Crown of Destiny

CHAPTER THREE

LARA RETURNED TO the castle of the Dominus. Cadi was waiting for her.

“What do you want to take, mistress?” she asked.

Lara looked about her. “Just my personal possessions,” she said.

“The portrait of Magnus Hauk?” Cadi inquired.

Lara shook her head. “Nay. I have his face painted within a small oval. I shall give the large portrait in my day room to Dominus Cadarn. Find me some guardsmen to carry it to him.”

The serving woman sought out two strong young men-at-arms, bringing them to her mistress. “You will carry a large portrait of the Dominus Magnus Hauk to Dominus Cadarn,” she told them.

Lara pointed at the big painting upon the wall. She motioned her hand up, and the picture in its ornate, carved gold wood frame rose off the wall. She beckoned the image forward with a single finger until it hung in the air directly in front of her. Then, turning her hand over, she signaled the painting down. “There,” she said to the two openmouthed guards. “You may take it now to the Dominus with my compliments.”

“Well, don’t stand there slack-jawed,” Cadi said. “Do as you are bid.”

Almost bemused, the two men-at-arms picked up the portrait between them and removed it from Lara’s apartments.

“You might have just placed it on the wall you wanted instead of letting those two clods struggle through the castle with it,” Cadi said.

“You saw how those two young men reacted when I removed the picture from the wall. They have grown up believing there is no magic. Imagine if I had simply magicked the portrait onto another wall. It’s unlikely anyone would have noticed it. I wanted those two to see my magic. Now I will seek out my great-grandson and set the painting on a wall of his choice so he may be forced to acknowledge magic,” Lara told her servant.

Cadi laughed. “This generation of mortal Terahns has really rankled you, mistress, haven’t they?”

Lara smiled ruefully. “Their refusal to believe in magic is very irritating,” she admitted. “After Taj came of age and began to rule himself, I seemed to lose interest for a while in everything. I spent time with my mother, with Kaliq, at Zeroun, even back in The City for a brief time when Zagiri needed me. I became complacent, and when I did, Magnus’s family managed to bring Terah back into its past. They did not shun me for they were too afraid of me. They simply included me as little as possible, and my travels made it all the more easy for them.” She sighed. “I let the magic die here, and they are the worse for it. I cannot change what is past, but before I leave I shall give my great-grandson a good dose of magic so that even if he chooses to ignore magic in the future, he knows that it exists whether he acknowledges it or not.” She looked about her apartments. “Nay, there is nothing to take but that which I have instructed you. Magick it all to Shunnar, Cadi. Then follow it. I shall come after I have spoken with the Dominus.”

“Very good, mistress, but one thing before I go,” Cadi said. She gestured with her hand and suddenly Lara was clothed all in gold and silver. “Mortals believe that first impressions are important, but I believe the last impression is equally important. The Dominus has not rendered you the respect that you deserve, my lady. Today he will.” Lara walked across the chamber to the long glass mirror she possessed. She viewed her servant’s handiwork. The gown was a mixture of both silver and gold, hammered as fine as the best watered silk. The bodice was sleeveless and bejeweled with multicolored small stones in red, blue, green, yellow, lavender, pink and some that were clear. Its V neckline allowed for Lara’s gold chain with the crystal housing her guardian spirit, Ethne, to be well and fully displayed. Below her breasts a skirt of tiny, narrow pleats hung gracefully. A cape of pure gold was fastened to each of her shoulders by delicate gold epaulets studded with emeralds. It would trail behind her when she walked. Her long golden hair hung loose, held by a gold circlet with a large emerald directly in its center. Upon her feet were silver slippers.

Lara smiled, well pleased by what she saw. Her own image seemed to give her new strength. It had been many years since she had allowed herself to be the faerie woman she really was. She nodded her thanks to Cadi then said, “The mirror.” With a final look about these rooms in which she had spent so many years, Lara walked through the doors into the corridor. It was unlikely she would ever return here.

She closed her eyes briefly so she might see where the Dominus was. She smiled. He was in his Throne Room at this moment, surrounded by his small court, his wife, the Domina Paulina by his side. Lara decided as she walked toward the Throne Room to make a simple entry. “Announce me,” she said to the dignified, elderly majordomo at the door. “The Domina Lara.”

The majordomo walked silently forward. He pounded the silver-knobbed staff of his office upon the floor of the chamber. “The Domina Lara, widow of Dominus Magnus Hauk, daughter of a queen, enters this chamber now,” the majordomo said in stentorian tones. Then he murmured in a voice only she could hear, “I am the grandson of Ampyx, great lady. I remember what others choose not to recall.” With a small courtly bow he stepped aside so Lara might enter the great chamber.

