grateful if you could find us a place to sit and perhaps some tea to drink.‖
―Of course,‖ Pease looked apologetic. She glanced anxiously across as Grindle carried
Raum inside one of the leather tents, followed by Barsarbe and the other Avar woman, Fleat.
―Come, sit by the fire.‖
Both Azhure and GoldFeather sank gratefully in front of the fire and Pease reluctantly
laid Shra down as she poured them some tea from the simmering pot. Azhure smiled her thanks
as Pease passed her the tea in a wooden mug skilfully carved with a pattern of leaves along its
rim. Pease sat cross-legged beside them, the baby in her lap, Shra curled up as close as she could
beside her mother. The youngest of the three other children, the only one not actively involved in
helping with Raum, hung back shyly until Pease motioned her forward to sit with them at the
fire.
Pease inclined her upper body gracefully in Azhure‘s direction. ―Please excuse my
rudeness in not greeting you promptly, Azhure. Let me do so now. Be well and welcome to the
camp of the Clan of the GhostTree, may you always find shade to rest in and may your feet
always tread the paths of the Sacred Grove.‖
Azhure was not quite sure how to reply to this welcome. ―Thank you, Pease. I am very
pleased to be here and grateful that you have welcomed me so kindly.‖
―You must be confused by all these people, Azhure. Grindle is Clan leader of the
GhostTree Clan, and Fleat is his senior wife. Her children are the older ones you have seen
here—Helm, Skali and Hogni. Five summers ago I was honoured when Grindle asked me to
become second wife to the GhostTree Clan, and Shra and this infant are my children. Our Clan is
honoured that Bane Raum and Bane Barsarbe also occasionally travel with us.‖
Azhure was still trying to absorb the fact that both the women were married to Grindle.
―Grindle has two wives?‖
Pease frowned. ―Is that not the practice among your people as well?‖
GoldFeather smiled and spoke before Azhure could answer and possibly insult Pease
with some ill-considered words. ―No, Pease. As with the Icarii, among the Plains Dwellers it is
the custom to take only one wife or one husband at a time.‖ She turned to Azhure. ―Among the
Avar, children are valued above all else. If a woman is not honoured to become a man‘s first
wife, then she will gladly become a second wife. Grindle is as honoured that Pease consented to
join his Clan as she was to be asked.‖
The baby started to whimper and Pease bared a breast and began to feed it. For a moment
she fussed with the baby before she looked back at Azhure curiously. ―How many children do
you have, Azhure?‖
―Why, none—I am not married.‖
Now it was Pease‘s turn to look aghast. ―At your age?‖ Azhure promptly felt like a
grey-haired old crone. ―Why, Fleat had borne all her children before she had reached her
twenty-third year. I am only nineteen.‖
A cry suddenly rang out from the tent where Barsarbe worked on Raum‘s leg. All three
women about the fire paled as they heard bone crunch. GoldFeather reached over and patted
Azhure on the knee. ―Barsarbe is skilled at healing, Azhure. If anyone can save Raum‘s life, she
will do it.‖
Azhure nodded tightly.
35
STARMAN
Axis staggered out of the Forbidden Valley, his face expressionless, his sword still
dangling naked in his hand, words and images jumbling chaotically through his mind. The Avar
man had said he had the soul of an Enchanter…an Icarii Enchanter. The woman had said that all
Icarii sang, that music coursed through their blood. He had sung and played music that no-one
had ever taught him. Now more music, strange songs, were surging to the surface of his mind
from long-hidden traps within his soul. He had sung an ancient ward against evil to protect
himself against the apparition of Gorgrael. He had sung again yesterday to the Avar child, and
had done something to her that had shocked Raum. His instant reaction to the sight of the trapped
Avar had been sympathy, not hatred.
Who was his father?
Axis did not want to make the connection, could not make the obvious connection, lest he
drive himself mad. All he wanted to do was put one foot in front of the other and somehow get
himself back to the Axe-Wielders, back to a world that he understood and that understood him.
