Prince Zetah had studied the stars for the entirety of his short life, all seven years of it. Everything came from the stars. The stars held the patterns of seasons, of time and destiny. It was from the stars that their gods had sent messengers in the time of his great-grandmother. It was the messengers who had demanded the child. They came again for his great-aunt, and again for his uncle. And someday they were going to come for him.