His words almost brought her to tears. “Faerie blessings on you, grandson of Ampyx,” she murmured as she passed him by. Ampyx had been Taj’s personal secretary. The crowded throne room parted to let Lara pass through. Her cape shimmered as it moved behind her. She saw the stares and heard the whispers as she moved by these Terahn mortals. Finally reaching the foot of the throne, she bowed low to her great-grandson. “Greetings, Dominus Cadarn, son of Amhar, grandson of Taj, great-grandson of Magnus Hauk,” Lara said in her beautiful voice.

“Greetings, Great-grandmother,” he replied. He was uncomfortable addressing her in this manner, for she was so young and so beautiful that she appeared to be no more than in her late twenties. His great-grandmother should be ancient and bent. Nay! She should be long dead.

“I have come to congratulate you, my lord Cadarn,” she responded.

“Congratulate me?” Cadarn Hauk looked genuinely puzzled. “What have I done to deserve your praise, my lady?”

“Why your decision to send your younger brother, Cadoc, to Hetar as its new ambassador is brilliant, as is your determination to elevate your uncle, the lord prince Amren, to the new position of Lord High Trade Commissioner for Terah. Your cleverness has brought great status to Terah within Hetar, my lord. And so I hope you will accept my congratulations. I feel comfortable now at long last in my own decision to leave Terah.” She smiled up at him.

He was astounded. Looking out over his court, he saw that they were all frozen in place. “What have you done?” he asked her nervously.

“Given us an opportunity to speak privately. No one will hear us, and when we are through none of them will even realize this small interlude happened,” Lara told Cadarn Hauk quietly.

The Dominus sat down heavily upon his throne. “I told no one of my decision to send Cadoc to Hetar,” he said. “How could you know?”

“You have never believed in me, my powers or my world, Cadarn. But that does not mean we, it, do not exist. We do. You are right to replace Amren. He has lived in Hetar for most of his life and is more Hetarian than Terahn. He has reached an age where he would garner some wealth, for wealth is all-important in Hetar. Nonetheless he has served you faithfully and honestly. That is why you will give him this new position. He maintains his status in Hetar, brings more stature to Terah and can do no harm as a trade emissary.”

“And he can collect his bribes,” Cadarn said with a small smile. Then the smile was gone. “I do not like being told what to do, my lady. I do not like a mere female making my decisions for me. But you are damnably clever. You have gained your own way while making it all appear as if I have done this. Very well, I agree.”

“Thank you,” Lara said softly.

“You say you are leaving Terah? Why? And where will you go?” the Dominus Cadarn asked her. “I know that you and I have no close relationship, but you are my blood. For the sake of Magnus Hauk I need to know you are safe and cared for, my lady.” Turquoise-blue eyes, so like her late husband’s, looked directly at her.

“I am going to Shunnar, the palace of the Shadow Prince Kaliq. I should have departed Terah years ago, but I could not seem to make myself go despite all the changes that I despised happening about me. Kaliq is my life mate, and I have always had a home at Shunnar. I will be more than safe in my own magical world, Cadarn. But I am touched that you would consider my welfare.”

“I have heard you speak of this Shadow Prince before, my lady, but Shadow Princes are but legend. They do not exist now, indeed if they ever did,” Cadarn said.

Lara shook her head in amazement. “Cadarn, look about you. Your court stands frozen. I have stopped time. You stand in the presence of magic, and yet you do not believe. Do your eyes not see, my most mortal descendant? How do you explain to yourself the great-grandmother who looks like a young woman? How do you justify any of this? Do you think you dream, Dominus of Terah?”

He had the grace to look briefly confused, but then he said, “I do not have to account for any of this, my lady. Perhaps I do dream. And if you truly mean to go, it will make it easier, for then there shall be no one whispering about your unseemly appearance, or the superstitious murmuring about something that is not like magic. No one here really knows you. The wife of Magnus Hauk is more legend than truth.”

Lara shook her head. “You are a fool, Cadarn. Your great-grandfather was unique in that his mind was more open than any Terahn before him, and since him. While Magnus Hauk ruled, Terah existed in a golden age. But those who could not, would not, tolerate change have destroyed all he and I worked for, Cadarn. There is nothing left of our world, and I weep. Once Terah was a shining light. Now you have allowed Hetar to bring world-weariness and corruption into it. You believe in nothing. I pity you.”

