West and North His wing-span as wide as a man was tall, the speckled blue eagle floated high in the sky above the silvery waters of Grail Lake. The day was calm and warm, the thermals inviting, but for the moment the eagle resisted climbing any higher. He tilted his head slightly, his predatory gaze undimmed by his vast age, taking in the pink and cream stone walls and the gold- and silver-plated roofs of the city of Carlon. The eagle's gaze was only casual, for it was almost noon, and the streets so busy that all rodents would have secreted themselves deep in their lairs many hours previously. The eagle was not particularly concerned. He had feasted well on fish earlier, and now he tilted his wings, sweeping over the white-walled seven-sided tower of Spiredore.
     The power emanating from the tower vibrated the eagle's wings pleasantly, and made the old bird reflect momentarily on the changes in this land over his lifetime. When he had been newly feathered and only just able to stay aloft, he'd flown over this same lake and tower with the eagle who had fathered him. Then the tower had been still and silent, and the land treeless. Men had scurried below, axes in their hands and the Plough God Artor in their hearts. Ice had invaded from the north and Gryphon - creatures whom even eagles feared - had darkened the skies. But all that had changed. A great battle had been fought in the icy tundra far to the north, the ice had retreated and the Gryphon had disappeared from the thermals. In the west, enchanted forests had reached for the sky, and the white tower below had reverberated with power and song. The armies that had crawled about the land in destructive, serpentine trails disbanded, and now the peoples of this enchanted land - those who called themselves human, Icarü and Avar - shared their lives shoulder to shoulder in apparent harmony.
     Contented, knowing that the score of chicks he had raised over his lifetime would have nothing more to fear than the anger of a sudden storm, the eagle tipped his wings and spiralled higher and higher until he was no more than a distant speck in the sky.
     Leagh stood at the open windows of her apartments in the north wing of the Prince of the West's palace in Carlon, watching the eagle fade from sight. Sighing, for watching the bird had calmed the ache in her heart, she dropped her gaze slightly to the ancient Icarü palace that loomed above the entire city. It seemed to Leagh that the palace looked lonely and sad in the bright sunshine. And so it should, she thought, for StarSon Caelum so rarely leaves Sigholt now that he only uses his palace in Carlon every three or four years.
     Leagh did not covet the magnificent Icarü palace. Her older brother Askam's palace was spacious and elegant, and grand enough for Leagh, who was a woman of conservative tastes and temperate habits. She dropped her eyes yet further, down to the gently lapping waters of the lake. A gentle easterly breeze blew across the waves, lifting the glossy nut-brown hair from her brow and sweeping it back over her shoulders in tumbling waves. Leagh had the dark blue eyes of her mother, Cazna, but had inherited her hair, good looks and calm temperament from her father, Belial. She had loved her father dearly, and still missed him, even though he'd been dead a decade. He'd been her best friend when she was growing up, and to lose him when she'd been sixteen had been a cruel blow.
     "Stop it!" she murmured to herself. "Why heap yet more sadness and loneliness on your heart?"
     Gods, why could she not have been born a simple peasant girl rather than a princess? Surely peasant women had more luck in following their hearts! Here she was at twenty-six, all but locked into her brother's palace, when most women her age were married with toddlers clinging to their skirts.
     Leagh turned back into the chamber, and sat at her work table. It was littered with scraps of silk and pieces of embroidery that she had convinced herself she would one day sew into a waistcoat for the man she loved - but when everyone around her apparently conspired to keep them as far apart as possible, what was the point? Would she ever have the chance to give it to him? Her fingers wandered aimlessly among several scraps, turning them over and about as if in an attempt to form a pattern, but Leagh's thoughts were now so far distant that she did not even see what her fingers were doing.
     Leagh's only wish in life was to marry the man she loved - Zared, Prince of the North, son of Rivkah and Magariz. Yet it would have been easier for me, she thought wryly, if I'd fallen in love with a common carter.
     The problem was not that Zared did not love her, for he did, and with a quiet passion that sometimes left her trembling when she caught his eyes across a banquet table. Yet how long was it since they'd had the chance to share even a glance? A year? More like two, she thought miserably, and had to struggle to contain her tears. More like two.
     Nay, the problem was not only that Zared and she loved too well, but that a marriage between them was fraught with so many potential political problems that her brother, Askam, had yet to agree to it. (Though doubtless he would have let her marry a carter long ago!) Leagh loved her brother dearly, but he tried her patience - and gave her long, sleepless nights - with his continued reluctance to grant approval of the marriage.
     Leagh's eyes slowly cleared, and she picked up a star-shaped piece of golden silk and turned it slowly over and over in her hands. Power in the western and northern territories of Tencendor was delicately balanced between their two respective princes, Askam and Zared. Should she marry Zared, then the grave potential was there that one day West and North would be united under one prince. Askam had married eight years ago, but his wife Bethiam had yet to produce an heir. For the moment Leagh's womb carried within it the entire inheritance of the West.
     And, with its burden of responsibility and inheritance, thus did her womb entrap her.
     If I were a peasant woman, Leagh suddenly thought, I would only have to bed the man of my choice and get with his child for all familial objections to our marriage to be dropped. She crushed the golden silk star into a tight ball, and tears of anger and heartache filled her eyes. Askam would not let her get within speaking distance of Zared, let alone bedding distance!
     Frustrated with herself for allowing her emotions to so carry her away, Leagh smoothed out the silken patch and laid it with the others. The political problems were only the start of Askam's objections, for Askam not only disliked Zared personally, but resented and felt threatened by Zared's success in the North. The West encompassed much of the old Achar - the provinces of Romsdale, Avonsdale and Aldeni. Each year the lands produced rich harvests, and for decades Carlon had grown fat on the trade with the rest of Tencendor and the Corolean Empire to the far south. But despite its natural abundance, the West was riven with huge economic problems. As Prince of the West, Askam had managed to mire himself deep in debt over the past seven years. For three years he had entertained the entire eight-score strong retinue of the Corolean Ambassador while, on Caelum's behalf, he had thrashed out an agreement for Tencendorian fishing rights in the Sea of Tyrre. When the agreement had finally been concluded, and the Ambassador and his well-fattened train once more in Coroleas, Askam had personally funded the outfit of a massive fishing fleet, only to have three-quarters of the boats lost in a devastating storm in their first season. Thinking to recoup his losses, Askam had loaned the King of Escator, a small kingdom across the Widowmaker Sea, a vast sum to refurbish the Escatorian gloam mines in return for half the profit from the sale of gloam, only to have the mines flooded in a disaster of epic proportions, and the new king - the previous having drowned in the mine itself - completely repudiate any monies his predecessor had borrowed.
     These were only two of the investment disasters Askam had made over the past few years. There were a score of others, if not so large. Smaller projects had failed, other deals had fallen through after considerable cash outlay. Askam had been forced to raise taxes within the West over the past two years which, though they made but a small dent into the amount he owed, had caused hardship among farmers and traders alike. Yet who could blame Askam for the economic misfortune of the West? Sheer bad luck seemed to dog his best endeavours.
     In total contrast, Zared's North - the old province of Ichtar - had blossomed in unrivalled prosperity. In the days before Axis had reunited Tencendor, the old Ichtar had been rich, true, but it had relied mainly on its gem mines for wealth. The gem mines still produced - and a dozen more had opened in the past ten years - but Zared had also opened up vast amounts of previous wasteland for cropping and grazing. Zared had enticed the most skilled engineers to his capital of Severin, in the elbow of the Ichtar and Azle Rivers, with high wages and the promise of roomy housing and good schooling for their children. These engineers had designed, and then caused to be built, massive irrigation systems in the western and northern parts of the realm. Zared had then attracted settlers from all over Tencendor to these vast and newly watered lands by offering them generous land leases and the promise of minimal - and in some cases no - taxation for the first twenty-five years of their lease. Unlike the West, all farmers, traders and craftsmen in the North were free to dispose of their surplus as they chose. As a result, a brisk trade in furs had grown with the Ravensbundmen in the extreme north, which were then re-traded to the southern regions of Tencendor. And add to that the trade in beef, lamb, gems and grain…
     The mood of the North was buoyant and optimistic. The income of families grew each year, and men and women knew their futures were strong and certain. Trade, working and taxation restrictions were so slight as to be negligible, and success waited for all who wished to avail themselves of it.
     The picture could not have contrasted more with the West, where it seemed that month after month Askam was forced to increase taxes to meet debt repayments.
     It was not his fault, Leagh told herself, willing herself to believe it. Who could have foreseen that a storm would virtually destroy Askam's entire fishing fleet, or that the gloam mines of Escator would be flooded? But Askam's misfortunes did not help her situation. Especially not when Askam was aware that each week saw more skilled craftsmen and independent farmers of the West slip across the border to avail themselves of the opportunities created by Zared's policies.
     "Leagh?"
     She jumped, startled from her thoughts. Askam had entered her chamber, and now walked towards her.
     "You wanted to see me, sister?"
     "Yes." Leagh stood up and smiled. "I trust I have not disturbed you from important council?"
     Askam waved a hand for her to sit back down, and took a seat across the table. "Nothing that cannot wait, Leagh."
     His tone turned brisk, belying his words. "What is it I can do for you?"
     Leagh kept her own voice light, not wanting to antagonise her brother any more than she had to. "Askam, it is many weeks since you have made any mention of my marriage -"
     Askam's face tightened and he looked away.
     "- to Zared." Leagh shifted slightly, impatiently. "Askam, time passes, and neither Zared nor myself grow any younger! I long to be by his side, and -"
     "Leagh, be still. You are noble born and raised, and you understand the negotiations that must be endured for such a marriage to be agreed to."
     "Negotiations that have been going on for five years!"
     Askam looked back at his sister, his eyes narrowed and unreadable. "And for that you can only thank yourself for choosing such a marriage partner. Dammit, Leagh, could you not have chosen another man? Three nobles from the West have asked for your hand. Why not choose one of them? They cannot all be covered with warts and possessed of foul breath!"
     "I love Zared," Leagh said quietly. "I choose Zared."
     Askam's face, so like his father's with its mop of fine brown hair and hazel eyes, closed over at the mention of love. "Love has no place in the choosing of a noble marriage partner, Leagh. Forget love. Think instead of a marriage with a man which would keep the West intact and independent."
