"Sigholt!" he cried". Curse the commander who had panicked and abandoned one of the best garrisons in the country!

"If Axis has a rebel force based in Sigholt, then he has the power to hurt you," said Earl Jorge. Though he and Roland were sadly out of favour with the King, it would not stop Jorge speaking his mind when he felt it was needed. "And there are rumours that many of the peasants from Skarabost are moving north of the Nordra river to join him."

Borneheld swore, his temper smouldering dangerously. " Why?" he seethed.

"Why do they move to join one who has allied himself with the Forbidden?"

Roland considered Borneheld warily. "Axis still has a powerful reputation in Achar, Sire. As BattleAxe he was revered. That is what draws them."

Roland had lost considerable weight since the fall of Gorkenfort - his skin now hung in great folds from his cheeks and neck where the fat had dissolved.

In past months he'd felt his mortality keenly, and without thinking he rubbed the spot on his abdomen where he could feel the great hard canker deep in his belly.

Borneheld battled to hold his temper. Would he never be free of his hated half-brother? Why did so many rally to Axis' name and not to his? Why revere Axis' name and not his? Borneheld could not understand it. "We must stop him,"

he muttered finally. "Attack Sigholt."

Everyone present, from Gautier and Roland to the anonymous guards, started in horror. Attack the rebels in Sigholt? Now? When the Skraelings could attack Jervois Landing any day? Madness!

"Sire," Gautier said carefully. "The Skraeling host masses to our north.

Obviously they plan to attack soon. And Sigholt is an easily defensible fort. It would be, ah," Gautier hesitated, "inadvisable to split our forces right now."

"So we leave him free to take Skarabost?" Borneheld spat.

Gautier glanced at Jorge and Roland. "Majesty, Axis will face the same problems from the Skraelings as we do. Doubtless Gorgrael will attack through the WildDog Plains as well. Neither we, nor Axis, are going to be able to move very far from where we are encamped this winter. Axis must only have a small force, a few thousand at most. As we cannot move, neither can he." He paused, summoning his courage. "Sire, we must seek a truce with them for this winter."

"Whatl" Borneheld exploded out of his chair.

"Think of how we could use this to our advantage, Majesty," Gautier said urgently, desperate to deflect Borne-held's anger. "First of all, Axis is as keen as you are not to let the Skraelings further south into Achar. Whatever our differences, Axis hates the Skraelings as much as us. If he is at Sigholt, then his forces can do much of the work - and dying - to keep our north-western flank covered. And if we arrange a formal truce, we can get some idea of what force Axis commands. What do we know now? Magariz, some dark-haired woman who can use a bow, and a pack of vicious hounds!"

"He is right," said Jorge, his voice low and intense. "Not only do we not have the forces spare to attack Axis, we do not have the forces spare to defend Skarabost from the Skraelings if they come down through the WildDog Plains.

Let Axis' force do the work and the dying in defending our north-western flank. A truce would keep Skarabost free from both Skraelings and Axis."

Borneheld abhorred the idea of a truce with Axis, but he knew he couldn't afford to fight on two fronts over the winter. He sat down again, deep in thought. He was desperately aware of just how important this coming winter campaign would be. If he lost Jervois Landing, then he would lose all. Hate Axis he might, but Borneheld knew when to compromise. He could not afford to move against him this winter, and if he could not afford to, then best he make sure that Axis was tied by his word to Sigholt. Axis' death would have to be delayed until spring next year.

He nodded curtly. "Very well. Gautier, can you make some initial contact with Axis' force?"

Gautier's face relaxed. "If I send a patrol into the southern Urqhart Hills, then yes, I believe so. When do we want to meet them? Where?"

Borneheld looked at Jorge. "What do you think?"

Jorge thought quickly, surprised to have been asked. "We must have this arranged before Snow-month commences, Sire. That is only three and a half weeks away. Time? Last week in Frost-month at the latest. Where? On the Nordra south of the Urqhart Hills - perhaps Gundealga Ford. We do not want to be trapped within the Urqhart Hills, and if we state the Nordra, then that will draw Axis out of wherever he is based. He will have to come with a significant force to protect himself, and we will gain some idea of his strength."