“Lady,” he said, “I think you are ill. Return to your apartments, and I will send the physician to care for you.”

Lara laughed. “Nay.” She turned toward the court, and with a small motion of her hand, restored all as it had been. “Lords and ladies of Terah,” she said to them, and curious, they looked at her. The men admired her beauty. The women her rich garb. “Your Dominus does not believe the witness of his own eyes. He claims there is no magic in your world, that there are no Shadow Princes. He is wrong. Now behold the truth! Prince Kaliq, heed my call, and come to me from out yon wall!”

The great Shadow Prince stepped forth from the chamber’s wall and walked to where Lara stood. “Is it time, my love?” he asked her.

It is time. Let me depart first, and then you will make your exit. These fools will not believe in magic, and so I would leave them with something their own eyes cannot deny, my lord.

The men and women in the chamber were buzzing with astonishment. They stared at the tall dark-haired man with the bright blue eyes who was so richly, yet simply garbed. They had all seen him step from the wall. How had that happened? Was it some Hetarian conjurer’s trick?

Lara turned again to look at her great-grandson. “I will leave you now, my lord Dominus,” she told him. “I will not desert Terah, but you may not see me again, Cadarn Hauk. Explain away the magic you have viewed today. But it does exist.” She looked to Cadarn’s wife. “Faerie blessings upon you, Domina Paulina,” Lara said in a gentle and kind voice. “Now farewell!” There was a clap of thunder. A thick puff of lavender smoke rose about her. When it cleared, Lara was gone from the castle’s Throne Room.

The Terahns gasped aloud collectively, looking about for her.

“Farewell, Dominus,” Kaliq said. Then with a dramatic swirl of his cloak, he, too, was gone.

Cadarn Hauk called out to the servants in the chamber, “Open the windows at once! We have been poisoned by some bad air, and seen that which does not exist.” He turned to his wife. “Are you all right, Paulina?” he inquired solicitously.

The Domina nodded silently. Her husband might deny what they had just seen, but she could not. Being a proper Terahn wife, she kept her thoughts to herself.

* * *

WATCHING WITH KALIQ from the ether, Lara heard the Domina’s thoughts and smiled to herself. Then they reappeared in Shunnar together.

“Welcome home, my love,” he said to her as he gathered her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. “My brothers have planned a banquet tonight to welcome you.”

“Will it be like the first banquet I attended here,” she teased him mischievously.

“If it would please you, aye,” he said.

“I am world-weary, Kaliq. I need to regain that level of trust I once had,” Lara told him. “Mortals are most tiresome, and yet I still have hope for them.”

“You are younger than I, my love, but it is good you can still have faith,” he said. “I promise not to be jealous tonight as long as you end the evening in my arms.”

“I swear it!” Lara told him. “Now I must go and rest, Kaliq.” She left him, walking across the enclosed garden that separated his apartments from hers. The day was warm, and the fragrance of flowers perfumed the air. Cadi was awaiting her.

“You look tired,” the serving woman said.

“I am. I shall rest in the heat of the afternoon, then bathe. The Shadow Princes have planned a banquet tonight to welcome me back. We shall all take pleasures after the meal. Come and join in with us. They are incredible lovers.”

“I will,” Cadi said. “I have never had a Shadow Prince for a lover. If their reputations are truth then it should be a most enjoyable time, mistress. I have put some iced berry frine by your bedside. What will you wear this evening?”

“Just a simple white silk gown,” Lara said. She poured some frine into the cup next to the decanter and sipped at it. Shedding away her elegant garments and setting the cup aside, she lay down upon her bed, and immediately fell asleep. Awakening several hours later, Lara saw through the open colonnade that evening was falling. Stretching lazily, she called to Cadi, and her faerie serving woman was immediately by her side.

“The bath attendants are awaiting you, mistress,” Cadi told her.

Lara stood up. She was entirely naked, but neither she nor Cadi were embarrassed by her unclothed state. “I have not slept so well since I was last in Shunnar,” she remarked with a smile. “It is the deep silence I think.” Then Lara walked to her private bathing room, greeting the familiar bath attendants. “It is good to be home,” she said.

And to her own surprise she realized that Shunnar was indeed home to her.

The head bath woman came smiling forward. “It is about time you came home, my lady Lara,” she scolded gently. “It is past time, for that matter.” She pinned Lara’s hair atop her head. Then leading her to a shell-like indentation in the marble floor, she picked up her soapy sponge and began to scrub. When Lara was thoroughly soaped she took up her strigil, which was a thin scraper, and scraped the soap and dirt away. “Did they not bathe you properly in Terah?” the head bath woman asked.

