Azhure. Just for you. Eventually you will remember where to go."

She smiled. "Your flattery goes too far, sir. Built for me? Why, this tower has stood for thousands of years, and I am only twenty-eight."

"Just for you," he whispered, and then he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. It was a deep, absorbing kiss, and Azhure was in no hurry to break it —

it was the birdman who eventually drew back.

He laughed shortly. "I should not have done that, Azhure. It was Unclean.

But I was always the one to break rules. You must forgive me. Now," his manner became brusque, "if you wish to watch the sun rise from the rooftop you will have to begin to climb now. Sunrise is not long away."

Following his instructions, Azhure thought of the rooftop and began to climb, but, only a few steps into the stairwell, she turned and looked back down at him.

"How did the Seneschal ever find their way about Spiredore?"

The birdman laughed. "To them, sweetheart, it was simply an empty shell.

They built their own chambers and stairs, floors and libraries, but they never saw the true tower that you see before you now. They did not have the magic to see it. Now, go. Sunrise awaits."

Azhure nodded, and turned back into the stairwell. When next she looked down, the birdman had gone.

WolfStar backed against the doorway out of Azhure's sight, listening to her footsteps for a long time. What a remarkable woman - and what a son she had birthed.

As Azhure's footsteps slowly faded above him, WolfStar abruptly vanished.

Azhure stood atop Spiredore and watched the sky lighten to the east over the Avarinheim forest, her son cuddled comfortably in her arms. Her hair was loose, and the wind whipped both her nightgown and her hair about her lithe form. Above her head the morning stars whirled. Beneath her bare feet the tower gently hummed to itself. Azhure had come home.

From Out of the Dawning Sun...

* s Azhure had not been able to sleep, neither could £\ Axis. For hours he lay by Faraday's side, close but not /. touching, knowing she was awake as well, yet unable to speak to her as she was unable to speak to him. Finally, silently, he rolled out of bed, pulled on his breeches and boots, and went to talk with StarDrifter.

They stood on the balcony of StarDrifter's room, drinking in the cold dawn air as they gazed across Grail Lake.

"What are you going to do?" StarDrifter asked.

"I am vowed to Faraday," he said. "I must marry her."

"And Azhure?"

"I will not let her go. I cannot."

Both Enchanters could see Azhure atop Spiredore with their enhanced vision.

The wind whipped her hair back from her face, and the white nightgown billowed about her body. She was laughing with Caelum, and pointing into the dawning sun as it rose above the distant Avarinheim.

"What does she have," StarDrifter mused, "that both of us cannot resist her?"

"It is as though she contains the Star Dance within her," said Axis softly, and StarDrifter dragged his eyes away from Azhure at the tone of his son's voice.

"Through her I can touch the Star Dance more powerfully than I can through any Song. StarDrifter, it is as though I hold the very Stars in my hands every time I hold her, as if it is their music that embraces me. Every time I lie with her, StarDrifter, the music grows louder."

StarDrifter was astounded at what Axis had revealed. He could touch the Star Dance through Azhure, through her body? Who, what, was she? He stared at his son, his eyes wide, his mouth half open.

The Gryphon circled high overhead. It was a mission fraught with dangers and traps, she knew, but it was an important mission, and Gorgrael had not wanted to trust it to a SkraeBold. Gorgrael had sent her south to spy out Carlon.

What was Axis up to? Gorgrael had asked the Gryphon. What state his forces?

Where were they? Could Gorgrael attack through the trench systems of Jervois Landing and expect little resistance from Axis?

To these questions and others the Gryphon had relayed her answers as best she could. Most forces were still concentrated about Carlon, and the soil was still red east of the city from a mighty battle. Borneheld lay dead and rotted on the refuse heap. Axis strode golden and assured and spoke at length of Tencendor.

The woman, Faraday, walked by his side. Icarii and Acharite mixed freely. And Spiredore — Spiredore had wakened in much the same way that Sigholt had awakened. Tencendor was waking about Axis, and if Gorgrael wanted to move, he'd best do it quickly.

The Gryphon had finished her surveillance of Carlon and its surrounds and was ready to fly home and out of danger, but her attention was caught by the woman and baby atop Spiredore. There was something strange about them...strange...but the Gryphon did not quite know what it was. Should she fly closer for a look? Should she attack? There was no-one else about, and the Gryphon was confident of success. A woman. Alone. No weapons. Tasty.

And the Gryphon had the distinct advantage of being able to attack from out of the dawning sun.

She communed with Gorgrael with her mind, asking permission to ravage.

Gorgrael could see no harm in it.

Azhure stood atop Spiredore and laughed at Caelum. He was reaching out to the sun, it seemed so magically close, his eyes wide with wonder and joy.

She turned to look at the dawning sun, and blinked. There was a dark spot spinning out of the red orb. Puzzled, Azhure stared...and then screamed, wrenching Caelum to the floor of the roof in a futile attempt to protect him with her body.

Both Axis and StarDrifter saw and heard Azhure scream.

"Gryphon!" Axis cried, appalled. "Azhurer he screamed...and vanished.

StarDrifter stared at the spot where Axis had been - then back at Azhure.

The Gryphon was clearly hurtling down towards her now - and Azhure was surely dead if he did not do something very, very soon.

Without a single thought to his own safety StarDrifter lifted off the balcony and streaked towards Spiredore.

Axis materialised into a screaming fury of blood, bone, feathers and thick grey mist. He stared about him frantically -what enchantment could he use to overcome an attacking Gryphon?

A scream whipped through his consciousness and his vision began to clear.

The scream had been Caelum's, and the sound was one of primeval terror.

"Caelum!" he shouted, and fought his way through to the sound. "Caelum!"

As he struggled through the grey mist Axis felt power being wielded on the rooftop, dark power, the power of the Dance of Death. How could he combat that? Were Azhure and Caelum dead already? He could hear no more sounds, save a peculiar splintering, tearing sound - oh gods! Was the Gryphon already feeding on their bodies?

He stumbled into an area free of mist, and the first thing he saw was Azhure, Caelum clinging desperately to her, lying with her back against one of the far walls of the parapets. She had a nasty wound along one arm, as if the Gryphon had struck as she raised an arm to protect her face, but otherwise appeared to be uninjured.

About five paces in front of her, the Gryphon lay writhing and twisting. For one stunned moment Axis thought an invisible beast was attacking the Gryphon, but then he realised that the beast was in the grip of an enchantment, and that this enchantment was literally ripping the Gryphon apart.

The enchantment used was of the Dark Music.

Behind him Axis dimly heard StarDrifter alight and scream his name, but his attention was all on the Gryphon and on the dark enchantments that were being used to tear it apart.

Slowly...slowly...slowly he lifted his eyes to Azhure. She was staring at the creature, ignoring the screams of the child in her arms.

The Dark Music was being wielded by her. She was using the power of the Dark Music, the Dance of Death, to kill the Gryphon!

"Azhure? Azhure? What is that you do?" he whispered in a voice papery-thin with fear, and he could feel StarDrifter s hand on his shoulder.

When Azhure replied her voice was flat and full of emptiness, making Axis recall the vast empty distances that lay between the stars he had seen in the Star Gate.

"What is this I do? I use the same Dark Music that was used to make this creature to unmake her. I unravel the enchantments that made her with the same powers." She looked up and met Axis' eyes — and Axis could see the stars circling in the great emptinesses of their depths.

"WolfStar!" StarDrifter gasped behind him, and Axis cried out. "No! No!"

But both the Enchanters, watching as the Gryphon was finally shredded to pieces by the power that enveloped it, remembered every single piece of evidence that indicted Azhure.

As one they remembered...Azhure walking graceful and confident along the rock ledge outside Talon Spike that any normal human would have fallen from in terror...Azhure s mastery of the Wolven...the Alaunt hounds, once WolfStar's, who now answered only to her call...the call of her blood that both Axis and StarDrifter were unable to resist - SunSoar blood?...the ancient Icarii script that she had decorated the cufis of Axis' golden tunic with — how had she known that?...her ability to hear (and use, StarDrifter whispered) the mind voice...the Star Music that Axis heard whenever he made love to her...the depth of Caelum's Icarii blood, as if Azhure had contributed as well as Axis.,.the scars that rippled down Azhure's back, as if wings had been torn out...she had first found MorningStar's body, but had she killed her as well? And finally, the most damning of all, her easy use of the Dark Music. No Icarii Enchanter, and certainly no simple peasant girl, could use that.

"WolfStar," Axis whispered, and then white-hot anger enveloped him so completely it overran and negated his horror. Had he spent his nights loving WolfStar?

As the Gryphon finally blew apart in a cloud of vaporised tissue and blood, Azhure blinked and the stars faded from her eyes. A tremor ran over her face, and she became aware of her surroundings.

"Axis?" she whispered. Why all this blood? Why was Axis staring at her like that?

The Gryphon! Memories of the Gryphon attack flooded in and Azhure cringed and hugged Caelum tight. Where was the Gryphon? There had been a pain, a pain in her head, and then everything had gone dark. Strange whispers had shouted words through her mind. Where was the Gryphon?

"Dead," hissed Axis, and behind him StarDrifter's face was as implacable and as cold as his son's. "Dead, as you will be before long, WolfStar!"

It was not so much his words, although those were horrifying enough, but the tone in which he said them that tore Azhure's soul apart. Why did he hate her? What had she done? As Axis tore Caelum from her arms Azhure automatically dissolved into the welcome blackness that had always served as a refuge during her childhood whenever Hagen had sprung at her with similar hatred on his face.

In her last moment of consciousness Azhure realised her worst nightmare had come true. Hagen was not dead at all. He had simply assumed the form of Axis.

"By all the stars in the universe," the Dark Man screamed, "what have you done?"

Gorgrael backed up against a chair, almost falling over it. An instant previously, just as Gorgrael had felt the Gryphon blink out of existence, the Dark Man had materialised in Gorgrael s chamber deep in the heart of his ice fortress.

He was insanely angry. Out-of-control angry.

And Gorgrael abruptly realised that an out-of-control Dark Man was a very, very, very, bad thing.

"Only a woman and a baby," Gorgrael whispered, scrabbling to keep his balance as the chair started to slip under his weight. "Only a woman and a baby.

I saw no harm in it."

"No harm?" the Dark Man shouted. "No harm?"

Gorgrael thought he could see fire (or was it ice?) glinting somewhere in the depths of the Dark Man's hood. His tongue lolled out of his mouth in fear.

"You could have killed her!" the Dark Man shrieked. "You could have killed her!" He advanced on Gorgrael, his black cloak billowing, yet revealing nothing of the man beneath.

"What concern of yours is the death of a single woman and child, Dark Man?" Gorgrael hissed in fury. "What concern of yours?"

"She is a concern of mine!" the Dark Man snarled.

"A single human woman and child, Dark Man?" Gorgrael said, advancing himself now, and the Dark Man retreated a step.

"You fool," the Dark Man said quietly. "You may have undone everything now. Of all the people you had to set your Gryphon on you had to pick her. Of all the people."