     He paused, let vent an exasperated sigh, then smiled, trying to take the tension out of their conversation. "Leagh, listen to me, and listen to reason, for the gods' sakes. I wish you only happiness in life, but I must temper that wish with knowing that I, as you," his tone hardened slightly, "must always do what is best for our people, not what is best for our hearts."
     Leagh did not reply, but held her brother's gaze with determined eyes.
     Askam let another minute slide by before he resumed speaking. "Leagh, it is time you knew that the yea or nay to this marriage has been taken from my hands."
     "What? By whom?'" But even as she asked, Leagh knew.
     "Caelum. He is as disturbed as I by the implications of a union between you and Zared. Last week I received word from him to delay a decision until he could meet with me personally to -"
     "And yet he does not wish to speak to me, or to Zaredr "Caelum sits the Throne of the Stars, Leagh. He has heavier responsibilities than you can imagine."
     Leagh bridled at her brother's school-masterish tone, but held her tongue.
     "Caelum knows well that the continued well-being of Tencendor matters before the wishes of any single person. Leagh, you are a Princess of Tencendor. As such you enjoy rights and privileges beyond those enjoyed by other Tencendorians. But these rights and privileges mean you also carry more responsibility. You simply can not live your life to the dictates of your heart, only to the dictates of Tencendor. I have tried these past five years to discourage you from choosing Zared, but you have not listened. Now, perhaps, you will listen to Caelum."
     Both his words and his tone told Leagh everything she needed to know. Caelum would not assent to the marriage either.
     As Askam rose and left the room, Leagh finally gave in to her heartache and let tears slide down her cheeks. The very worst thing to bear was that she understood everything that stood in the way of her marriage. Why couldn't she have accepted the hand of a nobleman from the West? It would be so much easier, so much more acceptable for the current balance of power. But what she understood intellectually didn't matter when she'd totally given her heart to Zared. All she wanted in life was the man she loved.
     Far to the north Zared straightened his back, refusing to let weariness slump his shoulders. He'd spent an entire week clambering over the ruins of Hsingard with several of his engineers to see if there was any point in trying to rebuild the town, only to come to the conclusion that the Skraelings had so destroyed the buildings that all Hsingard could be used for was as a stone quarry. Now he'd spent ten days riding hard for Severin, and even though he was lean and fit, the week at Hsingard and the arduous ride home had exhausted him.
     But now Severin rose before Zared and, in spite of his tiredness, a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. It was a beautiful town, built not only with sandstone and red brick to withstand the harsh winters of the north, but also with skill and imagination, so that the structural strength of each building was perfectly married with grace of line and beauty of feature. Severin was a town built to satisfy the spirits as much as it was to harbour the bodies of those who lived within.
     Thank the gods for my parents' foresight, he thought. Rivkah and Magariz had lived out the final twenty-five years of their lives in the town they'd had built, and had loved it almost as much as they had loved each other and the son they'd made between them. His parents had not only laid the foundation stones of Severin, but also of the territory Zared had inherited from them. The North had been the most severely ravaged region of Tencendor during the wars between Axis SunSoar and his brothers Borneheld and Gorgrael. Once it had crawled with ice, and worse - Ice Worms, Skraelings, and Gryphon. Now fields ripened and cattle fattened, and any man, woman or child could travel from the Fortress Ranges to the coast of the Andeis Sea and encounter nothing more dangerous than the chill of a northern breeze.
     Zared pulled his horse in slightly, waiting for his escort to catch up with him. He was a tall, spare but striking man with his father's dark good looks and his mother's light grey eyes. Even though he was now in early middle-age, Zared was as agile as most young men, and could still best any swordsman in the country. He had been bred in an age of war, and his father had spent many years training him in the arts of war, although for what, Zared was not sure. For forty years, since Axis had finally bested Gorgrael, Tencendor had lain peaceful and largely prosperous in the sun. Axis had ruled well and wisely - a glib enough statement, but true. And since, nine years ago, Axis had handed over control of Tencendor to his eldest son, Caelum had continued to lead Tencendor with the integrity that was the hallmark of the House of the Stars. And yet… and yet Zared would rest the easier once Caelum had proved his worth in true crisis.
     His escort now directly behind him, Zared rode his horse through the gates in the town walls, returning the salutes of the guards standing to either side. For an instant the walls blocked out the noon-day sun and, as their shadow settled over Zared, so his mind turned to the one shadow in his own life - Askam.
     He drove the thought from his mind almost as soon as it had surfaced, reining back his horse to a walk in the crowded streets. It was too warm a day to let thoughts of Askam cloud it over.
     Zared's path back to his palace on the hill overlooking the town was slowed, not only by the crowds, but by the individuals who called out greetings and, occasionally, stopped him for a quick word. Zared had never been a distant prince, not only holding open court in his palace every Thursday afternoon when he was in residence so that any citizen of the North had the chance to gain his ear, but making sure that he did not ride the streets of Severin so encased by retainers that all his people ever saw of him was a brief glimpse of a linen shirt or glittering sword hilt.
     Now a man - a carpenter, Zared thought, by the tools at his belt - called out a cheerful greeting in unmistakable southern brogue. Zared grinned widely as he nodded back at him. That man was from Romsdale. Yet another who had chosen Zared over Askam.
     It cheered Zared to think that so many skilled craftsmen and farmers chose to relocate to the North, but at the same time it concerned him. The tension between himself and Askam was a decade old, and growing stronger with each passing year. Every carpenter, every brickworker, every field-hand who moved north deepened the tension just that fraction more.
     Ah! There was Askam again, intruding on his thoughts! Zared's face lost its humour, and he pushed as quickly as was polite through the remaining streets to reach his palace. There, after a few words to the captain of the guard and a smile of thanks for his escort, Zared handed the reins of his horse over to a stableboy and hurried inside.
     A bath and a meal later, Zared felt more refreshed. As his personal manservant cleared his table, Zared took a glass of wine and wandered into the reception gallery of his residence. His home was a palace in name only, a term designated by his subjects who somehow thought that as a prince he ought to live in a palace. Built initially by Rivkah and Magariz, the house was a roomy, elegant mansion-*that spread over the hill which rose on the northern borders of the town. When Zared was twenty-seven he had taken a wife, Isabeau, sister of Earl Herme of Avonsdale, and had added on a light and airy southern wing that together they'd planned to fill with the laughter of their children.
     Zared's steps slowed at the first portrait that lined the gallery. Isabeau. Her dark red hair cascaded about her shoulders, her mouth curled in secret laughter, her bright eyes danced with love for him. The portrait had been painted eighteen months into their marriage. Two weeks after it had been finished Isabeau was dead, crushed beneath the body of her horse which had slipped and fallen during the excitement of the hunt.
     She had been five months pregnant with their first child.
     Zared had never forgiven himself for her death. He should never have given her that horse - but she was so skilled a horsewoman. She should never have been riding at that stage in her pregnancy - but she was so healthy, so vibrant. He should have forbidden her to follow the hounds and hawks - but she did so love the hunt.
     He'd never ridden to the hunt again. The day after her death Zared had given away his hawks, and the hunting horses in his stable. His huntmaster had drifted away, seeking employment with lords to the south.
     And Zared had promised himself never to love so deeply again, and never again to expose himself to such hurt.
     He took a mouthful of wine and moved along to the next portrait. His father, Magariz. And next to his portrait, that of his mother, Rivkah.
     They were, Zared supposed, the reason he had succumbed to love again. Magariz and Rivkah had lived life so completely in love, and so contented in that love, that Zared just could not imagine living himself without a soulmate to share his life with. For years after Isabeau's death he'd kept himself distant from women, keeping to his promise… and then he'd met Leagh.
     Re-met her, actually, for Zared had known Leagh as a tiny girl in Belial's arms. But once he'd assumed the Princedom of the North, his responsibilities had kept Zared away from Carlon, and he didn't see Leagh again until she was twenty-one.
     They'd met, not at Carlon, but at Sigholt. Wreathed in its magical blue mists, Sigholt was normally the province only of the enchanted SunSoar family, but the year Leagh turned twenty-one she'd travelled to Sigholt with Askam for a meeting of the Council of the Five First Families.
     Askam and Zared, as the heads of the two leading families, had attended, along with FreeFall SunSoar, the Icarü Talon, Sa'Domai, the Ravensbund Chief, and Prince Yllgaine of Nor. Leagh had gone, partly at Caelum's invitation - a gift for her coming of age - and partly because she was close friends with Caelum's youngest sister, Zenith.
     Zared had found himself alone with her late one night atop the Keep of Sigholt, both there for the night air. They'd spent the night talking, laughing, and - as they both discovered to their amazement - falling deeply in love.
     Loving her was the easy part, Zared reflected. Being together, spending their lives together, seemed all but impossible. He'd come home from that Council so optimistically in love that he'd ordered the private apartments of his residence to be redecorated in the blue of Leagh's eyes.
     Almost immediately he'd opened the diplomatic negotiations needed for such a high-ranking marriage, only to be confronted with a wall of distrust from Askam. Certainly the two had never liked each other, and they'd been economic rivals for years, but Zared had never thought that such matters would come between him and Leagh.
     It was naive of him. Stupid of him.
     Zared's fingers tightened about his wine glass, and he moved a little further down the gallery. He didn't want to be so close to his parents' portraits. Now the likenesses only reminded him that his parents had spent some thirty years apart, and Zared didn't want to think that he and Leagh might have to endure a similar separation.
     Damn Askam! If he hadn't got himself into such dire debt, if he hadn't imposed such heavy taxes, then maybe the West would prosper as much as did Zared's North. And maybe Askam would not feel so threatened by a marriage between his sister and Zared.
     Zared was not a proud man, but neither was he foolishly modest. He knew that if he had been Prince of the West, he would not have made such risky investments as had Askam, nor would he have made his subjects pay for his mistakes. If he was Prince of the West as well as of North, then virtually the entire human population of Tencendor would live lives of heady prosperity. If. If. Damned ifs!
     Now Zared stood in front of portraits of Rivkah's brother, Priam, and her father, Karel. They had once ruled as kings of Achar, a vast realm that had stretched between the Andeis and Widowmaker seas and from the Icescarp Alps to the Sea of Tyrre.
     But as Achar was no more, so too had the monarchy died. Acharite lands had been split up between Avar, Icarü and human, its territory incorporated into the larger Tencendor, its peoples divested of their king.
     As he stared at the portraits of his uncle and grandfather, Zared remembered how well both had reigned. True, they had supported the Brotherhood of the Seneschal, an organisation that had brought only evil to all those who lived in the land, but in their own way Priam and Karel had ruled well and wisely. The monarchy had been brought into disrepute only when Zared's older half-brother, Borneheld, had murdered Priam and taken the throne.
