Crown of Destiny (31 page)

"All faeries do, Kolgrim, and some faeries are quite naughty by nature," Lara told him as she took his arm, guiding him into a crowd of guests and away from Marzina.

"Then I hope the seeds I have planted in Divsha and Yamka that will one day bloom into two daughters will have that same cruelty," Kolgrim said to her.

"You seeded your wife's cousins?" Lara didn't know if she should be shocked or angry with him at this revelation.

"Do not fear, Mother. They will each bear their husbands a son first. Divsha is already with child. Do you not notice how cool the Lady Laureen is to her today, or how Palben is doting upon her, or how coyly Divsha is behaving. And tonight Vaclar will vigorously seed his bride, and it will be a son. Only then will I permit these females to bloom with my daughters. One day, Yamka's daughter will wed Divsha's son. And Divsha's daughter will wed Yamka's son. In this manner I will retain my hold on Hetar. Now am I not as clever as you, Mother? Have I not learned well from you?"

"Aye, you have learned from me," Lara agreed in pleasant tones. "But when will you accomplish something original, Kolgrim? So far all you have done is in imitation of your sire or me."

His face darkened with the insult, but he smiled, saying in a deadly soft voice, "I will soon have my sister's magic, Mother dear. Perhaps then we might discuss something unique and original."

Around them the wedding guests chattered as they moved into the Great Hall of the castle where a magnificent feast had been arranged. A battalion of servants dashed about with great bowls of shellfish boiled in wine or served raw, and enormous platters of roasted game and meats. There were large platters of poultry, and smaller ones of fish, broiled and lying upon beds of seaweed. There were huge bowls of salads, bread fresh from the ovens served upon polished cutting boards, big wheels of hard yellow cheese and smaller rounds of soft cheese. The guests hurried to take their seats as the silver goblets studded in green malachite were filled with rich wines. Each guest would be invited to take their goblet home as a souvenir, indicating to the Hetarians present that Terahns knew how to properly entertain on a great occasion.

You will
never
have my daughter or her powers!
Lara hissed angrily at Kolgrim.

He laughed mockingly.

Lara fought back her rage, which was threatening to boil over. Unreasonable anger weakened one. Her ear caught the soft humming now coming from Andraste. She drew a deep breath to calm herself. Beside her Kolgrim sat eating enthusiastically as if he had not a care in the world. A servant bent to fill her cup. Lara stopped him with her hand. "Spring water," she said, and the servant nodded, snapping his fingers at an underling who, given the instruction, hurried to fill the silver goblet. Wine would fog her wits at a time when she needed them about her.

Kaliq, seated on the other side of her, reached out and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Marzina is safe," he whispered in her ear. "It is but her image seated at this table. I spoke with her as we traversed the corridor between Hetar and Terah. Kolgrim was too busy speaking with the Lord High Ruler Palben to notice. She understood the danger today, and let me transport her to your mother in Belmair."

"The queen is there now?" They murmured softly to one another so Kolgrim could not hear them, as he would have heard had they spoken in the silent language.

"All the good magic has gone from Hetar now but for you and me," Kaliq said.

"Thank you for convincing Marzina to go," Lara said, relieved.

T
HE FEASTING HAD GONE ON
the day long. There had been many entertainers to amuse the guests. Oiled wrestlers both male and female had battled before them. Lithe dancers in translucent silks had woven their way about the trestle tables in the Great Hall. A troupe of gaily costumed dwarfs had danced and turned somersaults atop six black-and-white ponies, half of whom had black manes, and half who had white. And then an ancient bard had come into the hall, which grew silent.

His name was Knud, and he was famous throughout Terah. He sang songs of Terah's past history. Then he concluded his entertainment by coming to stand before Lara while he sang of the beautiful faerie woman who had freed Terah from the curse of Usi the Sorcerer. Lara's eyes were filled with tears when he had finished, for this same lay had been sung at her wedding to Magnus Hauk in this very hall well over a hundred years ago. The last notes of his lyre dying, Knud took Lara's hand up in his and kissed it.