“There are no baths in Terah or Hetar like here in Shunnar,” Lara said.

“How they can call themselves civilized I don’t know,” was the pithy reply as the head bath woman turned a gold faucet and sprayed her charge with warm water. Then she soaped Lara once more and plied her scraper again. This time however she seemed satisfied with her results and hummed beneath her breath as the rinse water sluiced down the beautiful woman’s body. Then she led Lara to a warm scented bathing pool to relax.

Lara leaned back against the marble sides of the pool and closed her eyes. From long habit she lifted a hand from the water so that another bath woman might manicure her nails. When the first hand was done she lifted the second to be attended to, sighing with contentment. About her the warm scented water lapped at her breasts and shoulders. Rose petals floated on the slightly oily surface.

A serving woman came with a basin and unbound and gently washed and rinsed her hair as she luxuriated within the pool. When she finally stepped out of the water, she was patted dry with a slightly moistened cloth, then wrapped in a warm towel and led to a chair, where the nails on her feet were carefully pared as her hair was dried with a silken cloth and brushed. Then she was taken to a padded table where her body was massaged with sweet oils. Lara sighed contentedly as the strong fingers worked the flesh of her shoulders, her legs, her breasts and her belly. Lastly the massage woman attended to her mound, her nether lips and her sheath.

“You will be tight for each of your lovers this evening, my lady,” she said, her fingers covered with a special cream as she pushed into Lara’s sheath, massaging it. “You will give each who mounts you great pleasure. Prince Kaliq asked me to especially attend to you for this very reason.”

Lara smiled to herself. Aye, tonight she would regain her trust, her equilibrium, her balance by joining with the Shadow Princes at the end of their banquet as she once had as a very young girl. The experience had left her strong. She wondered what the same intimacy would do tonight. Lara found she was eagerly looking forward to it. That Kaliq wanted her to relive this moment made her love him even more. He understood her as no other did. And he would sublimate his own jealousy to help her regain what she had lost by remaining too long in Terah. He was a truly incredible man.

She thanked the massage woman and, rising from the table, returned to her bedchamber where Cadi was waiting to help her dress. The gown she held out was just what Lara had wanted. White, gossamer sheer, with an iridescent sheen it seemed to float over her head, the delicate silk caressing her as it fell to her ankles. It was sleeveless, the bodice fitted to display her beautiful round breasts, its neckline draped gracefully to expose her collarbone. The skirt was neither fitted nor full, falling in an elegant line. She wore no jewelry but her gold chain with its crystal star, and a narrow circlet of gold with a single emerald in its center restrained her gilt-colored hair.

Lara waved away the gold bejeweled sandals Cadi held out to her. “Nay, I do not need them,” she said. “We are ready.”

“Thank you for inviting me,” Cadi said. The pretty faerie was naked but for a dainty chain of gold that was fastened about her waist, and settled upon her full hips. She had painted the nipples of her breasts with Umbra dye, and tonight she allowed her small, delicate iridescent wings to display themselves. The wings had been a gift from Queen Ilona, for not all faeries were allowed to possess wings.

The two women walked across the garden to the main corridor, which was a colonnaded walkway. Lara could not resist looking over the baluster into the green valley below, where the herds of horses belonging to the Shadow Princes ran free. They were as magnificent as ever, and she immediately picked out Dasras surrounded by a group of admiring young mares. Cadi saw him too, and when their eyes met the two giggled.

Kaliq came to greet his beautiful life mate and her companion. “How lovely you both look,” he said, taking Lara’s hand in his, his bright blue eyes devouring her. “My brothers will be honored by your company this evening.” He smiled at Cadi. “I am pleased you have consented to join us.” His brothers would enjoy sharing pleasures with the lovely faerie, but he would not lay a hand upon her for she was Lara’s companion.

“Thank you, my lord,” Cadi replied, and then as they entered the great banquet hall she was surrounded by several Shadow Princes eager to have her for a supper companion. She would not lack for lovers this evening.

The banquet hall of Kaliq’s palace was filled tonight with his handsome brothers. Some of the Shadow Princes had beautiful companions sharing their broad dining couches with them and Lara recognized many of them. There was her sword master, Lothair. He nodded to her, and from the twinkle in his blue eyes she knew he would take pleasures with her later. She saw Princes Eskil, Nasim, Coilen and Baram among others. She acknowledged them with a polite tip of her head as Kaliq led her to the dais where they would preside over their guests.