"She lives," Gorgrael said, and peered as close as he could at the Dark Man.

"She lives, and she destroyed the Gryphon. Is that not unusual for a human woman? To use the Dark Music to destroy my Gryphon? My beautiful pet? Who is she, Dark Man? What is she to cause you to storm my fortress in unconsidered rage? What is she?"

The Dark Man stared at Gorgrael. "She is exposed, now, Gorgrael. That is what she is. And, because of that, she may very well be dead."

Azhure ( )

£ £ ~ |—'V y all the gods in creation," Belial screamed as r~^ Axis raised his sword for the killing thrust, "what * -J are you doing?"

"She is a traitor!" Axis yelled back. "She is WolfStar!"

Belial stepped back, appalled both by the scene before him and by the power and anger that blazed from Axis' eyes.

They were in one of the lower chambers of the palace -used, occasionally, as an interrogation chamber, and it was to this foul purpose that it was being put again.

Azhure, moaning in pain, was bound upright to a stone pillar, her head lolling on her shoulder. She was only barely conscious. Blood stained her nightgown in several places, and Belial could see that one of her legs had been heavily bruised. Mother knows what other contusions that nightgown is hiding, he thought distractedly.

"Damn you, Axis! Prove to me that she is this traitor! Prove if!" Belial shouted.

Axis stared at him, breathing heavily with effort and with rage. He shifted cold eyes to StarDrifter. "Shall we unmask the bitch?" His voice was as cold as his eyes.

"Best to kill her now, Axis."

"No\" Belial screamed and grabbed Axis' arm. "Prove to me that she is this traitor or, so help me Axis, I will raise every soldier I can to move against you!"

Axis swore viciously and threw the sword across the room. It hit a far wall and clattered to the floor. Apart from Azhure, there were only the three of them in the chamber. Belial had kept everyone else out.

"You want to see what she really is, Belial? You really want to see?" Axis snarled. He held Belial's stare for a moment, then he dropped his eyes and stared at his Enchanter's ring, twisting it slightly. StarDrifter scowled - what was Axis doing to the ring?

When Axis looked up again, his eyes were subtly different. He walked over to Azhure and twisted his hand in her hair, wrenching her head up so he could stare into her eyes.

She moaned again, and fear flickered across her face.

"I am going to unlock the traitor's mind," Axis said, his voice now so cold that Belial recoiled.

Music started to waft about the chamber. Harsh music. Music that StarDrifter at rst thought was Dark Music, but then realised was a combination of fire and air music that was discordant and twisted. It was a song that unlocked a mind's secrets, but StarDrifter had never, never heard it before. It was a new Song.

"I am going to find out what secrets her dark soul hides," Axis said, grating out his words through clenched teeth, "and I am going to prove to you, Belial, that this...this creature is the traitor who murdered MorningStar and who intended to betray me to Gorgrael!"

A moment later Azhure screamed, her body convulsing, and she continued to scream as Axis tore her mind apart.

"Oh, gods," Belial whispered, appalled. He turned away, unable to watch, wishing that he could stop his ears as well, wishing that he had the courage to attack Axis and stop him from killing Azhure.

"He is sifting through her mind," StarDrifter said calmly. "Sifting through her memories. Searching for the key that will unlock her true identity."

Several minutes passed, and the intensity of Azhure's screams, if anything, deepened. Her body strained against the ropes so desperately that they burned through material and skin, and Belial, on the one occasion he found the heart to look, saw blood seep through to stain the white linen wherever the ropes pressed against her body.

"Ah!" Axis suddenly exclaimed in satisfaction. "I have found it!"

"What?" StarDrifter asked, stepping a little closer.

"A block. A shuttered grate. A welded door. A block. Behind this, StarDrifter, lies the true Azhure. Shall I open it?"

"Can you?" StarDrifter asked. "Is it possible? Should we?" What if WolfStar lurked behind that block, waiting to leap out? "Perhaps it is best to kill her now, Axis. It is enough to know the block is there."

"No, no," Axis grunted. "Belial wants proof. Well, he shall have it. Wait. I almost have it."

His face tightened in concentration and effort and the strength of the music doubled. Azhure abruptly stopped screaming and simply stared into Axis' eyes, so close to her own.

"Ah," Axis whispered, his hand still tangled deep in her hair. "I almost have you...almost...almost...therel It is gone!"

Suddenly his eyes widened, startled, horrified, staring at something that StarDrifter and Belial could not see. "Oh gods," he whispered, and then, without a sound, both he and Azhure vanished.

He was enveloped by her power, by the pure power of the Stars, and by some spark of compassion left within her, she did not let it immediately crush him. But she was also still caught in his enchantment - both were - and she was compelled to show him her secrets. All of them. Even those she had repressed and hidden in this dark hole of her mind because to let them free would have driven her mad. She opened her eyes and began to see. Began to see with the eyes of a five-year-old child. And Axis saw with her.

The eyes blinked and opened. Blinked yet again, and opened wider. They saw the interior of the Plough-Keepers home in Smyrton. It was a well-kept home, well furnished. The Plough-Keeper, Hagen, did well for himself.

It was early evening, and lamps and the fire burned merrily. A meal was set out on the table, but the food lay untouched on thick white plates. The eyes belonged to a little girl, and she was crouched in the furthest corner from the fireplace. She did not like the fireplace.

That was where Hagen was intent on the murder of her mother. He had her prone on the hearth, her head dangerously close to the fire. Kneeling astride her body, Hagen gripped the woman's throat with his hands.

"Whore!" he screamed. "/ did not father that aberration cringing in the corner, did I? Did I? Who, woman? Who?" And he thrust her beautiful head a little further into the fire.

Her hair was raven blue-black, and thickly coiled about her head. The Axis part of the mind that watched through the eyes in the corner saw that her face, even distorted with terror and marked by violence as it was, was very beautiful, her eyes a deep and mysterious blue, her skin creamy smooth in places, but blackened and burned in others. And soon her hair would go up in flames.

"Who?" Hagen roared, again driving her head yet further towards the flames and the coals, and Axis cringed in horror. Was this Hagen driving Azhure's mother into the flames, or was it he, driving Azhure to her death?

"Azhure, hear me!" the woman screamed, knowing she was near death.

"Hear me! This man is not your father!"

"/know that!" Hagen yelled, "/know that. Ever since I saw those feathers sticking out of the girl's back this afternoon, the feathers that you have been binding for weeks now, trying to hide them from me, ever since that moment I have known she was not my daughter. Who? Who?"

"Azhure!" And the woman screamed, for in a burst of crackling her hair had caught fire. "Azhure," as the flames engulfed her head, "Azhure! You are a child of the gods. Seek the answer on Temple Mount! Ah!" Her hands beat frantically at Hagen's fingers clenched about her throat, desperately seeking release from the torment that engulfed her.

"Azhure!" her voice crackled horrifyingly from the ball of flame that now engulfed her entire head. "Live! Live! Your father. Ah! Azhure...Ah! Your father...Ahl"

Whatever she had been trying to say was lost in the expanding ball of flame.

His own hands singed, Hagen recoiled, and for a moment or two the woman's hands beat ineffectually at the flames licking at the edges of her linen collar. An instant later her entire bodice had gone up, and the instant after that her skirts erupted in a roar of flame.

For minutes...hours?...the Azhure/Axis mind watched as the blackened body twisted and writhed on the hearth. It still made odd grunting noises, but the Azhure/ Axis mind wondered if it were her lungs searching for air, or the sound of joints popping in the heat.

The smell was awful.

Only after the charred corpse stilled did Hagen turn to the litde girl.

"Now you," he said softly. "Now you."

He lifted the bone-handled knife from the table, and bent down to the girl.

He ripped the dress from her body and twisted one hand into her hair. In his other hand he hefted the knife, seeking a firm grip.

As the little girl felt the knife sear into her flesh, so too did Axis.

As the little girl twisted and screamed and begged for forgiveness, so too did Axis.

As Hagen dug and twisted the knife deeper and harder, so too did Axis feel each and every twist in his own flesh.

As Hagen grabbed the slowly developing nubs of wings and twisted and pulled and wrenched, so too did Axis suffer.

Blade scraped bone, and Axis screamed and twisted and begged for forgiveness.

So too had Azhure.

As the knife rattled to the floor and Hagen seized every remaining vestige of wing and flight muscle and feather that he could find and pull and wrench and tear, so Axis begged, pleaded, screamed, twisted, fought, cried, despaired.

So too had Azhure.

And, as Hagen picked up the knife again, and began to dig and twist again, searching for hidden feathers, so Axis gave into despair.

So too had Azhure despaired.

And, as Azhure had, Axis lived through each moment of the next six weeks, weeks when the wing nubs kept trying to reform, weeks when each morning Hagen would tear off the grubby, blood-and pus-encrusted bandages and curse and reach for the knife and dig and twist and wrench and dig and twist and cut and scrape and tear and curse and ...

/ understand] Axis screamed somewhere in a dark, dark place. A place to which the Azhure/Axis mind had retreated because it was the only way it could survive. I understand] Do you? her voice softly asked. Do you?

... and bandage up again to leave the child thin and weak and infected and pain-ridden to lie in the bed as he buried the charred corpse that had been her mother but yet to return the following morning and curse and reach for the knife and twist and scrape and tear and cut, cut, cut, cut and then leave to conduct worship in the Worship Hall, leave to give due reverence to the great god Artor, the good god Artor, and to guide the souls of the good people of Smyrton on their voyage into hell and to return to lift the Azhure/Axis head and force cool water down her/his throat.

"Why let me live?"

Hagen smiled. "Because I want to see you suffer," he said. "I like it. Shall I check your bandages again?"

/ understand, Axis whispered, and this time he heard nothing but the sobbing of a girl driven to madness by the pain and the hatred and the loss and driven, as her only means of survival, to bury all of her memories and all of her enchanted powers behind a locked grate, a shuttered gate, a closed, silent door and repress, repress, repress and concentrate on being "normal", because that was the only way she would survive. The only way.

He was in a dark, dark place and he did not know how to get out. Azhure "s strange power, long hidden, long fettered, had brought him here, and he did not have the skills to escape.

"Azhure?" he whispered into the darkness. "Azhure?"

Nothing.

"Azhure?" he called softly again, starting to crawl directionless through the dark. "Azhure?"

Nothing.

He sat and thought and listened. If he were Azhure, would he answer?

No. The darkness was the only thing protecting her.

What could he say? What could he say?

"Forgive me," he whispered. "Forgive me."

Nothing.

"For your mother's death, forgive me."

Nothing.

"For your pain and your terror, forgive me."

Nothing.

"For the loss of your childhood and the rape of your innocence, forgive me."

Nothing.

"For all the cruelty of the world that has ravaged you, forgive me."

Nothing.

"For my lack of trust and my lack of faith, forgive me."

Silence, and Axis knew that she was there.

"Help me, Azhure, for I am lost and I am frightened and I am lonely without you. Help me."