"Thank you," she told him, nodding. "That was as beautiful as the first time I heard it. Thank you!"

The bard nodded his head in return. "My father taught it to me, Domina. It was he who sang it at your wedding. After today I shall not sing it or any other song again for the darkness is even now falling, and I shall die tonight. I am one hundred years old." Then turning, Knud bowed to the Dominus and, walking slowly, left the hall, which was now wrapped in stunned silence.

The tension was broken with the entry of a magnificent cake of twelve tiers. It was covered in a purple sugar icing and gold leaf. This was a new innovation in Terah. Lara remembered her winter wedding to Magnus Hauk had concluded with baskets of winter fruits. Atop the cake were two naked sugar figures representing Vaclar and Yamka who stood facing one another. The male figure held a long rigid manhood in his hand that stuck straight out. The female stood, her hands pulling apart her nether lips, a coy smile upon her face. The cake was cut, and slices apportioned out to the guests, who devoured them eagerly. One fortunate among the guests would find a ruby in their slice. A shriek of delight erupted as a magnate's wife from Hetar was the lucky one.

Dominus Cadarn now arose from his place at the center of the High Board. "It is now time, having watched the sun come up together on this auspicious day of Vaclar and Yamka's wedding, to adjourn to the gardens to watch the sun set on the first day of their marriage. Please join us, my friends!" Then he and Domina Paulina led the guests from their Great Hall back outside.

The air was cooler now. The setting sun was every bit as beautiful as the rising sun had been. How many more days would it be? Lara wondered. And as the guests stood admiring the sunset sky Lara saw from the corner of her eye Vaclar and Yamka slipping off to their bridal chamber. Oddly they seemed well suited to each other, and were not unhappy with the dynastic match that had been made for them. Lara remembered how she and Magnus had remained with their guests for they were master and mistress of Terah then. And the entertainments had gone on long into the night. Finally Magnus had stood with Lara by his side. Together they had thanked their guests for coming, wishing them a safe journey home on the morrow.

How long ago had it been? One hundred and twenty or thirty years? Lara sighed with the memory. So much had happened since then. And yet little had changed. The sun still rose and set as it always had. She hoped that those Hetarians and Terahns who had come for this wedding would remember this day. Already some of them were beginning to return to The City through the corridor the magic had made for them. She felt Kaliq's hand taking hers and, looking up at him, smiled, her faerie green eyes lighting with the deep and passionate love she felt for him.

"It is time to go," he said to her, and she nodded.

Hearing them, Kolgrim turned. "But Marzina remains with me," he said in a cold hard voice. His dark gray eyes danced with his triumph.

"Marzina is long gone, my lord," Kaliq said softly. "Did you think I would let you use her to break your mother's heart, to steal her magic?"

"Marzina stands there," Kolgrim said, pointing to the figure of the beautiful young faerie woman who stood looking at the last bit of color as the sun disappeared beneath the purple horizon.

"'Tis but a shade of your sister," Lara said, unable to keep the exultation from her voice. "Marzina is safe from you, Kolgrim. You will not have her magic or mine!" As she spoke the words she heard Andraste humming loudly within her scabbard.

"Curse you!"
Kolgrim shouted angrily, and the remaining guests turned to look. Suddenly in the Twilight Lord's hand was a large broadsword. Its pommel was shaped in the head of an ugly male with onyx eyes that glowed red as it spoke in a dark voice.

I am Jasha, the Supplanter,
the sword shouted.

Andraste was shrieking to be freed from her scabbard, and Lara obliged her weapon, who answered,
I am Andraste, and I will drink the blood of the supplanter!
She almost leaped from Lara's hand in her fury to do battle with Jasha. Lara's eyes glittered dangerously. "Sheathe your sword, Kolgrim," she told him, holding tight to her own weapon. "You do not want to do battle with me, boy."

"Do you think I am afraid of you, Mother?" he drawled. "You cannot kill me. My fate is to rule this world, to grind it beneath my heel, to bring it into the darkness."