As soon as they were seated, all the Shadow Princes arose, saying with a single, strong voice, “Welcome home, Lara! May you dwell among us forever!”

Lara stood as they returned to their seats. “I thank you, my lords,” she replied. And then with a wave of her hand caused a shower of fragrant rose petals and small pearls to fall upon the banqueting chamber. The female companions of the princes squealed with excitement, reaching for the jewels, and not a one touched the floor. Lara sat down and picked up her goblet, sipping delicately from it.

“That was nicely done,” Kaliq said, dropping a kiss on her shoulder.

She turned and kissed his mouth, a sweet, slow kiss. “I am happier tonight than I have been in years, my lord. I did not realize how miserable I had been until I woke up a little while ago, and realized I was here, not in the castle of the Dominus. That this was my home. At this moment I never want to see Hetar or Terah again, but I know that is unrealistic, Kaliq. Still, for now I am content to remain here in Shunnar undisturbed.”

The Shadow Prince caressed her face tenderly. “Aye, this is your home, my love, but we both know that your destiny is not to remain forever. Understand this, however, that I will be with you now wherever you go, Lara, my beautiful life mate. We will not be separated again.”

She caught the hand touching her face, and kissed it. “Would you prefer I withheld myself tonight, my lord?” Lara asked him, her faerie green eyes searching his handsome face for the truth. She loved him, and would do what pleased him this one time. She smiled a soft smile at him.

“Aye, I would prefer it, but you cannot. You need the magic my brothers can give you through their passion. But most important you must not sublimate your faerie nature, especially now for soon you will need it,” Kaliq said.

She wondered what he meant, but before she might question him the servants appeared bearing cold raw oysters, which both the men and the women consumed in great quantity. They were followed by poached fish, and shellfish brought each day from the seaside of the Coastal Kings via magical transport. Next, platters of roasted meats and poultry were brought along with large round plates containing heaps of slender green stalks of asparagus, bowls of red, green and purple lettuces, fresh bread and several different cheeses.

Everyone ate with excellent appetites. There was much laughter and witty conversation. When the main meal had been cleared away, the servants brought baskets containing green and purple grapes, slices of sweet gold, green and orange melons, plump apricots, dishes of red and black berries along with platters of honey cakes. The cups were now filled with a dark, sweet, potent wine.

As the couples fed each other the delectable sweets, lithe dancing girls in diaphanous silks ran into the banquet hall. The musicians seated in a corner of the hall began to play upon their drums, pipes, reeds and cymbals. There was an open space before the dais where Kaliq and Lara sat. It was surrounded by the other dining couches and small low tables. The dancers performed before them in that space for all to see. When they were gone the passion would begin. Looking about her, Lara could see that most of the guests were now naked or in a state of near undress.

Cadi reclined upon a couch in the arms of a Shadow Prince who was now caressing her large breasts. Other Shadow Princes sat on the floor about the couch. One was already stroking Cadi’s slender leg, his fingers inching closer and closer to her plump mons. Another was sucking upon her fingers, and the faerie’s eyes were closed as she began to allow herself to experience pleasures with her lovers.

Lara smiled up at Kaliq. “I think Cadi will please those who seek to please her,” she said. Then she gave a small shrug, and her garment disappeared. Reaching out, she touched his chest with a single finger, and the Shadow Prince’s clothing was gone. “You first, and you last,” she told him softly as Prince Lothair joined them, leaning forward to kiss her lips.

“You are the most beautiful faerie woman I have ever known,” he said to her. “I envy my brother Kaliq, but then he loves you. I merely lust after you each time I see you.” He smiled a most engaging smile at her.

Lara laughed. “As candid as ever, Lothair,” she replied. “Be patient, and we shall take pleasures together, but I am in no great hurry, my lord. The evening is just beginning. We have much time ahead of us, do we not?” She smiled back at him.

“Ahh, cruel faerie, you are of a mind to tease me then,” he said.

“Is not pleasure denied all the more sweeter for the wait?” Lara asked.

Lothair laughed. “You have learned well,” he said. “Very well, then I shall go and taste a bit of that lovely morsel you brought for us this evening.” He arose and joined those Shadow Princes surrounding Cadi.

