"Any sign of movement?"

"No, and there won't be. Terin will figure his best strategy is to stay hunkered down and try to pick us off when possible. They don't know you can use the Star to triangulate on Andi, so they think they have time."

"Figured that out, did you?"

He didn't take his eyes off the cliff, but his lips curved in satisfaction. "It heats up the more you three are in proximity to each other?"

"So it seems. I'm not sure what to make of that."

"I have no doubt you'll make something of it eventually."

"Your faith in me is sometimes alarming."

His smile twitched. "I know. Take your own advice and rest. You're no good to them if you're not sharp."

"Very funny." But my thigh throbbed and some of the deeper bruises ached, so I put my back against a tree and closed my eyes, letting my mind drift over the problem.

When we wakened him several hours later to participate in a strategy session while the cousins kept watch, Rayfe looked like he would cheerfully murder me. At least he looked capable of it now, so the lie had been worth it.

"The more I think about it, the more I figure Osme had to have lied about the number of Tala in the cave."

He cocked his head. "Possibly. Though she knew she'd suffer when we discovered it."

"Not if she'd already resolved to suicide," I pointed out. "Your threat about Dasnarian zoos put her over the edge."

Grimly he nodded a head at Harlan. "A tale we use to frighten our children with. I have no idea if it's true at all. The idea of animals in cages is appalling to us."

Harlan lifted a shoulder. "So far as I know, none of them have alternate human selves. If they do, I'm sure someone would have noted it."

I smothered a chuckle though Rayfe seemed completely unamused. I'd forgive him a lack of sense of humor, given the circumstances. "Ami and I can get close and pinpoint Andi's location, but what's to prevent Terin from snatching Stella and running?"

"Or from him killing them both?" Zynda inserted, face grave. "You mentioned that before and it's a good point."

Yes, but I'd thought better of mentioning it again.

"Stealth is better, if we can do it. Or convince him somehow that he's better off on the move than waiting us out. Can he be waiting on something? I make him as out of options at this point. In my experience, a cornered beast is a dangerous one."

Rayfe, with his glittering gaze and barely restrained violence, only proved the point. "He can't have much support left, but he's also a fanatic. He won't give up, though his group has always been in the minority."

"Zynda, you come at this from another angle-do you agree?"

My cousin cast Rayfe a cautious glance and opened her mouth.

"I know my people, Your Highness," Rayfe interrupted with a growl, sounding more like a wolf than ever.

"Do you? Did you suspect Osme before this?"

His jaw clenched over the bitterness of that betrayal, as I'd suspected.

"King Rayfe." I tried to sound gentle. "We never expect the strike from within. That's why coups of this sort can be devastatingly effective. I've studied enough of them. You're not to be blamed for trusting the people who should have been trustworthy, but take advantage now of the objective eyes and ears available to you."

"You can dispense with calling me by my title, Ursula," he ground out. "And you may be absolutely correct. Zynda?"

Zynda leaned back on one elbow, unperturbed by her king's foul humor. But then, Rayfe, for all his temper and arrogance, did not stand on much ceremony. A different style altogether from Uorsin's. Of course-a different people and a much smaller kingdom to rule. Still, interesting.

"The Tala are much like any other people," Zynda offered, as if in direct contradiction to my thoughts. "We, of Salena's family, believe Salena's daughter should be queen. Andromeda has our full support, always."

"A comfort," Rayfe remarked.

Zynda smiled easily. "As do her sisters. However, the Tala are also a superstitious people, much ruled by our animal natures. Instinctively, we believe the strongest should rule. The test that made you king is an ongoing one, Rayfe. Winning that tournament is no sinecure. You must continue to be the strongest, the cleverest, the most determined, the one most favored by Moranu, to keep your throne."

"What are you saying, Zynda?" I asked.

She held my gaze, both grimly serious and mischievous, making me wonder what animal she claimed as closest to her heart. "That the people wait and see. If Rayfe cannot rescue his queen from the likes of Terin, he is not fit to lead."

"A harsh judgment to live under."

"Are the Twelve so different, Cousin?" She shook her head slightly. "I think not. The ruler who fails his people deserves to lose his throne."

"All three goddesses favor this effort," Ami spoke up. "Glorianna, Danu, Moranu-they work hand in hand. Andi and Stella belong with us. We just have to find the right path."

Ash laughed soundlessly under his breath and Ami elbowed him. "The goddesses work in mysterious ways. Don't forget that Glorianna granted you your greatest wish, no matter how circuitously it came about."

He looked down at her lovely face, her curls catching the waning light and her twilight eyes the same shade as the sky-and something of him went hungry as he brushed the ends of her shorn hair.

"It will grow back," she told him softly.

"I know. But I don't like the idea of you going up there, Ami."

"My daughter. My sister." She shrugged. "I can't be someone I like and not do it."