"Good," Borneheld said brusquely. "If I can't flush Axis from Sigholt before next spring, then at least I can do something about these weak-minded fools who rush to join him from the backward villages of Skarabost, and cut off some of his supply routes as well. Nevelon! Fetch me pen and parchment. I must write to Earl Burdel in Arcness. I have a task for him. One he will enjoy."

He turned to Jorge, Roland and Gautier. "If I am to meet Axis then I need him to know what he faces. Contact Brother-Leader Jayme as well, and tell him that I want a senior member of the Seneschal present when I face this evil-bred brother of mine. Perhaps one of his advisers. Surely he could spare one from his side."

Borneheld sat back in his chair, a smirk spreading over his face. "I think I will enjoy meeting my brother over the treaty table, gentlemen. I want to see if he has grown any lizard features."

Absent from the deliberations, the Ravensbund Chief sat in his tent in the camp outside Jervois Landing. His wife, Sa'Kuya, prepared him a pot of Tekawai, the traditional tea of the Ravensbund people. The ritual was almost as old as the Ravensbund race, and the pot and cups Sa'Kuya used had been handed down over countless generations.

Picking up a tiny cup, she handed it to Ho'Demi, carefully turning it so that the design emblazoned on the side of the vessel faced him.

It was the blood-red blazing sun.

Unsmiling now, for this was a serious ritual, Ho'Demi took the cup from his wife, bowing slightly as she handed it to him, then took a tiny sip.

Sa'Kuya served the other four men in the circle about the brazier, then she bowed gracefully and retreated to the shadows further back in the tent. Ho'Demi glanced at his four fellow Ravensbundmen. Ho'Demi had been grateful to be left out of Borneheld's discussion tonight because he wanted to speak again with the two Ravensbundmen who had accompanied Nevelon on patrol. He inclined his head at the two other Ravensbundmen present, elders whose advice Ho'Demi respected, but spoke to the two warriors.

"Izanagi, Inari, I am grateful that you consented to sip Tekawai with me on such short notice."

Izanagi and Inari, both highly regarded warriors within the Ravensbund force - though Gautier had yet to acknowledge their value - lowered their eyes in reply and bowed slightly. It was always an honour to sit in Ho'Demi's tent.

For some time the five men sipped their tea in silence, their movements slow and graceful, contemplating the complications that night raid on Nevelon's patrol had wrought among the Ravensbundmen.

It was Ho'Demi, as was his right, who eventually spoke again. "Both the Wolven and the Alaunt hounds walk the night," he sighed. "And they walk with those who wear the emblem of the bloodied sun."

"Both the Wolven and the Alaunt walk with the black-haired woman," Inari said. "She who would be so beautiful if only her face were not so naked." As the Ravensbundmen had passed on the Prophecy for thousands of years, so too had they passed on the story of WolfStar. The Icarii might think that none but they knew of WolfStar's story, but the Ravensbundmen had heard of WolfStar many, many generations ago. And they knew enough to recognise WolfStar's bow and his hounds.

"I wish Borneheld's wife, Faraday, and her companion, the SentinelYr, were here to discuss this with us," said Ho'Demi. "But they are far away in Carlon, and this is a decision that I must make on my own."

"Must we make a decision so soon?" asked Tanabata, one of the elders, inclining his head in deference to Ho'Demi. His face was so aged and wrinkled that the swirling blue lines on his face had lost their symmetry.

"I cannot ignore the signs, Elder Tanabata. Both this man, Magariz?"

Ho'Demi raised his eyebrows at the two warriors for confirmation of the name, and they nodded. "And the woman, Azhure, wore the badge of the bloodied sun."

All present glanced at the designs emblazoned on their cups as Ho'Demi spoke.

"The woman carries WolfStar's bow, and his hounds trot by her side. Magariz spoke the name of the StarMan as if he were this Axis. 'Axis comes with the power of the Prophecy behind him'," Ho'Demi recited, repeating Magariz's message for Borneheld. He looked at the others. "Is he the one who will forge the alliance to defeat Gorgrael?"

Ho'Demi was worried. He had committed his people to fight for Borneheld - the Ravensbundmen hated Gorgrael and his Skraelings and, if Borneheld was committed to fighting the Skraelings, the Ravensbundmen would help him. But they owed their first allegiance to the Prophecy - and thus to the StarMan. But what were the marks of WolfStar doing marching with the StarMan? Ho'Demi did not understand it, and it made him reluctant to act. Where best did his people belong? With Borneheld, or with this unknown Axis?

