Crown of Destiny (21 page)

Then came Lady Laureen bearing in her hand a large-footed gold cup, its base studded with rubies. Standing by the bed, she offered it first to Palben, and when he had drunk his fill Lady Laureen presented the goblet to Divsha, who also drank deeply. "May your union be fruitful," the First Lady of Hetar said in a neutral voice. Then turning, she left the bridal chamber, followed by the rest of the guests. Her mouth tightened as the door closed and Divsha's voice was heard saying, "Oh, my lord, you are so virile!"

Kolgrim watched, amused, as he accompanied Nyura. His eyes met those of Lady Laureen, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. Finding Grugyn Ahasferus in the crowd of courtiers, he brought Nyura to him. "I am returning your granddaughter to you, my lord, lest I be tempted before our wedding night," he told the magnate. Then he kissed Nyura's lips gently. "I shall not see you until our wedding ceremony, my love," he said. "Dream of me until that day." Then he left her.

"You are an extremely fortunate girl," her grandfather told her. "And your good fortune has already enriched this house more than I could have ever imagined. Divsha, Palben's bride. You to wed the Twilight Lord. And now I have received an offer for Yamka from the Dominus of Terah's son. All three kingdoms related by blood ties through the children you will bear your husbands. I could have never envisioned such a thing, Nyura. The house of Ahasferus will not only be the richest house in Hetar, but our power will be increased threefold."

"Yamka is to be married? She said naught to me today. Indeed she did nothing but complain," Nyura remarked.

"She does not know yet, and you must say nothing." Grugyn Ahasferus chuckled, well pleased. "I must speak with her parents for she will have to live in Terah. But one day she will be Terah's Domina. They will have to pay a premium for her, of course. She is a most valuable commodity. Still, he is a most handsome young man, Prince Vaclar. Yamka will not be displeased.

"Lord Amren brought him to the wedding today, introducing him to your grandmother and me. Then Ambassador Cadoc made the suggestion that a marriage between our family and his would be a profitable venture for us all. I would not have thought Lord Cadoc that astute for I find him narrow-minded. I suspect the whole thing is my friend Amren's idea, but it is an excellent one, don't you think?" He actually didn't care what she thought, but Nyura was his favorite granddaughter, and she was surprisingly intelligent for a female.

"My opinion does not matter, Grandfather," Nyura said, confirming his faith in her, "but I think you are a brilliant man to arrange such stellar matches for us. The House of Ahasferus will be well served by our unions. I know Divsha and Yamka will do their best, as will I, to continue to serve the house of our birth."

Grugyn Ahasferus patted Nyura's delicate little hand and nodded. "You are a good girl," he told her. "And cleverer than the other two. Lord Kolgrim is powerful, Nyura, and he means to be even more powerful once he has Ulla's powers. Tread carefully, girl, and obey him without question except when it interferes with us."

She smiled at him. "Of course, Grandfather." She did not tell him of her decision to withhold Ulla's powers from Kolgrim. Nyura sensed retaining Ulla's powers would guarantee her a greater measure of safety than giving them up. Suddenly she was alert, and a tingle raced down her spine. She thought they were being watched, but glancing about, she could see no one.

"I will take you home myself," Grugyn said to the girl, and called for his litter.

Lara and Kaliq listened to Grugyn Ahasferus and his granddaughter from the shadows, invisible to the two Hetarians. Satisfied that all was going as it should, Kaliq whisked them back to Shunnar, where the sun was just rising across the desert sands. The air was clear and cool, and in the skies above a hawk soared screeching loudly as he flew. Seeing it, Lara was reminded of Vartan of the Fiacre, her first husband, a mortal who could shape-shift taking the form of a hawk when he did.

"Anoush's prediction will come to pass," Kaliq said. "You have united the worlds, Lara, my love."

