She had also heard that one major reason for the ardent interest in this trial was the stature of the Bloodname in question. Its original holder, Aeneas Pryde, had been a member of Aleksandr Kerensky's command staff even before the Exodus. As a Star League officer, he had distinguished himself in battle as a member of the 131st Battle Division, the so-called "Hercules Division." So daring were the celebrated exploits of the 131st that they had been compared to the arduous tasks of a mythical hero named Hercules.

Joanna did not know of this Hercules, but on the trip to Ironhold Aidan had explained that he was a fabled hero whose feats of prodigious strength went beyond normal human prowess. Though she scoffed at Aidan for accumulating such useless knowledge, she was secretly impressed. Something had undoubtedly happened to him during his years pretending to be a freebirth, for intelligence had not been an outstanding trait of the Aidan she had once known. What might have changed him she could not guess, nor did she care. One trait, however, had not changed a bit. The fact that he planned to compete for a Bloodname without anyone's approval showed him to be as determinedly stubborn as a warrior as he had been as a cadet. However, even Aeneas Pryde would probably have felt revulsion to see Aidan presuming to win his name.

Ileana Pryde, the previous holder of this version of the Bloodname, might have been more sympathetic to Aidan's cause, for she was known for a similar stubborn persistence and fortitude.

Joanna had known her, a warrior no better or worse than many others. Tall and beautiful, with a regal manner, Ileana was already famous as a warrior when her path crossed Joanna's. She had tried to engage Joanna in a discussion about specific strategies that led to a wasteful, bloody skirmish between the Ice Hellion and Mongoose Clans. Ileana's ideas were precise and insightful, but Joanna would not give her the satisfaction of agreeing. Soon the two were arguing in a way just as wasteful as the strategy in question. When they reached an impasse and agreed to abandon the argument, Joanna noticed that Ileana glowed from the intensity of their talk. Guessing that Ileana might be just as mean as she was, her respect for the noted warrior increased.

Joanna and Aidan sat together at a table near the center of the massive Council Hall. From her vantage point, the tiers occupied by Bloodnamed warriors seemed endless. Dressed in their ceremonial masks and garb, each with its particular resplendent flourishes, the effect was of an enormous patchwork quilt spread unevenly across one side of the room. At the main table sat the

Loremaster, the Advocate, the Inquisitor, and the current Khan of the Jade Falcon Clan, Elias Crichell. Elias Crichell had earned fame as a great warrior and shrewd politician. He was also said to be a harsh judge, who believed in severe punishment for even the smallest offense. Many credited him with the Jade Falcons' success among the seventeen clans.

Joanna ceased scanning the council, suddenly aware of a strong gaze upon her. She knew whose it was even before turning to look, for she had learned that Ter Roshak, primary offender in this case and the highest-ranking officer, would be seated alone at the center table. Looking back in his direction, she was astonished at the change. Once bulky and impressive, Roshak seemed to have shrunk. His face, once so sculptured in its hardness, looked softer, as if formed of lumps and bulges instead of cliffs and crevasses. But his eyes had not changed. They glared like beacons, penetrating as a beam from a pulse laser. With a start she realized that Ter Roshak was not looking at her. His hatred was directed purely at Aidan.

* * *

Aidan had watched Ter Roshak come in. The two had not met since Aidan left Ironhold several years before. Roshak had vowed to kill Aidan if he revealed any part of his deception. Though the threat had not frightened Aidan, he had remembered it often enough.

He wondered briefly if he should regret his action, which would surely ruin Roshak's career. But what good was such a career if the man violated Clan law? Of the three under various accusations here in Clan council, Roshak was the only one who deserved to be on trial. Neither Aidan nor Joanna had ordered murder. Of course, murder was not the issue. Few of the Clansmen sitting in judgment would think twice about the elimination of a sibko of freeborns. No, it was Roshak's manipulation of events in defiance of Clan law that was the terrible deed.

Aidan, however, was appalled by the murder that Roshak had planned with such calculation. Perhaps the Terran books in Aidan's secret library had corrupted his mind.

Clan culture did not hold life so dear as did Terran, he knew, but the killing of cadets with warrior potential merely to create an identity for him was not moral. Yet sometimes he even scoffed at himself. What did he care about morality? Murder like the one Roshak had committed might have been a mistake, an error of command judgment, but morality was not a factor in Clan actions.

Warriors were still filing into the chamber. It would be some time before the trial would begin, and Aidan was restless. He wanted to speak with Joanna, but they could drag him out of the room for so much as nodding to her. Silence was the order of the day, not only for the defendants and the witnesses, but for the warriors sitting in judgment. In council and in warfare, it was the Jade Falcon way to focus all attention on the matter at hand. During the actual session, a warrior could speak if he or she stood and was acknowledged by the Loremaster, who acted as director of the proceedings.

The only speech allowed at present was between the officers of the court, who were sitting at the long table across from Roshak. They maintained an incessant if undecipherable murmur. In the whole time since Roshak had entered the room, he had not looked at any of the officers of the court.

The Advocate for all three defendants finished off his conversation with the Inquisitor and with Khan Elias Crichell, who sat aloof and, truth to tell, apparently oblivious to events. The Advocate stood up and walked toward the table where Aidan and Joanna sat. His name was Beck Qwabe, which was about all Aidan knew about him. Almost Aidan's height, he was as tall as the Inquisitor was short, and had unusually gentle eyes for a Jade Falcon Clansman. Aidan had seen falcons with such eyes, and they generally proved to be poor hunters. He hoped that the comparison would not carry over to Beck Qwabe.

"The proceedings will begin soon," Qwabe said. "I am instructed to tell you that you may reduce participation in the trial by admitting guilt, invoking the rite of forgiveness, and taking your chance on whatever punishment the Khan chooses for you. Based on what I know about the two of you, I believe that you would reject such an offer, quineg?"

Both Aidan and Joanna ritually responded, "Neg."

Beck Qwabe gave them their last instructions on trial procedures. Aidan had received this same briefing so often since arriving on Ironhold that his mind wandered. As had Joanna's, his gaze traveled out toward the warriors looking down at the defendants. If the cruelty in many of those eyes was any indication, he and the others did not stand a chance.

Suddenly one pair of eyes caught his attention, not because of their malice or even their coldness, but because of their familiarity. They belonged to someone sitting far up in the tiers, so far away that the eyes were little more than dots. Yet Aidan knew from the eyes and the erectness of her posture that it was Marthe staring down at him. It could be no other.

And it was logical. With two victories in her Trial, one of them over Aidan, Marthe had entered the warrior ranks at the level of Star Commander. Enough time had passed for her to rise further and to have fought for a Bloodname, for another of the Pryde Bloodnames. Though this was the first time Aidan had chosen to compete for a Bloodname, he had known of two other times that a Pryde Bloodname had become available during his years as a warrior. Marthe must have fought for one of them and won it.