"Forgive me," a whisper reached him, and Axis burst into tears, appalled by her need for forgiveness. "Forgive me, Mama, that I cannot remember your name."

And then she was in his arms, the little girl and the grown woman all in one, and the girl and the woman and the Icarii Enchanter were weeping and seeking forgiveness and release and love and comfort and somewhere to hide, hide, hide from the pain and the injustice of the world.

Belial and StarDrifter stood, frozen. Waiting. Time passed immeasurably around them. Waiting.

And then, snap! they were freed from whatever bound them and the air shimmered and Axis stepped forth into the room and he bore Azhure in his arms and she seemed almost lifeless, for the skin and the flesh had been stripped from her back until the blood ran in colourful rivulets down Axis' breeches and boots to the floor.

"Help me," he whispered.

Azhure ( )

Faraday ran along the corridors of the palace, her skirts bunched in her hands, her breath heaving. She had fallen asleep sometime after Axis had left her and had then slept through until well past dawn. Only after she had washed, dressed and breakfasted did her new maid tell her something of the commotion in the palace.

What had he done'?

The maid had heard only vague rumours, and eventually Faraday had rushed from the chamber, found one of the palace guard, and asked him where Axis was. Where he had taken Azhure.

In the interrogation chamber she found only blood and emptiness - but she could feel the horror and fear still resonating about the room.

What had he done?

From the interrogation chamber Faraday followed the trail of blood and lingering horror until now she ran along one of the main corridors.

Where? Ah, one of the principal apartment complexes, kept for visiting diplomats. He had taken her in there.

Faraday burst into the antechamber of the apartment complex and stopped dead.

In the antechamber were crammed StarDrifter, Belial, FreeFall, EvenSong, Magariz, Rivkah, Ho'Demi. All silent.

All pale. All shocked. Among them paced nervous Alaunt, as silent as the people, but just as obviously upset. One scratched at the closed door to the main chamber.

Frantic footsteps sounded in the corridor behind her, and a man collided with Faraday as he scrambled into the antechamber.

Ysgryff. Dark, angry, and only a breath away from violence. "Where is he?"

he growled. "Where is he? What has he done to her?"

Before anyone could answer a baby whimpered, and Faraday glanced to one side. Rivkah sat patting Azhure's baby son ineffectually as he wailed and twisted feebly in her arms. Faraday stepped over to Rivkah. "Give me the baby," she said softly, and held out her hands. Rivkah shrugged and handed the baby over.

Hello, Caelum. My name is Faraday.

The baby twisted around to look at her face. Her. Will you help Mama? Her name is Azhure.

Faraday smiled softly and stroked the boy's cheek. Azhure. What a lovely name. Is she with your father?

The boy's mind clouded. He was afraid of her, Faraday. Why was he afraid?

Will you help Mama? He was quiet now, soothed by this woman who held him.

He could feel the warmth and the love of her power and it comforted him.

If I can, Caelum. Shush now while I talk with the others. She looked up at StarDrifter. "Tell me." StarDrifter took an anguished breath. "Axis and I - and I am as much to blame for what happened here as Axis -thought that Azhure was WolfStar." " Whatl" Ysgryff hissed.

"She started to use Dark Music, Ysgryff," StarDrifter pleaded. "What else were we to think? We had no choice. She had to be WolfStar."

"Ysgryff, wait," Faraday said urgently, stepping forward to lay a calming hand onYsgryff's arm. "StarDrifter. None of us here know what you are talking about. Who is this WolfStar? And why would you think that Azhure was this person?"

Slowly, falteringly, StarDrifter explained about the renegade Enchanter-Talon, about his crimes against the Icarii race, about his return through the Star Gate. He explained how Axis, he and MorningStar believed that WolfStar was disguised as one of Axis' confidants, one of those closest to him. The traitor of the third verse of the Prophecy.

"MorningStar always believed it to be Azhure," StarDrifter said. "But Axis and I refused to believe her. Yet there were so many inconsistencies. So much hidden and strange. And Caelum," he waved at the baby in Faraday's arms, "has so much Icarii blood. So much. This morning...when Azhure used the Dark Music of the Stars to destroy the Gryphon...what were we to think, Faraday?"

StarDrifter pleaded. "What were we to think?"

Encumbered with the baby, Faraday was able to restrain Ysgryff no longer.

He leaned forward and literally hauled StarDrifter to his feet by the feathers on the back of his neck. "If he has destroyed her, StarDrifter, then by all the gods that live in the Temple of the Stars, I will destroy you}"

As Belial half rose to his feet, Ysgryff threw the shocked StarDrifter back onto the bench. "Personally, StarDrifter," he said through clenched jaws, "I hope that one day WolfStar will appear and hurl both you and Axis into the Star Gate in one of his crazed experiments, because that is all you two deserve for what you have done to that woman."

"Ysgryff, please," Faraday said gently. "Restrain yourself. Belial, what happened below?"

Belial told her what he could. "But that's all I know, Faraday. Not much.

Azhure took Axis somewhere, showed him something, but I don't know what.

When they reappeared the skin was hanging off Azhure's back in strips and Axis appeared half mad himself. He brought her up here and has allowed no-one in the chamber since. I think he will kill himself if Azhure dies - and even if she doesn't, I think he will kill himself for what he has done to her."

"Ysgryff, wait here," Faraday said, turning to the Prince of Nor. "I think you will have more to do with solving this mystery than anyone else."

She turned and walked towards the door.

"Faraday," Rivkah began, concerned. The last person who had tried to go inside had been confronted with an Axis so furious and so wild that they had literally slammed the door behind them in their haste to get out.

"No," Faraday smiled, her hand on the doorknob. "Axis will not throw out either myself or Caelum. Be calm. Wait."

Then she twisted the doorknob and walked inside, closing the door gently behind her.

The chamber was dim, the windows shuttered. Faraday stood still, adjusting her eyes to the light. Finally a slight movement caught her eye.

Axis rose from where he had been kneeling by a bed along the far wall of the room, a bloodied rag in his hand. He did not say anything, just stared at Faraday with sunken and haunted eyes as she moved towards him.

Faraday reached the other side of the bed, hesitated slightly, then sat down, looking at the woman lying curled up on her side.

"Hello, Azhure," she smiled, her face gentle. "My name is Faraday. I would we could have met in slightly happier circumstances."

Azhure was conscious, her blue eyes wide and dark with pain. She stared at Faraday a moment, then gazed at her son.

"Caelum is well, but he is concerned for you, Azhure."

Azhure reached out a trembling hand and touched Caelum. Faraday noted with concern how weak the woman was, how pale her skin, how it hung in loose, papery folds over her flesh. Azhure let her hand fall listlessly back to thebed. She was so weak and in so much pain that even her son could not interest her.

"You have made a mess of this, haven't you Axis?" Faraday said, her voice low, turning her head to gaze levelly at Axis.

Axis sank to his knees on the other side of the bed. He had been sponging Azhure's back with warm water, trying to stop the blood flow, but the water in the bowl was now deep red itself, and the flesh still hung in strips from Azhure s back. Bone showed in several places.

"I cannot help her," Axis whispered. "I cannot heal. It is one of the things for which there is no Song. Faraday," his voice broke, "do I have to wait for her to begin to die before I can help her?"

"Axis," Faraday said, making her voice as firm as she could. "Take your son and go and sit in the corner of the room. I would spend some time alone with Azhure."

Axis stood, dropped the bloodied rag back into the water, and reached over the bed for Caelum. The baby stiffened a little in Faraday's arms.

Go to your father, Caelum. He needs comfort.

As she passed the baby over Faraday stared Axis hard in the eye. "Caelum needs to know what happened, Axis. If you don't tell him then he will never trust you again. Now, go sit in the chair and talk to your son. Don't disturb Azhure or myself."

Axis nodded, cuddled Caelum to his chest, and walked slowly over to the distant chair, slumping down and murmuring to the baby.

Faraday reached down and took one of Azhure's hands in both of hers, rubbing it with her thumbs, gently, soothingly. "Now," she smiled. "I also need to know what happened. Tell me. Believe me, it will help if you talk about it."

Her touch comforted Azhure, and slowly, very slowly, her words heavy and awkward, she began to tell Faraday what had happened that morning.

"Wait," Faraday stopped her after only a few minutes. "Did you know what you were doing to that Gryphon?" Her thumbs continued to stroke the back of Azhure's hand.

Azhure shook her head. "No. It attacked. I was terrified. I was sure that Caelum and I would die. I had...I had no weapons. It lunged for us, and I raised my arm to protect myself," she lifted her free arm slightly to show Faraday the open tear that ran down the fleshy part of her lower arm, "and the creature tore into me with its beak. The pain, the terror, something...something broke inside of me. Something...opened. Faraday." Her eyes widened, pleading for understanding. "I don't know what I did! I am not WolfStar! Why should Axis think that I was? WhyV"Shush, sweetheart," Faraday comforted, stroking the damp hair back from Azhure's brow. Faraday quietly told Azhure what StarDrifter had told them outside, and Azhure stared disbelieving at the woman before her.

"Oh," she said, inadequately. Had they doubted her that long?

"Azhure. What happened in the chamber below? I need to know, and you need to talk about it."

Azhure was silent for a long time, but Faraday was patient, and waited, holding Azhure's hand in one of hers, lifting the other to stroke the woman's hair, soothing, calming, quieting. Eventually, Azhure began to speak.

She spoke of Axis' anger, of his sudden revulsion, of his violence. It had reminded her, she said, of the man she had called her father, Hagen. She spoke of the nightmare that began on the top of Spiredore and continued in the interrogation chamber. Of the pain and the fear and the terrible aloneness she had felt when Axis had started to tear her mind apart in his efforts to find where WolfStar lurked.

And then the same thing that had happened when the Gryphon attacked.

Something inside of her had...snapped. released.

"And it hasn't completely closed even now, Faraday. I can still feel something in the darkness there, calling to me."

"We will talk about that later," Faraday said gently. "Just tell me what happened next."

Azhure told Faraday of the vision she and Axis had shared. Of her mother's horrible death at Hagen's hands as he sought to discover the identity of Azhure's father.

"I can remember so much now, Faraday," Azhure whispered. "I remember that my wings had started to sprout some five or six weeks earlier. Mama had smiled and laughed when she saw them one day as she bathed me, and said they were a gift from my father, but she tried to hide them from Hagen. As they grew larger she would bind them to my back with a great linen bandage so my back would appear flat. But one day Hagen came home unexpectedly, and found me sitting on Mama's lap, the bandages undone and my back exposed."

Azhure's eyes were dark with guilt. "Oh, Faraday! It was my fault! I had complained that the bandages itched, and Mama had taken them down to scratch my back."

Faraday eyes filled with tears. "Go on."

Haltingly, Azhure told of how Hagen had come at her with his knife, day after day, determined to cut any remnants of the wings from her back. "Weeks it went on," Azhure whispered so low that Faraday had to bend down to hear her.

