him a son, Erlend. Bard arrives at his father's home. The following day, Geremy Hastur's envoy arrives to request a truce so their armies may join together to repel an attack from Serrais. The truce is accepted. Bard marches his small army towards Castle Asturias, only to discover that the army of Serrais stands in his way. In battle, Serrais is defeated. Bard meets with Geremy and demands to know Carlina's whereabouts, indicating that he continues to view her as his wife. He fails to retrieve her from the Island of Silence, where she has joined the priestesses of Avarra. At the wedding of Geremy Hastur and Ginevra Harryl, Bard learns that many of the Towers are now sworn to neutrality, following the example of Varzil Ridenow, Keeper of Neskaya. Varzil arrives to return Alaric di Asturien, Bard's brother, to Castle Asturias. Varzil asks Rafael di Asturien to sign on to The Compact, which forbids the use of laran weapons. Varzil also hints that the era of hundreds of autonomous kingdoms must come to an end if Darkover wants peace. In the end, Rafael di Asturien and Bard clearly oppose it. Book Three: The Dark Twin Rafael di Asturien uses his own laran training to teleport Bard's duplicate, the Terran Paul Harrell, to Darkover. Bard explains the basics of Darkover to Harrell, now called Paolo Harryl. He is passed off at court as a nedestro relation. Bard gives Melisendra to Paul, which backfires when they fall in love. Bard discovers that Paul is immune to laran-based illusions and decides to use him to retrieve Carlina from the Island of Silence. Paul succeeds in kidnapping her, and returns her to Bard. Bard rapes her, justifying his actions with the claim that they are married (which they aren't). Carlina uses her laran to overwhelm Bard with the empathy he lacks, making him feel the humiliation and fear of all of the women he has used. Emotionally wrecked, he asks Paul to take over as Lord General. Bard rides to Neskaya Tower, seeking assistance from Melora MacAran. He admits that he is better knowing the truth about himself and about what he has done to those around him. Varzil the Good, Keeper of Neskaya, explains that several other Towers have joined The Compact, since the recent destruction of Hali. He explains that Bard is a pivot around which history flows, and that Bard's