"I agree," I said, though she hadn't explicitly stated what I had in mind. "Once night falls, Ami and I will scout and get a fix on Andi's position. Stealth is the name of the game. They'll post watch, no doubt"-I glanced at Rayfe, who nodded-"but they have to be growing weary also. Osme and her trained staymachs haven't returned to them. They have to suspect we killed the guard Terin left to slaughter Harlan and me. They're possibly running out of supplies. They were moving fast and for quite some time, so they can't have carried much. Stella would need to be fed. Even with a wet nurse, they'll have to be getting nervous.

"We'll appear to leave. Zynda-appoint your best inconspicuous shifter to keep an eye for movement. If they're watching us, they've noted that we've disagreed. Rayfe-keep that angry, just-under-boiling-with-violence demeanor. You'll leave with us, unwillingly. Once we have distance, everyone who can shift picks their most unobtrusive form. Ami and I will go on foot, Ash with us to guard our backs. Captain Harlan-I'm asking you to stay back with Astar."

If I thought he'd argue the point, I was mistaken. He accepted the order with a nod. To my surprise, they all did. Even Rayfe. A crack team here, not unlike working with my Hawks. We all stood and Rayfe darkened his scowl. "I don't like it," he shouted. "Coming here with your high-handed ways, Uorsin's heir. My people won't follow you."

I stared him down coolly, my respect for him growing. "They don't have to follow, Rayfe of the Tala. They just have to get out of my way."

Once full dark fell, Ash, Ami, and I changed into the darkest clothes we had with us, then smeared our skin with mud to eliminate the pale gleam of it.

"I thought I'd hear complaints about this," I teased her.

"Oh, no. Mud is excellent to cleanse and purify the complexion," she replied easily. "Though yours is beyond such help. A pity."

She helped Harlan strap Astar onto his wide chest. We'd had to add to the length of the straps, to accommodate his girth. He should have looked absurd, swinging his massive sword to check that nothing interfered with his arc of movement, the comparatively tiny wide-eyed baby peering up at him, but he managed to look . . . heroic. He returned my gaze with a long, somber stare. Then touched the backs of his fingers to his forehead. "Danu shine her light on you, my fierce hawk. We shall await your return."

Rayfe frowned. "We should leave a man or two with you, for backup."

"You need every body you can for this mission," Harlan replied. "I will be fine. Nothing will get through me to harm the babe."

Though I knew him to be far from invulnerable, in that moment he looked it. "All in the contract to protect the royal family?" I teased him.

"As I've always promised you," he returned.

"Captain Harlan," Ami said, darting a glance at me and away. "Should we not return for some reason, don't take Astar to Ordnung."

"Ami-"

She held up a hand to cut me off. "I'm asking this of Harlan, though he owes me nothing."

"On the contrary, beyond the contract that covers you also, I owe you and your consort my life. Where would you have me take him, Princess?"

"There's a manse near Windroven, at Lianore. Take him to Lady Veronica. And if it's not safe there, then anywhere but Ordnung."

"He can stay in Annfwn, Amelia," Rayfe supplied, in a quiet voice.

She shook her head. "I'll leave it up to Captain Harlan, but if we don't return, that might not be best for him, either."

"You have my word," Harlan told her. "I give it to you as I would to Ursula."

"Thank you." She pressed a kiss to Astar's brow, then-as if on impulse-stood on tiptoe to kiss Harlan's cheek and turned quickly away. Ash brushed the tears from her cheeks, a surprisingly soft expression on his craggy face.

"Let's move out," I said, and everyone took their positions. I stepped to go, then looked back at Harlan. Danu take it. Closing the distance between us in a few strides, I kissed him long and hard, as best as I could without crushing Astar, not caring-very much-that we had an audience. "Danu keep you," I told him. "And woe to you if you're not hale and hearty when we return. For we will be successful."

"I do not doubt it." He cupped my head and kissed me with exquisite gentleness. "Take care of my heart, for it goes with you."

Moving in stealth goes slowly.

Easier to do solo, too, rather than hand in hand as Ami and I did. We'd experimented while waiting for nightfall and found that as long as we were in physical contact, the Star's heat remained constant. I'd had to wrap the pommel of my sword in a black silk scarf to dim the shine of the jewel, a fanciful look that Uorsin would have scorned, but there it was.

Ami proved decent at going quietly, her lithe dancer's grace making up for lack of experience. As for Ash, he moved so silently I had to stop myself from constantly checking over my shoulder to make sure he stayed with us. All the rest had taken animal form and melted into the night, eerily leaving us to feel like the only humans alive under the vast and brilliant wheel of Danu's stars.

Once we reached the cliff face, we kept to the shadows, testing each direction. The Star steadily heated under my hand until it grew burning hot, then cooled slightly. Retracing our steps, I stopped us at the point of greatest heat and we surveyed the sheer face above us. No surprise there that Terin would have picked the most difficult egress.