     There was no portrait of Borneheld. Zared's mouth quirked. Borneheld was a son and brother best forgotten.
     He swallowed the last of his wine, still staring at the likenesses of Priam and Karel. What would it be like to govern (Zared's mind shied away from the word "reign") over such a large territory? What would he do with it? How would he improve it? How might he best help the West recover from the debts Askam had saddled it with?
     Ah! These thoughts were treason!
     Zared blinked, and started to turn away, but as he did so his eyes were caught by the golden circlet on Priam's brow, and he stopped, his thoughtful gaze lingering on the gleam of gold as the shadows of dusk gathered about him.
     c urse the Corolean Emperor to all the fire pits of the AfterLife," Askam seethed, and tore the parchment he held into tiny pieces. "Why does he hound my life so?"
     Askam's four advisers, two minor noblemen, the Master of the Guilds of Carlon and the Chamberlain of Askam's household, stood diplomatically silent. One million, three hundred and eighty-five thousand gold pieces was the reason the Corolean Emperor so hounded Askam. To be precise, one million, three hundred and eighty-five gold pieces that Askam owed the Emperor.
     Jannymire Goldman, the Master of the Guilds, dropped his gaze to his thick-fingered hands folded politely before him. He'd advised Askam not to take out such a massive loan with the Emperor, but Askam had needed the money badly, and the Emperor had been willing to lend.
     Now he wanted it back.
     And what if Askam could not pay (and Goldman knew Askam could not pay)? What then? What might the Emperor demand as recompense? Goldman shuddered to think. The Coroleans would not invade, never that, but they certainly might lay claim to some lands or, gods forbid, to Carlon itself.
     Would that make StarSon Caelum finally take a more personal hand in the West's affairs? Caelum, although concerned about Askam's increasing debt, had thus far preferred to see if Askam could not solve his problems himself, but Goldman knew that Caelum would never stand by and allow the Coroleans to assume control of even the most barren of fields in Tencendor.
     "Well, there's nothing for it," Askam said in a milder tone of voice, "but to pay the damned man."
     Goldman raised his eyes in surprise, as did the other three advisers. Pay? How?
     Askam took a very deep breath and sat back in his chair, staring at the four men ranged before his desk. All the gods in the universe knew he hated to do this but… not only would it solve most of his financial problems, it would also stop the flow of his people north.
     And, perhaps, wipe the smirk off Zared's face.
     "Gentlemen," Askam said softly, "I have no option. From fifth-day next week the taxes on goods moving up and down the Nordra, as goods moving along all inland roads in the West, will be raised to a third of the total value of the goods so moved."
     Goldman could not believe he'd heard right. A third? A third tax on all goods moved would cripple most merchants and traders, but it would destroy any peasant bringing a meagre bag of grain to the market. And what of the man who thought to take a basket of eggs to his widowed mother in the next village? Would that also be taxed a third?
     He opened his mouth to object, but Askam forestalled him.
     "Gentlemen, I know this is an onerous burden for all western Tencendorians to bear, but it should last only a year, perhaps two."
     A year or two would be enough to drive most to starvation, Goldman thought, on top of the taxes they already had to pay.
     "And," Askam continued, "think of the rewards we will reap from those…" he hesitated slightly, "… others who move their goods through our territory. For years they have taken advantage of our roads and riverboats to move their goods to market, whether here in Carlon or further south to Coroleas. It is high time they paid for the maintenance of the roads and boats they use."
     And by "others" Goldman and his three companions knew precisely whom Askam meant. Zared. Zared, who moved the wealth of his grain and gems and furs along the Nordra down to the markets that made him - and his people - prosperous.
     "Sir Prince," Goldman said, "this is indeed a weighty tax. If I might advise against it, I -"
     "I have made up my mind, Goldman," Askam said. "I called you here, as the Chamberlain Roscic and Barons Jessup and Berin, not to ask you for advice, but to inform you of the measures that must be taken."
     Roscic exchanged a glance with Goldman, then spoke very carefully. "Sir Prince, perhaps it might be best if you talked this over with StarSon Cae -"
     "I will inform Caelum of my decision, Roscic!"
     The Chamberlain subsided. He had already said too much, considering that his very position relied on Askam's goodwill. Goldman, however, had no such qualms.
     "These taxes are so grievous, Sir Prince, that perhaps they should be discussed with -"
     "StarMan Axis SunSoar himself gave my father the right to tax the West as he willed, Master Goldman! I will inform StarSon Caelum, but I have every right to impose these taxes without his assent. Is that understood?" The four bowed their heads.
     Askam looked at them a moment, then resumed. "There is one other thing. Over the past eighteen months, if not more, over two thousand men have moved their families north of the Azle."
     Askam shrugged a little. "If they want to subject their families to the northern winters, then so be it, but the fact remains that most of those two thousand have been men skilled in their crafts, professional businessmen, or successful farmers. They have left a considerable gap in the West's resources - no wonder I have so much trouble trying to meet debt repayments."
     No, no, Goldman pleaded silently, don't do it! Don't -
     "In order to stem the tide I have instructed the border guards at the Azle and Jervois Landing to exact the equivalent of ten thousand gold pieces from each family that intends to leave for the North."
     But that is ten times my annual income, Goldman thought. How will an ordinary craftsman pay it?
     "That should go some way towards balancing the loss of their skills," Askam said. "That is all, gentlemen, you have my permission to leave."
     That evening Goldman called more than a score of men to his townhouse in upper Carlon, all of them leading citizens and tradesmen, and there he spoke volubly about the new taxes and their implications.
     "I will be ruined!" cried Netherem Pumster, Master Bell-Maker. "How else can I transport my bells if not by riverboat?"
     "And I!" said Karl Hurst, one of the leading wool traders in Tencendor. "As will most of the peasants in the West! All rely on transporting their wool bales across the roadways of the West to the Icarü markets in the Minaret Peaks!"
     His voice was joined by a dozen others, all increasingly angry and indignant as the implications of the tax sank in.
     "As will everyone eventually be ruined," Goldman said quietly into the hubbub. He held up his hands. "Gentlemen, please…"
     Men slowly subsided into their seats, worry replacing anger.
     "I should have moved north last year, when my brother went," Hurst said as he sat down. "The North may be further from the markets that I'd like, but at least Zared wouldn't try to take my soul to put meat on his table."
     "More like," put in a stout silversmith, "he'd give his soul if he thought it might put meat on your table."
     Goldman nodded to himself, pleased with the direction the conversation had taken, content now to sit back and let the treason take its course.
     Treason? he asked himself. Nay, natural justice, more like.
     "Things have never been the same since Priam died," said a fine-metal worker.
     "Not the same since Axis SunSoar proclaimed Tencendor on the shores of our lake," said another.
     "Now, now," Goldman demurred. "The SunSoars have done us proud. Have you ever known life to be better? More peaceful? Who dislikes trading with the beauty-loving and generous-spirited Icarü? Or even the Avar?"
     There was a small silence, then Hurst spoke up again. "Our quarrel is not with Tencendor as such, nor with the Icarü or the Avar. I, for one, admire the SunSoars greatly for what they have done for our land."
     "Oh, aye!" a dozen voices echoed fervently.
     "Aye," Hurst repeated. "I voice no wish to resurrect the hatreds of the past."
     "Nay!" came the resounding cry. "Nay," Hurst echoed again, then looked about and licked his lips. "But these taxes… I cannot believe them! It never would have happened under King Priam, or even King Karel, from what I have heard of the man! Askam will destroy the West in his attempts to solve his debts!"
     No-one missed the emphasis.
     "Of course, Askam was not bred for such responsibility," said a merchant named Bransom Heavorand. He was one of Goldman's closest friends, and he knew the way the Master of the Guilds' mind was travelling. "He has not the blood for it. No wonder he missteps so badly."
     "Yet his father, Belial, base-born as he was, was a kind and effective prince," Goldman said, working as closely with Heavorand as two voices in a duet. "And he was Axis SunSoar's right-hand man. Surely he deserved the reward of Princedom of the West?"
     "Askam is not the man his father was," Heavorand said. "Unlike Belial, he's lived a life of ease. He's not had to fight for his life, nor the life of his country. He's not been tempered by the sacrifice and loss Belial endured. Nor has he inherited his father's courage and fairness." Men nodded about the room.
     "Given an estate to run, no doubt he would prove capable enough," Heavorand finished. "But so large a responsibility as the Princedom of the West has Askam flummoxed."
     "And us bankrupt," someone muttered, and the room broke into subdued laughter.
     "Yet the North prospers," Goldman said. "Zared, as his parents before him, has built steadily on solid foundations. He is generous but firm, courageous but conservative in the risks he takes - or exposes his people to. His people love him."
     "Many among our people love him, too," said one of the men.
     "And there's the nub of the matter," said Heavorand, speaking only at the slight nod of Goldman's head. "Zared was born of the blood of kings, Askam was not. Thus the North prospers while the West strangles."
     Silence.
     "Born of the blood of kings," said a voice far back in a darkened corner. "Are you saying what I think you say? Zared was born to rule?"
     "What I say is only fact," Heavorand replied. "Zared is born of Rivkah, last princess of Achar, and Magariz, one of the highest-ranking nobles Achar had ever seen. They were legally married. Borneheld, Rivkah's eldest, was illegitimate, and thus his attempts to claim the throne of Achar met with disaster. Axis, may he live forever, was also illegitimate, and while he founded the Throne of the Stars, he rightly made no claim to the Acharite throne. Zared was Rivkah's only legitimate child. Zared," he paused, reluctant to speak these words even among friends, before finally gathering his courage, "is the legitimate heir to the throne of Achar."
     "But Achar no longer exists," Goldman put in. "The throne no longer exists. Axis destroyed both. Surely Zared is heir to nothing but memories?"
     There was a moment of silence, then Hurst spoke up, his face red. "But is that right? The Icarü have their Talon, the Ravensbund have their Chief, and now the Avar even have their head, the Mage-King Isfrael! Why should the Acharites not have their head… nay, their pride back?"
     The room broke into uproar, and Goldman was once again forced to stand and hold up his hands for quiet.
     "May I remind you, my friends," he said very softly, "that the term 'Acharites' is no longer lawful." One of Caelum's first edicts on taking the Throne of the Stars had been to ban the use of the term "Acharites" for the human population of Tencendor. To him it smacked too much of the hatreds that had torn Tencendor apart in the first instance.