Lara and Kaliq watched, amused, as the younger princes gave way to the sword master. He slid himself in next to Cadi upon the couch, gathered her into his embrace and kissed her a long, deep kiss. Cadi’s arms came up to slip around Lothair’s neck. She instinctively recognized a great lover, and had secretly had her eye upon him ever since they had entered the banquet hall.

“Why the little faerie vixen,” Kaliq chuckled, picking up on Cadi’s thoughts.

“Do not!” Lara scolded him. “Let them enjoy each other, and allow Lothair to think it is he who conquers her.”

He ran a finger down her slender arm. “Do I conquer you, my love?” he asked.

“From the first moment you kissed me, Kaliq,” Lara answered him honestly. “Mayhap even before. How I hated it when you sent me from Shunnar. But in hindsight I understand. There is so much more than just you and me.”

“Aye, there is, but now is not the time to discuss it,” Kaliq told her.

“When?” she queried him.

“In the days to come when you are rested, and your strength has returned,” he promised her. “Now, however, I want to kiss you.” And his dark head dipped to find her eager mouth. The touch of her petal-soft lips on his caused his head to spin with delight. They had been lovers on and off for well over a century, and yet he had never grown bored with his faerie woman. Each time was like the first time he had kissed her as they stood in the wide marble corridor of his palace, and she had told him of herself, and of Og, the giant who accompanied her. He had fallen in love with her at that moment. And he had never stopped loving her. Now he must divert his jealousy in order that she receive the diverse passions she needed from his brothers. His kiss deepened.

She felt him blocking his thoughts from her. At any other time it would have disturbed Lara, but she suspected she knew why he did it. He was one of the most powerful beings in the Cosmos, and yet he was capable of feeling invidiousness. Unlike mortals, however, the great Shadow Prince could put such emotions aside, and not act on his feelings. Make love to me, Kaliq, she said in the silent language.

Did you not tell Lothair that passion denied was sweeter? he teased her.

For Lothair perhaps, my love, but not for you and me, Lara replied. Is it possible for either of us ever to get enough of the other?

“No,” he murmured in her ear, and licked it. Then he forged a trail of kisses down her jaw, her neck and across her shoulder.

Lara drew his head to her breasts.

He groaned as he buried his face between the round twin orbs. He licked at her nipples one by one. Then Kaliq suckled upon them while a single finger ran up and down her slit until she was squirming. The touch of her hand communicated her needs to him.

Tell me your desires, my beautiful faerie lover, Kaliq said to her.

I need your tongue to love me, Lara told him.

The warm fleshy organ began to lick her belly with long, slow strokes. She sighed. He moved lower and lower until his tongue replaced the finger that had been teasing at her slit. He moved himself between her open legs, and opened her to his view. The dainty nub of flesh called her jewel was simply perfect. He was almost mesmerized as he stared at it so neatly placed between the deep pink walls of flesh now becoming wet and shiny with her need.

And then Lara felt another Shadow Prince straddling the couch behind her, and reaching around to cup her breasts in his hands. Leaning her head back, she saw Prince Nasim’s smiling face, and she smiled back. His hands skillfully played with her nipples, sending shivers of pure lust through her. Kaliq’s mouth was on her jewel, licking gently at first, then sucking and sucking on her until between the two men her desire was beginning to blaze high.

Kaliq pulled himself up, his lover’s rod visible to her half-closed eyes. He was hard, and the lust on his face was potent. Two other princes were suddenly there, each taking one of her legs to draw them back over her shoulders so Kaliq might delve deeply. Memories of the first time they had shared pleasures at a banquet assailed her as he drove himself deep into her sheath.

“Oh yes!” Lara breathed aloud. “Yes!” she encouraged him.

He rode her long, and hard, and when he had filled her with his juices, Kaliq withdrew, seating himself on the carpet next to the head of the couch. Lothair quickly took his place, filling Lara full of himself, groaning as the muscles within her sheath tightened about him, drawing his juices from him as they both screamed with their satisfaction at the encounter.

I want more! Lara said as, kissing her, he reluctantly arose.

Lothair laughed. And we shall give you all you desire this night, Lara. Let me but rest and I will return to give you more of myself.

She was awash in the most exquisite sensations. There was not a part of her that was not indulged by the passions of the Shadow Princes. They sucked on her fingers, her toes, her nipples and her throbbing jewel. They tenderly filled every open orifice on her body taking her singly, two at a time, and at one point she accepted three manhoods at once. And all three of the Princes released their juices in a single moment, causing Lara to swoon.