"Weeks. Every morning Hagen would inspect my back. And if he saw anything...anything...that looked wing-like, then he simply cut it out."

Faraday was appalled. "Didn't the neighbours suspect? Didn't they ask what was going on?"

Azhure shook her head. "Hagen told them that Mama had run away with a pedlar - he buried her body secretly one night - and that I was sick with a simple fever. Sometimes one of the village women would come in with food, but even if they saw the bloody bandages on my back, they never asked what was going on. They believed whatever Hagen told them." She paused, then spoke again.

"Even I came to believe the story that Mama had run off in the night with the pedlar. It was less painful, safer, believing that than the truth I had witnessed."

Faraday was almost overcome by her anger. Damn them! They must have realised what had happened! How hadAzhure survived her life in Smyrton without going mad?

"I survived by becoming what Hagen wanted," Azhure said. "I lived the lie that he wanted. I became as normal as I could. It was the only way to survive —

whenever Hagen thought that I acted in any way...'strange'...then he would beat me until I screamed for forgiveness. I learned not to...not to use ..."

"Not to use what, Azhure?" Faraday asked. This was an important moment.

Azhure had to admit to who, to what, she was.

"Not to use my powers," Azhure finally whispered, and her head swivelled to look at Faraday again. "Faraday, Mama said that I was a child of the gods. That I had to seek the answer on Temple Mount to find out who I was."

"And so you shall," Faraday said. "But something tells me that you may find some of the answers well before you step onto Temple Mount. No, wait, Azhure.

Later. Now I must do something about your back. Did it break open again during your vision this morning?"

Azhure nodded. "As I relived those weeks at Hagen's hands as he tore the wings from my back time and time again - oh Faraday! They were so determined to reform! So resolved! - so the scars on my back opened again."

"Well now." Faraday smiled. "Your Enchanter Lover has singularly failed to help your pain, but I think that the Mother will be able to help a little."

Faraday stood and moved around to the other side of the bed, noticing as she did so that both Axis and Caelum had fallen asleep in the chair on the far side of the room.

"Let me tell you about the Mother," Faraday said softly, gently lifting the rough bandages that Axis had laid in a few places and inspecting Azhure's back.

As she did so she talked about the Mother, her voice as soothing as her hands.

Azhure closed her eyes and listened. Faraday spoke of wondrous things. Of Groves and Woods and fairy creatures. Of old women and strange gardens. Of the Mother herself and of her love for all nature and for the earth. Raum had told Azhure very little about the Sacred Grove, and what Axis had told her had only frightened her, but now Faraday's words made Azhure realise what a remarkable place Faraday had discovered.

Faraday's words slowed and her eyes glowed with power. Slowly, slowly, she began to dig her hands into Azhure s back.

Azhure stiffened, almost crying out with the excruciating pain that Faraday's probing fingers caused her, but Faraday continued to talk and Azhure clung to her words, using them as an anchor for her sanity. The room swam as she came close to fainting, but Faraday's voice strengthened, and Azhure managed to hold on to consciousness.

Gradually the pain receded and Azhure s back grew warm. Her body relaxed and she felt strength flow through her. Faraday's hands felt good. For a long time she lay there, feeling Faraday's hands, listening to her voice.

"Your wings are gone," Faraday said suddenly, breaking her tale of the Enchanted Woods and the Mother. "Hagen did a thorough task. I cannot bring them back for you."

The wings had caused her so much pain that Azhure truly did not care that they were gone for good.

Faraday was silent now as her hands traced long, lazy strokes down Azhure's back from shoulders to buttocks. There was no pain at all. Azhure closed her eyes and let her whole body relax against Faraday's touch.

"Come," Faraday eventually said, rolling Azhure over onto her back. "Let's get you out of what remains of this nightgown and wash you down. You are smeared all over with blood."

As she sat up and pulled the nightgown over her shoulders Azhure realised that her back was completely healed. She could not even feel the tug and pull of the ridged scars that had been with her for over twenty years.

Faraday found some clean, warm water set by the fire and washed Azhure down. She smiled her warm, lovely smile and Azhure suddenly laughed.

"Thank you," she said and grasped Faraday's hands momentarily. "Thank you."

"I have sometimes thought that I have lived a troublesome life these past two years," Faraday said quietly. "But I find that my own pain has been nothing compared to what you have suffered most of your life. Azhure, we both find ourselves at a crossroads here this day. It is the first time we have met, and we have so much to say each to the other, yet we must both continue on our way. I think that, after so much pain, you will walk a road into joy and happiness, while I ..." Faraday dropped her eyes. "I think that I will find yet more pain before I find happiness again."

"Faraday," Azhure pleaded. "I am so sorry for what I have done. I would have given anything that I was not here, not standing between you and Axis."

"Hush," Faraday said. "We are all caught in this damned and cruel Prophecy.

None of us can escape. I do not blame you for what has happened, although,"

Faraday's eyes and voice grew bitter, "I fault Axis for the way he has behaved.

He has treated us both harshly. He is quick to action, a quality usually commendable in a fighting man, but not when combined with his temper and that streak of cruelty he sometimes displays."

She stroked Azhure's cheek. "I would that we became friends. I have seen the pain you have suffered, and I know that you will understand what I will have to go through."

"I would be proud to call you my friend," Azhure whispered.

"Come now," Faraday smiled. "No tears between friends. No recriminations.

That we both love Axis is our misfortune, as is the fact that the man cannot choose between us." She sighed. "Azhure. I will leave. No, hush, let me finish. I would have left anyway. I have my own role to play in the Prophecy and it will take me far from here. I will leave you your Lover, and envy you your Lover, Azhure. I had him a week, and that week I will have to treasure for a lifetime."

She looked down at Azhure s swollen belly. "You make such beautiful children, you and Axis."

Azhure wrapped her hands about her belly. Had her babies been harmed?

"No," Faraday said softly. "They are well, although they would have experienced what you and Axis saw this morning, and I do not know how that will affect them." She paused, as if debating whether or not to go on, then shook her head slightly and closed her mouth.

Azhure relaxed. "A son and a daughter, StarDrifter told me," she smiled.

"Axis must awaken them for me. Sing to them what they must know."

"But you can teach them as well as he. Azhure," Faraday said, her voice a little more serious. "You are an Icarii Enchanter yourself, after all."

Azhure's mouth dropped open.

Faraday patted her on the cheek. "Sit and think about that for a moment, and, in a few days' time, when Axis awakens them and you have some quiet, you can teach those babies as much as their father. Now, if I rummage about in the closet I am sure that I can find something for you to wear."

An Icarii Enchanter, Azhure thought numbly. No. No, no, no, no - I do not want to be an Icarii Enchanter. I want to be Azhure. Azhure. That's all. I do not want to be an Icarii Enchanterl "Small choice," said Faraday, coming back with a linen nightgown and a crimson wrap. "You are what your father made you."

"My father?"

"One of the gods, your mother said?" Faraday quirked an eyebrow. "What a night that must have been when the gods got you on your mother."

"I have so much to learn," Azhure said quietly.

"And many, many years in which to learn it."

The full implication of what Faraday said took a moment to sink in. "Oh!"

Azhure cried, and her hands went to her mouth. She stared at Faraday, her blue eyes wide.

"Many years," Faraday smiled, "in which to enjoy your Lover and watch your children grow. Azhure." She sat down on the bed beside Azhure. "I would that you do something for me."

"Anything!" Azhure said fiercely.

"Azhure. Love Axis for me. Raise his children for me. All of them." Her tone and expression was a little strange when Faraday said the last, but Azhure did not notice it. "Remember me to the children. Tell them of Faraday, who loved their father and who is your friend. Tell them of the Mother. Azhure, when I leave I will go to fulfil my place in the Prophecy."

"Faraday —"

"I walk a strange road ahead," Faraday continued. "But I do not want to lose the friendship that I have made here today. Azhure, you and I will meet again over the next months."

Azhure frowned. "How - ?" she started to ask, but Faraday hushed her.

"We will find a way, you and I. And perhaps, if I find the opportunity, I shall take you to the Sacred Grove. Icarii Enchanters are rarely welcome in the Sacred Grove, but for you I think the Mother and the Horned Ones, as Raum, would be delighted to make an exception. There are wonders there beyond imagining, Azhure, and I would like to show them to you. But, wherever, however, we will visit from time to time, perhaps you can bring your children occasionally."

Azhure looked at the beautiful woman sitting beside her, and felt totally insignificant. "Faraday," she said. "Thank you."

Faraday touched Azhure's cheek gently, briefly. "I am glad to have found friendship with you, Azhure. Now," her tone became brisk. "Lie down and sleep a while. You will need to rest a good deal over the next few weeks and months, I think. Perhaps until your children are born. Sleep."

Azhure lay down and closed her eyes.

Faraday sat with her for a long time, looking at the woman, occasionally stroking her hair as she slept.

You have a long and amazing journey before you, she thought, as has Axis, as have I. Pray, that after all the pain behind us and before us, at least some of us survive it.

Finally Faraday stood up, smoothing her gown over her knees. She walked to where Axis and Caelum slept, both sprawled out in the chair.

"Axis," she said softly, kneeling down by the side of the chair.

He awoke with a start. "Azhure?" His eyes darted to the bed.

"She sleeps. She is well. Axis." His eyes shifted back to Faraday, "I think I will leave you to your Lover."

"Faraday," he muttered and reached out his hand for her face.

"Axis," she smiled brightly, but Axis could see the tears deep in her eyes, could see the pain. "Axis, we fell in love, you and I, when I was but Faraday, daughter of Earl Isend of Skarabost, and you were but Axis, BatdeAxe of the Seneschal. Now we are completely different people. So different. We cannot be what once we were. And perhaps we both needed Borneheld alive to be able to love each other." She paused, and Axis could see the bitterness deep within her.

"How he would have smiled to know that his death meant, eventually, the destruction of our love."

"Faraday," he said again, but Faraday hushed him.

"No, Axis. It is too late for you to say anything to me. Nothing you say now would heal the hurt you have caused me. Axis, I still love you, but I will leave you so that Azhure can be your wife — and make sure that you do marry her, Axis. She is a jewel that you can ill-afford to lose."

She smiled, her eyes hard, finally letting her bitterness show. "I will still fulfil my part of the Prophecy, Axis. Never fear. Now, listen to me. Axis, I formally break the vows that we made together in Gorkentown, I retract my promise to marry you. I release you to Azhure. I do this for Azhure," she said harshly, "not for you. What we once had between us, Axis, is gone. No more. You are free."

But am ? she diought. Ami?

She stared at him a moment longer, trying desperately to imprint his face in her memory, then she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the mouth.

"Goodbye, Axis."

She stood and hurried towards the door. Axis made to go after her but his movement woke Caelum and the baby began to cry. By the time Axis had soothed his son, Faraday had gone.

Faraday paused in the open doorway only long enough to let the largest of the Alaunt through, then she closed it with a sharp click.

The ante chamber was now distinctly crowded with concerned faces, all staring at her.