"I killed before your coming was even written in the Book of Rule," Lara warned him softly. "Perhaps I cannot kill you, Kolgrim, but you will not win in combat with me. If you wish to maintain your status with these poor foolish mortals, do not challenge me. Remember that I have a destiny, and it is not to be spitted upon your sword."

"Can you be certain of that, Mother?" he demanded of her.

"Aye, I can," Lara replied.

"Domina!" Cadarn cried. "Put that weapon away before you hurt yourself. My lord Kolgrim, I beg you remember where you are."

Kolgrim turned to look briefly at Marzina. The shade faded away before his eyes. He turned back to Lara. "You cannot keep her from me," he said in a deadly voice.
Sister Marzina, hear my plea. Cease all else and come to me!

But Marzina did not appear.

Lara shook her head.
You are pitiful, Kolgrim. Whatever you think you must do you will do without my daughter or her magic.

She is my sister!
he said angrily.
We share the same blood, a mother, a father. You have no right to keep her from me.

Cadarn looked to Prince Kaliq. "Why are they just standing there, my lord?" he asked the Shadow Prince.

"They converse in the silent language of magic," Kaliq replied.

"Sheathe your weapon," Lara repeated aloud so that the witnesses to this scene would hear her and know it was she who was being provoked.

Instead he leaped forward, the blade of Jasha meeting Andraste as Lara moved to defend herself. The sound the two swords made was loud and ferocious. Kolgrim was almost weeping with his frustration.

"He will kill her!" Palben shouted, but he made no move to help.

"Neither of them will kill the other," Kaliq said quietly. "They cannot."

"Then why does she fight him?" Cadarn wanted to know. "She is but a delicate woman."

Kaliq laughed aloud. "She is a great swordswoman and a great warrior. If you had accepted your own history instead of rewriting it to suit your narrow ideology, my lord Dominus, you would know that. Now watch her, and learn that evil can be defeated."

The remaining wedding guests had unconsciously moved back to form an open space in which the two combatants now slowly circled each other. Lara's eyes never left her opponent as she waited for him to make his next move. Unnerved by her calm, Kolgrim flailed out with Jasha, his blow once again blocked by Andraste.

Kolgrim, walk away. You will lose to me, and then these mortals will know that you can be beaten despite your powerful magic,
Lara taunted.

In reply the Twilight Lord began to rain blows with his sword upon his mother's sword, but she blocked him again and again.
If I could really be beaten, you and your kind would not be planning to flee Hetar. I will catch some of your magic before it goes,
he said to her stubbornly.

Lara deliberately kept her mind a blank. She was a consummate warrior, and always had been. She would give Kol's son a lesson he would not soon forget. Andraste was quivering within her grip to do battle. She raised the weapon, and began to fight him seriously, each blow deliberately and carefully planned, for it was she and not Kolgrim who was in charge of this game. Metal clanged on metal as they fought. Kolgrim was soon winded as Lara parried and thrust, parried and thrust, wearing him down.

Then Andraste began to sing in her deep dark voice.
I am Andraste, slayer of evil!
And the great blade delivered a ferocious blow to Kolgrim's Jasha, severing it in two pieces, which fell to the earth.
And I taste the blood of the Twilight Lord,
she continued as she nicked Kolgrim's sword arm, and he cried out in pain.

THE CROWD OF HETARIANS AND TERAHNS HAD watched and howled excitedly during the match between the two combatants. Now they grew suddenly silent as Kolgrim dropped the damaged sword, and his hand reached out to touch the small wound that Lara had given him on his other arm. Seeing his fingers covered in his own blood, he looked horrified. He looked up at Lara.
You have blooded me, Mother.

I warned you not to battle me, Kolgrim. Lothair, sword master of the Shadow Princes, was my teacher. If you intend picking quarrels with warriors in the future, I would suggest you get better instruction than you have had,
Lara said drily.

"Kinsman, let me have my physician attend to your wound," Cadarn said.

