Though he was a powerful chieftain, she had sent him away, for his nature was evil, and while issues of good and evil seldom held any significance for the witch, there were limits even for her. He had come once before, seeking magic signs for strange rites. She knew the figure on the left, the broad, mute warrior with the shaved head and single long scalp lock. The old witch looked up, her dark eyes widening slightly at the sight of the three. Out of the evening’s darkness three figures entered the firelight. Winter’s ice still clung to shadow-protected pockets, ice that cracked loudly under the heels of heavy boots. The wind cut through the hills like a sharp-edged blade, as if spring were only a faintly remembered dream. From the east, indigo darkness approached rapidly. The last rays of warmth touched the earth and only the rosy afterglow of the day remained.

This attempt proves that the Nighthawks are not regular assassins, but pawns in the hands of a darker power as they refuse to remain dead! When, despite all their best efforts, Anita is struck down by a poisoned bolt, Arutha and his select companions find themselves in a race to find the titular Silverthorn, facing a horde of morodhel in the processs.This is a much better book than the first one (in my opinion, of course) though it does show Feist's gaming roots as his protagonists are forced up against various opponents out of the D&D game books Read more

Arutha has found that he's the target of assassins after being saved from an ambush by the boy thief Jimmy the Hand and with the forthcoming wedding to Anita, he tries very hard to clear Krondor of the Nighthawk menace with the aid of the Upright Man, the head of the hidden Thieves' Guild. The second book in Feist's Midkemia series, 'Silverthorn' focuses on Prince Arutha and his exploits as he rushes to save the life of his bride to be Anita.

Silverthorn feist