She smiled, although she thought her own face would crack with the effort.

"They are well. Give them an hour, perhaps two, then go in. They will need to talk to you, and you to them." She glanced atYsgryff, then smiled more naturally at Rivkah, noticing how Magariz had sat beside her and clasped her hand.

"Rivkah? Can I talk with you?"

Rivkah nodded and the two women walked into the corridor for some privacy.

"Rivkah. I am leaving. I cannot come between those two. Ah, Rivkah, this Prophecy is a cruel thing," she said, her voice breaking.

Rivkah held her close, rocking her a little and soothing her. Finally Faraday stood back and sniffed, wiping away her tears. "I must go and speak to the Sentinels, Rivkah, but then I must leave on a journey. I do not know if I will ever see you again."

Rivkah's own eyes filled with tears. Faraday was right. This Prophecy was a cruel thing. As she regarded Azhure as a daughter, so also she regarded Faraday, especially because Faraday had been a Duchess of Ichtar too. Poor Faraday. She deserved to find happiness as much as Azhure did.

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Faraday smiled. "Sometime. Somewhere. But, Rivkah, did I see you hold Prince Magariz's hand in there? Should I assume...?"

Rivkah actually blushed and Faraday laughed. "Rivkah," she said. "I would give you a gift before I leave."

Abruptly she leaned forward and kissed Rivkah hard on the mouth. Rivkah shuddered as a bolt of pure energy raced through her. She stared open-mouthed at Faraday as the woman leaned back; she felt...well, revitalised. Warm. Alive.

"A gift from the Mother," Faraday whispered. "Use it well."

Then she turned and was gone, leaving behind her a farewell gift that would, in years to come, cause Axis even more sorrow and heartache than Gorgrael would.

It was Faraday's parting gift for the man who had betrayed her.

EnchantressThree hours later Axis convened a meeting of his senior commanders, the Sentinels, and his closest friends in the chamber. There were some things that needed to be said, and Axis was tired of having secrets. If WolfStar sat disguised among them, plotting and planning, then so be it. He, his parents and MorningStar had kept the secret of WolfStar close, suspecting all those about them. In the end their secrecy had almost killed Azhure.

Axis still found it hard to believe that Azhure had smiled and forgiven him so easily when she'd finally woken. He felt as if he would spend the rest of his life atoning for the pain he had caused her.

Now Azhure sat in the chair by the fire as the group waiting outside slowly filed in. She was wan and obviously weak, but she smiled at her friends and family, her heart easy. Rivkah, looking radiant, and Magariz; Belial, Cazna quiet and pale by his side; the Sentinels, all looking somewhat subdued; Ho'Demi and Sa'Kuya; the House of SunSoar — FreeFall, EvenSong, and StarDrifter, who, like his son before him, fell to his knees beside Azhure, crying for her forgiveness; Ysgryff, who, still grim with concern for her, touched Azhure lightly on the top of her head and glared at StarDrifter before he sat next to Rivkah and Magariz; FarSight CutSpur and several of his Crest-Leaders, together with SpikeFeather; Arne, even more dour than usual, and several of Azhure's unit commanders from the archers; and the remaining fourteen of the Alaunt who lolled between chairs and legs and made the chamber, once spacious, appear crowded and inadequate.

"Look," Axis said quietly, when all had seated themselves, whether on chairs or benches or on the floor. "Look. I want you to witness what I witnessed this morning. I want you to see where Azhure has come from."

The Song of Recall filtered through the room. As the circle of ghastly crosses had appeared before Arcen, now the interior of Plough-Keeper Hagen's home in Smyrton appeared before the assembled group.

All witnessed the dreadful events of Azhure's childhood. They witnessed the death of her mother - and Ysgryff cried out in horror when he saw the face of the woman who had been Azhure s mother. They witnessed Azhure's mutilation at the hands of her stepfather. They felt with Azhure the torment, both physical and emotional, that Hagen inflicted on her as she grew up. They realised why Azhure had buried her heritage so deep that not even she, eventually, realised what and who she was - if she had ever let the truth through then she would have died a death as appalling as her mother's had been.

StarDrifter eventually had to avert his head. As he did so he caught Axis'

gaze. The child will turn her head and cry — revealing ancient arts.

Axis nodded imperceptibly. Yes, StarDrifter. And where else is she in this Prophecy? Where else?

"It saddens me," Azhure whispered, when the ghostly images had finally flickered and died, "that, of all I remember, I do not yet remember my mother's name. The loss of her name has tormented me all through these years since her death."

"Your mother's name was Niah, Azhure."

Everyone in the room turned to look atYsgryff; even several of the hounds raised their heads.

Azhure leaned forward, stunned. NiahlYsgryff walked over to her, bending down by her side and taking her hand.

"Azhure, I was not totally sure until I saw your mother's face, but I had my suspicions."

"Ysgryff." Azhure's voice was distraught, her eyes wide and distressed. "Tell me!"

"Niah was my eldest sister, some eight years older than me. Like many women of the House of Nor, she elected to become a priestess in the Temple of the Stars rather than marry. She joined when she was fourteen, and became one of the senior priestesses when only twenty-one. Azhure, you do not remember your mother's name because she would never have told it to you. All the priestesses relinquish their names when they take their holy vows. She would not even have thought of herself as Niah. Even after she left the complex on Temple Mount."

"Niah," Azhure whispered. "Thank you, Ysgryff...uncle."

"I prefer Ysgryff, Azhure." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

"But I welcome you into the House of Nor. Later, when we have more leisure, I will tell you of your mother."

"Ysgryff." Axis leaned forward. "Do you know anything of the mystery of Azhure's conception? Of her father?"

Ysgryff shook his head. "Very little. Our family was contacted one year and told simply that Niah had left the Temple. It happens sometimes that a priestess will leave the Order of the Stars, but rarely, and we were all stunned that Niah had vanished. She had seemed so happy in the Temple. I went to Temple Mount to talk to the Sisterhood, but they could not, perhaps would not, tell me much.

They said that Niah had simply left one day."

"And travelled to Smyrton to marry Hagen?" Azhure said. "Why? Why?' And why did he leave me alive when he hated me so deeply, she thought. Why?

Axis looked across at the Sentinels. "What do you know? Come, tell me." His voice was hard. "I will have no more secrets between us."

But Jack, who knew so much, knew that the Prophecy had always meant Axis for Azhure, not Faraday, was silent.

Veremund spread his hands helplessly. "Axis, believe me when I say that we know nothing of Niah, of why she would have travelled to Smyrton to marry Hagen of all people."

"You are not beyond forcing people into marriages that they do not want,"

Axis snapped.

Veremund hung his head. "Axis." He raised his head again. "I can tell you nothing; Azhure has always been a mystery to us."

StarDrifter stood up. "We cannot know why Niah fled to Smyrton when we still know so little about her, about her reasons for leaving the Temple and the Order of the Stars. Azhure, Niah told you to go to Temple Mount. Surely there you will find answers. Perhaps the priestesses will be more willing to talk to her daughter than to her brother." He took a deep breath and looked at Axis. "But I do not believe what she said about you being a child of the gods," he said, returning his eyes to Azhure. "Perhaps that is what she thought. Perhaps that is what she was told. Perhaps it was better that she believed that.

"Azhure, I think I know who your father is. It would explain so much about you, and it would explain - but not excuse - why Axis and I were so ready to jump to the conclusion that you were WolfStar this morning." Again Star-Drifter took a deep breath. "Azhure, I think that WolfStar is your father."

Jack, sitting shadowed in a corner, raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had not thought StarDrifter so perceptive.

"You think what?" Azhure asked, but at her side Axis slowly nodded as he looked at his father.

"Azhure-heart," he said softly, "it would explain so much. The Wolven. The Alaunt." He smiled and looked back at Azhure. "Your SunSoar blood."

Axis took her hand. "Azhure, you know that both Star-Drifter and myself cannot resist you. Remember Beltide night in the groves. Remember how our blood sang each to the other — yours, mine, and StarDrifter's."

Axis' eyes caught his father's, then he went on. "If Wolf-Star is your father it would explain how you came to use the Dark Music. He must have learned to use it beyond the Star Gate and somehow he has bequeathed the ability to you through his blood."

Azhure leaned back in her chair and thought for a long time. It made sense, what they said. And it also made sense of her strange encounter in Spiredore.

"I met my father last night," she said softly.

"What!" Axis cried, and his query was echoed about the room by several other people.

"I did not know who he was then, but he could only have been WolfStar."

She told them of her strange meeting, of his kiss, of his mention that it was Unclean. "As are relations between parent and child and as between brother and sister in the SunSoar family."

Her eyes softened. "He was a beautiful birdman. The power shone out of him. If he came to my mother, to Niah, like that then I can well understand why she lay with him and why she thought he was one of the gods."

StarDrifter looked at her, troubled by Azhure's obvious admiration for WolfStar. "He also murdered MorningStar, Azhure. And trained Gorgrael."

Azhure's eyes met his. "And yet he was kind to me and Caelum, StarDrifter.

I do not seek to excuse his murders, but I think that he is a man of many disguises."

"Enough, uncle," FreeFall said, stepping forward from his corner. "We have many days in which to puzzle this mystery between us, but now we have a most important duty. Azhure," he brushed past StarDrifter and briefly stepped over the Alaunt at her feet to kiss Azhure on the cheek. "Welcome, Azhure, into the House of SunSoar. I am FreeFall SunSoar, your cousin. Sing well and fly high, Azhure, and may the years of the rest of your life bring only joy and happiness to counter the darkness that has filled your early years."

Azhure's eyes filled with tears.

EvenSong was right behind FreeFall. She kissed Azhure on her other cheek.

"Welcome, Azhure, into the House of Sun-Soar. I am EvenSong SunSoar, and I am also your cousin. May the wind always blow at your back and your arrows fly straight and true."

StarDrifter bent down after his daughter, and Azhure blushed a little at the look in his eyes.

"Welcome, Azhure, into the House of SunSoar. I am StarDrifter SunSoar, and," he grinned, "I will be whatever you need me to be, but I am not your parent and I am not your brother." And I am not Unclean, Azhure could hear him echo in her mind. "May you pass on both your beauty and your allurements to the daughter you grow inside you."

Welcome, Azhure, into the House of SunSoar. My name is Caelum Azhurson SunSoar StarSon, and I am yqur son. Know that I love you and that if am a child of the sun, then it was you who made me that way.

I thank you, Caelum, with all my heart, for your love.

Rivkah now stepped forward and kissed Azhure gently on her forehead.

"Welcome, Azhure, into the sometimes fractious House of the SunSoars. May your compassion and courage in the face of adversity remind them all of their own shortcomings."

"Thank you," Azhure said as Rivkah sat back down with Magariz. She turned to look at Axis, expecting him also to

welcome her into the House of SunSoar, but he merely smiled gently at her and glared at Ysgryff who hastily let Azhure's other hand go and hurried back to his seat.

