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Mars. The Alphans had sent a ship there. They called it exploration. We knew they wanted to claim Mars for Alpha.”
    He smiled at the memory. “The Alphan expedition greeted us with talk of peace. They even seemed to think that we could share our findings. They looked surprised when we turned our weapons on them. Their commander showed some courage then. He challenged me to a duel. But it was no duel. He had no skill with the sword. It was like gutting a baby. We allowed his crew to return home with the message that the solar system belonged to Ghedda.”
    Raven shifted his weight in his chair, settling himself more comfortably. “Karn saw that I received my due promotion for my work,” he continued. “He also gave me command of the next inter-planetary mission to combat Alpha. He sent me to Earth.”
    He frowned. The Alphans had fought back on Earth, helping in the recapture of Karakhor and killing his second in command. It was not such a good memory and had been received as a failure on his return to Ghedda. “I became Karn’s sword champion.” He found a more positive note. “You saw me kill the Sword Lord Radd?”
    Maryam nodded. She had watched as he duelled with Doran’s champion. She had also watched when he had killed the Sword Lord Brack who had challenged his northern stronghold. She had watched as he duelled and then cut down the handsome young unit commander Uris who had betrayed them on their journey north. Through all their adventures on Ghedda, it seemed that Raven had simply moved from one sword duel to another. Each one she had watched with fear in her heart, wondering what would happen to her on this alien world if he were to be killed.
    She said softly, “You could stay on Earth. You have not been ordered to return to Dooma, only to secure Karakhor and deny Alpha. My father would welcome you as my husband.”
    Raven looked at her with surprise. “Why would I want to stay on Earth?”
    Her anger threatened to surge out. She drew back from him and breathed deeply to control herself. She loved this man and had followed him blindly but she knew that nothing could change his nature. He belonged to a military culture that could fly among the stars and had perfected terrible weapons of fire and destruction and yet still their highest value was a man’s skill with his sword. Love would always be far down in his list of priorities. Still she loved him. In his own way, he loved her too, for he had chosen her above all others.
    Suddenly and sadly she knew that she faced a dilemma.
    In the retreat from Karakhor, she had fled with him like a bewildered child. She had followed him on to his ship and from there she had been bound to him by fate and helplessness. On the harsh world of Ghedda, she had no choice but to mature rapidly from a wilful Hindu princess to a ferocious fighting woman. Until now there had been no real choices for her to make. She had stayed with Raven because she loved him and because there was no other way for her to survive. Now, when they returned to Karakhor, she would be mistress of her own destiny once more. No matter what happened in all the uncertainties of the wars that would be raging on both planets, she would be back on Earth.
    She loved Raven. But she did not want to go back to Ghedda. If Raven would not stay on Earth then she would have a painful decision to make.
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    That first day of the battle was a black one for Karakhor. The body of Kara-Rashna was carried home on his chariot with his sun-burst pennant lowered and his face covered by his shield. The news of his fall quickly spread throughout the city. His queens were distraught and the women of the city wailed and wept in the streets and squares and courtyards, filling the air with a vast outpouring of sobs and lamentations that could be heard even above the sounds of the continuing battle on the plains beyond the river. The heart-rending shrieks of grief