the Isles, and Martin, his elder brother and Duke of
Crydee, spoke of many things, of hunting and feasting, of
travel and politics, of war and discord, and occasionally
they spoke of their father, Duke Borric.
The third man, not as tall or as broad of shoulder as
the other two, leaned against the rail a short way off, lost
in his own thoughts. Arutha, Prince of Krondor and
youngest of the three brothers, also dwelt upon the past,
but his vision was not of the father killed during the war
with the Tsurani, in what was now being called the
Riftwar. Instead he watched the bow wake of the ship as
it sliced through emerald-green waters, and in that green
he saw two sparkling green eyes.
The captain cast a glance aloft, then ordered the sails
trimmed. Again he took note of the three men upon the
fOredeck and again he gave a silent prayer to Kilian,
Goddess of Sailors, and wished Rillanon's tall spires were
in sight. For those three were the three most powerful
and important men in the Kingdom, and the sailingmaster
refused to think of the chaos that would befall the
Kingdom should any ill chance visit his ship.
Arutha vaguely heard the captain's shouts and the
replies of his mates and crew. He was fatigued by the
events of the last year, so he paid little attention to what
was occurring about him. He could keep his thoughts
only upon one thing: he was returning to Rillanon, and
to Anita.
Arutha smiled to himself. His life had seemed unremarkable
for the first eighteen years. Then the Tsurani
invasion had come and the world had been forever
changed. He had come to be counted one of the finest
commanders in the Kingdom, had discovered an unsuspected
eldest brother in Martin, and had seen a thousand
horrors and miracles. But the most miraculous thing that
had happened to Arutha had been Anita.
They had been parted after Lyam's coronation. For
nearly a year Lyam had been displaying the royal banner
to both eastern lords and neighbouring kings, and now
they were returning home.
Lyam's voice cut through Arutha's reverie. 'What see
you in the wave's sparkle, little brother?'
Martin smiled as Arutha looked up, ' and the former
Huntmaster of Crydee, once called Martin Longbow,
nodded towards his youngest brother. 'I wager a year's
taxes he sees a pair of green eyes and a pert smile in the
waves.'
Lyam said; 'No wager, Martin. Since we departed
Rillanon I've had three messages from Anita on some
matter or other of state business. All conspire to keep
her in Rillanon while her mother returned to their estates
