The Fulcairns arrive at Stormpoint. First, all the barons are required to swear allegiance to Darien Avan as soon-to-be Emperor. As Jeffrey Khorien (nephew of Harald and persona non grata) moves to kiss Avan's ring, Cathal senses an evil in the room and shouts to protect the emperor. The ceremony is derailed; the Fulcairns attempt to make amends, unsure of the effect this has had on their already uncertain reputation in the court.
Cathal gets thoroughly drunk with Dolan, and Reynhild escapes the palace to visit her colleague in the underworld, Leandra, bearing gifts of medicine and supplies for Leandra's band of urchins. Leandra imparts the information that Lord Duene is near death; Reynhild, who has been filled with despair as to her place in House Fulcairn, enjoys the brief respite of her company.
Mara meets the Khinasi mage Faisal for dinner; they discuss magic and Mara invites him to visit Wilder's Gorge for the tournament.
A great ball is held. Cathal dances with Vulpina Duene, Reynhild with Nirion Duene (who commissioned Brinden's murder), ostensibly to seduce him but trying to lure him into an eventual ambush. The Fulcairns discuss trade matters with Lord Bhaine, and philosophical matters with Lord Isilvere, and find possible allies in them. Jeffrey Khorien and Cathal forge a tentative understanding after the incident at the swearing of allegiance.
Harald Khorien, in a touching exchange with Mara, tells her she is no longer his apprentice, but a wizard in her own right.
The Fulcairns return to Wilder's Gorge. Mara presses them to investigate the magical nexus whose location she has uncovered in the northwestern woods. After much tense deliberation, they leave, bringing Brigid, the ranger whose patrol encompasses that area. In the forest one night, Reynhild is visited by a white stag; its presence is oddly reassuring to her. They find an ancient elven temple, altered by human activity, with a massive crystal at its center. The voice that has been haunting Mara's thoughts explains it is a scrying device of terrible power, and finally, he reveals himself-- he is Melehan Fulcairn, Mara's ancestor and the court mage of the Empire 750 years earlier. Mara is forced to make a difficult decision, and with Cathal's help, she destroys the scrying device, lest it fall into Rhuobhe's hands.
Mara again urges the Fulcairns to ride to the next nexus of power, this one in the extremely hostile northeastern woods on the border of Rhuobhe's lands. Yet another heated discussion happens, mainly concerning whether or not to involve Khorien and the empire, and how many men to bring on what is almost certainly a suicide mission. They amass a group of sturdy men-at-arms, Brigid, and the mysterious ranger Lwcan, whose patrol is that area. The group take the time to bid farewell to their loved ones, and Mara, pondering their uncertain future, seduces Dolan with little difficulty, the night before they leave.
The war party rides for the Aelvinnwode. Melehan's voice sounds in Mara's mind, telling her they are not seeking a structure, but an ensorcelled golden stag in which he has bound his magic. Brigid and Reynhild scout the increasingly forbidding forest, and find a strange sight-- there are crystals growing from the very trees, reminiscent of the magics of the ancient elven empires. They rendezvous with Lwcan deep in the northeastern forest. Reynhild is faced with a terrible choice-- as the group's most skilled hunter, she must choose between staying to defend the party from the inevitable elven attack, or leave them as bait for the attack and attempt to slip past and find the stag. Cathal speaks the house's motto-- "eyes ever on our prey"-- to her, and she reluctantly leaves after the stag.
Not long after, Rhuobhe's terrible warriors show themselves, and the battle is bloody and dire-- one of the elves' spells kills nearly the entire war party in one monstrous blow. Mara, Cathal, Brigid, Dolan, and Finn desperately fight the monstrous creatures, trying to buy Reynhild time, but they are sorely outmatched-- the elves have both spells and blades, and a strange ability to phase in and out of existence.
Reynhild, pursuing the stag, finds Lwcan in the woods. They leave after the stag, but a terrifying elven warrior appears and attacks them as well. Lwcan throws himself at it, and Reynhild, weaving in and out of shadows, manages, miraculously to slay it. But Lwcan has been dreadfully wounded, and he disappears shortly thereafter.
Mara, Cathal, Finn, Dolan, and Brigid are barely managing to keep the two bladesingers at bay. Brigid, terribly wounded from the fire spell, is slain by one of them. Mara is knocked unconscious. Cathal's god-touched fury is fierce, but he is barely saved by a mysterious apparition-- a spectral firehawk summoned from Mara's bracer. He rallies, and he, Finn and Dolan manage to finish off the elven warriors, at terrible cost.
Reynhild finds the stag, knowing that she must slay it swiftly or all their sacrifices were for naught. She kills it with two arrows... then its terrible power is released. The very earth is shaken as Melehan's magic violently clashes with Rhuobhe's. Reynhild sees a terrifying vision of Rhuobhe himself, promising a terrible reprisal. She desperately runs south.
Cathal and Mara witness a bizarre magical apparition-- the magic incarnating itself as Melehan. Mara frantically dispels the onslaught of magic, buying Reynhild just enough time to reach them. They and the three surviving men flee south, eventually reaching the homestead at the edge of the forest where they'd struck out from.
The survivors of House Fulcairn are grim, knowing the staggering cost of their victory. Cathal angrily tells Melehan that he better be worth it.
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