Hol yleaf fol owed her Clanmate across the strip of pebbles and into the undergrowth. There was no need to hurry. She had set her paws on the path she had chosen, and the time for her to act would come as surely as one season gave way to the next.

When she pushed through the bushes and into the clearing around the Great Oak, she hesitated, awed in spite of herself by the mass of cats in front of her.

Clan mixed with Clan as the cats found themselves places around the tree. Then Hol yleaf's paws carried her forward, weaving a path through the crowd. She was scarcely aware of Tawnypelt greeting her, or of the ShadowClan queen's affronted look as she brushed past. She ignored the snatches of gossip that she picked up as she padded past. What has all that got to do with me now?

She found a place to sit, close to the Great Oak, where she could look up and see the Clan leaders crouched among the branches: Onestar, comfortably settled in the fork of a branch; Blackstar, crouched on the lowest branch with his tail hanging down; Leopardstar, standing a tail-length higher, impatiently scratching at the bark. Firestar leaped up to join them, scattering a few late acorns as the branch he chose swayed under him.

Lionblaze had fol owed Hol yleaf across the clearing, and sat down next to her. "Crowfeather's here," he muttered.

"I know." Hol yleaf had already spotted the WindClan warrior, but he hadn't seemed to notice WindClan warrior, but he hadn't seemed to notice her. Now she glanced to where Lionblaze was pointing with his tail, and she saw her father sitting close to Nightcloud and Breezepelt. His head was turned away, but Hol yleaf guessed that he knew exactly where she and her brothers were. All his kits together at once. How nice for him.

A shril yowl sounded from the branches of the tree, and Leopardstar stepped forward. The noise in the clearing stil ed as the cats fel silent and turned to look up at her.

"The Gathering has begun," she announced.

"RiverClan wil report first. Prey is running wel .

Mistyfoot, Reedwhisker, and Rainstorm drove a fox out of our territory." She stepped back with a curt nod to Blackstar.

The ShadowClan leader rose, while below him Hol yleaf drove her claws into the ground, her whole body quivering with tension. Suddenly she wasn't sure she would know when her time to act had come.

StarClan, give me a sign! If you're even watching....

"ShadowClan is thriving," Blackstar reported.

"Littlecloud has taken Flamepaw as his apprentice, and introduced him to StarClan at the Moonpool."

A murmur of congratulation rose from the assembled cats, with a few yowls of "Flamepaw!

Flamepaw!" Hol yleaf spotted the young cat sitting with Littlecloud and the other medicine cats, his eyes shining with pride. Claws tore at her heart. I felt like that once.

Onestar fol owed Blackstar, but he had nothing to tel them about except a dead sheep in the border stream, which his warriors had dragged out to keep the water clean.

Then it was Firestar's turn. Rising to his paws, he balanced on his branch and looked down into the clearing with his green eyes glowing in the moonlight. "Sol has left the forest," he began. "We-"

"About time, too," Blackstar growled.

Leopardstar dipped her head to Firestar with cold courtesy. "I'm glad you saw sense at last, Firestar."

Firestar returned the nod equal y politely, though Hol yleaf could see his claws tighten on his branch.

"Besides that-"

Now!

"Wait!" Hol yleaf leaped to her paws. "There's something that I have to say that al the Clans should hear."

"What?" Lionblaze reached up and dragged at her with one paw, trying to get her to sit down again.

"Are you mouse-brained? Warriors don't speak here!"

"This one does," Hol yleaf hissed, shaking him off.

She spotted Jayfeather among the other medicine cats, his expression utterly horrified, but she ignored him.

"You think you-" she began.

"Hol yleaf!" Firestar's voice rang out from the branch where he stood looking down at her; his eyes smoldered with green fire. "If you have anything important to say here, it should have been discussed with me first. Be silent now, and whatever's troubling you, I'l talk to you about it tomorrow."

Moons spent fol owing the warrior code almost forced Hol yleaf to clamp her jaws shut and sit down.

I have to obey my Clan leader! Then she braced herself. The warrior code is dead! There's no point in trying to follow it anymore.

"No!" she meowed, ignoring the gasps of shock from the cats around her. "I will speak now!"