     "Whether we are Acharites, or Tencendorians, or bloody Manmallians," said the silversmith angrily, "doesn't change the fact that I'd prefer to have a King Zared ruling my life than a petty Prince Askam. No! Wait… there's more. It doesn't change the fact that whether prince or king or pauper for all I care, Zared is the man I'd prefer to have at my back in a street brawl, in a war, or as a drinking companion in a tavern. I respect Zared, I like Zared, and what I think of Askam doesn't bear spoken word in this company!"
     "And what's more," cried a voice, "Zared is the rightful ruler, not Askam!"
     "Gentlemen! Gentlemen!" Goldman cried. "Please… listen to me! Quiet down now! Yes… yes… thank you, that's better. Gentlemen, I am Master of the Guilds of Carlon. I am your spokesman, your voice. What would you have me do?"
     Silence.
     "I think," Heavorand said quietly, "that a little visit to Zared might be in order. I think the Prince needs to know just how his people -"
     No-one in the room missed the use of the phrase "his people".
     "- feel about a number of issues."
     "Will he act?" said a voice. "Or will he back away?"
     "If it is your wish," Goldman said, "then I, with Heavorand, will make my way north… on a trading trip, should Askam enquire. Once with Zared, I am sure I ^{in such a way ihat thc room} t Hie great silvery keep of Sigholt sat quiet in the night air, reflecting stray moonbeams across the Lake of -L Life. At this time of night few people were about. Two or three guards moved about its walls, a servant trotted silently through the courtyard from barracks to kitchens, an Icarü Enchanter stood on the roof, mesmerised by the stars. Around the crescent of the lake, the town of Lakesview sat fat and secure on the shoreline. It was a well-established town now, its people indulging in some trading, some agriculture and much contentment. The nearby valleys and slopes of the Urqhart Hills in the immediate vicinity of Sigholt gave them all they wanted in food and recreation; few within the town pushed themselves to do much more than enjoy what proximity to the wondrous lake was given to them by the magical Keep and the extended family of SunSoars resident within its luminous grey walls.
     Almost perfectly centred on the strip of shore between Lakesview and Sigholt was a substantial stone building. Over five storeys high, most of its large unglassed windows and permanently open doors faced the lake, as if the building wished to absorb as much of the breeze, or perhaps as much of the lake, as it could.
     From one of the ground-floor doors two Icarü birdmen emerged. They walked slowly towards the lake, eventually standing in close conversation as the waters lapped at their feet. One wore an ivory-coloured uniform with an embroidered device that resembled a twisted knot of golden braid centred on his chest. The other birdman had striking red plumage and hair, the skin of his face and hands so white they seemed to glow in the moonlight.
     StarSon Caelum SunSoar, supreme ruler of Tencendor, stood at one of the windows in the map-room of Sigholt, wondering what they talked about so quietly. Caelum was one of the most powerful Icarü Enchanters born, a child of the Star Gods, and even though his keen eyesight could easily pick out the birdmen so far below, he baulked at using his powers to listen to their actual words. Caelum was ever polite, and he trusted the two men below as few others.
     Still, they were an enigmatic pair. WingRidge CurlClaw, the birdman in the ivory uniform, was captain of the Lake Guard, a somewhat eccentric force who had dedicated themselves entirely to the service and protection of the StarSon. Even so, Caelum sometimes felt they kept themselves at a distance, not only from the life of Sigholt, but even from himself.
     But in itself that distance, and its essential peculiarity, was not surprising - and had a great deal to do with the birdman WingRidge currently conversed with, SpikeFeather TrueSong. The Lake Guard was formed exclusively from the six hundred children SpikeFeather had rescued from Talon Spike many years ago. Rather than risk the children to possible Gryphon attack on the ice trails of Talon Spike, SpikeFeather had pleaded with the Ferryman to take the children to safety via the , waterways. The children had reached Sigholt safely, but they had been subtly changed by the experiences in the waterways with Orr, and when they reached their majorities they had formed the Lake Guard. They announced their complete dedication to the service of the StarSon, and chose as their uniform breeches and plain ivory tunics with the strange emblem on their chests.
     None of the Lake Guard ever explained it.
     If no-one quite understood the Lake Guard, then all trusted them. Again and again the Guard pledged their loyalty to the StarSon. Their lives were dedicated to his word, their hearts to his cause. They might disappear for days, sometimes weeks on end, but they claimed their ultimate duty was always to the StarSon. Caelum, as everyone else, did not doubt it. They were an accepted part of Sigholt, and as mysterious as the Keep itself.
     SpikeFeather was almost as enigmatic. He, too, had been changed by his contact with Orr the Ferryman. As payment for Orr transporting the children to Sigholt, SpikeFeather had dedicated his life to the Ferryman, and for the past twenty years had spent much of his time in the waterways with Orr. What SpikeFeather did down there, or what Orr did to the birdman, Caelum did not know.
     As Caelum watched, WingRidge and SpikeFeather parted company, WingRidge rising slowly in the air towards the walls of Sigholt where Caelum supposed he would inspect the members of the Lake Guard stationed there, SpikeFeather walking slowly about the shoreline of the lake, apparently deep in thought.
     Caelum sighed and turned back into the circular map-room. The centre table was covered with documents, piles of accounts, reports from several of the major towns, and ledgers bound with ribbon and stuffed with loose pages. Caelum fought the urge to sigh again and wandered slowly over to the table, running a hand through his thick, close-cropped black curly hair. Was there never an end to the paperwork? Sigholt sometimes seemed full of secretaries and notaries and bureaucrats, all of them there supposedly to keep track of the vast amount of paperwork that governing Tencendor somehow generated, but Caelum sometimes wondered if they were of any use - his desk never seemed to clear of the damned stuff.
     No wonder Axis had handed control of Tencendor over to him! Caelum smiled softly, thinking of his parents, and knowing in his heart that it was far more than paperwork that had seen them leave. Axis and Azhure had remained at Sigholt while their children grew into adulthood, but when Zenith, their youngest, had reached the age of twenty-five, they had increasingly turned to their fellow Star Gods for companionship. Nine years ago, growing ever more inclined to the ethereal and wanting to spend more time exploring the mysteries of the stars, Axis had handed over full control of Tencendor to Caelum in a magnificent ceremony on the shores of Grail Lake, where Axis had proclaimed Tencendor so many years ago. In the years since then Caelum had seen his parents only three or four times. They kept themselves remote, as befitted their status as gods, and left Caelum to manage the realm of mortals.
     Even though he had steered Tencendor for nine years, and seen it successfully through several peaceful disputes, Caelum still felt slightly uncomfortable about his position as supreme ruler. Axis had won his right to rule through sheer courage, through years spent on the fighting trail, through heartache and loss and grief. Caelum had been given the realm, almost literally, on a golden platter. Oh, he'd been trained and guided and counselled for years beforehand. Axis had sent him for several six-month periods to the great southern empire of Coroleas, and once for seven months to the intriguing little kingdom of Escator. At the hands, not only of Axis himself, but other petty kings and grand emperors, Caelum had studied the art of governance in depth.
     But still Caelum sometimes felt that he should have won his right to sit the Throne of the Stars as his father had. Was the sheer luck of birth order enough to guarantee that a son had the skills and wisdom needed to govern so large a realm? What did his people actually think of him?
     "I should get out more often," Caelum said to himself. "Actually see what's going on and not rely on reports. How long is it since I've left Sigholt?"
     "Too long," a soft voice put in from the window, and Caelum turned about, unsurprised. He'd known who it was even before she spoke, for he'd felt her presence coalesce in the window as he'd muttered to himself.
     "Zenith." He grinned and held out his hands. "It's been days! Where have you been?"
     His youngest sister jumped lightly down from the windowsill and hugged her brother tight. Unlike Caelum, who remained bare-backed like their parents, Zenith had glossy wings, as raven-black as her hair. She was a beautiful birdwoman, even more stunning than her mother, Azhure. Mysterious, intriguing, and yet somehow sad, always apart from the life of Sigholt. Caelum held the hug, wondering why. Even as a child Zenith had seemed troubled. She had often slept badly, suffering formless nightmares, and on many days was withdrawn and uncommunicative. And sometimes… sometimes Caelum had caught her looking at him with an expression that was so unlike her that he'd wondered if…
     "Why the frown?" Zenith leaned back and took her brother's face briefly in her hands, kissing him lightly on the lips.
     Caelum folded her wings against her back and stroked them softly. "I was thinking, loveliest of sisters, that it is high time you also thought about fleeing -"
     Why had he used that word? Caelum stumbled slightly, but managed to carry on before Zenith could speak. "- leaving Sigholt. How many years since you left? No, don't answer! Too many, that I know."
     Zenith quietened in that strange way she had, and Caelum sensed a slight withdrawal.
     He stood back a little, but kept his hand lightly on her shoulders. "Zenith? StarDrifter would love to see you, I'm sure. You spent a great deal of time with him when you were a child, and the Island of Mist and Memory is a wondrous place."
     "Maybe." She suddenly grinned, her dark blue eyes mischievous. "Should I take Drago with me, as I did when a child?" Zenith more than half suspected that Caelum's suggestion was a roundabout way of ridding Sigholt of Drago's presence for a while.
     Caelum dropped his hands and walked away from her. "As you wish," he said, his voice toneless. "But that wasn't what I meant."
     Zenith instantly regretted trying to joke about Drago. He was a constant note of disharmony within Sigholt, although he never said or did anything that could be in any way construed as sinister or hurtful. It was just that he was so different from his brothers and sisters. Caelum, RiverStar and Zenith (as also Isfrael, their half-brother) were the children of gods. They were highly magical beings, and their enchanted lives would likely stretch into infinity before they ended. Once Drago had been like them. Briefly. Drago had been born the second child of Axis and Azhure, the elder twin of RiverStar, and potentially one of the most powerful Enchanters ever birthed. But even as a mewling infant he had abused that power, allying himself with his father's foe, Gorgrael, and plotting to murder Caelum so that Drago might inherit his place.
     As punishment Azhure had disinherited him of his Icarü powers. Now, forty years on, Drago wandered the corridors of Sigholt a dark and enigmatic mortal, ageing into useless thin-faced middle years as he watched his brothers and sisters glory in their youth and enchanted powers.