She was silent for a moment. "Aye," she replied. "But this world is small, Kaliq, and eventually it would have all come together. It is true I have touched each part of it. Hetar. Terah. The Dark Lands. But my influence has faded away now. Why? The magic world tried to teach these mortals who inhabit these lands that war was not a solution. That there was enough for all." She laughed bitterly. "At least that lesson took, after the era of the Hierarch. Hetar sees that all its people are fed, clothed and housed. But none of them has any purpose. The magnates and the merchants continue on as they always have. The Crusader Knights are few now for there are no challenges left to conquer. I had hoped Hetar would change and grow. It has not."

"I know," he replied. "Change is difficult, Lara. It takes courage for a leader to stand up and effect it. Such men and women are not being born into Hetar or Terah."

"I cannot just give up, Kaliq," Lara told him. "But for the first time in my existence I do not know what to do. If I curse Nyura's womb, or put a spell upon her so that she does not produce Kolgrim's son, he will know the blame lies with me. He will harm Marzina. Oh, he will not spill her blood, but dropping her into the bottomless ravine would be worse than death for Marzina, and for me. And I will not give Kolgrim that pleasure, for to see me in pain would pleasure him."

"He wants you to love him," Kaliq said. "That is natural for he is your child."

"How can I love him?" she asked despairingly. "I hated his father. His birth, and that of his twin, was an aberration."

"The birth of your sons has helped to keep the darkness at bay for over a century," Kaliq reminded her.

"To what purpose, my lord? Cronan says that Hetar is doomed. That within the next few months the darkness will claim it, and the light will go out of this world," Lara said. "So why did the magic world use me to birth Kolgrim and Kolbein? One has lived to rule. The other lives imprisoned. What has it all been for, Kaliq?" She gazed up at him, her beautiful faerie green eyes wet with her tears.

"You gave the world of Hetar the opportunity to turn back from the brink of its own destruction. You showed them the way when you defeated Kol, the previous Twilight Lord, in the battle for The City. For a few years, I believed that they could make this world the place it should be. A place of peace and plenty. A place where all races, mortal and magic, could live together, respecting each other and our different customs. A place where we would all have a purpose and that purpose would be to the good. But it did not happen, despite all we did to make it so."

"So now we will desert Hetar because it hasn't lived up to our expectations?" Lara asked him. "How does that make us any better than the mortals we have tried to protect, my dear lord?"

"Perhaps that has been our mistake," Kaliq told her. "Mayhap we should not have interfered in their growth. But we did. We tried to help, and it only made it worse, for mortals, it seems, are their own worst enemy. We did not create them so we cannot accept all of the blame for their behavior."

"If we leave them, what will happen to them?" Lara wondered.

"The darkness will overtake the world of Hetar. But even in the darkness, my love, there is always a pinpoint of light. And if that tiny light is strong and someone nurtures it, it will grow, and perhaps one day it will overcome the darkness that will take this world shortly," Kaliq said.

Lara put her arms about his neck, and laying her head against him, she wept softly. Finally when she had eased her grief she asked him, "Where will we go, Kaliq?"

"First to Belmair, for the darkness will not touch that world for many centuries to come. The magic that lives on this world will evacuate Hetar and regroup there to consider where we will make our new home. The Cosmos is vast, Lara, and there are many worlds. I think, however, we will find one that is not inhabited, or perhaps make one for ourselves. We will cloak it from mortal eyes so we may live in peace without fear of the darkness," Kaliq told her.

"I will not leave until I must," Lara said. "Perhaps I may foil Kolgrim, if not entirely, a little bit." She nestled against him, breathing the familiar fragrance of him. It soothed her, and she was overcome by calm. Lara still could not quite believe with all of her heart that the world of Hetar was doomed. Perhaps there was something she might do to buy her world more time.

"You are plotting," Kaliq said. His voice held a hint of amusement.

"It isn't polite to intrude on another's private thoughts," Lara scolded him, but she was smiling. Then she said to him, "We are going to Kolgrim's wedding, Kaliq. It will please him, and perhaps I can in that way delay the inevitable."

Kaliq shook his dark head. "You are not a faerie woman to give up easily or without a fight, are you, my love? Very well, we will go to Kolgrim's wedding."

