The Warlord of Valkyr looked at his Empress in perplexity. There were times when women were hard to fathom. "Forget it, I say!" the girl cried, her eyes suddenly flaming. "If Your Majesty wishes, I'll not speak of it again," said Kieron stiffly. Alys took a step toward him. "There was a time when you looked at me as a woman. When you _thought_ of me as a woman! Am I so different now?" Kieron studied her slim body and sensuously patrician face. "There was a time when I thought of you as a child, too. Those times pass. You are now my Empress. I am your vassal. Command me. I'll fight for you. Die for you, if need be. Anything. But by the Seven Hells, Alys, don't torture me with favors I can't claim!" "So I must command, then?" She stamped her foot angrily. "Very well, I command you, Valkyr!" "Lady, I'll never be a Consort!" The girl's face flushed. "Did I ask it? I know I can't make a lapdog out of you, Kieron." "Stop it, Alys," Kieron muttered heavily. "Kieron," she said softly, "I've loved you since I was a child. I love you now. Does that mean nothing to you?" "Everything, Alys." "Then for the space of this voyage, Kieron, forget the Empire. Forget everything except that I love you. Take what I offer you. There is no Empress here...." * * * * * The silver fleet speared down into the atmosphere of the mother planet. Earth lay beneath them like a globe of azure. The spaceships fanned out into a wedge as they split the thin cold air high above the sprawling megalopolis of the Imperial City. The capital lay ringed about with the somnolent shapes of the star-kings' great armada. Somewhere down there, Kieron knew, Freka waited. Freka the Unknown. The unkillable? Kieron wondered. For weapons he had his sword and a little knowledge. He prayed it would be enough. It had to be. Five thousand warriors could not defeat the assembled might of the star-kings. Shunning the spaceport, Kieron led his fleet to a landing on the grassy esplanade that surrounded the city. As the hurried debarkation of men and horses began, Kieron could see a cavalry force massing before the gates to oppose them. He cursed and urged his men to greater speed. Horses reared and neighed; weapons glinted in the late afternoon sunlight. Within the hour the debarkation was complete, and Kieron sat armed and mounted before the serried ranks of his warriors. The afternoon was filled with the flash of steel and the blazing glory of gonfalons as he ordered his ranks for battle ... a battle that he hoped with all his heart to avoid. Across the plain, the Valkyr could make out the pennon of Doorn in the first rank of the advancing defenders. Kieron ordered Nevitta to stay by the Empress in the rear ranks and to escort her forward with all ceremony if he called for her.