"Yes, let her speak." Leopardstar stepped forward again, looking down curiously at Hol yleaf. "I'd like to hear what she has to say."

"So would I," Onestar growled.

"Or has ThunderClan got secrets that they're too scared to reveal?" Blackstar taunted, flicking his tail contemptuously at Firestar.

Yowling broke out al around the clearing as the cats from the other three Clans chal enged ThunderClan. Hol yleaf stood in the middle of the uproar, feeling strangely calm; she knew she needed to wait only a few heartbeats more.

At last Firestar raised his tail for silence. "Very wel , Hol yleaf," he mewed when the noise had died down. "Say what you have to. And StarClan grant you don't regret it."

Now the clearing was so quiet that Hol yleaf could hear a mouse scuttering among the dead leaves under the Great Oak. "You think you know me," she began again. "And my brothers, Lionblaze and Jayfeather of ThunderClan. You think you know us, but everything you have been told about us is a lie!

We are not the kits of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight."

"What?" Brambleclaw shot to his paws from where he sat with the other deputies among the where he sat with the other deputies among the roots of the Great Oak. His amber eyes flamed.

"Squirrelflight, why is she talking such nonsense?"

Squirrelflight stood up. The flare of panic in her eyes faded and was replaced with-what? Regret?

Guilt? Or the sorrow of a mother who was about to lose her kits forever...?

"I'm sorry, Brambleclaw, but it's true. I'm not their mother, and you are not their father."

The Clan deputy stared at her. "Then who is?"

Squirrelflight turned her sad green gaze on the cat she had always claimed as her daughter. "Tel them, Hol yleaf. I kept the secret for seasons; I'm not going to reveal it now."

"Coward!" Hol yleaf flashed at her. Her gaze swept around the clearing, seeing the eyes of every single cat trained on her. "I'm not afraid of the truth!

Leafpool is our mother, and Crowfeather-yes, Crowfeather of WindClan-is our father."

Yowls of shock greeted her words, but Hol yleaf shouted over them. "These cats were so ashamed of us that they gave us away and lied to every single one of you to hide the fact that they had broken the warrior code. It's al her fault." She whipped her tail around to point at Leafpool. "How can the Clans survive when there are cowards and liars at the very heart of them?"

The screeches and gasps of horror grew so loud that Hol yleaf couldn't make herself heard anymore.

But there was no need. She had said what she had come to say. Her legs trembled as if she had run al the way across the territory, and she had to sit down.

Inside she felt a curious peace, as if she had lanced a festering sore and was watching the poison drain away.

Crowfeather's voice rose above the rest in a furious yowl. "It's not true!" He had sprung to his paws, his dark gray fur bristling. Beside him, Nightcloud and Breezepelt looked bewildered and angry. "She's the one who's lying!"

Then Leafpool stood up. The crowd of cats fel silent, their eyes turned toward her.

"It's true, Crowfeather," she meowed. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tel you, but there was never a right time."

Her amber eyes were seared with grief. Pity stirred in Hol yleaf, but she choked it down. I hate her! She lied and betrayed us all!

"You mean nothing to me, Leafpool."

Crowfeather's voice was cold. "That moon has passed. My loyalty is only to WindClan, and I have no kits other than Breezepelt." He glanced to where Nightcloud and Breezepelt stood beside him; the black she-cat had her ears flattened to her head, while Breezepelt's teeth were bared in a snarl.

Leafpool dipped her head as if she wasn't going to argue; then she looked up at Firestar, who was crouched on his branch, as stil as a cat made out of stone. "I know that I cannot be ThunderClan's medicine cat any longer," she meowed. "I'm so very sorry to you, Firestar, and to al my Clanmates.

Please know that I tried my best, and regretted what I had done with every single breath." Her voice cracked on the last word, and she paused, swal owing, before she continued. "But I couldn't regret having my kits. They are fine cats, and I wil always be proud of them."

She gave Crowfeather one last glance, then padded across the clearing with her head bowed.

Cats scrambled out of her way as she made for the bushes and pushed her way through, out of sight.

Every cat stared after her, stil shocked into silence.

Brambleclaw was the first to move, padding forward until he stood face to face with Squirrelflight.