"Is Lothair still serving on the High Council?" Lara asked.

"He is for the interim, but when our brothers depart for Belmair, he will withdraw, too," Kaliq said.

"Have him inform Grugyn Ahasferus that the Twilight Lord's mother and her life mate will attend the wedding. Then he is to tell Palben that we will expect accommodation for several nights at the palace. We will arrive tomorrow," Lara said.

Kaliq laughed heartily. "We will create quite a stir amid a kingdom that espouses an official policy that magic does not exist. Shall we make an entrance like we did last time, my love? Or shall we be polite, and just pretend we are normal guests."

"That will depend upon our reception," Lara said. "I think Dominus Cadarn and his wife, the Domina Paulina, should also attend Kolgrim's wedding. Have Lothair tell the Lord High Ruler that they will also need accommodation. It is time my descendants met face-to-face. Perhaps if they know one another their blood tie will help them in the darkness that Kolgrim means to bring. Oh, I wish I could prevent his wedding, Kaliq. Is there no way? No way at all?" she asked. Then her eyes narrowed.

"I gave him life, Kaliq. Could I not take that life away?"

"At the cost of your own soul, my love? And it would change nothing, for with Kolgrim's death both Kol and Kolbein would be freed. Their joint reign would be a far more violent and cruel one than Kolgrim's will be," Kaliq told her. "Despite his strength of will, Kolgrim has inherited some of your good, Lara. He shuns it, to be sure, but it still exists deep within him. It is why he showed you Marzina's fragile prison, and gave you the opportunity to be reasonable with him rather than just simply releasing his sister into the bottomless ravine, and then demanding Nyura's return. Kolgrim is the child you created from the one Kol gave you. Kolbein is his father's son. He inherited nothing of you, Lara. He is pure evil. Far worse than any Twilight Lord ever created, even Kol," Kaliq explained. "When you split the unborn child within you, most of the evil remained with the first infant, Kolbein. Only some of it burgeoned with the second baby who was Kolgrim. That is why he has always felt an affinity for you where his twin did not. And that is also why you have felt an affection for him that you could not, would not admit even to yourself, Lara."

"He is Kol's son, Kaliq," she quickly replied.

"He is your son, also, my love. For all his wickedness, Kolgrim is your child, too," Kaliq told her. "I think you clever to attend his wedding and give him what he wants. Your love and your respect."

Her eyes filled with tears again. "I have tried so hard not to care for him," she admitted to Kaliq. "He should not have my love! He should not!"

"But he does, Lara," Kaliq replied. "And you are, as always, an amazing faerie woman that you can admit to it honestly."

"Do not dare to tell Ilona!" Lara said. "She would destroy me where I stood if she knew I harbored any affection for Kolgrim. And I do not understand why I do, Kaliq."

"It is that tiny bit of mortal within you, my love," he answered her. "Mortals may be foolish, but they are good creatures at heart." He kissed the top of her golden head. "Now, if we are going to that wedding and we must stop in Terah to convince the annoying Cadarn that he must go, too, then we had best hurry. But first we must eat. I am ravenous. And then we must rest. We may be magic, but we are not indestructible."

She stroked his handsome face. "Aye, food, rest, a few pleasures, a bath. And then I will be ready to face The City, and my descendants." She smiled seductively up at him. "But which shall we have first, my lord?"

"IF YOU CANNOT MAKE UP YOUR MIND, MY LOVE, then perhaps I shall do it for us," Kaliq said teasingly. "Remember that I am ravenous?"

"But for food or pleasures?" she teased back, laughing softly.

"Ahh, faerie witch, I know what you would have me say, but I tell you, both!" Kaliq answered her with a chuckle. With a wave of his hand he transported them to her bedchamber and onto the bed, where a tray of tempting foods awaited. They were both now quite naked. "Pity the poor mortals who cannot indulge their twin appetites at the same time, Lara, my love." He caught up her hand, kissing it tenderly, then kissing the inside of her wrist, as well.