"Azhure, my friends," Axis said at length. "There is a very special reason for my wanting so many people here, crowded into diis room. I need witnesses for what I now do."

He dropped down on one knee and clasped Azhure's hand firmly between his own, interlacing their fingers.

"I, Axis, StarMan of Tencendor, son of StarDrifter, Enchanter of the House of SunSoar and Rivkah, Princess of the Royal House of Achar, do plight thee, Azhure, daughter of Niah of Nor and WolfStar SunSoar, my hand in marriage.

Before these people here assembled and with my free will and consent I do take thee as my wife and promise to give thee an honoured place by my side and in my roost. In front of these witnesses I do promise to honour you, to remain loyal to you, and to pledge to you my respect, my possessions, and my body for as long as we both shall live. I promise never to lead you anywhere but into calm air, bright sunshine and rising thermals. My wings are your wings, my heart and soul are yours. You have my pledge of marriage, Azhure-heart, and to this may all the gods and Stars in Creation bear holy witness. May we dance through the years to the music of the Star Dance to find eternal peace among the Stars themselves."

The marriage vows Axis had spoken were an exotic mixture of Acharite and Icarii marriage vows, and they reflected the curious heritage that both brought into this marriage.

For a long moment Azhure was unable to speak. She gripped Axis' hands, staring into his eyes, unaware of any others in the room. Eventually she smiled.

"I, Azhure, daughter of Niah of the House of Nor and WolfStar SunSoar," she began softly, and her voice strengthened as she repeated the vows.

"My wings are your wings, Axis," she finished, "my heart and soul are yours.

You have my pledge of marriage, and to this may all the gods and Stars in Creation bear holy witness. May we dance through the years to the music of the Star Dance to find eternal peace among the Stars themselves."

Axis leaned forward and kissed her. For the past few minutes, as he had begun to speak his vows of marriage, he felt, as Orr had said he would, the insistent urge to pass the Enchantress' ring on. This was the moment and this was the woman.

Axis let Azhure's hand go and pulled the Enchantress' ring from the small secret pocket in his breeches. He held the ring up so that all in the room could see it. The enchanted sapphire and the golden stars within it sparkled in the firelight. The Icarii and the Sentinels all gasped, totally shocked -yet even they did not entirely realise what it meant that Axis now slid the ring onto the heart finger of Azhure's left hand. It fitted perfectly, made only for this woman and for this finger.

"Welcome into the House of the Stars to stand by my side, Enchantress. May we walk together forever."

The Circle was complete.

Glossary

ACHAR: the realm that stretches over most of the continent, bounded by the Andeis, Tyrre and Widowmaker Seas, the Avarinheim Forest and the Icescarp Alps.

ACHARITES: the people of Achar.

ADAMON: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Adamon is God of the Firmament and shares seniority with his wife, Xanon.

AFTERLIFE: all three races, the Acharites, the Icarii and the Avar, believe in the existence of an AfterLife, although exactly what they believe depends on their particular culture.

ALAYNE: a roving blacksmith in Skarabost.

ALAUNT: the legendary pack of hounds that once belonged to WolfStar SunSoar.

ALDENI: a small province in western Achar, devoted to small crop cultivation. It is administered by Duke Roland.

ANDAKILSA, River: the extreme northern river of Ichtar, dividing Ichtar from Ravensbund. It remains free of ice all year round and flows into the Andeis Sea.

ANDEIS SEA: often unpredictable sea that washes the west coast of Achar.

ANNWIN: eldest daughter of Earl Isend of Skarabost, sister to Faraday.

Married to Lord Osmary.

ARCEN: the major town of Arcness.

ARCNESS: large eastern province in Achar, specialising in pigs. It is administered by Earl Burdel.

ARHAT: a Ravensbund warrior.

ARNE: a cohort commander in die Axe-Wielders.

ARTOR THE PLOUGHMAN: the one true god, as taught by the Brotherhood of the Seneschal. According to the Book of Field and Furrow, the religious text of the Seneschal, Artor gave mankind the gift of the Plough, the instrument which enabled mankind to abandon his hunting and gathering lifestyle and to settle in the one spot to cultivate die earth and thus to build die foundations of civilisation.

AVAR, The: one of the ancient races of Tencendor who live in the forest of the Avarinheim. The Avar are sometimes referred to as the People of the Horn.

AVARINHEIM, The: the home of the Avar people. The Acharites refer to it as the Shadowsward. See "Shadowsward".

AVONSDALE: province in western Achar. It produces legumes, fruit and flowers. It is administered by Earl Jorge.

AXE-WIELDERS, The: the elite crusading and military wing of the Seneschal.

Its members have not taken holy orders but have nevertheless dedicated their battle skills to the Seneschal to use as it wishes.

Now most of the Axe-Wielders have abandoned the Seneschal to follow Axis in his alliance with the Icarii.

AXIS: son of the Princess Rivkah and the Icarii Enchanter StarDrifter SunSoar. Once BatdeAxe of the Axe-Wielders, Axis has now assumed the mantle of the StarMan of the Prophecy of the Destroyer.

AZHURE: daughter of Brother Hagen of Smyrton. Her mother came from Nor.

AZLE, River: a major river that divides the provinces of Ichtar and Aldeni. It flows into the Andeis Sea.

BANES: the religious leaders of the Avar people. They wield magic, although it is usually of the minor variety.

BARROWS, The Ancient: the burial places of the ancient Enchanter-Talons of the Icarii people. Located in southern Arcness.

BARSARBE: a Bane of the Avar people.

BATTLEAXE, The: the leader of the Axe-Wielders, appointed by the Brother-Leader for his loyalty to the Seneschal, his devotion to Artor the Ploughman and the Way of the Plough, and his skills as a military commander. Axis was the last man to hold this post.

BEDWYR FORT: a fort that sits on the lower reaches of the River Nordra and guards the entrance to Grail Lake from Nordmuth.

BELAGUEZ: Axis' war horse.

BELIAL: lieutenant and second-in-command in Axis' army. Long-time friend and supporter of Axis SunSoar.

BELTIDE: see "Festivals".

BOGLE MARSH: a large and inhospitable marsh in eastern Arcness. Strange creatures are said to live in the Marsh.

BOOK OF FIELD AND FURROW: the religious text of the Seneschal, which teaches that Artor himself wrote it and presented it to mankind.

BORNEHELD: Duke of Ichtar, the most powerful noble in Achar. Son of the Princess Rivkah and her husband, Duke Searlas.

BOROLEAS: an elderly Brother within the Seneschal.

BRACKEN RANGES, The: a low and narrow mountain range that divides Arcness and Skarabost.

BRACKEN, River: river that rises in the Bracken Ranges which, dividing provinces of Skarabost and Arcness, flows into the Widowmaker Sea.

BRADOKE: a senior lieutenant within Borneheld's forces.

BRIGHTFEATHER: wife to RavenCrest SunSoar, Talon of the Icarii.

ERODE: an Avar man, Clan Leader of the SilentWalk Clan.

BROTHER-LEADER, The: the supreme leader of the Brotherhood of the Seneschal. Usually elected by the senior Brothers, the Office of Brother-Leader is for life. He is a powerful man, controlling not only the Brotherhood and all its riches, but the Axe-Wielders as well. The current Brother-Leader is Jayme.

BURDEL, EARL: lord of Arcness and friend to Borneheld, Duke ofIchtar.

CAELUM: a baby's name. It means "the heavens", or "stars in heaven".

CARLON: capital city of Achar and residence of the kings of Achar.

Situated on Grail Lake. CAULDRON LAKE, The: the lake at the centre of the Silent WomanWoods.

CAZNA: daughter of Baron Ysgryff of Nor. CHAMBER OF THE MOONS: chief audience and sometime banquetchamber of the royal palace in Carlon.

CHAMPION, A: occasionally an Acharite warrior will pledge himselfas a noble lady's Champion. The relationship is purely platonic and isone of protection and support. The pledge of a Champion can bebroken only by his death or by the express wish of his lady. CHARONITES: a race who live in the UnderWorld. They are relatedto the Icarii. CLANS, The: the Avar tend to segregate into Clan groups, roughlyequitable with family groups. CLOUDBURST SUNSOAR: younger brother and murderer ofWolfStar SunSoar. COHORT: see "Military Terms".

COROLEAS: the great empire to the south of Achar. Relationsbetween the two countries are usually cordial. CREST: Icarii military unit composed of twelve Wings. CRIMSONCREST: an Icarii male. CREST-LEADER: commander of an Icarii Crest. CULPEPPER FENWICKE: mayor of the city of Arcen in Arcness. DARK MAN, The: Gorgrael's mentor. Also known as Dear Man.

Gorgrael does not know his real identity. DEAR MAN: See "Dark Man".

DESTROYER, The: another term for Gorgrael. DEVERA: daughter to Duke Roland of Aldeni. DISTANCES:

League: roughly seven kilometres, or four and a half miles.

Pace: roughly one metre or one yard.

Handspan: roughly twenty centimetres or eight inches. DOBO: a Ravensbund warrior. DRIFTSTAR SUNSOAR: mother of MorningStar, grandmother ofStarDrifter. Enchanter and SunSoar in her own right, wife to the Sun-Soar Talon, she died three hundred years before the events of this book.

EARTH TREE: a tree sacred to both the Icarii and the Avar. EDOWES: a soldier from Arne's unit in Axis' force. EGERLEY: a young man from Smyrton.

EMBETH, LADY OF TARE: widow, good friend and once lover of Axis.

ENCHANTED WOOD, The: the faerie wood beyond the Sacred Grove.

ENCHANTRESS, The: the first of the Icarii Enchanters, the first Icarii to discover the way to use the power of the Star Dance. The Enchantress was the founder of both Icarii and Charonite peoples.

ENCHANTRESS' RING, The: the Enchantress made use of an ancient ring to help establish the line of Icarii Enchanters. It was not hers, but she was granted the use of it for her lifetime. The ring has little or no power in itself, but it is a powerful symbol.

ENCHANTERS: magicians of the Icarii people. Many are very powerful. All Enchanters have the word "Star" somewhere in their names.

ENCHANTER-TALONS: Talons of the Icarii people who were also Enchanters.

EVENSONG: sister to Axis.

FARADAY: daughter of Earl Isend of Skarabost and his wife, Lady Merlion.

Wife to Duke Borneheld of Ichtar.

FARSIGHT CUTSPUR: senior Crest-Leader of the Icarii Strike Force.

FEATHERFLIGHT BR GHTWING: a Wing-Leader in the Icarii Strike Force.

FERNBRAKE LAKE, The: the large lake in the centre of the Bracken Ranges.

FERRYMAN, The: Charonite who plies the ferry of the UnderWorld.

FESTIVALS of the Avar and the Icarii:

Yuletide: the winter solstice, in the last week of Snow-month. Beltide: the spring Festival, the first day of Flower-month. Fire-Night: the summer solstice, in the last week of Rose-month.

FINGUS: a previous BattleAxe. Now dead.