The rest of the evening was as these evenings always were, a dream of intense pleasures and sweet tenderness that left Lara gasping with her delight. The Shadow Princes generously gave her their passions, and those passions renewed her spirit, making her stronger than she had been in decades. Finally Kaliq was in her arms again, and it was just the two of them upon the wide dining couch. She caressed his face and kissed him gently. I love you, she told him simply as he entered her body joining them once again. Only you, my lord Kaliq. Only you! She saw the tears he quickly forced back just briefly fill his bright blue eyes. Only you, she repeated, and then let him sweep her away.

When the sun rose in the morning, the naked couples awoke slowly, pair by pair, and then arose to go off to their own private places. Lara and Kaliq sought the baths, and then he joined her in her bed to sleep. There was no sign of Cadi until they awoke in the early afternoon, and she came to say a meal was set up in the gardens for them.

“Did you enjoy the banquet?” Kaliq asked the faerie as he stepped naked from the bed. He donned the white cotton caftan with the deep blue embroidery that she handed him. “We do not have such affairs often, but your mistress needed to regain certain powers that only my brothers and I can give her.”

“It was wonderful, my lord! I thank you for allowing me to come. Queen Ilona has spoken many times of your banquets. I never thought to experience one,” Cadi said.

“I think you have intrigued my brother Lothair,” Kaliq said mischievously.

“The sword master? I cannot deny he wields his personal weapon well,” Cadi replied pithily. “I hope we will meet again.”

Kaliq laughed. “I suspect your wish will be granted, Cadi,” he told her. Then, turning back to the bed, he caught Lara’s shoulder shaking her gently. “Wake up, sleepyhead. It’s time to eat. Even a faerie woman needs more than one strength.”

Lara rolled over, looking up at him. “Feed me then,” she responded.

“If I do you will never get up, and we need to talk, Lara, my love,” he told her.

The green eyes grew wary. “Today?” she said.

He nodded.

“Do I not get a few days of respite, my lord?” Lara demanded to know.

“After we talk,” he promised.

With a sigh Lara arose, taking the white cotton caftan with the blue embroidery from Cadi, donning it and then sitting down upon a small bench so Cadi could brush out her long tangled hair. When Cadi had braided the golden hair into a single plait, Lara joined her prince in the garden where a meal of roasted capon, saffron rice, mixed lettuces, yogurt, fruit, bread and cheese was awaiting them. Cadi filled their carved silver cups with sweet apricot-flavored frine and then disappeared from their sight.

“Eat first,” Kaliq said to Lara. He took up the capon and tore it in half, taking one of the two large pieces for himself and slicing from the other what he knew Lara enjoyed. Lara filled their plates with the rest of the foods, and they ate quietly at first. Finally she could not wait any longer to learn what he had to say to her. Sensing it, he said, “Your son and his evil have begun to stir once again, my love.”

Lara sighed. “Has Kolgrim rebuilt his armies then? Is he planning to reach for Hetar and Terah once again?”

“Rebuilding an army proved an impossible task,” Kaliq said.

“Why? Certainly there are enough dark creatures in our world eager enough to profit from Kolgrim’s greed for power and lands that they would pledge themselves to him,” Lara replied. “Of course there is always the possibility of being killed in one of those little ventures the Twilight Lords so enjoy.”

“The Dark Lands cannot provide Kolgrim with the armies he needs to overcome Hetar and Terah. They do not have enough women to breed soldiers upon. But when those two lands he covets combine their forces with the magic world, he has no chance at all of succeeding. Still there have been whispers of a more disturbing nature that indicate Kolgrim is planning something nefarious, Lara.”

“Can he not raise up warriors full grown to battle us?” she wanted to know.

“He has tried over the last century to do just that. But he has failed, and now he considers something different. But what we do not know. That is why it was so important for you to leave Terah and return to Shunnar. Whatever it is Kolgrim seeks to do will be dangerous, for although Alfrigg has kept him in check until now, the old dwarf is probably nearing his end. Without him Kolgrim’s reckless nature will erupt, I fear,” Kaliq told Lara.

“Has Alfrigg not trained a replacement for himself? He very much wanted to escape the burdens he carried for Kol these last few centuries. I pushed back the years from his aged body so he might guide Kolgrim long enough to find a successor and teach him what he needed to know. It was my reward to him for his aid,” Lara said, concerned.

“Kolgrim will not let him go, nor will he even hear of someone taking Alfrigg’s place as his chancellor,” Kaliq replied. “Prince Coilen has been visiting the Dark Lands, watching and listening. If Alfrigg dies we will have serious difficulties with Kolgrim.”