     Caelum was never able to trust him, even knowing his powers had gone. It was Caelum who had been the object of Drago's infant ambitions, who had been subject to the terror of kidnap and abuse by Gorgrael, and it was Caelum who was daily reminded of that horror every time he caught sight of Drago from the corner of his eyes. Zenith knew that Caelum made every effort to avoid Drago whenever he could, but even in a place as large as Sigholt the brothers constantly ran into each other.
     "I'm sorry," she said softly to Caelum's back. "I did not mean to jest."
     He turned his head her way, and smiled slightly. "It does not matter, Zenith. Drago does not -"
     There was a knock at the door, and it opened without waiting for Caelum's word. WingRidge CurlClaw entered, stopped after precisely five paces, and saluted Caelum. "StarSon."
     "WingRidge. What is it?"
     WingRidge glanced at Zenith, but made no comment on her presence. "StarSon, a courier bird has just arrived from Carlon with a message from Prince Askam."
     Caelum took the proffered parchment, unrolled it with a snap of his wrist, and ran his eyes over the text.
      "Curse him to… to… oh, damn him!" he cried, and Zenith laid a concerned hand on his arm.
     "Caelum? What is -"
     "That cursed fool has just levied a third… a third… tax on all goods moved along the Nordra and along the roadways of the West. And slapped a tax on any and every man and family who wants to move north to live. Gods! Look at the amount! That figure must have come to him when he was suffering a nightmare caused by chronic constipation. Oh! I can't believe this!"
     He threw the parchment on the table and stalked away to the window, standing and staring out as he fought to regain his temper. Gods, but Askam and Zared gave him more trouble combined than Borneheld and Gorgrael had ever given his father, he was sure of it! How many times had he had to draw one or the other aside for some diplomatic advice? Between them they controlled half the territory of Tencendor - was it too much to ask of them to try and do that in something even vaguely resembling peace?
     Zenith looked at WingRidge, who remained completely expressionless, then picked up the parchment and briefly scanned the contents herself. Her eyes widened as she slowly put it down - no wonder Caelum had reacted so strongly.
     "Caelum?" she said, and waited for her brother to look at her.
     "Caelum… this time something needs to be done to solve their problems. And Leagh, you must surely end her misery soon." Although Zenith had not seen Leagh in some four years, they remained in close touch; Zenith not only knew how much Leagh hungered for Zared, she understood why Caelum and Askam were going to deny Leagh her heart's desire. Poor Leagh, she thought, it's time she was told to move on with her life. Five years of alternating between misery and gut-wrenching hope was too long for anyone.
     Caelum nodded slowly, and rubbed his face with one hand. He suddenly looked very, very tired. "The time has come to solve this. Askam has gone too far with his debt - and Zared should have been astute enough in the first instance to know that a marriage between him and Leagh, especially with Bethiam remaining so stubbornly barren, would be a political impossibility."
     He drew a deep breath. "This needs not only my authority, but the weight of the Council of Five."
     Zenith's eyes widened. The heads of the leading five families of Tencendor only met on a biennual basis; to call them in now, not eight months since their last meeting, bespoke how serious Caelum thought the problem was. As ruler of Tencendor, Caelum's final word was law -legally he did not need to call the Council on this matter -but he obviously felt both Zared and Askam needed the judgment of their peers as well as his own word. "WingRidge?"
     WingRidge snapped to attention. "Send couriers to Zared, Sa'Domai, FreeFall, Yllgaine and Askam. We meet with the utmost haste - no later than seventh-day three weeks from now. And send for Isfrael as well."
     Isfrael, now Mage-King of the Avar, was not officially a member of the Council of Five and did not have a vote, but for the past ten years he had attended all the meetings, and given and listened to advice. As Caelum's half-brother and leader of one of Tencendor's three main races, he was usually invited as a courtesy.
     Besides, no-one particularly liked to make a decision in Isfrael's absence that might subsequently annoy him.
     As WingRidge put his hand to the doorknob, Caelum called him back. "No, wait. Leave Askam. I will send a personal courier rather than one of yours." WingRidge nodded, and was gone. "Zenith?" Caelum smiled at his sister, although his eyes remained tired and careworn, "Why don't you tell Askam?"
     "Me? But -"
     "The bridge can connect you to Spiredore easily enough, and from there it's only a short flight across Grail Lake to Carlon." "But why me?"
     "Because I think Leagh should be here as well. I need to tell her my decision, and I'd rather do it to her face than by courier bird. Don't you want to see her? Bring them both back by Spiredore. Askam can send his escort north by more conventional means." "I don't know that I want to leave -" Caelum's voice hardened into command. "You need to be more involved with Tencendor, Zenith. I am asking you to go, but if you wish I can make your departure slightly more compulsory."
     Zenith's chin tilted up, and in that movement Caelum saw all of his mother's fire and determination. "As you wish, brother. I shall leave before sunrise."
     And with a slight but noticeable twitch of her shoulders, she brushed past him and left the room.
     on the Floor, Travellers O'er the Bridge She preened before the mirror in her chamber, running her hands down her lightly clad body, liking what she saw, what she felt.
     RiverStar SunSoar was a lovely, alluring birdwoman, and she knew it. What man had ever been able to resist her?
     She lifted her hands to her fine golden curls and shook them out. How they complemented her violet eyes! Her pale skin!
     "I am irresistible," she said, then laughed, low and husky.
     Irresistible indeed - except to the one who continually resisted her.
     She froze at a subtle touch. Power.
     His. It stroked at her arms, lifted the material from her breasts, rippled down over her belly, her legs.
     Her lover. He was close.
     She did not move, pretending not to notice. She would make him beg. She would!
     Except he never begged. Always she ended on the floor before him, her hands clinging to his legs, her golden wings spread out in appeal behind her, begging him to bed her.
     She would writhe before him, sobbing and shrieking, until he had her so completely in his power that she would scream her gratitude when he finally lifted her and threw her to the mattress.
     RiverStar frowned at her reflection. She did not like to have to beg… but, oh gods, how could she withstand him when his power stroked her, caressed her, penetrated her?
     As it did now. She shuddered, tears filling her eyes, and when he opened the door and entered the chamber she fell to the floor and begged, begged, begged…
     "You are unlike any other," she whispered into his ear when it was finally done and they lay sweat-tangled amid the sheets. "None."
     "I was made for a purpose," he said, smiling, and kissed her brow.
     "Let me stand by your side as your lover," she said. "Please. Let all see how good we are together,"
     "No."
     "Why not?" she screamed, hate for him contorting her beautiful face. " Why not? You can do anything you -"
     His hand caught at her face, his fingers digging deep, hurting so badly she whimpered.
      "You will tell no-one about us," he hissed. "No-one! Do you understand?"
     "Yes, yes, yes," she whispered. "I will tell no-one. Never tell. No. Please, love me again. Please… please… please…"
     Zenith stopped in her chambers to change into a vivid robe and to give her face and hair a cursory check in her mirror. Caelum was right, it was time she left Sigholt for a while. She'd been thinking much the same thing - thus her reaction when Caelum had verbalised the unspoken thoughts that had consumed her for almost a week.
     Something was wrong. She couldn't say what, or even what it might be related to, only that for the past few days a feeling of formless dread had been growing in her. Dread, and a sense of loss so deep that for three nights in a row she'd woken drenched in sweat, her hands clawing at the sheets.
     Thus the reason she'd been wandering about Sigholt so late tonight.
     These nightmares reminded her of those she'd had when she was much younger. Nights when she'd woken screaming, nights when the only way she'd agree to go back to sleep was sandwiched between the comfort of her parents. Axis had always questioned her closely about the dreams, but Zenith could never remember their details -maybe didn't want to remember - and Azhure had refused to let Axis use the Song of Recall to summon them from her murky subconscious.
     "Leave the child be," her mother would say softly, stroking the hair back from Zenith's brow. "She doesn't need to remember them, only to be reassured of our love." And somehow that love had helped Zenith through. The dreams had begun to fade when she was eighteen or nineteen, and were gone completely by the time she'd reached her majority.
     Although there was still the problem of the lost hours. This was something she'd never told her parents about - why, she could not say. But some days she would suddenly find herself in a distant part of Sigholt, or even in a nearby valley of the Urqhart Hills, and have no knowledge of how she had arrived there. Hours, sometimes even half a day, would have been lost to her.
     These episodes had also lessened as she grew older, but Zenith still had one or two a year.
     And, in the past week, three.
     This was the reason she'd hesitated when Caelum had suggested she go to Carlon.
     What if she "lost herself" somewhere in Spiredore and came to her senses sitting on an icefloe in the Iskruel Ocean? How would she explain that to Caelum? How could she explain it to herself?
     Zenith hesitated in the centre of her chamber, a stunningly beautiful, slim birdwoman, robed in scarlet that contrasted vividly with the darkness of her wings and hair. Taking a huge breath, Zenith tried to calm her nerves, wrapping herself so deep with magic it literally blurred the outlines of her figure.
     An image formed before her: her grandfather, StarDrifter. It was a memory only, not the actual person; StarDrifter lived far south on the Island of Mist and Memory, devoted to his duties among the priestesses of Temple Mount.
     This was a memory that Zenith had carried with her for some thirty years, a memory of a day when she'd been staying with her grandfather on the island, and had found herself wandering the southern cliff faces of Temple Mount with no idea how she'd got there.
     She'd been young then, and she'd been growing her wings only a year. They'd still felt strange to her, and she still fumbled on her infrequent flights, so that suddenly coming to awareness at the crumbling edge of a thousand-pace drop had been terrifying.
      She'd screamed, sure she was going to die, and then StarDrifter was there, wrapping her in his arms and wings, pulling her back, holding her and singing to her and telling her she was safe, safe, safe.
     From that moment on Zenith had adored StarDrifter, treasured him beyond the usual love of a granddaughter for her grandfather.
     Now she recalled the image of StarDrifter, his beautiful face full of love, a gentle hand cupping her chin so he could look in her eyes.
     "I'll always be there to catch you," he'd said. "I'll always be there for you."
     "Always…" Zenith whispered, and the image faltered and then faded.
     "Very pretty."
     She whirled about, furious that anyone should have seen the vision.
     Drago was leaning nonchalantly against the doorway that led into her private washroom. His thin face was unreadable, his eyes narrowed, his arms carefully folded across his chest.
     A towel was tucked over one arm, and Zenith noticed that Drago's coppery hair was damp and newly combed back into its tail in the nape of his neck.