"Nay, come back with me to Hetar, and my physician will see to it," Palben insisted while his two wives nodded vigorously in unison.

With a smothered curse Kolgrim bent to pick up the pommel of the now-destroyed Jasha. Then he disappeared from their sight in a clap of black thunder. The remaining guests were suddenly very silent.

"Those of you from Hetar," Lara said in a commanding voice, "go quickly through the corridor for we are going to close it up. Palben, remain. We will see you home safely. The rest of you go now!" She returned Andraste to her scabbard.

The Hetarians ran for the exit, and when the last of them had dashed through, Kaliq closed the Golden tunnel between Hetar and Terah. It would never open again.

"Send the rest of your guests home, Cadarn," Lara told him.

The Dominus did not question her. "I thank you all for coming this day," he said to those remaining, "but it is past time for you to return to your homes."

"Come with me now to Magnus Hauk's library," Lara said to the two rulers, and with Kaliq by her side she made her way back into the castle down familiar hallways to the chamber she sought. Entering it, she saw the room was exactly as it had been when her Terahn husband had been living. It was obvious that no one used the room. A memorial to Magnus but little more, she thought wryly. "Sit down," she told Cadarn and Palben and they did so without question. She could see the grudging respect in their eyes, and realized she should have never relinquished her control over her mortal family to mortals. They were but the weaker for it.

"Listen to me, and listen well," Lara began. "It is unlikely that after today you will ever see me again. All the magic that is good has departed your world. The darkness is upon you. You and your peoples are now in the hands of the Twilight Lord. You will find him a cruel master, but you have brought this upon yourselves by refusing to change your ways, by not learning from your history, but rather rewriting it to suit your own purposes and actions.

"You are a society totally involved with yourselves, your acquisitions, your pleasures, all of it to the detriment of others not as fortunate. Once Hetar offered opportunity to those who strived to better themselves. You no longer offer those chances to your citizens. You have made them weak by feeding, housing and entertaining them without asking anything in return. They have no education, no skills. They are no better than mindless slaves! And you have done this, not out of kindness, but to maintain your own positions, retain your ridiculous wealth and seek endless pleasures. May the Celestial Actuary help you now for the magic world will not.

"And you, Terah, once an idyllic land of farmers and artisans. A land with the kindness to offer refuge to a displaced people. There was a reason the ships of the Coastal Kings were not allowed within sight of your shores. It was to keep Terah safe and peaceful. But like the children you are, you were easily tempted, and now your coastal villages boast drunkards and cheap imitations of Hetar's Pleasure Women.

"I watched as my own son took away the small voice that Magnus Hauk had given to his people in the form of a High Council, and was shouted down when I protested it. I should have exerted my authority over Terah then, but I did not wish to undermine my son. Civil war, I believed, would have been worse. I was wrong. You have returned Terah to an age before Usi. Now you will be at the mercy of Usi's descendant, and the child he has sired on another of Usi's descendants will bring even greater misery upon you all."

Cadarn and Palben could barely comprehend what she was telling them. Why was she so angry, and yet so sad? There was nothing wrong at all with either Hetar or Terah.

"You don't believe me," Lara said, shaking her head wearily. "Then so be it, for I can do no more for you. But when the days ahead grow darker and darker, when the time comes when you think you can bear no more, and the darkness weighs upon you, remember this one thing. Even in the darkest night there is a light somewhere. And the knowledge of that light will give you hope." She walked over to Palben and kissed his cheek. "Farewell, son of Palben, and grandson of my beloved daughter Zagiri. Go home to Hetar now." And he disappeared from their sight.

Lara turned to Cadarn. "I will tell you this. Tonight Yamka will conceive a son for Terah. But her second child will be a daughter. Vaclar is not that girl's father. Kolgrim has seeded Yamka with a future seed that will not bloom until after your natural grandson is born. He has done the same thing to Divsha. Her first child will be Palben's son, but her second will be Kolgrim's daughter.