Lara caused a strawberry to appear in her upturned palm. He smiled at her as their eyes met, his white teeth carefully picking up the strawberry and eating it. When he had swallowed she pulled his head toward her, kissing him, her tongue finding his, murmuring with delight as she tasted the strawberry, breathing the fragrance of it into her own mouth. "Delicious!" she said softly, magicking the tray to the sideboard as she lay back, and three more berries appeared in the shallow chasm between her breasts.

His dark head bent, and one by one he plucked the strawberries with his teeth, crushing them so that juice ran from between her breasts, down her belly and into the cleft between her nether lips. His tongue followed slowly, thoroughly, licking up the juice, pushing between those tempting folds of flesh to touch her hidden jewel. His fingers spread her open so he might have greater access to the prize, which he taunted and teased with delicate licks, then stronger strokes of his tongue until she was writhing and moaning softly with his attentions. When her juices began to come forth for him, Kaliq raised up his head, pushing two fingers slowly into her sheath, moving them rhythmically back and forth until Lara sighed with her small release. Leaning forward, he kissed her lips passionately.

Her arms wound about his neck as Lara drew him close. "You have but whetted my appetite, my lord," she said to him. "Now you must satisfy that appetite." Then she swiftly rolled him onto his back.
Bind my love so he must yield! And let him not raise his shield! But let him a strong weapon wield!
Lara silently invoked her spell before Kaliq might check her.

Surprised, he found himself spread upon her bed, arms and legs bound with silk. The Shadow Prince burst out laughing. "In all our years together, my love, you have never been so bold," he told her.

"You delight in teasing me, my lord, and so I thought perhaps you should be teased instead," Lara told him.

"I am faint from hunger for food," he said to her pleadingly.

She pinched his muscled arm. "You do not seem too slender to me," Lara said.

"I shall be unable to
wield a strong weapon,
" he said, quoting a piece of her spell.

"I can make you strong, my lord," Lara told him as she slithered between his shapely legs. Reaching up she undid her long gilt-colored hair from its plait. Then, moving her head, she trailed her long, soft tresses across his torso several times, watching as his manhood, already interested in play, twitched. "Ohh," Lara purred, "I think your
weapon
considers battle, my lord."

"You will have to do more than just tickle me with your hair, faerie witch," he taunted her.

Lara complied, positioning herself so she might play with his cock. She caressed it. She held it between two fingers and slowly licked its length several times, making him groan for the heat from her tongue was delicious. Lara took him into her mouth and suckled upon him until he was so swollen she could no longer contain him between her lips. Releasing him, she burrowed beneath the standing pillar of hard flesh, finding his sac, again licking, finally taking it into her mouth, her tongue rolling the twin seedpods about their container of cool flesh. Then Lara sucked hard thrice, and Kaliq actually cried out, a sound of both pleasure and pain.

Releasing him, she pulled herself up and, positioning him between her thighs, lowered herself onto his cock until he was fully sheathed, and her buttocks rested upon his muscled thighs. Lara began to ride him slowly. "You will not release your lust, my lord, until I give you permission," she warned him.

"And if I do?" he demanded to know.

"Then I shall see you chained to my bedroom wall and forced to watch while I take my pleasures with Lothair," Lara said wickedly. "You know how he lusts after me."

"Faerie witch!" he growled at her. "Without my permission you are no longer free to indulge your passions with anyone but me!"

"Oh, beware, my lord! I am faerie, and you know our natures are hot," she replied mischievously. She began to ride him harder and harder.

Kaliq struggled to contain his lust for her. He was perfectly capable of releasing himself from her spell, but he could see the delight she was taking in having the upper hand in their passion. "I could go deeper," he said softly, "if our positions were reversed, my love. You have made your point. Do not deny us perfection."

Lara said nothing, but his bonds were released as suddenly as they had been set upon him. As he rolled her onto her back she raised her legs, putting them over his broad shoulders, and hooking her ankles behind his neck. Kaliq plunged deeper and deeper into her sweet softness with his hard cock. Bending his dark head, he captured a nipple and sucked upon it.