     "Why not use your own chambers to wash?" she snapped.
     "I'd been down in the stables," he said, standing up straight and throwing the towel back inside the wash room, "helping Stephain with the grey mare. She foaled tonight. Difficult birth."
     "But that doesn't excuse why -"
     "I would have used my own chambers, save that Caelum is stamping and striding about the upper-floor corridors, and frankly the last thing I needed tonight was to run into him. So I thought I'd ask you if I could use your washroom. You weren't here, so…"
     He shrugged, walking over to stand before Zenith. "I heard you come in just as I was finishing up. If you're concerned, I didn't stand and watch you change. I may be many things, sister mine, but I am not a voyeur."
     "Yet you saw my memory of StarDrifter."
     "I thought I heard his voice - it made me come to the door. Zenith, I like him too… remember?"
     Zenith was rapidly losing her temper which, truth be told, was mainly a product of her shock. And Drago did like StarDrifter. She was unsure about so many things regarding Drago, but his genuine feeling for StarDrifter was not one of them. As a child, Drago had enjoyed his months with StarDrifter almost as much as she had. For some reason StarDrifter had been able to reach the uncommunicative youth in a way Axis and Azhure could not - or could not be bothered to.
     She looked at her brother, and for an instant emotion threatened to choke her. What could he have grown into if he had been given love instead of rejection? Their parents had, if not ignored him, then favoured all their other children before him. His punishment for plotting against Caelum had left him with little of his rich Icarü heritage: his coppery hair, still thick but kept pulled back into its tight tail, and his violet eyes, although they had faded with age. Against his vivid and powerful siblings he was just a thin, rather plain man, age and frustrated life marking his face with deep lines.
     Drago had done wrong, no-one could deny that, but Zenith often wished their mother could have found some other way to punish him that would not have resulted in the destruction of so much potential, the annihilation of so many dreams.
     She caught herself before Drago thought to ask why she took so long to respond.
     "Well, if you don't want to run into Caelum - and he is in a fearful temper - then you can use my bed for the night."
     Drago arched an enquiring eyebrow. Briefly Zenith told him what she and Caelum had learned.
     "And so now, good girl that you are, you go to do StarSon's bidding." Drago yawned theatrically. "Well, off you go now. That bed does look inviting."
     Not trusting her temper, Zenith stalked over to the door. Just as she reached it, Drago said softly, "That was a beautiful memory you conjured up into flesh, Zenith. I wish I had that skill."
     Zenith turned and stared at him, not knowing how to take his words. Was he expressing resentment that he no longer had the power to do similar feats, or was he expressing genuine regret?
     But Drago gave her no clue. He'd dropped across the bed, his face away from her, and so Zenith left the room, not knowing whether to feel sorry for him, or angry.
     By the time Zenith reached the courtyard Drago had slipped far from her mind. Instead she felt the first tingle of excitement. It was good to get away, even if only for a day or so.
     The guards at the massive gate in Sigholt's walls nodded to her, and then Zenith was through and on the short space of roadway leading to the bridge that guarded Sigholt's entrance.
     "A good evening to you, bridge," she called softly as she stepped onto its cobbled carriageway.
     "And a good evening to you, Zenith," the bridge said in her deep, melodious voice. No-one ever understood the bridge, what she truly was, or what magic had created her. She simply existed, and her sole purpose in her existence was to guard all entrances into Sigholt. All visitors, whether by foot, hoof or air, were challenged by the bridge as to whether they were true or not.
     No-one ever knew what she really meant by that, either.
     But the bridge generally kept Sigholt safe - apart from the one notable exception when the infant Drago had tricked her into allowing Gorgrael access to Sigholt - and she was good company for nights when sleep refused to come.
     "Do you wish to pass an hour or so with me, Zenith?" the bridge asked hopefully. Even so fey a creation as the bridge still liked to gossip whenever the opportunity presented itself.
     "No, bridge. I am sorry. Tonight I must go to Spiredore. Can you lead me there?" "Of course. Where are you going?" "Carlon."
     "Ah," the bridge sighed. "I have heard many wondrous tales about Carlon. But wait… there. Spiredore awaits you."
     Zenith looked across the bridge. Normally it led to the roadway that ran the length of HoldHard Pass, but now the other side of the bridge connected into a misty blue tunnel at the end of which Zenith could see the stairway of Spiredore.
     "I thank you, friend bridge," she said, and stepped across.
     If the bridge was unknown magic, then Spiredore was a hundred times the puzzlement and even more the magic. The tower that stood on the opposite shoreline of Grail Lake to Carlon belonged to Azhure, although it was as ancient, some whispered, as Grail Lake itself. Its interior was a maze of seemingly disconnected stairwells and corridors, but if one knew how to use Spiredore's magic, those stairwells and corridors could take you just about anywhere you wished. Azhure had taught all her children - save Drago, of course - how to use the tower, and how particularly to enter it via the bridge at Sigholt.
     Now Zenith stepped off the bridge and into the short corridor of blue mist that led to the interior of Spiredore.
     As powerful and knowledgeable an Enchanter as she was, all Zenith understood of this process was that somehow the bridge had called across the scores of leagues separating her from Spiredore, and the tower itself had reached out and formed this connection.
     From the misty corridor Zenith entered Spiredore at one of its myriad balconies. Glancing quickly up and down, she saw a bizarre outcropping of disconnected balconies and stairs - and even some ladders - that lined the circular interior of the tower. None of them appeared to go anywhere.
     "Spiredore," she said firmly, "I wish to go to Carlon." And she walked to the nearest stairwell and stepped down.
     Azhure had always impressed on her two winged daughters that they must never fly in Spiredore, as it was so strangely magical they might easily become disorientated and crash into a balcony, or even the floor of the tower. Zenith walked until she felt her calves begin to ache and then, just as she paused to rub them, she saw that around the next curve of the stairs was a flat floor.
     Zenith smiled to herself. It was ever so in Spiredore. Just when you thought you could go no further, Spiredore delivered you to your destination.
     Once on the floor Zenith saw a door before her, and through that door… through the door was the dawning air about Grail Lake, the harsh cries of the lake birds filling the air as they rose to meet the sun.
     "I thank you, Spiredore," she said as she passed through, closing the door gently behind her.
     Outside the tower looked plain, even though it imposed with its height. Completely windowless, it climbed some one hundred paces into the crimson sky -the sun ascending almost directly behind it.
     Zenith stood motionless for long minutes, drinking in the view of the tower, the lake, the stunning city rising on the far shore.
     "How wrong I have been to so secrete myself in Sigholt," she whispered, then sprang into the air with a glad cry, her arms wide as if to embrace the entire world.
     Leagh was sitting at her mirror-table, brushing the tangles from her hair and trying to stop yawning.
     There was a rush at the window, as if it had been struck by a great gust of air, and then a small pale fist was tapping impatiently at the panes of glass.
     "Leagh!" a muffled voice called, "Leagh! Let me in!"
     Leagh sat and stared for long minutes, unable to believe what she saw, before she finally roused herself enough to walk over and open the windows.
     Zenith almost fell through, enveloping her friend in a great hug.
     "Leagh! Leagh! You and Askam are to come to Sigholt - can you believe it?" Leagh just stared at her.
     "And Zared is to be there, too! Come, sleepy-eyes, what shall you wear?"
     Zenith did not think it wrong to give Leagh a day of hope and excitement. And it was true. After at least two years, Leagh would finally see Zared again.
     eason Zared sat on his chair on the slightly raised dais in his reception gallery, trying to hold his temper. Generally he enjoyed holding open court, but this Thursday afternoon had brought such evil news he knew there would be little delight left in the day.
     Ranged before him were six men, four peasants from his southern border with the West, and - for the gods' sakes - Jannymire Goldman, the Master of the Carlonese Guilds himself, and one of his merchant cronies, Bransom Heavorand. The tidings they had brought would sour anyone's day, Zared thought, let alone mine.
     "A third… a third!" he muttered yet again. Obviously the guilds, as the merchants, would be crippled by the tax, but these peasants… gods! They'd had a third of their year's grain confiscated!
     "Gustus!" Zared called, and his captain of the guard stepped forward. "See that these peasants receive recompense from my treasury for their losses."
     Gustus nodded, and moved off. The peasants effused thanks to their Prince, then scurried after the captain.
     Zared eyed Goldman thoughtfully. As Master of the Carlonese Guilds, Goldman was one of the most powerful non-noble men in Tencendor. He controlled not only great wealth, but was the voice of the traders, craftsmen and businessmen of Carlon and, by default, most of Tencendor. Why come north himself? And why complain to Zared? Surely his complaints would be more effective directed at Caelum?
     "Askam will grow rich at your expense, good sirs," Zared remarked.
     "As yours," murmured Heavorand. Yes, as mine, Zared thought, his dark face remaining carefully neutral. Shall I now risk sending my goods to the southern markets via the Andeis Sea? But even pirates would not risk those treacherous waters, and Zared knew he'd lose considerably more than a third of his goods if they went south via the Andeis. Askam had him trapped. He had no choice but to send his goods via road, where they would be snaggled in the web of crossroad taxation posts, while his river transports would not escape the castle of Kastaleon, which sat with its brood of archers on the great central bend of the Nordra like a rabid spider itching to spit its venom at tax evaders.
     Gods, what was Askam doing to the people of his own province if he could inflict this hardship on the North?
     "It is strange to see you so far north," Zared said to Goldman. "And at my house."
     Goldman shrugged expressively. "It is a long story, my Prince, and one not suited to this reception gallery." He looked meaningfully at Zared.
     Zared hesitated slightly before he spoke. "My dinner table is ever lacking in long stories, gentlemen. May I perhaps invite you to dine with me this evening?"
     Goldman bowed. "I thank you, Sir Prince. Heavorand and I will be pleased to accept your -"
     The twin doors at the end of the gallery burst open and two men strode through, Gustus at their heels.
     Zared's mouth sagged, then he snapped it shut, keeping his seat only with an extraordinary effort as Herme, Earl of Avonsdale, and Theod, Duke of Aldeni, stopped three paces away from the dais, saluting and bowing.
     Goldman and Heavorand, who had quickly stepped aside for the noblemen, shared a glance that was both surprised and knowing.
     "Herme? Theod? What brings you here in such haste? I had no warning that you -"
     "Forgive us, Zared, but this news cannot wait," Herme said. More formality should have been employed, but Herme had something to say, and he wished to waste no time. Besides, Zared was an old friend and one-time family member; Isabeau had been Herme's sister.