FIRE-NIGHT, The: see "Festivals". Although now a fairly tame Avar festival, in Icarii and Avar legend, Fire-Night was that night tens of thousands of years ago when the ancient Star Gods (older and more powerful than the current Star Gods) crashed into the land in a firestorm that lasted many days and nights.

Legend says that these ancient gods still sleep in the depths of the Sacred, or Magic, Lakes of Tencendor. The Sacred Lakes were created from this fire-storm and their power comes from the ancient Star Gods.

FLEAT: an Avar woman.

FLEURIAN: Baroness of Tarantaise, wife to Greville. She is his second wife, and much younger than him.

FLULIA: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Flulia is Goddess of Water. FLURIA, The River: a minor river that flows through Aldeni into theRiver Nordra.

FORBIDDEN, The: the two races, the Icarii and the Avar, that the Seneschal teaches are evil creatures who use magic and sorcery to enslave humans. During the Wars of the Axe, a thousand years before the events of the Prophecy of the Destroyer, the Acharites pushed the Forbidden back beyond the Fortress Ranges into the Shadowsward (or Avarinheim) and the Icescarp Alps.

FORBIDDEN TERRITORIES, The: the lands of the Forbidden, the Avarinheim and the Icescarp Alps.

FORBIDDEN VALLEY, The: the only known entrance into the Shadowsward (or Avarinheim) from Achar. It is where the River Nordra escapes the Shadowsward and flows into Achar.

FOREST, concept of: the Seneschal teaches that all forests are bad because they harbour dark demons who plot the overthrow of mankind, thus most Acharites have a fear of forests and their dark interiors. Almost all the ancient forest that once covered Achar has been destroyed. The only trees grown in Achar are fruit trees and plantation trees for timber.

FORTRESS RANGES: the mountains that run down Achar's eastern boundary from the Icescarp Alps to the Widowmaker Sea.

FRANCIS: an elderly Brother from the Retreat in Gorkentown.

FREEFALL SUNSOAR: son and heir of RavenCrest, Icarii Talon, FreeFall was murdered by Borneheld atop the keep at Gorkenfort.

FULBRIGHT: an Acharite engineer in Axis' force.

FULKE, BARON: lord of Romsdale.

FUNADO: a Ravensbund warrior.

"FURROW WIDE, FURROW DEEP": all-embracing Acharite phrase which can be used as a benediction, as a protection against evil, or as a term of greeting.

GANELON, LORD: Lord of Tare, once husband to Embeth, Lady of Tare. Now dead.

GARDEN, The: the Garden of the Mother.

GARLAND, GOODMAN: Goodman of Smyrton.

GATEKEEPER, The: Keeper of the Gate of Death in the UnderWorld. Her task is to keep tally of the souls who pass through the Gate.

GAUTIER: lieutenant to Borneheld, Duke of Ichtar.

GHOSTMEN: another term for Skraelings.

GHOSTTREE CLAN: one of the Avar Clans, headed by Grindle.

GILBERT: Brother of the Seneschal and assistant and adviser to the Brother-Leader.

GORGRAEL: the Destroyer, an evil lord of the north who, according to the Prophecy of the Destroyer, threatens Achar. He is a half-brother to Axis, sharing the same father, StarDrifter SunSoar.

GORKENFORT: major fort situated in Gorken Pass in northern Ichtar.

GORKEN PASS: the narrow pass that provides the only way from Ravensbund into Ichtar. It is bounded by the Icescarp Alps and the River Andakilsa.

GORKENTOWN: the town about the walls of Gorkenfort. GRAIL LAKE, The: a massive lake at the lower reaches of the River Nordra. On its shores are Carlon and the Tower of the Seneschal.

GREVILLE, BARON: lord of Tarantaise.

GRINDLE: an Avar man, head of the GhostTree Clan.

GRYPHON: a legendary flying creature of Tencendor, intelligent, vicious and courageous. They were particularly deadly to the Icarii and it took the Icarii many hundreds of years to exterminate them. The Gryphon are inexplicably flying the skies above Ichtar again.

GUNDEALGA FORD: a wide, shallow ford on the Nordra, just south of the Urqhart Hills.

HAGEN: Plough-Keeper of Smyrton.

HANDSPAN: see "Distances".

HANORI: a Ravensbund elder.

HELM: a young Avar male.

HESKETH: the captain of the palace guard in Carlon. Lover toYr.

HO'DEMI: the Chief of the Ravensbund people.

HOGNI: a young Avar female.

HORDLEY, GOODMAN: Goodman of Smyrton.

HORNED ONES: the almost divine and most sacred members of the Avar race. They live in the Sacred Grove.

HOVEREYE BLACKWING: an Icarii Crest-Leader.

HSINGARD: the large town situated in central Ichtar, seat of the Dukes of Ichtar.

ICARII, The: one of the ancient races of Tencendor. They are sometimes referred to as the People of the Wing.

ICESCARP ALPS, The: the great mountain range that stretches across most of northern Achar.

ICESCARP BARREN: a desolate tract of land situated in northern Ichtar between the Icescarp Alps and the Urqhart Hills.

ICEWORMS: potent creations of Gorgrael, instrumental in the downfall of Gorkentown. Fashioned from ice and snow and shaped like worms, from whence they got their names, these massive creatures carry Skraelings in their bellies.

Rising twenty or thirty paces above men or walls, they can then vomit their cargo behind both lines and walls.

ICHTAR, DUKE of: the lord of Ichtar, currently Borneheld.

ICHTAR, The Province of: the largest and richest of the provinces of Achar.

Ichtar derives its wealth from its extensive grazing herds and from its mineral and precious gem mines.

ICHTAR, River: minor river flowing through Ichtar into the River Azle. IGREN

FENWICKE: wife to the mayor of Arcen, Culpepper Fenwicke. ILFRACOMBE: the manor house of the Earl of Skarabost, the home where Faraday grew up.

IM BE: a Ravensbund woman, nurse to Caelum.

INARI: a Ravensbund warrior.

ISEND, EARL: lord of Skarabost, a darkly handsome but somewhatdandified lord. Father to Faraday. ISLAND OF MIST AND MEMORY: one of the sacred sites of theIcarii people, long lost to them after the Wars of the Axe. See also"Temple of the Stars" and "Temple Mount". IZANAGI: a Ravensbund warrior. JACK: senior among the Sentinels. JAYME: Brother-Leader of the Seneschal. JERVOIS

LANDING: the small town on Tailem Bend of the RiverNordra. The gateway into Ichtar. JORGE, EARL: Earl of Avonsdale, and one of the most experiencedmilitary campaigners in Achar. JUDITH: Queen of Achar, wife to Priam. KAREL: previous King of Achar, father to Priam and Rivkah. Nowdead. KASTALEON: one of the great Keeps of Achar, situated on the RiverNordra in central Achar. It is of relatively recent construction. KEEPS, The: the three surviving great magical Keeps of Achar, all builtby the Icarii thousands of years ago. See separate entries under "Spiredore", "Sigholt", and "Silent Woman Keep". KENR CKE: the commander of the surviving cohort of Axe-Wielders, left by Axis to guard the Tower of the Seneschal. LEAGUE: see "Distances". MAGARIZ, LORD: once commander of Gorkenfort, now one of Axis'

senior commanders. He comes of a noble and ancient Acharite family.

MAGIC: the Seneschal teaches that all magic, enchantments or sorceryare evil and the province only of the Forbidden races who will usemagic to enslave the Acharites if they can. Consequently all Artorfearing Acharites fear and hate the use of magic. MALFARI: the tuber the Avar depend on to produce their bread.

MASCEN, BARON: Lord of Rhaetia. MERLION, LADY: wife to Earl Isend of Skarabost and mother toFaraday. Now dead. MILITARY TERMS - Acharite (for regular army and Axe-Wielders):

Squad: a group of thirty-six men, generally archers.

Unit: a group of one hundred men, infantry, archers, pikemen or cavalry.

Cohort: five units, so five hundred men. MIRBOLT: a Bane of the Avar people. MONTHS: (northern hemisphere seasons apply)

Wolf-month: JanuaryRaven-month: February Hungry-month: March Thaw-month: April Flower-month: May Rose-month: June Harvest-month: July Weed-month: August DeadLeaf-month: September Bone-month: October Frost-month: November Snow-month: DecemberMOONWALKER: the name Rivkah adopted when she joined the Icarii. She abandoned the adopted name of MoonWalker and resumed her birth-narne at the request of a Charonite Ferryman.

MORNINGSTAR SUNSOAR: StarDrifter's mother and a powerful Enchanter in her own right. MorningStar is the widow of Rush-Cloud, the previous SunSoar Talon.

MORYSON: Brother of the Seneschal and friend and chief assistantand adviser to the Brother-Leader.

MOTHER, THE: either the Avar name for Fernbrake Lake, or an all-embracing term for nature which is sometimes personified as an immortal woman.

NARCIS: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Narcis is God of the Sun.

NEVELON: lieutenant to Duke Roland of Aldeni. NIAH: a Nors woman.

NOR: the southernmost of the provinces of Achar. The Nors people are far darker and more exotic than the rest of the Acharites. Nor is controlled by Baron YsgryfT.

NORDMUTH: the port at the mouth of the River Nordra. NORDRA, The River: the great river that is the main life line of Achar. Rising in the Icescarp Alps, the River Nordra flows through the Avarinheim before flowing through northern and central Achar. It is used for irrigation, transport and fishing. OGDEN: one of the Sentinels. Brother toVeremund. ORDER OF THE STARS: order of priestesses who keep watch in theTemple of the Stars. Each gives up her own name on taking orders. ORR: The Charonite Ferryman.

OSMARY, LORD: husband to Annwin, Faraday's elder sister. PACE: see

"Distances". PEASE: an Avar woman killed in the Yuletide attack on the Earth TreeGrove.

PIRATES' NEST: a large island off the coast of Nor and close to Ysbadd and the haunt of pirates. Some say the pirates are protected by Baron Ysgryff himself.

PLOUGH, The: each Acharite village has a Plough, which not only serves to plough the fields, but is also the centre of their worship of the Way of the Plough. The Plough was the implement given by Artor the Ploughman to enable mankind to civilise themselves. Use of the Plough distinguishes the Acharites from the Forbidden; neither the Icarii nor the Avar practise cultivation.

PLOUGH-KEEPERS: the Seneschal assigns a brother to each village in Achar, and these men are often known as Plough-Keepers. They are literally guardians of the Plough in each village, but they are also directors of the Way of the Plough and guardians of the villagers' souls.

PORS: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Pors is God of Air.

PRIAM: King of Achar and uncle to Borneheld, brother to Rivkah.

PRIVY CHAMBER: the large chamber in the royal palace in Carlon where the King's Privy Council meet.

PRIVY COUNCIL: the council of advisers to the King of Achar, normally the lords of the major provinces of Achar.

PROPHECY OF THE DESTROYER: an ancient Prophecy that tells of the rise of Gorgrael in the north and the StarMan who can stop him. No-one knows who wrote it.