"Do not allow either of these grandchildren to be matched with Divsha's children. If you do, there is no hope for this world. Warn Vaclar of this, and tell him the day will come when he must resist his wife's demands for these marriages. Both Yamka and Divsha have been enchanted in order to serve Kolgrim's purposes. If you believe nothing else I have said to you, believe this, Cadarn." She bent and kissed his cheek. "Remember me, son of Amhar, grandson of Taj, great-grandson of Magnus Hauk and his faerie wife, Lara, daughter of Swiftsword."

Lara then reached out to take Kaliq's hand. He drew her to his side, flung his snowy white cloak about her, and they disappeared before the amazed eyes of Dominus Cadarn, who felt a sudden sadness, and worse, an emptiness. Standing up, he walked to the large windows of the chamber and looked out on the dark night sky. He could see the great star called Belmair blazing in the Cosmos. Some said it was another world, but of course that was ridiculous. Suddenly Belmair twinkled very distinctly not once, but twice. He had never seen such a thing but of course it had been a trick of his eyes for it had been a very long day, and he was extremely tired.

K
ALIQ HAD QUICKLY
transported them away from Terah to Belmair. Kolgrim's anger was increasing his dark powers, and the Shadow Prince knew if they waited longer it would have been difficult for them to escape the pull of the darkness. He did not bring them immediately to the castle of King Dillon, their son. Instead, he had brought them to a meadow of horses. It was early evening. The air was soft with just a hint of rain in it although in the skies above, the stars were beginning to peep through. The great golden stallion raised his head and, seeing them, galloped over to where they stood.

Lara threw her arms about Dasras's neck. "You are safe," she said happily.

He nuzzled her shoulder and nickered softly. "You are safe," he replied in return. "I so feared your good heart would lead you into more difficulties than you should handle, mistress. Belmair is a fine resting spot for us before we must travel on. The king has been most gracious."

Lara stroked the stallion's coat. "It is a sad time for us, Dasras, but happy, too."

"More happy than sad, mistress," he responded. "It has been some time since we had any adventures to set out upon, and I am more than delighted at the surprises that lie ahead of us. Several of the princes have gone off to seek the perfect new world for us. The rest are temporarily residing in the Grand Dragon's castle. Your mother is visiting the king while her consort and the other Forest Faeries erect their dwellings in the new forest in which they have chosen to reside."

Lara turned to Kaliq. "Will we stay with my brother, or our son?"

"Let us decide while we walk," Kaliq said. "It is not far, and the two castles are separated, as you will recall, by a garden."

"Good night, dearest Dasras," Lara said, kissing his soft muzzle.

"Good night, beloved mistress," the stallion replied. Then he turned and trotted back to where a group of mares stood grazing.

"It is so peaceful here," Lara said as they walked across the green meadow. "I had forgotten what true peace was like." She bent and picked several yellow-and-white flowers. "In recent months even Shunnar seemed to hum with an underlying throbbing of some sort. What will happen to it, Kaliq?"

"Shunnar no longer exists," he told her. "It was our creation, and made possible by our magic. Our departure removed the last piece of magic holding it together. The realm of the Shadow Princes on Hetar is now all desert. No trace of us lives there any longer."

"How sad," Lara remarked.

"Aye, but we will rebuild Shunnar in our new world, and this time we will not dwell side by side with mortals, Lara. This world will be only for our magic, my love."

They had reached the edge of the meadow, and now stepped onto a pretty winding road that brought them to the king's castle. The guards at the gate were for a display of authority more than anything else. Belmair was a peaceful world. Recognizing the king's mother and her companion, the Shadow Prince, they straightened up and saluted as the couple strolled past them.

Dillon, son of Lara and Kaliq, had watched his parents as they walked toward the castle. He ran downstairs and into the courtyard as they entered to greet them. "Mother! My lord!" Catching Lara up, he swung her about, laughing. "You have come at last! Then Hetar is finished. I'm sorry for it." Born when his mother had been little more than a girl, his magic blood ensured that he remained youthful. He was a handsome man, whose dark hair held the sheen of a raven's wing. His bright blue eyes were those of a Shadow Prince. "Marzina is here with Grandmother. How lovely she is, Mother. We must find a husband for her sooner than later. It would sadden me to see her end like my sister, Anoush, alone and forgotten."