For an hour, their cups empty and cold in their hands, the Ravensbundmen debated back and forth what they should do. Ho'Demi hesitated to commit himself to Axis, not only because of the Wolven and the Alaunt, but also because none had seen Axis or his army. The patrols of the force Gautier's men had engaged within the southern Urqhart Hills had been small...but they had also been highly skilled and disciplined.

"It is not an easy age in which to make decisions," Ho'Demi finally said, feeling his uncertainty keenly.

"The decision should not be rushed, Ho'Demi," the other elder present, Hamori, reassured. "You cannot hurry what may be the last remnants of your people into the unknown."

Ho'Demi, about to speak, was interrupted by a cough at the tent flap.

"Come," he called.

One of the Ravensbund warriors entered. He bowed deeply, then knelt. "My Chief. A message from Gautier. You are to meet with him in the morning. The King intends to meet with the rebel force and their commander in three weeks'

time to offer a truce for the winter while we battle the Skraelings. You are to attend."

Ho'Demi glanced at the other four men, his eyes gleaming. "The gods have heard my prayers, rny people. My questions may be answered after all."

Forgotten VowsAxis stared into the fire, letting the crackling flames and the soft melody of the Star Dance relax him. He was still tired from the patrol he had led home last night. Driven by one of Gorgrael's SkraeBolds, small bands of Skraelings were drifting south through the WildDog Plains, testing Axis' strength. If the bands of Skraelings were relatively small, the wraiths were vicious and the fighting bitter, and his patrol had come home smaller than it had left. Soon he would have to move a sizeable force into the Plains. Damn it! All he wanted to do was lead his army south...south to wrest control of Achar away from Borneheld.

"King!" Axis snorted, and took a sip of wine from the goblet he held. "I cannot imagine that Borneheld would make an impressive King."

Rivkah looked up from her embroidery. One son King, the other longed to be King. She shivered and blamed the cool air. Even by the steaming waters of the Lake of Life, winter chills were starting to penetrate Sigholt, especially once the sun went down. She looked about the rest of the group sitting before the fire in the Great Hall of Sigholt. Previously no-one had felt comfortable sitting in the vast Hall. Now, with Axis here, it somehow felt right.

Axis had worked tirelessly over the past five weeks and Sigholt had rapidly been turned from a slightly disorganised rebel base composed of disparate elements, into the seeds of a unified kingdom. And at the heart of that kingdom strode Axis and over its head flew the blood-red blazing sun. Rivkah wished this magical time would never, never end. Icarii and Acharite worked as one for the first time in a thousand years and they all worked for Axis.

Rivkah's eyes drifted about the group. MorningStar and StarDrifter were absent, visiting friends among the Strike Force. Ogden andVeremund sat, exclaiming over a book they had discovered underneath a flour bucket in the kitchens. Beside them Reinald snored softly, asleep even though he was sitting ramrod-straight in his chair. Whatever Veremund and Ogden found so exciting in the book had sent him into a deep slumber. It was probably Reinald who had found the book boring enough to shove it under a wobbly flour bucket in the first instance. Jack was nowhere to be seen. Probably off on one of his silent wanders through the corridors of Sigholt. Still looking for Zeherah, still hoping to snatch a trace of her scent or a lingering of her passing.

Rivkah's eyes softened as she watched Azhure sitting cross-legged at Axis'

feet. The woman's pregnancy was now well advanced, but still she rode and trained, although on a quieter nag now that Axis had reclaimed Belaguez.

Tonight she spent her leisure hours cleaning the Wolven and her arrows - rags and a small bowl of wax lay to one side. Every so often Axis' hand would steal down and touch her hair. If Axis ever worried about her continuing to work with her archers, he never showed it. The only concession to her pregnancy he'd forced her to make was to stop riding out on patrol these last few weeks; Axis did not want her giving birth under a bush somewhere in the Urqhart Hills.

Azhure had been indignant, and the two had fought, but eventually Axis had prevailed.

Five of the Alaunt hounds were stretched out in front of Azhure, soaking up the warmth of the fire. The Alaunt followed Azhure about like silent shadows; there were always a few close by, and the others not far away. When Azhure had still been riding patrol the entire pack had run with her, capable of killing as silendy and efEciendy as Azhure's arrows. Rivkah shook her head. If Azhure had always had a latent talent for violence, as the Avar had accused, then it had found a suitable oudet in fighting for Axis.

