Aidan was enraged by Pershaw's sarcasm, but he forced his face to remain expressionless. "I accept your judgment and any other judgment to come," he said steadily, "as well as the Clan rituals that support them."

"Take these people away," Pershaw ordered. "A JumpShip will be charged and ready within a week. All those involved with the Aidan claim will travel from Glory to Ironhold on that ship."

* * *

Though Joanna protested mightily, the Elemental guards placed her and Aidan in the same jail cell. Because so few violations were deemed worthy of incarceration, Glory Station's prison was small and only two cells were currently available. Custom dictated that trueborns and freeborns be separated during imprisonment, which put Horse-alone in the other cell.

"You are a fool, Aidan," Joanna muttered under her breath, "but you have gall, going for a Bloodname, with your history. How egotistical of you to even think it possible. And do you not see any violation of the code?"

"Code? What code?"

"If you do not feel it, then of course you do not mind violating it. The code I speak of is among warriors. We depend on one another and we support one another, in battle and in all other action."

"Strange words coming from you, Joanna. You have no comrades."

"That is true, but it does not mean I will not close ranks with fellow warriors under attack or in a crisis. The code states that you should protect Ter Roshak, not reveal his treachery to the universe."

"Treachery such as Ter Roshak's should not be permitted. To do so would make us as decadent and weak as the people of the Inner Sphere."

Joanna was taken aback. "What do you know of Inner Sphere history?"

"I have made a study of it, from some . . . some sources I have discovered."

"I do not know about such decadence, but I do know we must maintain the code of loyalty."

"Why?"

"I do not understand you, Aidan."

"I am asking why loyalty is preeminent. What loyalty did Ter Roshak show by involving us in his schemes?"

"He gave you a second chance."

"Which I was not supposed to receive."

"But you got it, and you should have been satisfied."

"As a freeborn?"

"You are a warrior, are you not?"

"That is true, and living as a freeborn, I respect them and—"

"Respect?You can respect a freebirth?"

"Freeborn, you must say freeborn. And, yes, I can. I have served with nothing but freeborns these last few years. Their inferiority is only in the minds of others. Given a chance, they perform as well as any other."

"I cannot believe you would utter such filth, Aidan. Stop now. A freebirth is a freebirth, and that is that. Whatever else you have come to believe, you are a trueborn. You will always be that. You can assume an identity with the ease of a tribesman disguising himself in an animal skin, but your real identity comes from your birth. However you may have adjusted to being a freebirth, do not try to convert me to your ideas about freeborns."

"All right."

"So, I ask you again why you have decided to ruin Ter Roshak's career—and your own?"

"Anything is worth the risk if the ultimate prize is a Bloodname."

"Whatever happens on Ironhold, you will not earn a Bloodname. You will never get that far."

"There is always a poss—"

"There is no possibility! You and Ter Roshak have broken Clan law, violated Clan custom. And I, by being a cog in Ter Roshak's plot, will be dragged through the muck along with you. And I have been dragged through enough muck lately, thank you."

Aidan smiled, a rare event for a Clansman. "Yes, I heard you nearly drowned in the swamp. Joanna, I truly regret what is happening now. If I had thought that you would be—"

"Ifyou had thought. That is your problem. You do not think, you act. Back in your first trial, you went for too much, and in your second, you were lucky with some improvised tactics. So this time, you overreached in another way. First, you announced your candidacy at the wrong time. You should first have determined whether you could legitimately compete for the Bloodname."

"I did not, as you say, overreach. Every move I made today, everything I said, was planned. Calculated. I have every right to compete for the Bloodname. And I will."

They fell silent. Aidan turned away from Joanna to gaze out the small window of the cell at the compound. Nothing was moving out there. Pershaw's council must still be in session.

"At any rate," Joanna said, "now Ter Roshak must answer for his deeds. I wonder if he will reveal his motives. There is much I would like to know. Although I could pass on learning the information if it meant I would not be executed."

"You will not be executed. You were merely an accessory. "

"Practicing the words to be used before the council, are you?"

Again the two fell silent for a while, then Joanna said, "You have not learned, Aidan, that deceit is the real sin among the Clans. Your second chance, your life as a freebirth, your assumption of someone else's identity—it is all deceit. They have a good case against you."

She laughed harshly, a true sign of her mirth. "Perhaps the name shouldbe yours," Joanna said. "Who else would find the name Pryde so eminently suitable?"

* * *

Horse and Aidan sat together while they and Joanna were being transported to the shuttle area. "I wish you victory in all things, Aidan," Horse whispered.

"Your support means much, Horse."

"Support? Please do not call it that. I do not support you. I am ashamed of you."

"Ashamed?"

"You renounced your freeborn identity for the sake of competing for a Bloodname. Deep down you were trueborn after all. Deep down you hold us in contempt just as the others do."

"That is not true, Horse. It is—"

"No. If you really respected us, as you claimed, you would not have renounced your freeborn identity. You are like the real jade falcon, which flies everywhere but always comes back to the mountainside where it was born. You may have flown as a freeborn, but now you return to your trueborn nest."

"Horse-"

"Or should I say trashborn?"

"Do you not wish me to win a Bloodname, to contribute to the gene pool?"

"Truthfully, I do not. I do not care what happens to you now. I will be your comrade in all things, but I do not care what happens. Freeborns do not demean themselves for Bloodnames, nor would they wish to contribute to the gene pool. You may win this contest, or you may die. Whichever, I will be by your side if you wish it. But I amashamed."

"It is the Bloodname, Horse."

"I know that. And it is no excuse. You have more respect from me as Jorge than you will have as Aidan Pryde."

The conversation ended there, but for the rest of the trip, Aidan savored the sound of the name: Aidan Pryde. An almost lustful surge of will went through his body. The name had such a natural ring to it. How could he not succeed in winning it? In spite of the turmoil he had stirred up with his desire for it. In spite of the agony he would have to endure to fulfill the desire. In spite of the dangers on the long road to the Bloodname.

23

Joanna decided the game was up as soon as the Jade Falcon council members filed in. BattleMechs charging and firing in the midst of combat looked friendlier than these Bloodnamed warriors. There were so many of them, most arriving on Ironhold from far-off outposts, answering the call to council. Some Clansmen, as was their right, claimed duty prevented their attendance at the trial. Many more, however, chose to come and sit in judgment on this unusual case. Joanna had heard that nearly 475 of the 960 qualified warriors (well, two less, with Ileana Pryde's demise and Ter Roshak on trial) were on Ironhold now, and more might arrive during the course of the trial. Video cameras would record every bit of testimony for examination across all the Jade Falcon worlds. The crime involved was so unusual, so grotesque that council members were flocking to Ironhold to be, perhaps, a part of Clan history.