Mirayans were frighteningly ruthless in their determination to dominate. Seven years ago Duke Wolf had taken Eldene captive and, using him as a hostage, threatened his mother, the queen of the Mori, into trading exclusively with them. Eldene had escaped and Elena had found him, wounded and exhausted, on the beach of their little island. She and her sisters had hidden him from his pursuers.
Now Eldene laughed, a little ruefully. 'It is ironic to think that the Mirayans brought us together. They would curse if they knew they were the reason I have such a clever wife who understands these stupid, evil people and warns me to hoard arrowheads and double patrols.'
Elena felt herself melt. Eldene was the only one who ever treated her as if she had a brain, and every time he did she turned to soft butter in his hands. No one else seemed able to see beyond her looks. She had never ceased to thank the powers of life that she had been able to meet and know such a man without her beauty getting in the way.
She tightened her arms around him. He smiled down at her.
'I am glad I heeded you, clever wife, and had the shamans strengthen the warding at the forest edge and around this place.' He laughed. 'Do you know the merchant could not even hear us until he came into the clearing? At least we are safe here. Only a Mori can get through those wardings.'
Then he sighed. 'What is it, Rowl?'
Elena turned. Eldene's second-in-command was standing behind her. He was a hard-bitten old veteran who, like many of the Mori men, was too shy to look Elena in the eye.
'Montagne has returned from his patrol,' he said to Eldene. 'You said you wanted to see him.'
'Yes, I do. I'd best go.' Eldene took Elena's hand and kissed it with a romantic flourish. 'Until we meet again, my love. I shall count the moments.'
With a half-affectionate, half-mocking smile, he strode away across the clearing. Elena watched him go. He filled her with such joy, yet today she was left with a dark feeling in her breast. Sometimes it felt as if a trap were closing in around them. The Mirayans owned all of the coastal land that bordered the Mori forest, and now it looked as though they were going to try and take the forest as well. It seemed likely that such warlike people wanted to rule the whole island of Yarmar. There was already frequent fighting at the forest edges, where Mirayans kept defying their own treaty and attacking the Mori's revered trees.
She shook herself. Surely the magic of the forest, where the power of the life force was strong, would protect those who honoured it. She checked that her daughter, Alyx, was safe and turned back to her potion. She was so intent on straining off the liquid that at first she did not notice the shouting or the armed men running out of the trees. Like most of the other Mori, she only realised that the camp was under attack when the alarm horns began to sound.
Scooping up Alyx and a couple of her playmates, Elena ran to the safety of the tower. Queen Sonnette Verdey, Elena's mother-in-law, was already there, hustling mothers and children inside. Elena grabbed some weapons in order to fight beside Eldene, but Sonnette barricaded the tower door and refused to let her out. Shortly afterward a wave of Mirayan soldiers slammed against the tower walls.
There followed a long night of fire and blood. The women within the tower kept shooting, sending arrows down into the fray. All night they prevented the Mirayans from taking the tower.
At last, as dawn struggled through the trees, the din of the battle died away. In the early morning stillness the Mirayan mages lit up the sky with flares. By their light, Elena could see the wreckage of the camp: the destroyed and smouldering tents, the broken bodies. Four men were kneeling on the ground, their arms tied behind their backs. Around them stood an implacable wall of Mirayan warriors, the red dragon flag like a splash of blood across their chests.
One of the kneeling men raised his head and looked up at the tower. Elena saw that it was Eldene. He was still alive! The realisation flowed through her like fresh spring water. Her husband, her love, was still alive. Elena pressed closer to the slit window but it was too narrow for her to lean through.
And then a man stepped out beside Eldene with an axe raised in his fist.
'No,' Elena screamed with all her heart and mind. She would have leapt from the window had it been possible. The other women pulled her back just as the axe fell. Eldene's body slumped forward. Dead.
Eldene's executioner killed the other three men - Eldene's second-in-command and two brothers, the youngest only twelve. Thus died all of Sonnette Verdey's sons. When the deed was done, another man stepped forward. He looked up at the tower and spoke, his voice made louder by magic.
'Thus die all enemies of the Mirayan Empire! I am Wolf Madraga, High Chieftain of the Eastern Seagani people. Your leaders are dead. Submit to me and your lives will be spared.'
So now the Mori must face surrender and slavery, or death, thought Elena. And Eldene was dead. She sank down against the wall, her face in her hands. She couldn't believe it! She could still see his face as he had bent to kiss her. He couldn't be dead. She tried to clutch the sweet memory of his kiss to her, to force it to be real. He was dead. He would never kiss her again. She would never forgive herself for not dying there beside him.
'Mumma,' cried a voice in her ear.
Alyx! Her little daughter stood beside her, face anxious and puckered, ready for tears. Elena snatched her to her chest. She must be strong for Alyx. All was not lost yet. Alyx clutched at her, her eyes big with fear but she did not cry. Sweet life! If only she had some way of getting her daughter safely away from here. Elena felt a hard knot of panic settle on her. If only she had magical powers like her sister Marigoth. Or even a strong sword arm like Yani.
Frightened children pressed all around her, their hands clutching at her, their little faces pushing against her sides. Sweet life! All these little ones. This couldn't be real. She couldn't be here; they couldn't be trapped like this. There must be some way out of this nightmare. If only she had not lost Marigoth's stone. If only she could have called for help somehow. She was Tari. Why couldn't she do something? Couldn't the life spirit save them?
An argument was raging on the other side of the room.
'We must surrender,' Sonnette said. 'They say they will not kill the boys.'
Her mother-in-law looked a hundred years old. She had lost two daughters to the Mirayans in earlier fighting and now in one night she had lost her three sons as well. But still she was strong. She had to be. She was the leader of these frightened women and children.
'They lie! They always lie!' someone cried.
'Let them burn us,' screamed someone else. 'Better to die free than live a slave.'
'No!' Sonnette shouted. 'Labwa forbids self-slaughter. It will be bad. I cannot say otherwise. But while we live we are still Mori and we can hate. We can still find some way to strike back at these filthy pigs. If they put us to weave, we can weave poison into the cloth. If they set us to care for their children, we can smother them in their cots.'
There was silence throughout the room.
'Seek death if you wish. There are swords enough here for those who wish to kill themselves,' she said. 'But I will live if I can, for those who live can always fight again.'
Many of the women had begun to weep. The children were wailing. Alyx clung to Elena with a strangling grip. Her trembling hands brought strength back to Elena. She forced herself to stand up.
'We must be brave,' she whispered softly to her daughter. Your father would wish it.
Sonnette came to Elena's side and squeezed her arm so strongly it hurt.
'You must protect Alyx,' she hissed. 'She is the last of the Verdey. My daughter is dead and I may die tonight too. Alyx is the next queen. You must protect her.'
'I will,' Elena said. 'With my life.'
'They will not kill you,' Sonnette said. 'You are too beautiful. You will survive. Buy Alyx's survival too. Do it for Eldene.'
The sun was red through the smoky dawn. Only a thin stone tower and piles