     To one side Theod fidgeted. He, too, was a close friend of Zared's, and his higher ranking than Herme should have seen him speak first. But Herme was older and had the longer acquaintance with Zared.
     "Sir?" Gustus put in to one side, but no-one listened to him.
     "If it's about Askam's new taxes, then I have already heard it," Zared said, gesturing towards Goldman and Heavorand.
     Herme and Theod glanced at them, then looked back at Zared.
     "My friend," Herme said, "matters have come to a head. We cannot -"
     "Sir?" Gustus said again, but was again ignored.
     "- endure under such taxation! Belial must be turning over in his grave! I suggest, and Theod agrees with me, that we must take this matter to Caelum instantly."
     "Sir!" Gustus all but shouted.
     "Gustus, what is it?" Zared said shortly. Never had he had open court like this! Were half the merchants and nobles of the West en route to complain to him?
     "Sir," Gustus said, "one of the Lake Guard has this minute landed with a summons from StarSon Caelum."
     Every eye in the reception gallery was riveted on the captain of the guard.
     "A summons?" Zared asked quietly.
     "Sir Prince, StarSon Caelum summons the heads of the Five to Council, to be held at Sigholt three weeks hence."
     Zared stared at him, then shifted his gaze back to Herme and Theod. "I seem to be holding a dinner party this evening. Would you two gentlemen care to join me?"
     Goldman placed his fork and knife across his plate, and decided it was time to direct the conversation to more important matters. So far they'd discussed everything from the weave of Corolean silk to the exceptional salinity of the Widowmaker Sea, and Goldman was tired of the niceties. He smiled at the young, impish Duke Theod across the table. Theod was a rascal, but good-hearted, and once he'd grown five or six more years, and survived a tragedy or two, he would become as fine a Duke as his grandfather, Roland, whom Goldman remembered well from his youth.
     "You must have ridden hard to reach Severin from Aldeni, Duke Theod, as must," Goldman glanced at Herme, "your companion… who had to come yet further."
     "Herme and I were both at my home estates, Goldman. We share a common interest in the management of the Western Ranges."
     Goldman nodded to himself; Theod's home estates were close to his northern border with Zared. No wonder they'd managed to get here so quickly. "And no doubt you were both as horrified as Heavorand and myself to hear of Askam's new taxes."
     "No doubt," Herme said carefully. He was not quite sure of Goldman, nor of the motives which saw him at Zared's court.
     "Enough," Zared said, throwing his napkin on the table and leaning back in his chair. "Goldman, you came north to say something. Say it."
     "Sir Prince, as you know, Prince Askam's taxation measures will place an unfair burden on many Tencendorians, rich as well as poor, traders as well as peasants."
     Goldman paused and looked about the room, pretending to gather his thoughts.
     "Yet if Askam's taxation measures affect poor and wealthy, peasant and noble alike," he continued, "these taxes do differentiate between types of people."
     The entire table stilled. Heavorand, who knew what was coming, looked hard at the napkin in his lap. But the other three men's eyes were riveted on Goldman's face. "Continue, good Master Goldman," Zared said. "Sir Prince, Askam's measures affect those people living in the West and North, not those living in the rest of Tencendor."
     "And your point is…?"
     Goldman took a deep breath. "Sir Prince, the Icarü and Avar do not feel the strain of Askam's petty taxation, yet the Acharites -"
     "Be careful with your phraseology," Zared said quietly.
     "- yet the human population of the West and the North, good Prince, are direly affected by it. Sir Prince, there are many among the Achar - ah, the western and northern populations of Tencendor - who stoutly believe that Askam's taxations are unfair in that they discriminate against one race out of three."
     "The Ravensbundmen are affected by it as well," Herme put in carefully.
     "Sir Duke, the Ravensbund only trade with the people of the North. They care not if Askam starts demanding a life per cargo of goods transported through the West."
     Zared steepled his fingers before his face and pretended an interest in them. "And so your request is…?"
     "That you raise the issue with StarSon Caelum at the Council of Five, Sir Prince. StarSon is the only one with the authority to rebuke Askam. To force him to rescind the tax."
     That had not been the original request that Goldman and Heavorand had come north with. Their plans had been hastily revised with the news of the Council of Five. But they were not dismayed. Far from it. StarSon Caelum had played right into their hands.
     "The tax is the very reason Caelum has called the Council, and Caelum is a reasonable man," Zared said. "I am sure he will listen to what I have to say. So your lengthy trip north was needless, Goldman. I have ever intended to raise this issue."
     "Zared," Herme began, "I will not rest until I know that Caelum has clearly understood what hardship this tax will impose -"
     "Do you doubt my ability to state the case, Herme?"
     "Not at all, my friend. But I think it important that Caelum listens to someone from Askam's own province, as well as your objections. If only you speak against it, well…"
     All knew what he meant. The history of conflict between Askam and Zared was well known.
     Zared opened his mouth to speak, but was forestalled by Goldman.
     "Sir Prince, Earl Herme speaks wisely. Caelum needs to hear from the peoples of the West, as much as from you. I suggest that Heavorand and myself will be as suitable witnesses as the Duke and Earl."
     "Are you saying that I should take you all with me to Sigholt?"
     Zared's four guests looked at him steadily.
     "Ah!" he said, giving in. "Very well. Your support will be useful."
     "There is one other associated issue, Sir Prince." Goldman's voice was tense, and Zared looked at him sharply.
     "Out with it, then." He waved his servants forward to clean away the plates.
     Goldman waited until the men had gone. "Sir Prince, many among the human race of Tencendor, the Acharites, my Lord Zared, for I am not afraid to use the term, feel that Askam's taxes are not only unfair, but illegal."
     "And why is that, Goldman?"
     "The talk of the taverns and the streets of Carlon argues that Askam is not the legal overlord of the West, Sir Prince." Goldman paused, gathered his courage and spoke his treason. "Most Acharites believe that you are."
     Silence.
     Zared's eyes regarded Goldman closely over his fingers. "Yes?"
     "Sir Prince, when Axis created the nation of Tencendor he created Belial as Prince of the West. Few were loath to speak out against that. Belial was a loved man, and remains a loved memory. But his elevation essentially replaced the office of King of Achar. Axis destroyed the throne of Achar after he defeated his brother, Borneheld. Zared, you are the only legitimate heir to the throne of Achar."
     Herme leaned back in his chair. True, true and true, good Goldman, he thought. I could not have put it better myself. Speak on, man.
     Goldman did indeed hurry on. "Sir Prince, you may have been disinherited of a crown, but more importantly, the Acharites have been disinherited of their throne and their nationhood."
     Zared spoke again, his voice now noticeably tight. "Continue."
     "Have not the Icarü, the Avar and the Ravensbund their leaders, their titular heads? Yet the Acharites have lost their monarchy and, in so losing, their pride. Sir Prince, why is it that the Icarü, Avar and Ravensbund retained or gained kings when the Acharites lost theirs?"
     "Perhaps," Herme put in carefully, for this was something Zared could not say without proving disloyal to at least one of his brothers, "it is because Borneheld, as King of Achar, was far too closely allied with the Seneschal and pursued a policy of hatred and war towards the Avar and Icarü. Axis rightly wanted to ensure that would never happen again."
     Goldman looked directly at Zared. "Sir Prince, I am not asking you to resurrect the beliefs of the Seneschal, only your people's pride and nationhood. Prince Zared," his voice slowed and he stressed every word, "your people want you back. They want their King. With few exceptions, western Tencendor would rise up to back your claim."
     Goldman glanced at Herme and Theod, hoping he had not read them incorrectly. "True, Sir Duke? Sir Earl?" "We would not speak against it," Theod said slowly. Herme hesitated, then said curtly, "No king of Achar ever treated us as vilely as Askam does."
     "You all mouth treason!" Zared said, and pushed his chair back as if he intended to stand. "I do not intend to-"
     "Treason?" Heavorand repeated. "Is it treason to speak of that which is our wish and your inheritance?"
     Zared had stilled, his face expressionless.
     "They are right, Zared," Theod added. "Right! Achar needs its King back! Look how Askam is tearing the heart and soul out of the West!"
     "May I remind you, Theod," Zared said very carefully, "that as a Duke of the West, you are under Askam's direct overlordship?"
     "As am I," Herme said, "and yet I find myself agreeing with both Theod and these two good merchants here."
     "Recreating the position of King of Achar would tear Tencendor apart," Zared observed, but his tone was milder, and his eyes thoughtful.
     "It is going to tear apart anyway," Goldman said very quietly. "The tensions between Acharite and the other races would see war within a generation. You understand the Acharite perception of injustice, Zared. You share it. Sir Prince, you are rightful heir to the throne of Achar. Take it. Take it and direct some of this tension rather than letting it swell out of control. Take it… sire."
     When Goldman and Heavorand retired, Zared waved at Herme and Theod to remain.
     He sat motionless, silent, for a long time before he finally spoke.
     "My friends, I do not know what to think. My parents raised me to believe in Tencendor, in Axis' and then Caelum's right to rule over all races. They raised me to believe that the Achar nation, and its monarchy, was dead."
     "Zared," Herme said. "Re-establishing the monarchy of Achar is not treason. As with FreeFall, Isfrael and Sa'Domai, an Acharite king would still owe homage and fealty to the Throne of the Stars. Any discussion of reclaiming the throne of Achar is not mouthing treason against Caelum, only discussing what many - nay, most -people in the West and North want."
     Zared was silent, remembering how he had looked at the circlet on Priam's brow and wondered how well it -and the throne —would fit him.
     "Where do your loyalties lie, Herme? Theod?" he eventually asked. "With whom?"
     "With StarSon Caelum," Herme said unhesitatingly. "First."
     "And then with you," Theod finished. "Goldman has said much of what was in our hearts as well. Zared, if both the Master of the Guilds in Carlon, as well as two of the West's most powerful nobles, have come to your doorstep with the same speeches on their lips and hopes in their hearts, how can you refuse to consider their words?"
     "This whole issue has been prompted by Askam's taxes," Zared said. "What happens if Caelum forces him to rescind them? What then?"
     "No!" Theod said. "These taxes are but the final straw. Zared, the 'issue' is fed by the fact that for decades resentment has grown among the Acharites at the way they have been treated. Yes, the SunSoar order is great and good, but it doesn't change the fact that the Acharites have been denuded of their monarch and their nationhood. Man, listen to me! In you they can see the legitimate heir, and in the North they can see what prosperity awaits them under your rule!"
