Three things are most perilous—the shape that walks behind,

The ice that will not hold you and the spy you cannot find.

From ambush bandits screaming charge the packtrain and its prize

And all but four within the train are taken by surprise

And all but four are cut down as a woodsman fells a log;

The guardsman and the lady and the maiden and the dog.

Three things hold a secret—lady riding in a dream,

The dog that sounds no warning, and the maid who does not scream.

Then off the lady pulls her cloak, in armor she is clad—

Her sword is out and ready, and her eyes are fierce and glad.

The maiden makes a gesture, and the dog’s a cur no more—

A wolf, sword-maid and sorceress now face the bandit corps.

Three things never anger, or you will not live for long,

A wolf with cubs, a man with power, and a woman’s sense of wrong.

The lady and her sister by a single trader lone

Were hired out to try to lay a trap all of their own

And no one knew their plan except the two who rode that day

For what you do not know you cannot ever give away!

Three things is it better, far, that only two should know—

Where treasure hides, who shares your bed, and how to catch your foe!

The bandits growl a challenge, and the lady only grins
The sorceress bows mockingly, and then the fight begins!

When it ends there are but four left standing from that horde—

The witch, the wolf, the traitor and the woman with the sword!

Three things never trust in; the maiden sworn as pure,

The vows a king has given, and the ambush that is “sure.”

They strip the traitor naked and then whip him on his way

Into the barren hillsides, like the folk he used to slay—

And what of all the maidens that this filth despoiled, then slew?

Why, as revenge, the sorceress makes him a woman too!

Three things trust above all else—the horse on which you ride,

The beast that guards your sleeping, and your sister at your side.

MERCEDES LACKEY

MERCEDES LACKEY

The Novels of Valdemar

DAW 25

NOVELS BY MERCEDES LACKEY

available from DAW Books:

THE NOVELS OF VALDEMAR:

THE HERALDS OFVALDEMAR
ARROWS OF THE QUEEN
ARROW’S FLIGHT
ARROW’S FALL

THE LAST HERALD-MAGE
MAGIC PAWN
MAGIC’S PROMISE
MAGIC’S PRICE

THE MAGE WINDS
WINDS OF FATE
WINDS OF CHANGE
WINDS OF FURY

THE MAGE STORMS
STORM WARNING
STORM RISING
STORM BREAKING

VOWS AND HONOR
THE OATHBOUND
OATHBREAKERS
OATHBLOOD

THE COLLEGIUM CHRONICLES
FOUNDATION

BY THE SWORD
BRIGHTLY BURNING
TAKE A THIEF
EXILE’S HONOR
EXILE’S VALOR

VALDEMAR ANTHOLOGIES:
SWORD OF ICE
SUN IN GLORY
CROSSROADS
MOVING TARGETS
CHANGING THE WORLD

Written with LARRY DIXON:

THE MAGE WARS
THE BLACK GRYPHON
THE WHITE GRYPHON
THE SILVER GRYPHON

DARIAN’S TALE
OWLFLIGHT
OWLSIGHT
OWLKNIGHT

OTHER NOVELS:

GWENHWYFAR

THE BLACK SWAN

THE DRAGON JOUSTERS
JOUST
ALTA
SANCTUARY
AERIE

THE ELEMENTAL MASTERS
THE SERPENT’S SHADOW
THE GATES OF SLEEP
PHOENIX AND ASHES
THE WIZARD OF LONDON
RESERVED FOR THE CAT

And don’t miss:

THE VALDEMAR COMPANION