A fierce thrill raced through her entire body, and Lara screamed softly. Her head was spinning with the beginnings of pleasure. Her breath came in quick little bursts and she tingled all over as her whole being centered itself on the long thick peg of flesh plunging in and out, in and out in perfect rhythm.
Kaliq! Kaliq! Ohh, how I love you!
she told him in their silent language.
We will take pleasures together, my dear lord! Now! Oh, now, I beg you!
Her scream was one of pure delight as he roared with equal satisfaction, their love juices mingling within her body. And then Lara swooned, which she had not done in many a decade. What they had just shared had gone beyond perfection.

Kaliq could not believe the pleasure they had just attained together. He had known from the moment he met Lara that he would never tire of this female, but she constantly amazed him. He held her tightly in his arms, his lips softly kissing the top of her golden head.
I love you, but then you have known that for decades, my darling. Never were life mates more suited than you and I. Whatever happens, I know that we will never be parted, Lara, my love. We are one.
He stroked her hair as she nestled against him in a state of complete contentment.

Finally Lara sighed and said, "I am ravenous! Where is that tray?"

His chuckle was deep and rich. "Are we eating in bed?" he asked her.

"Remember we just have time for a bath, and either food or a nap before we must go and fetch the Dominus and his wife."

"I think food will serve me better. Cadarn can irritate me even well rested," Lara said. "I need the strength that taking pleasures with you, and a good meal can give me."

He magicked the tray back, and they ate. Then he left her to bathe, and Lara went to her own bath. Her women were waiting, and thoroughly pampered, she called to Cadi to bring her a gown. The faerie serving woman came smiling, holding out a beautiful gown made from a mixture of silk and fine cotton, bright green in color and embroidered with gold and silver threads.

"Your heritage is that of a Forest Faerie," Cadi said. "Tonight you will wear one of the forest's greens. It would please your mother, my lady."

Lara nodded her approval. The gown was styled in the fashion of the desert kingdom. Its neckline was round with a keyhole opening. Its sleeves were long and wide, the broad cuffs decorated with the gold and silver threads matching the narrow band of embroidery at the neck. It was not fitted, but rather hung gracefully from her shoulders, not quite touching the floor. She would have matching green silk slippers.

"Tonight," Cadi said, "I have a new hairstyle for you. It is more elegant, as this occasion demands, mistress." She brushed out Lara's long tresses then, pulling it back, coiled it tightly and fastened it with gold and silver hairpins. When she had finished she stood back, admiring her handiwork, saying, "Do you like it, my lady?"

"I do!" Lara replied. "I look quite sophisticated, which may make my great-grandsons feel more at ease with me." She turned her head this way and that, admiring herself in the mirror. "Where are those wonderful barbaric gold ear loops, Cadi? The ones with the tiny diamonds threaded on them."

Smiling, Cadi handed them to her mistress. Then she took each of Lara's hands in turn, and pushed several gold and silver bangles up her arm. "And you'll need rings, too," she said. "I thought the heart-shaped ruby with some simple bands on one hand, and the star-shaped sapphire Prince Kaliq gave you on your other hand."

"And Ethne about my neck on her gold chain," Lara said of her guardian spirit who lived in a crystal star that had always hung about Lara's neck. She preened before the mirror again. "I look as I should," she decided aloud.

Cadi chuckled. "You had best hurry," she said. "It is close to sunset in Terah, and you will want to catch the Dominus before he goes to bed."

"I hope his day has been an easy one, for I can guarantee that the Ahasferus family has arranged a spectacular wedding for Nyura and Kolgrim."

"You honor the Twilight Lord," Cadi said quietly.

"I do what I must to keep the darkness at bay a little longer," Lara replied.

"The Forest Faeries have begun to leave Hetar for Belmair," Cadi volunteered.

Lara sighed. "Is my mother still here?"