     "This problem is not going to go away, Zared-," Herme said. "Not so long as Askam - or a Prince of the West- remains."
     "I will think on what you have said this evening," Zared said, then raised his eyes from the fork he'd been fidgeting with. "There is something else I think should be considered."
     "Yes?" Herme asked.
     "How will Askam react at this Council? We all know how bad his debts are, we know he needs the monies the taxes will raise."
     "And we all know how he hates you… and your success," Theod said. "Look how he has striven to frustrate your heart these past years."
     Zared looked at him sharply, then chose to ignore the last remark. He did not like to think of what implications this evening's conversation had for himself and Leagh, nor even for the peace of Tencendor itself. How would Caelum react? "My friends, I think it best to be prepared for whatever this Council might bring."
     Zared paused, then spoke his own treason. "I have given orders to move the bulk of my troops out of Severin to within several leagues of Jervois Landing. If I might suggest…"
     Herme grinned. "Where would you like our troops moved?"
     Tbe Suites at Home TT eagh sat with Zenith, watching RiverStar preen before her mirror. Leagh wished she were in any chamber -M —<,'but this one - even Drago must surely be a less disagreeable companion than Zenith's elder sister! She shifted herself into a more comfortable position in her chair, and let her mind wander from the sisters' conversation.
     She had been in Sigholt over two weeks. Waiting. Waiting for the other heads of the Five Families to arrive. Waiting for Caelum to put her out of her misery and tell her his decision regarding her marriage. Waiting for Zared.
     Once Askam had sent his escort north via riverboat and horse, Zenith had led Leagh, Askam and their two body servants into Spiredore. Leagh had never been in the tower previously, and its magic - as also the evidence of Zenith's power - had almost overwhelmed her. Askam had remained stoutly silent, but Leagh had noticed that even he had paled when, emerging at the top of one of the bizarre stairwells, they had beheld Sigholt at the end of an enchanted corridor of blue mist.
     On her first day in Sigholt, Leagh had been consumed with excitement. What would Caelum say? Where was Zared? But apparently it was only she and Askam granted such an unconventional (and speedy) conveyance to Sigholt; everyone else called to the Council had to arrive by more mundane means. Zared was still far distant. And Caelum proved as great a disappointment. At first Leagh had managed to convince herself that Caelum had asked her to Sigholt for good news - surely he would have preferred to have sent bad via a courier? But Caelum remained steadfastly silent at her repeated pleas for his word. He would wait until Zared was here. Then he would inform them of his decision.
     Bad news, then. Leagh was miserably sure of it.
     So she spent her days either wandering the shores of the lake by herself, or talking with Zenith. Askam was almost as unreachable as Caelum; her brother spent many hours each day either closeted with Caelum, or at weapon practice with Sigholt's master-of-arms.
     But surely her waiting was almost over. Over the past two days FreeFall SunSoar, Talon of the Icarü, Prince Yllgaine of Nor and the Ravensbund Chief Sa'Domai had all arrived. Sigholt awaited only Isfrael (if he chose to appear) and Zared - how far could he be?
     Zared. How could she live life without him?
     Leagh could not answer that question, and preferred not to think on it, thus here she was this afternoon, sitting with Zenith, listening to RiverStar prattle on about love.
     RiverStar tilted her lovely head before her looking glass, admiring the curve of her throat. Her fingers lingered at the base of throat and breast, remembering the touch of her lover. She smiled and shifted her gaze in the glass, first looking at Leagh, sitting still and disconsolate, and then her sister.
     "Poor Leagh is in no position to discuss the arts of love, Zenith," she said. "But tell me, sister, have you taken a lover yet, or do you yet cling to your chastity?"
     "I have not yet met the man of my heart, sister," Zenith said, sitting by a small fire.
     RiverStar's eyes hardened at the implied criticism in Zenith's tone. Zenith was truly a prude if she did not while away the time at Sigholt with a lover. Stars! But what else was there to do in Sigholt? And what else was the body for but to be used? All Zenith ever did was murmur incoherent words about the right lover every time some birdman dared touch her flesh or invite her into his bed.
     RiverStar twisted about on her stool and stared at her younger sister. Zenith had all of their mother's dark good looks, and more. So where had she inherited the reluctance to put them to enjoyable use?
     "AH this yearning for your imaginary lover will see you in your grave before you are bedded, Zenith. Let me find you a lover." RiverStar paused. "And you, too, Leagh. Zared is a lean man, and reaching mortal middle age. No doubt he will tire early in bed. Let me find you an Icarü lover."
     Embarrassed, Leagh dropped her eyes, and Zenith glanced at her before responding to RiverStar's taunt. "Spare your energies, sister, and find one for yourself."
     RiverStar chuckled deep in her throat. "I have found me a lover. The best yet. He kept me awake far into last night and exhausted me all over again at first light. There is none that can match him."
     Zenith was not very interested. RiverStar claimed every month that she had found a better lover than the last. Besides, this conversation could hardly be doing Leagh any good. Before she could say anything to redirect RiverStar's mind, her sister continued.
     "I think I shall wed him," she said, and smiled in satisfaction as she watched Zenith's surprise.
     "Marry him? Is he an Enchanter? What is his name?"
     RiverStar toyed with a curl of her hair and tried to look mysterious. "Well… he is an Enchanter of sorts, and he has unimaginable power. Can you guess his name?"
     Zenith frowned and shook her head. "RiverStar, come on, tell me. Are you serious about taking a husband?" She couldn't imagine RiverStar making anything but a very bad wife. What vows of fidelity she managed to mouth at the marriage would undoubtedly be broken within weeks.
     "No, you are wrong, Zenith. I could be faithful to this man for an eternity. He is…" she shivered theatrically, and ran one hand down her thigh, "… more than enough to keep me satisfied. Dangerous. Darkly esoteric. Insatiable." She almost growled the last word, and ran her tongue about her lips.
     Gods, thought Leagh. He must have the stamina of an ox and a wall of steel about his heart to survive RiverStar! Leagh hoped RiverStar did not think to use her Enchanter powers to read her mind - the images jumbling about there were not very complimentary to RiverStar.
     "Surely such a lover could only be a SunSoar," Zenith observed, more than a little suspicious. "Who?"
     Zenith was sure RiverStar was making this up. SunSoars were fated to truly love only another SunSoar, cursed to desire only their own blood. RiverStar could not be this satisfied with anyone but a SunSoar male - and who was available for them in Sigholt? No-one but first blood, their brothers and their father, and first blood was Forbidden.
     She paused with her mouth half-open. No, not quite. There was always -
     "Perhaps, perhaps not," RiverStar said, and Zenith stood up in frustration, determined to find another topic of conversation. Did RiverStar think of nothing but the pleasures of a bedding?
     "What else is there to think of in this foggy palace?" RiverStar asked, looking out the window to where the magical blue mists shrouded Sigholt.
     "There are mysteries to contemplate," Zenith said quietly, moving over to the window. "Dreams to examine." Her voice had faded, and she was lost in her own thoughts now, not listening to RiverStar.
     "Mysteries, bah!" RiverStar waved her hand impatiently. "The only mystery I wish to explore exists in the junction of -"
     "In you the Icarü inclination towards obscenity has flowered into its full, foul-smelling ripeness, RiverStar," a man's voice said from the doorway.
     "Drago," RiverStar said, and leaned back in her chair, smoothing her filmy gown over her body. "My dear, sweet twin brother, what bitterness you display! Ever since our mother reversed your blood order and disinherited you from your Icarü powers you have been absolutely incapable of bedding anyone save the girls who sweep the kitchens. Think, Zenith, of all the Icarü female Enchanters he must covet," she ran her hand over a breast, "and yet whom he cannot hope to bed in the face of their laughter and rejection." "RiverStar -" Zenith began.
     "Would you beg to have me, Drago?" RiverStar pinched out her nipple. "Would you roll on the floor before me and beg?"
     "Whore," Drago said flatly, and stepped into the room. He turned as if to speak to Leagh, sitting in such embarrassed silence she wished all the SunSoar siblings would just go and find somewhere else to quarrel, but RiverStar had not yet finished with her brother.
     "Wouldn't he have made a useless Enchanter, Zenith?" she said, pretending a thoughtful expression. "But perhaps he would have expended his power using the Star Dance to burn up beetles on the parapets."
     Zenith opened her mouth, and then closed it again. What could she do now that she hadn't tried previously? The gulf between RiverStar and Drago had grown over the past ten years as Drago had felt the first stirrings of age within his human body. RiverStar - shallow creature that she was - could not help but taunt his mortality. Drago could do nothing but meet her taunts with either the pretence of indifferent silence or the uselessness of sarcasm. That they had once shared a womb meant nothing to them now.
     She saw Drago turn his gaze from Leagh to her, and watched his own eyes harden as he saw the sympathy in hers. Drago did not want anyone fighting his wars for him.
     "But there is SunSoar blood in you yet," RiverStar murmured, and her hand slid down her belly, her fingers daring, "and perhaps it craves SunSoar blood. Methinks you do not find that among your kitchen maids."
     Drago took a great breath, held it, and turned his back on RiverStar. "Leagh, Caelum would like you to -"
     "Aha!" RiverStar laughed. "Our splendid leader has found a purpose for this all but useless man who stands before us. A messenger boy. Not an occupation imbued with pride, Drago, but perhaps it gives you some small purpose in life."
     Her barb finally found its mark. Drago whipped round to face his sister. "You're nothing but a cold bitch, RiverStar," he said with icy flatness. "You'd be happy enough left with a hound to couple with."
     He, in his turn, had stung deeply.
     "You pathetic little human man!" RiverStar hissed, her face twisted with loathing. "I shall laugh over your grave! I will enjoy my lover on the sods above your mouldering flesh! I will -"
     "That is enough," Zenith said sharply. "Drago, what is it?"
     Drago wrenched his eyes away from RiverStar, two red spots of anger in his cheeks, and half bowed to Leagh. To Zenith's amazement his voice came out soft, almost gentle, and she wondered at the effort it must have cost him.
     "Princess Leagh, I was walking up the main staircase when my brother Caelum called me to find you. He wishes your presence in the courtyard. The word from the sentries is that Zared and his escort ride towards the bridge."
     And then he stepped forward, and with the grace of a courtier offered a shocked and pale Leagh his arm and support.
     Disturbing Arrivals