“It would be best to attack by night,” Thornclaw began. “There’ll be enough moonlight to see by, and they won’t be expecting trouble.”

“We’ll see they get it, though.” Spiderleg lashed his tail.

“We’ll head for the WindClan camp,” Thornclaw continued. “It’ll be best to split up: One raiding party can attack from this direction—”

“What?” The low growl came from just behind Lionblaze.

Startled, Lionblaze glanced over his shoulder to see Brambleclaw; he, along with all the other cats, had been so intent on what Thornclaw was planning that he hadn’t heard the Clan deputy approach.

“We’re going to raid WindClan,” Spiderleg explained, bunching his muscles as if he was planning to launch himself out of the camp right away. “One of them killed Ashfur, and—”

“There will be no raid on WindClan,” Brambleclaw interrupted, a glow of anger springing up in his amber eyes. “There is no evidence that a WindClan cat killed Ashfur.”

Lionblaze gazed at the cat he had always believed was his father. Does he know the truth? he wondered, remembering all the times that Brambleclaw had play wrestled with him and his littermates when they were kits, and how many times he had helped them or advised them as they grew older. Squirrelflight had told Ashfur that Brambleclaw didn’t know the truth, but Lionblaze had no reason to trust her now. If he does know, he’s a very good liar.

As good as Squirrelflight.

Brambleclaw didn’t wait for a response. He stalked off in the direction of the tumbled rocks that led up to the Highledge, only to halt after a couple of paces and glance back, twitching his ears to beckon Lionblaze to him.

“Are you okay?” The deputy’s voice was full of sympathy. “Ashfur was your mentor, after all.”

But we weren’t close. Lionblaze didn’t want to say the words aloud, but he had always known there was something wrong between himself and Ashfur; they had never known the true bond between a mentor and apprentice. Had Ashfur hated him the same way he had hated Squirrelflight? What a waste: Lionblaze wasn’t even Squirrelflight’s son.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled.

Brambleclaw rested his tail-tip on Lionblaze’s shoulder. “I can see you’re not,” he mewed. “Is there anything you want to tell me? You know you can always come and talk to me.”

For a couple of heartbeats Lionblaze froze. Does Brambleclaw suspect me of killing Ashfur?

“It’s hard to lose a cat you were close to,” Brambleclaw went on. “But I promised you before, his death will not go unavenged.”

He unsheathed his long, curved claws and sank them into the floor of the hollow. Lionblaze flinched, imagining those claws tearing into the throat of the guilty cat….

“If I find the cat who did this,” Brambleclaw growled softly, “they will regret taking the life of a warrior and my Clanmate.”

He turned away, padding toward the Highledge, but before he reached the foot of the rock fall, Firestar appeared from his den. He paused for a moment, looking down into the clearing; the pale sun of leaf-bare touched his pelt, turning it to flame. Then he bounded lightly down the stones to join Brambleclaw and Lionblaze. He nodded to the group of cats surrounding Thornclaw.