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The horse is as white as untouched snow, al The woman has seen many battles Scars h she has only recently slogged through a rain-swept battlefield The rings of her mail shirt are coated with rust except for those places where irregular patches of new rings have been linked and haaps

She reins in her warhorse beside hi sword, sheathed in leather, sways in front of his eyes A battered round shield hangs by her knee

Her gaze is at once distant and utterly piercing But he is no longer afraid to look her in the eye

"What must I pay you, to ride to war?" she asks hinizes him

"I have dealt death and suffered death," he tells her "I aht of the sun shifts until it strikes her, and her arlorious as she is shining and glorious She draws her sword Its length blazes as though forged by sorcery He weeps, because she is beautiful

"All serveArms will be Joined soon Friends and foes will perish Do you abandon the sound floats, almost too faint to identify except that he knows it as the clash of sword and shield On the wind drifts a rumble like thunder, quickly lost

"Ride with me, Alain, son of Rose Choose, and your choice shall win the day You hand is your brother by blood Will you answer his prayer? What of the husband of the wolory--or ruin him to ruin her What of the offer ht? Choose, and you can be king, consort of a queen regnant You are nothing, a whore’s son raised by a hulory Come with me now, and your likeness, the memory of your exploits, will be painted on the walls of churches so that hu of your victories and clerics will praise your deeds You will be one of the great princes ever after"

The ground shakes with an undulating ripple The guivre drags itself up beside hi at the lady

"I no longer belong to you," he says

"You march toar Even if it is peace that you seek, you must use the sword to achieve it Fail me, and you fail those you wish to save"

"So you believe" He whistles Rage and Sorrow cohs, a bright sound that rings up into the heavens to join that claetakes her Between one breath and the next, it ss her, leaving hi branches and damp leaves The meadow has vanished, the rain has stopped, but the black clouds and the rising wind rehand dropped his battle standard, woven by the shaic shields from the touch of sorcery all alk under the shield of his power Its limits had been tested today, and it had protected theht roused him His chin jerked sideways as he started like an ani standard before it could strike the ground

"She is co!" His voice cracked His attendants shifted fro casually rolls to the balls of his feet, preparing to sprint "Swiftly! Noe reement, and I will stand by mine Yeshu, see that the sha also this holy mother who speaks for the company"

He strode into the ranks of his army, which sed hi wave, his soldiers dispersed west down the Hellweg or into the forest The plan was long since set into e crackled, and as if by sorcery a wind rose out of the north to trouble the woodland Branches cracked and fell The clouds--what he could see of theing rain

Battle was co, and so was Alain Yet another scent teased his nostrils, a touch of the forge It puzzled hi taste of sorcery shifted on the wind, that distant presence was not in itself ed into view frohand All is ready as you have commanded on the western flank A report has come in that a patrol to the north has fallen into a skirue of Moels Tribe has sent up another troop to push into that region, to make sure our eastern flank is not attacked unawares"