In a chair the other side of the hearth Belial sat slumped, his shadowed eyes on both Axis and Azhure. Rivkah had watched him wilt slighdy since Azhure had moved into Axis' quarters. He had a sense of deep sadness about him that he never quite shook, even in more light-hearted moments.

Above Rivkah heard a rusde of feathers. The snow eagle spent the nights perched in the rafters of the Great Hall, but in the days it soared far above the Urqhart Hills, catching mice and rabbits, sometimes winging south and west on strange errands for Axis. Axis had consistently refused to answer any questions about the bird, but on many an occasion Rivkah had watched him talking soft and low to the eagle as it perched on his arm. There was a bond there, but Rivkah did not know what it was.

In a chair close by her side sat the man Rivkah had consciously avoided looking at all evening. Magariz. Now she spoke, although her grey eyes remained on her stitching. "My Lord Magariz." "Princess. What can I do for you?"

"My Lord Magariz, when I first arrived here you promised that you would talk to me of my eldest, Borneheld. Will you do so now?"

Axis turned his gaze from the fire to Magariz's face, his blue eyes cold.

Azhure laid down her bow and Belial also watched Magariz carefully. Even Ogden and Veremund ceased their chattering.

Magariz, uncertain, glanced at Axis, but Axis waved his hand languidly. "You do not have to hold your tongue on my account."

"Princess," Magariz sighed, hesitating. How to talk about Borneheld?

"After I served my time with the palace guard, Priam sent me to serve with Borneheld soon after he became Duke. Borneheld gave me the command of Gorkenfort, a lonely and wearying place, some ten years ago -"

"You were in the palace guard at Carlon?" Axis interrupted.

Magariz laughed. "And led it the last two years I was in Carlon, Axis. Why?

Do you find me familiar?"

Axis only just managed to resist swearing in surprise. Magariz must have been in Carlon when Axis was a child growing up in the Seneschal. Axis had often played in the back corridors of the palace when Jayme was there. Magariz must have had access to him as a child! Could he be the traitor in his camp?

Could he be WolfStar? Axis took a hasty mouthful of wine. The thought was almost as unsettling as the notion that it might be Azhure.

Magariz smiled at Axis, misunderstanding the reasons for his stare. "You were a mischievous child, Axis. I once found you in the stable, tying all the horses' legs together with a long ball of twine."

Axis forced a light-hearted grin to his face. If Magariz was WolfStar, then he would possibly have had access to the northern wastes above Gorkenfort. Access to the northern wastes and to Gorgrael. No! He had to stop this! Had to stop staring every friend in the face, trying to see the traitor lying beneath.

Magariz, still unaware of Axis' inner turmoil, touched Rivkah gently on the arm. "Rivkah, I am sorry. You wanted to know about Borneheld. Well, he is a complex man. Though often harsh, he does try to be fair. He is organised, disciplined, and has a strong sense of right and wrong. When I knew him he always tried to do what he thought was right, always. He is too narrow-minded, but that is the way he wasbrought up. He does not know how to love, but that is because he was never loved."

Rivkah put her embroidery down, her face blank. "He is crazed in his jealousy of Axis, true, and for several reasons. Rivkah, you loved Axis' father, not his, and he believes you abandoned him for StarDrifter." Rivkah opened her mouth to deny that, but Magariz forged on. "As far as Borneheld is concerned, your death while giving birth to your unknown lover's child constituted abandonment."

Blinded by the tears in her eyes, Rivkah winced and cried out softly as a pin stuck deep into her thumb. Was Magariz talking of Borneheld...or of himself?

"Borneheld is also jealous of Axis because Axis has the charm that Borneheld never had and will never have, and Borneheld has always been aware of his sad lack of charisma." Magariz paused. "And Borneheld suspects that Axis is the better war leader than he is - and fighting is the one thing Borneheld feels he is reasonably good at. At Gorkenfort Borneheld watched Axis daily earn the adulation of his soldiers, and that cut deep, very, very deep. Now Borneheld is probably consumed with jealousy that Axis, his hated half-brother, is the fabled StarMan, the one who is prophesied to save Achar."