Word was, however, that he could take only the fox form, which meant there had to be a way to the cave for someone without wings. A snake slithered over my foot, nearly making me start. Thank Danu Ami had been looking up and didn't see it. The snake, possibly Zynda, wended a bit to the right, then up a path I hadn't seen in the dark. I let go of Ami's hand and moved hers to rest on the small of my back. She followed me up the path, Ash a knife-edged silhouette behind us. Something climbed up the cliff face and a raptor that shouldn't fly at night winged through the edge of my vision.

A baby's wail cut through the thick silence, and Ami's hands clutched convulsively on my waist as she made a small sound. She did well, for even my heart seized at it. The goddesses smiled on us indeed, for the cry came from a large cave mouth just to the left. Ash slid past us, ducking behind a rock that stood out from the cliff beside the entrance, becoming a shadow again, joined by other fluid black shapes.

I pressed a knife into Ami's hand, though she had her dagger ready, and signaled her to stay put. In the dimness, I could make out the circular prayer to Glorianna she drew in the air with her finger, which she bisected with Danu's blade and cut with Moranu's crescent. It might have been my imagination, but the Star seemed to burn hotter still.

Edging up behind Ash, I gave it a moment more, to make sure all our cohort had taken position. Then I pulled the scarf from the Star, letting it blaze bright.

36.

The raptor, with a great cry, arrowed into the cave, and the rest of us stormed after.

As black as the bogs of Nemeth, the interior of the cave became an immediate tumult. Though I brandished my sword, the blazing Star my only light, I held off swinging at any animal that did not attack me first.

There were plenty of those.

Something like a boar crashed out of the shadows and into me, pinning me against the cave wall and painfully crushing my wounded thigh. With my left hand, I plunged a dagger into its eye, used that as a pivot to drive my sword through its heart.

With the boar's body as a barrier, I stayed close to the wall, willing my eyes to adjust, for the first time regretting I had no night-seeing beast to change into. The agony of my thigh coursed through my body, setting it singing with fighting fury.

Near me, Ash spun in a whirl of blades, nothing touching him. Rayfe could be any of the wolves, but I pegged him for one assailing a line of beasts forming a fanged and snarling wall across the cave. Beyond that lay my quarry, hiding behind his people, no doubt.

Don't think about him holding a blade to Andi's throat. Throttling tiny Stella, her infant body so soft and vulnerable. Only the objective.

I let myself dissolve into the mind of Danu, feeling and thinking nothing but the slice of my blades.

Defend, parry, attack, retreat, regroup.

Defend, parry, attack, retreat, regroup.

Defend, parry, attack, retreat, regroup.

I made my way forward, killing anything that attacked, dodging those that didn't. Dimly I became aware that Ash paced my progress on the other wall and two wolves guarded my back and flank.

A creature as big as a bear and fanged with it barreled out of the blackness, paw as big as my head narrowly missing my throat, claws raking the shoulder of my dagger arm as I barely ducked it. Far too fast, it swung again. Bringing up my sword, I impaled it, but the momentum carried me back, injured leg shouting with the warning of imminent collapse. I struggled against the massive weight, briefly thinking of Harlan's wrestling exhibition. Perhaps he could teach me some tricks for such eventualities.

Hot blood ran down my sword, slicking my grip. Making my hand slip.

A large black cat attacked from behind. Andi, by the flare of the Star. With a feline scream, she laid open the bear's throat with razor claws. It fell, bearing me down, and I twisted, yanking my sword free and, by the simple expedient of stomping down and leaping, cleared the final line of defense.

Terin, as wild-eyed as a cornered animal, crouched in the corner, a wailing Stella in his arms, blade held against her small body as I'd imagined far too many times.

"Stay back," he panted. "I'll kill her."

"And then what, Uncle?" I slowed my advance but did not stop. "A life-one with strong Tala blood-will be wasted. Then I'll kill you and you'll pass with all these others who died for nothing."

"You'll kill me anyway."

"Not necessarily," Rayfe growled beside me, flowing from wolf to man but sounding bestial enough to stand my hair on end. "There are other punishments for traitors. We can put you over the border in your animal form and you'll never be able to cross back. Never be a man again."

Terin laughed, the bark of a fox behind the sound. "You call me a traitor? Look to Salena and her get for that." His eyes, reflecting the glow of the Star, slid from me to my side, where Andi drew close. "We are the loyal ones. Loyal to Annfwn and all it stands for. Salena betrayed us to the outside, trapped our people there for tens of years, bereft of home. We should have killed her when she destroyed Tosin, stopped her then."

"Tosin killed himself," Andi said with gentle surety, Ash coming up beside her. Behind us, the battle sounds dropped off into the crippled silence of whimpers and the harsh breaths of recovering fighters.

"She left him no choice. A hard woman. She'd already decided to leave him, to have a child by another man. She drove the knife into his heart." His arms clenched on Stella and her fretful cries choked off. "This baby is ours. Blood price for Tosin."

"She is yours, Terin." I ignored Ash's glare, Rayfe's twitch. "Stella already belongs to Annfwn, as does Queen Andromeda. Salena paid your blood price with her life. No debt remains."