“Perhaps if I pay this dark son of mine a visit I can learn what he is thinking,” Lara said slowly. “He is untrustworthy, of course, but he has always liked me.”

Kaliq chuckled. “I know,” he said. “He is quite fascinated by you, which fascinates me. Until a century ago he did not even know who you were, but from the first moment he laid eyes upon you he felt a bond with you.”

Lara sniffed derisively. “He seeks to beat me at the game we of the magic world seem to play with each other and the mortals. If he ever had a triumph over me, he would no longer be interested in me, Kaliq. He is amusing, and clever, but his heart, if indeed he has a heart, is icy cold. He is like his father. He is filled with greed for everything, and with lust for everything. But if you sense that he is about to reach out again, we must learn to what purpose,” Lara remarked. “I must go into the darkness to learn what I can.”

Kaliq knew better than to forbid her, so he said, “If you go then I go with you.”

“Are you that fearful for my safety, my lord?” He surprised her.

“If Kolgrim is attempting some mischief, my love, then having you in his power would give him an advantage and but speed his wickedness,” Kaliq said. “And he is capable of holding you captive, Lara. He will never harm you for you gave him life, and he holds fast to the family law of the Twilight Lords, which forbids the shedding of familial blood. But keeping a golden bird in a golden cage does it no harm. Remember how he tricked his twin brother, Kolbein, imprisoning him with Kol.”

“I can’t forget it,” Lara admitted. “I am ashamed to admit that I thought it extremely clever of him.”

Kaliq laughed. “It was,” he said. “But it is evidence of how dangerous Kolgrim really is. If we cannot stop him, he will envelop the world of Hetar in a deep and terrible darkness from which they may never escape.”

“Then we have to stop him, Kaliq,” Lara said. “However we must first learn what wickedness he plans before we may take measures to prevent it.”

“Let us first see what Coilen can learn,” Kaliq suggested.

“Very well,” Lara agreed. “But if he can learn no more than he already has, I must go into the Dark Lands myself to see what I can see.”

They decided they would give the Shadow Prince known as Coilen a moonspan in which to ferret out any information that he could. But when the month had passed Coilen came to tell Kaliq and Lara that he could learn nothing. Whatever Kolgrim was planning he kept it to himself. Possibly the old chancellor, Alfrigg, knew, but he was not a man to gossip.

“There is nothing of any interest to report,” Coilen said, “unless you are interested in hearing that it is said Kolgrim may take a mate. But that rumor comes up now and again. It means naught.”

A chill ran down Lara’s spine. “No!” she said sharply. “How long has it been since that rumor was last heard and bandied about?”

Prince Coilen thought for several long moments. “I don’t think I have heard it,” he said slowly, “in decades. It was spoken in the mating season after he disposed of Ciarda, and possibly a season or two afterward. But nay! I have not heard it in decades, Lara. Can it mean something?”

“Possibly,” Lara answered him. “Has anyone new, anyone dark, been brought to the Twilight Lord’s House of Women lately?”

Coilen shook his head. “Actually he has but few women. Many Darklanders hid their daughters after what happened in the wake of Ciarda’s death.”

“What exactly did happen?” Lara wanted to know.

“Kolgrim had his daughters, their mothers and any of his many women who might be with child, or were known to be with child, murdered. Then he put a spell on the remaining women closing their wombs to his seed and keeping them young. He slakes his lust with those few, but there have been no more children. It is reported he said he wanted no siblings challenging his son’s right to inheritance one day.”

Lara smiled grimly. “Ciarda’s legacy,” she said. “Had his half sister not attempted to usurp her brothers’ place this would not have happened at all. Kolgrim is truly Kol’s rightful heir that he could have been so heartless as to slaughter all those innocents to protect a son not even conceived by a bride not even known.”

“That is the past,” Kaliq said. “We must consider the present and the future.”

“We will need to know if Kolgrim is truly planning a marriage for himself. Has the Book of Rule directed him to find a bride? Or has it told him the bride to seek? These are the questions we must answer before we can proceed, or even decide how to proceed,” Lara told him. She felt stronger today. Stronger than she had felt in years. The Shadow Princes, in generously sharing their passions, had passed on to her a measure of their power. They did not, Lara knew, do this lightly. “I thought once,” she said to Kaliq, “that my destiny was to unite Hetar’s civilizations. Now I know it is to save them. But am I strong enough?”

“Only time will tell us that, my love,” the Shadow Prince answered her.