"Why?" he meowed.

Squirrelflight's voice was desperate. "I had to!

She's my sister!"

"And you couldn't trust me?" Brambleclaw's voice was shaking, and Hol yleaf saw a deep shudder pass through his body. For a heartbeat, she was sorry for what she had done. This was a noble cat, and he had not been responsible for any of the lies. I was so proud when I thought he was my father.

Squirrelflight did not reply, just held his gaze without flinching.

"You couldn't trust me," he repeated. "Don't you think I would have helped you, if you'd told me the truth? But it's too late now."

He turned away, shouldering a path through the crowd.

"Brambleclaw-" Squirrelflight took a pace after him, then halted, her head hanging and her tail drooping in despair.

Hol yleaf turned her back. Let her suffer. She deserves it!

A cat nudged her from behind. It was Cinderheart.

"What have you done?" she cried.

"What have you done?" she cried.

Hol yleaf blinked in surprise. "I did the right thing."

The gray she-cat shook her head. "There is no right thing. Everything to do with this leads to more pain." The wisdom in her voice seemed to come from a much older and more experienced cat.

Hol yleaf waited for her to say something else, something to show how sorry she felt for Hol yleaf and her littermates. But Cinderheart just turned and padded away.

Hol yleaf stared after her. Why didn't she understand? Surely any cat could see that they couldn't have carried on living a lie? Besides, StarClan hadn't sent clouds to cover the moon. Her warrior ancestors must be pleased that the secrets were out and the deceit was at an end.

But none of the cats here seemed pleased. Not even her own Clanmates. Sandstorm was staring at her, bewilderment and sorrow in her green gaze.

Graystripe's amber eyes were blank with disbelief.

Poppyfrost and Berrynose had their heads close together, talking urgently and shooting hostile glances at her.

Suddenly Hol yleaf couldn't bear to be stared at for another heartbeat. Blundering through the crowd, she thrust through the bushes, ignoring the thorns that tore her pelt, and fled across the strip of pebbles and over the tree-bridge. Racing past the horseplace, she began to climb the ridge, skirting the WindClan border until she reached the very top and could look out over the lake.

A silver path of moonlight stretched across the surface of the water. The reflections of countless warriors of StarClan glittered around it.

"Was it al worth it?" Hol yleaf wailed to them.

"Being an apprentice, working hard to learn the warrior code? What could any of us have done to make things different?"

The flickering stars gave her no answer.

Hol yleaf padded along the ridge until she reached her own territory and could plunge back into the trees. When she arrived in the stone hol ow, everything was quiet. The Gathering patrol had not yet returned, and the other cats were asleep, except for Brightheart, on watch beside the entrance.

Hol yleaf brushed past her, ignoring the she-cat's greeting.

She stalked across the clearing in the bright wash of moonlight and entered the medicine cats' den.

Her heartbeat quickened when she saw there was no sign of Leafpool. I know what I'm going to do. All this is Leafpool's fault.

Crawling right to the back of the storage cave, she found the leaf wrap with the deathberries and drew it out careful y. She placed it on the floor of the den and unfolded the leaf so the glossy red berries were exposed. They had begun to shrivel, but she knew they stil held their deadly poison.

Hol yleaf sat beside the berries, wrapped her tail over her paws, and waited. Soon she heard a slow paw step outside, and Leafpool brushed past the bramble screen and stood in front of her.

"Hol yleaf." She didn't sound surprised to find her daughter there. Her eyes were ful of weariness and sorrow. "It's al right," she mewed. "I forgive you."

"What!" Hol yleaf sprang to her paws. "You forgive me? You're the one who needs forgiveness! You abandoned your kits! You let us grow up in a web of lies, and now the warrior code might be broken forever because of your stupid, selfish actions."

"Do you think you need to tel me that?" Leafpool asked, stil with the same exhausted calm. "I can only tel you how much I love you. I'm so sorry for what I did."

"And you expect me to forgive you?" Hol yleaf snarled. "Wel , I don't. I never wil ." Fur bristling, she padded around Leafpool until she blocked the entrance to the den. "See those deathberries?

You're going to eat them-or I'l make you!"