Aware of the emotions he had already sparked, Magariz wondered if he should go on. "And then there is Faraday," he said very, very quietly. Both Axis and Azhure stilled. "Does Borneheld realise that Faraday loves Axis? If so, then it will deepen Borneheld's anger and jealousy...perhaps beyond reason." Magariz hastily drained his wine glass, wishing he'd kept quiet.

"If Borneheld has one serious flaw, Magariz, one thing we might exploit, what would you say that to be?" asked Belial.

"Besides his consuming resentment of Axis? Borneheld's major fault is that he is too set in his ways, too rigid. He will not, cannot, change his attitudes. The Forbidden will always remain the Forbidden, never potential allies. He is a sad man and will feel abandoned by a world that changes about him." "A sad man, Magariz?" Axis' voice was harsh. "Misunderstood? Tell that to FreeFall SunSoar who felt Borneheld's sword slice open his heart. You witnessed that murder, and by your own confession it was what decided you to turn to my cause. Borneheld is marked by death, do not try to turn him into a martyr to a lost world now!"

"Enough!" Rivkah cried, and abruptly stood from her chair, the silks and material tumbling from her lap in a bright flood to the floor. "Enough! I wish I had never asked about Borneheld!"

She turned on her heel and hurried towards the door. Both Axis and Azhure made as if to go after her, but Magariz waved them back. "It was my fault," he said quietly, and limped after Rivkah.

He caught her just outside the door and took her hands. "Rivkah, I am sorry.

I did not think too carefully on what I said. If I appeared judgemental, then I did not mean to be. These past years were -"

"I am such an inconstant woman, and such a bad woman," Rivkah whispered, distraught. "You were right to speak of abandonment to me. I deserved no less." "Rivkah -"

"I never loved Searlas, you know that." "Yes, I know it." "I never wanted to marry him." "Yes, I know that, but -"

"I was not untrue to Searlas at all when StarDrifter landed on that roof, was I, Magariz?" He was silent, his eyes dark.

"I was untrue to you. You have never remarried, Magariz, and yet I have betrayed you twice, once with Searlas and once with StarDrifter. The two sons and the daughter I bore should have been yours."

"Rivkah. You know that I would not have expected you to remain true to our vows. Not after what happened."

Rivkah blinked the tears from her eyes. Too late to cry now about the mistakes of over thirty years ago.

"I wonder how people would react, Magariz, if they knew that you are my legal husband, not Searlas, not StarDrifter." There. The words were said.

For the first time in many years Magariz let his mind drift back to that long- ago night in Carlon. Rivkah was an impetuous fifteen year old, and he an equally impetuous seventeen. Rivkah had rushed down to his room, furious that her father, King Karel, had just promised her to Searlas, Duke of Ichtar. Determined to defy her father and Searlas, Rivkah had whispered her plan to her friend.

They had fled via poorly lit passageways and unguarded doors to a small Worship Hall in the seamier quarter of Carlon. There a Brother, old and careless, had accepted the gold Rivkah thrust into his hand and married them. Magariz remembered how he'd taken Rivkah back to his bare room in the lower regions of the palace where, awkward and shy, they had both lost their virginity.

But the next day Karel had unexpectedly spirited Rivkah northwards and forced her into marriage with Searlas. What to do? If Magariz spoke out he could endanger both their lives and if he kept quiet he would lose Rivkah forever. So young, Magariz could do nothing but grieve for the brief love he had lost. Two years later, when Rivkah had died in childbed of her second son, Magariz had taken to his room and wept, swearing that his single night with Rivkah would last him a lifetime. When her foundling bastard son had arrived in Carlon under the care of Jayme, Magariz had taken every opportunity he could to play with the child. And he had always wondered, until he had actually set eyes on Borneheld, whether her eldest son was his or not. But Borneheld was the image of Searlas, and Magariz was grateful that he did not have the guilt of Borneheld on his conscience as well.

Rivkah pulled her hands from his, interrupting the memories. "We can never recapture the past, Magariz, or strive for what might have been. We cannot prove our marriage - if indeed we would want to now after so many years. But there is always the future, and," she smiled, "there is always the fact that since Azhure moved to Axis' bed, I have lain cold and lonely at night. No-one, in this crowded Keep, has come to share my quarters. My chamber lies in an isolated corridor, my Lord Magariz, and should you decide to wander down it one night, I doubt that you shall find the door to my chamber locked."