How could he be the son of one of the Forbidden when he had dedicated his life to
serving the Seneschal—whose foremost enemies were the Forbidden? How could he have
Forbidden blood coursing through his veins when all his life he had hated and feared the
Forbidden?
Had his sympathy for the Forbidden been prompted by the fact that he was Forbidden
too?
― No!‖ he whispered, ―it cannot be!‖
And Raum had said that Faraday lived. How could that be? How could Raum have
known that? If he let himself hope it were true, and it were not, then he would truly be damned.
―No,‖ he whispered, ―it cannot be.‖
―BattleAxe!‖
Axis raised his head with a conscious effort. Arne was spurring his big roan gelding
towards him, relief written across his face. Several Axe-Wielders followed close behind. Axis
slowly straightened.
―BattleAxe! We found Belial hurt and Hagen murdered and the Avar missing. Are you all
right?‖
Axis grimaced. ―The Avar escaped. With the help of Azhure.‖ He sheathed his sword.
Arne‘s face twisted into a snarl. ―That Artor-cursed bitch! She murdered her father and
dealt Belial a grievous blow.‖
Axis wiped a tired hand across his eyes, almost staggering with the effort. ―How is
Belial?‖
Arne looked down at his BattleAxe with concern. ―Belial will live. Ogden and Veremund
are with him now. They say they can help him.‖
―Ogden and Veremund.‖ Axis‘ eyes gleamed. ―Yes. I must speak to them,‖ he said to
himself, very quietly.
―And the Avar and Azhure?‖
Axis sighed and looked over his shoulder into the Forbidden Valley. ―They had too great
a start on me. They disappeared into the Shadowsward.‖
―Cursed misbegotten animals!‖ Arne growled, and Axis flinched, losing even more
colour. He wavered slightly, and Arne lent down his hand. ―Swing up behind me, commander.‖
The good people of Smyrton were standing about in the main street and square. Word had
spread quickly about the murder of their Plough-Keeper and the escape of the Avar man and the
child. None of them were unwilling to believe that it had been Azhure who had murdered her
father, attacked the Axe-Wielder (and the lieutenant to the BattleAxe at that!), and then fled with
the Avar man and child. No-one doubted Azhure‘s part in the crime. No-one had liked her, they
all agreed, shaking their heads in a great public show of sorrow, she had never really fitted in,
and wasn‘t this just like her mother? Except worse? Far, far worse. Never trust a Nors woman,
they all clucked to each other. Hagen‘s infatuation with that woman had been his only fault, and,
in the end, the death of him.
Hagen‘s corpse had been removed to Goodman Hordley‘s house, where several of the
village Goodwives were weeping and wailing as they washed it (and stitched the evil wound in
his belly) and dressed the Plough-Keeper in his best habit. Later the entire village would file past
to view the body. In Hagen‘s home the floor had been mopped and scrubbed and the bed
prepared for the grievously struck Axe-Wielder.
Still, if denied a burning, the villagers at least had a burial to entertain themselves with.
How fortunate that the two other brothers were in the village to conduct the Service for the Dead.
Axis slipped off Arne‘s horse at the house of the Plough-Keeper. ―Arne,‖ he said,
steadying himself against the horse‘s flank. ―Who is inside?‖
―Only Ogden, Veremund and Belial were in there when I left them, sir.‖
Axis nodded to himself. ―Very well. Arne, stand guard here for me. Let no-one else in. I
do not want to be disturbed for a while.‖
Arne nodded. One word from Axis was worth an entire edict from King Priam as far as
he was concerned.
Axis headed for the door. Would Arne still believe in him if he knew who, what, he really
was? He took a deep breath. Now was the time for some direct questions for Ogden and
Veremund. Axis was tired of vague answers. Now was the time for these two…brothers…to tell
him all they knew.
For a moment he leaned against the door, trying to find the courage to enter, then he
slipped the door catch, shutting it very quietly behind him.
Ogden and Veremund did not notice his entrance. They stood across the far side of the
room, leaning over Belial who was stretched out straight and still on the bed. Ogden had his hand