'You remember the day when this all began?'

'Aracnan?'

Anger smouldered in Isak's gut until he smothered it. 'Aracnan. He killed Velere, Aryn Bwr's son and heir. I felt Aryn Bwr's hatred, which is why I wouldn't go with him – and I guess that was why Aracnan didn't come any closer; he didn't know what he was dealing with. When he reached out with his senses, I wasn't just the frightened young boy he expected.'

'And if you meet him again?' Vesna, with Tila on his arm, joined Isak and Carel, both looking anxiously at the white-eye. The religious charms that were fastened to yellow ribbons and plaited into Tila's long hair tinkled gently in the breeze.

Isak scowled. 'I don't have an answer to that.' He looked back the way they'd come, almost as if he expected Aracnan to appear, but the trail was clear. Beehunters skimmed the ground, their crooked green wings spread stiffly as they snapped at prey he couldn't see. The slen¬der birds would have been a good sign if he'd been truly worried about pursuit; they wouldn't hunt if there were men lying hidden in the

grass. 'If I meet Aracnan again I don't what he'll do,' he admitted.

'But what will you do? Will you be able to control – him – before he lashes out like he did at the High Priest of Larat?' Tda asked.

'That was different, 1 wasn't prepared for him then,' Isak said. 'Now I know exactly what danger he poses. You'll all have to just trust me that Aryn Bwr's simply not strong enough to take over now. At the Ivy Rings he had his only chance – and he failed. Prepared, I'm too Itrong for him – and I'm still getting stronger.'

'Still?'

Isak smiled. 'Perhaps not physically, but I've found there are other filings that count – Gods, Carel, can you believe that it was less than a year ago I was driving your wagon and complaining that I'd never even be allowed to join the Palace Guard?' He laughed.

They reached the shrine and Isak ran his fingers over the waist-high cairn.