RAINBOW SCEPTRE: a weapon mentioned in the Prophecy of the Destroyer.

RAUM: a Bane of the Avar people.

RAVENCREST SUNSOAR: current Talon of the Icarii people.

RAVENSBUND: the extreme northern province of Achar, although it is not administered by the Acharite monarchy.

RAVENSBUNDMEN: the inhabitants of Ravensbund, generally loathed by the Acharites as barbarous and cruel.

REINALD: retired chief cook of Sigholt, undercook when Rivkah lived there.

RENKIN, GOODPEOPLE: farming couple of northern Arcness.

RETREATS: many Brothers of the Seneschal prefer the contemplative life to the active life, and the Seneschal has various Retreats about Achar where these Brothers live in peace in order to contemplate the mysteries of Artor the Ploughman.

RHAETIA: small area of Achar situated in the western Bracken Ranges. It is controlled by Baron Mascen.

RIVKAH: Princess of Achar, sister to King Priam and mother to Borneheld, Axis, and EvenSong.

ROLAND, Duke: also known as "The Walker" because he is too fat to ride.

Duke of Aldeni and one of the major military commanders of Achar.

ROMSDALE: a province to the south-west of Carlon that mainly produces wine. It is administered by Baron Fulke.

RUSHCLOUD SUNSOAR: father to RavenCrest and StarDrifter. Theprevious Talon of the Icarii.

SACRED, GROVE, The: the most sacred spot of the Avar people, the Sacred Grove is rarely visited by ordinary mortals. Normally the Banes are the only members of the Avar race who know the paths in order to find the Grove.

SACRED LAKES, The: the ancient land of Tencendor had a number of magical lakes whose powers are now forgotten. Sometimes known as the Magic Lakes. See "Fire-Night" for the legend of their formation. SA'KUYA: a Ravensbund woman, wife to the Chief, Ho'Demi. SEAGRASS PLAINS: the vast grain plains that form most of Skarabost. SEARLAS: previous Duke of Ichtar and father of Borneheld. Oncemarried to the Princess Rivkah. Now dead.

SENESCHAL, The: the religious organisation of Achar. The Religious Brotherhood of the Seneschal, known individually as Brothers, directs the religious lives of all the Acharites. The Seneschal is extremely powerful and plays a major role, not only in everyday life, but also in the political life of the nation.

It teaches obedience to the one god, Artor the Ploughman, and the Way of the Plough. SENESCHAL, TOWER of: headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Seneschal. The Tower of the Seneschal is a massive pure white seven-sided tower that sits on the opposite side of the Grail Lake to Carlon. SENTINELS: magical creatures of the Prophecy of the Destroyer. SHADOWSWARD, The: an Acharite name for the Avarinheim. SHARPEYE BLUEFEATHER: Crest-Leader in the Icarii Strike Force. SHRA: a young Avar child. Daughter of Pease and Grindle.

SICARIUS: leader of the pack of Alaunt hounds. The name means"assassin".

SIGHOLT: one of the great Keeps of Achar, situated in HoldHard Pass in the Urqhart Hills in Ichtar. One of the main residences of the Dukes of Ichtar.

SILENT WOMAN KEEP: The Silent Woman Keep lies in the centre ofthe Silent Woman Woods. It is one of the magical Keeps of Tencendor.

SILENT WOMAN WOODS: the dark and impenetrable woods insouthern Arcness that house the Silent Woman Keep. SILTON: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Silton is God of Fire. SONG OF CREATION: a Song which can, according to Icarii and Avar legend, actually create life itself. In his address to the Icarii Assembly asking for their help to rescue Axis from Gorkenfort, StarDrifter claimed that Axis sang this to himself in the womb. SONG OF RECREATION: one of the most powerful Icarii spells which can recreate life in the dying. It cannot, however, make the dead rise again. Only the most powerful Enchanters can sing this Song.

SKALI: a young Avar female, daughter of Fleat and Grindle. She diedduring the Skraeling attack on the Sacred Earth Tree Grove at Yuletide. SKARABOST: large eastern province of Achar which grows much ofthe realm's grain supplies.

It is administered by Earl Isend. SKRAEBOLDS: leaders of the Skraelings.

SKRAEFEAR: senior of the SkraeBolds. SKRAELINGS: (also called wraiths or Ghostmen) insubstantial creaturesof the frozen northern wastes who feed off fear and blood. SMYRTON: a large village in northern Skarabost, virtually at theentrance to the Forbidden Valley. SORCERY: see "Magic".

SPIKEFEATHER TRUESONG: an Icarii Wing-Leader. SPIREDORE: one of the magical Keeps of Tencendor. SPREADWING RAVENCRY: Crest-Leader in the Icarii Strike Force. STAR DANCE, The: the source from which the Icarii Enchantersderive their power. STARDRIFTER SUNSOAR: an Icarii Enchanter, father to Gorgrael, Axis and EvenSong.

STAR GATE: one of the sacred sites of the Icarii people. STAR GODS, The: the nine gods of the Icarii, but only seven of theirnames have been revealed to the Icarii. See separate entries under"Adamon", "Xanon", "Narcis", "Flulia",

"Pors", "Zest" and "Silton". STARMAN, The: the man who, according to the Prophecy of theDestroyer, is the only one who can defeat Gorgrael - Axis SunSoar. STRAUM ISLAND: large island off the Ichtar coast inhabited by sealers.

STRIKE FORCE: the military wing of the Icarii. SUNDOWN CROOKCLAW: one of the Icarii Strike Force killed inthe Skraeling attack on the Sacred Earth Tree Grove at Yuletide past.

EvenSong SunSoar filled his place in SpikeFeather TrueSong's Wing.

SUNSOAR, HOUSE of: the ruling House of the Icarii for manythousands of years.

TAILEM BEND: great bend in the River Nordra where it turns from itswesterly direction and flows south to Nordmuth and the Sea of Tyrre. TALON, The: the hereditary ruler of the Icarii people (and once overall of the peoples of Tencendor). For the past six thousand years amember of the House of SunSoar has filled the office of Talon. TALON SPIKE: the highest mountain in the Icescarp Alps, the home ofthe Icarii people.

TANABATA: a Ravensbund elder. TARANTAISE: a rather poor southern province of Achar. Relies ontrade for its income. It is administered by Baron Greville, TARE: small trading town in northern Tarantaise. Home to Embeth, Lady of Tare.

TARE, PLAINS of: the plains that lie between Tare and Grail Lake. TEKAWAI: the preferred tea of the Ravensbund people. It is alwjbrewed and served with great ceremony and is drunk from smporcelain cups bearing the emblem of the blood-red blazing sun. TEMPLE MOUNT: plateau that once housed the Temple complex <

the great mountain which dominated the Island of Mist and Memoi TEMPLE

OF THE STARS: one of the lost Icarii sacred sites. It wlocated on Temple Mount on the Island of Mist and Memory. TENCENDOR: the ancient name for the continent of Achar befothe Wars of the Axe.

THREE BROTHERS LAKES, The: three minor lakes in south Aldei TIME OF

THE PROPHECY OF THE DESTROYER, The: the tinthat begins with the birth of the Destroyer and the StarMan and thwill end when one destroys the other.

TIMOZEL: son of Embeth and Ganelon of Tare, and a member of dAxe-Wielders.

Champion to Faraday. TREE FRIEND: in Avar legend Tree Friend is the person to lead dAvar back to their traditional homes south of the Fortress Ranges. TrFriend is also the one who will bring the Avarinheim behind StarMa TREE SONG: whatever Song the trees choose to sing you. Many rimthey will sing the future, other times they will sing love and protetion. The trees can also sing death.

TYRRE, SEA of: the ocean off the south-west coast of Achar. UNIT: see

"Military Terms".

UR: an old woman who lives in the Enchanted Wood. URQHART HILLS: a minor crescent-shaped range of mountainscentral Ichtar.

VENATOR: a war horse. The name means "hunter". VEREMUND: one of the Sentinels, brother to Ogden. WARLORD: title given to Borneheld, Duke of Ichtar, by King Priato acknowledge Borneheld's de facto command of the armies of Ach; WARS OF THE AXE: the wars during which the Acharites, under ddirection of the Seneschal and the Axe-Wielders, drove the Icarii atthe Avar from the land of Tencendor and penned them behind dFortress Ranges. Lasting several decades, die wars were extraordinariviolent and bloody. They took place some thousand years before dtime of the Prophecy of the Destroyer. WAY OF THE HORN: a general term sometimes used to describe tllifestyle of the Avar people. WAY OF

THE PLOUGH, The: the religious obedience and way of lias taught by the Seneschal according to the tenets of the Book of Fieand Furrow. The Way of the Plough is centred about the Plough arcultivation of die land. Its major tenets teach that as die land is clean and ploughed in straight furrows, so the mind and the heart are similarly cleared of misbeliefs and evil thoughts and can consequently cultivate true thoughts. Natural and untamed landscape is evil; thus forests and mountains are considered evil because they represent nature out of control and they cannot be cultivated. According to the Way of the Plough, mountains and forests must either be destroyed or subdued, and if that is riot possible, they must be shunned as the habitats of evil creatures,-Only, tamed landscape, cultivated landscape, is good, because it has been Subjected to mankind. The Way of the Plough is all about order, and about earth and nature subjected to the order of mankind.

WAY OF THE WING: a general term sometimes used to describe the lifestyle of the'Icatii.

WESTERN MOUNTAINS: the central Acharite mountain range that stretches west from the River Nordra to the Andeis Sea.

WIDEWALL BAY: a large bay that lies between Achar and Coroleas. Its calm waters provide excellent fishing.

WIDOWMAKER SEA: vast ocean to the east of Achar. From the unknown islands and lands across the Widowmaker Sea come the sea raiders who harass Coroleas and occasionally Achar.

WILDDOG PLAINS, The: plains that stretch from northern Ichtar to the River Nordra and bounded by the Fortress Ranges and the Urqhart Hills. Named after the packs of roving dogs that inhabit the area.

WING: the smallest unit in the Icarii Strike Force consisting of twelve Icarii (male and female).

WING-LEADER: the commander of an Icarii Wing.

WOLFSTAR SUNSOAR: ninth and most powerful of the Enchanter-Talons buried in the Ancient Barrows. He was assassinated early in his reign.

WOLVEN, The: a bow that once belonged to WolfStar SunSoar.

WORSHIP HALL: large hall built in each village where the villagers go each seventh day to listen to the Service of the Plough. Also used for weddings, funerals and the consecration of newborn infants to the Way of the Plough, it is usually the most well built-building in each village.

WRAITHS: see "Skraelings".

XANON: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Xanon is Goddess of the Firmament and shares seniority with her husband, Adamon.

YR: one of the Sentinels.

YSBADD: capital city of Nor.

YSGRYFF: Baron: lord of Nor, and a somewhat wild and unpredictable man like all those of his province.

YULETIDE: see "Festivals".

ZEHERAH: the fifth and lost Sentinel.

ZEST: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Zest is Goddess of Earth.