"Queen Ilona will not leave until she is assured that all of her people are safe. The faerie races of Hetar have carefully arranged their evacuation. Your mother has been in touch with King Annan, King Laszlo and Gwener, Empress of the Meadow Faeries. The Forest faeries are the last to depart Hetar."

"The others are already gone?" Lara was surprised. Could they not have waited to see if she might stop this new threat?

Cadi nodded. "Old Prince Cronan spoke with each of them, and they listened. I am sorry, mistress."

"Nay, the darkness is coming now, and I know it. But I had hoped...." Her voice trailed off.

"For aeons the light has brightened Hetar, and I am sure it will one day again, mistress," Cadi said. "But for now Hetar has sealed this world's doom. Eventually the good will lift its head and begin its rebirth here. But first the darkness will come. It has happened before this in other worlds, and it will happen again in worlds unknown to us. But the light cannot be stopped, my lady. It will return! It always has."

Lara took her serving woman's hands in hers and looked into Cadi's pretty face. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Lara!" Kaliq called from the garden where he now awaited her. He was garbed in his usual white, but today his tunic was decorated with silver thread and black pearls. On his feet he wore silver slippers rather than his leather boots.

"I'm coming," she said, hurrying from her chamber to meet him.

"Ah, my darling," he said, his eyes lighting at the sight of her in her green gown, "how beautiful you look. The color suits you well."

She stepped to his side. His arm went about her, and then Cadi watched as they disappeared before her eyes. They reappeared in the Great Hall of Terah's castle, much to the discomfort of Cadarn and his wife, Paulina, who were seated alone at their High Board.

"Greetings, Cadarn," Lara said. "We have come to fetch you to the wedding of the Twilight Lord and his bride in Hetar."

"We cannot reach Hetar in time for that wedding," Cadarn said irritably.

"Great-grandson, you continue to disbelieve the evidence of your own eyes. Do you think you are dreaming?" Lara asked. Stepping up to him, she pinched his arm.

Cadarn yelped, and yanked the arm away from her.

"You will need to look more like the Dominus of Terah than you do," Lara said.

"What do you think, Kaliq?"

"He has Magnus's eyes," Kaliq noted. "Turquoise-blue brocade with gold beading, I think." The Shadow Prince turned his eyes to Domina Paulina, a pretty woman with fair skin, dark brown hair, and gray-blue eyes. "Rose silk for the lady," he said, nodding to Lara.

Then together they clothed the Dominus and Domina of Terah in magnificent garments. On Cadarn's head an elegant gold crown studded with green transmutes appeared. Paulina's dark hair was magically dressed in a series of bejeweled plaits, and about her forehead a gold circlet with a large pink pearl in its center appeared.

The Terahn couple gasped in both surprise and shock.

"How..." Cadarn said.

"Oh really, great-grandson, please do not be so silly," Lara told him. "'Tis magic. Now listen to me, you irritating creature, so you do not appear any more ignorant than you already are. Your great-grandfather, Magnus Hauk, sired three children on me. You descend from our only son, Taj. The Lord High Ruler, Palben, descends from our eldest daughter, Princess Zagiri, who married the Lord High Ruler Jonah. Do you understand?"

"This is truth?" Cadarn asked.

"Why would I tell you if it weren't?" Lara demanded of him. "You are blood kin to Hetar's ruler, Cadarn."

"If we are kinsmen, then why must my son, Vaclar, marry a Hetarian girl?" Cadarn wanted to know. "You said it was to make us all kin."

It was easier to make it simple for him, Lara realized. "The patriarch of the greatest family in Hetar, the clan Ahasferus, has three granddaughters. All are sixteen. One marries the Twilight Lord today. Two days ago another became your cousin Palben's second wife. And shortly Vaclar will wed the third girl. You need to be kin to the Twilight Lord, for he is a powerful being who will shortly rule this entire world. If you are his kinsman, he is unlikely to harm you and your family."

"What do you mean the Twilight Lord will rule this entire world?" Cadarn demanded to know.

"The darkness is coming, and it will overtake Hetar and Terah," Lara said.