"Anoush chose to live with her father's people," Lara said quietly. "She was happy among them, and content with her life."

"She sublimated her gift of prophecy for them, Mother. It was wrong," Dillon said. Then he set her down, saying, "Let us go inside. Cinnia is waiting."

"And our grandchildren?" Lara asked him.

Dillon shrugged. "Out of doors probably, indoors... I can never keep track of them, but you will see them, Mother." He led his parents into the Great Hall of his castle, where his wife, the sorceress Cinnia, was waiting along with Lara's brother, Cirillo, and his wife, Nidhug, the beautiful Great Dragon of Belmair, who waved coquettishly at Kaliq.

He grinned and waved back.

"Do not encourage her, my lord," Lara whispered. "You know how it upsets my brother when she flirts with other men."

"Which is why she does it, my love. To this day Nidhug worries that Cirillo will leave her for another, although she would be horrified to learn that I know her secret. So she flirts with other men to make him jealous, and reassure herself that he loves her."

"But he does!" Lara said. "He adores her, and our mother has never quite gotten over it. Only Parvanah's birth forced her to realize that Cirillo was not going to pick some faerie maid to get an heir upon."

Dillon's wife, Cinnia, the sorceress of Belmair, came forward to greet her in-laws. "Welcome to Belmair," she said, "although I could wish it were under happier circumstances. I am sorry about Hetar, Lara."

Lara shook her head. "It is over and done with," she answered, "though part of me would wish it otherwise. Thank you for sheltering Hetar's magic world, Cinnia. I know they are grateful to you and Dillon."

"Mother." Marzina was by Lara's side. "What is this Kaliq tells me? He says that you and Kolgrim fought when he found me gone. Poor Kolgrim."

Poor Kolgrim?
Lara was astounded by her daughter's words.

"You didn't harm him, did you?" Marzina asked.

"I bloodied his arm to make my point after Andraste broke his weapon, a rather nasty blade named Jasha," Lara replied. Poor Kolgrim, indeed! But then to her surprise Marzina laughed softly.

"I'll bet he went off in a fine temper." She giggled. "Kolgrim is really a very bad loser, Mother. He had the sword known as Jasha especially forged to do battle with your Andraste. He knew of her and was jealous so he created Jasha to defeat her," Marzina responded. "He was, of course, once again seeking your attention."

"He gained it," Lara answered drily. "A pity I could not have killed him."

"
Mother!
What an unkind thing to say," Marzina cried.

"Your sister," Lara said to Dillon "is fascinated by her dark brother."

"He is fascinating," Dillon agreed, "but extremely dangerous. I think it is a good thing you are in Belmair now. Pretty little faerie girls can get eaten up by Twilight Lords." Dillon ruffled Marzina's dark hair affectionately.

Marzina stuck her tongue out at him. "Do not be so superior," she said to him.

Lara went to her mother, who was seated by one of the hall's large hearths. She sat next to her, taking Ilona's hand in hers. "I am sad, too," she told the Queen of the Forest Faeries.

"I am letting Thanos and the others rebuild before I join them," Ilona replied. "To have had to leave the forests of our faerie ancestors to Kolgrim breaks my heart, Lara."

"And yet you and the rest of our magic brethren let me bear him," she replied.

"There was no other choice," Ilona responded. "Even when you know that the darkness is going to come eventually, Lara, you think its time is distant. But with each day that passes it grows nearer, but it still seems distant until suddenly it is upon you. Had Hetar chosen a different path we could have held the darkness at bay perhaps forever."

"Never forever," Kaliq said, joining them. "There must be a balance, as you know, Ilona. The light will prevail in Hetar, but it will be centuries before it returns in force. You must not grieve, my dear friend."