Crown of Destiny (23 page)

"Lara." Kaliq spoke gently to her.
Be calm. The woman cannot help but be what she is. A vain and foolish mortal. Be patient with her.

I am hungry, and not of a mind to be patient with this Terahn woman who cannot see her world collapsing around her, yet frets that her furnishings aren't fashionable enough. Ohh, I am weary of these folk, Kaliq!

I know,
he said. "Ahh, here are the refreshments for us." He turned, smiling at Cadarn and his wife. "You must be hungry and thirsty, too, as we took you from your evening meal."

"Oh, how beautiful the dishes are!" Lady Paulina trilled. She picked up a plate decorated with a floral design. "Look, Caddie, you can see through the china. We must have plates like this for the castle." She turned to Prince Kaliq. "Do you think we might remain a few days here in The City, my lord? I must visit the shops."

"I am certain that when the Ahasferus family learn you are here to personally take part in the negotiations for your son's marriage, they will want you to stay with them," Kaliq said. He was at his most charming. "If you remain, I shall see you have a trunk of the proper garments for your stay. And I shall return you to Terah when you wish to go."

"Paulina, I cannot leave Terah without my governance," Dominus Cadarn said.

"Ohh, Caddie, just two days? Terah will not fall apart in two days," Lady Paulina pleaded prettily. "And if this young noblewoman is to be our new daughter, we really should get to know her family."

"Two days, but no more, and only so I may oversee Cadoc and my uncle's negotiations for this marriage," Cadarn responded sourly.

As husband and wife spoke back and forth Lara suddenly realized that her passion for this world, her desire to save it, was not as strong as it had previously been. Was Kaliq right? Of course he was right. She could not recall the last time, if ever, when he had been wrong.

The door to the guest chamber opened suddenly. "
Mother!
I was told that you had come, but I would not believe it until I saw you with my own eyes." Kolgrim, the Twilight Lord, stepped into the room and, coming over to her, kissed her on both cheeks.

"I was unable to resist wishing you my felicitations," Lara said drily.

Kolgrim laughed aloud.

"This is your son?" Lady Paulina twittered.

Kolgrim's changeable gray eyes looked directly at Lara, waiting for her answer.

"Aye, this is my son," Lara finally said.

"He is very handsome," Lady Paulina replied. "How fortunate his bride."

"And extremely wicked, are you not, Kolgrim?" Lara taunted him.

The gray eyes darkened slightly. "No one knows my character better than my dearest mother," he agreed. "Is that not so, Mother? She felt so sorry for my betrothed, she stole her away and hid her from me. Only when I threatened to destroy my sister did she relent and return Nyura to me."

Lady Paulina tittered nervously not knowing whether to believe him or not. "Oh, my lord," she finally said. "You surely jest."

"Not at all, Lady Paulina," Kolgrim said, smiling at the woman.

Lady Paulina shuddered delicately, suddenly realizing this beautiful young man was a dangerous man. She reached out for her husband's hand.

But the Twilight Lord had already turned away from her. She was pretty, but too old for his taste although he just might take pleasures with her when he brought Terah under his control. He could see that Cadarn would need to fully comprehend who the master was. He would take the woman before her husband, making him watch as he forced her to cry out with delight. Nothing broke a man more than seeing the woman he loved violated by another man...and enjoying it.

What evil are you contemplating?
Lara silently asked.

He told her and watched as distaste flooded her beautiful face. Then he said,
I am glad that you came, Mother. I could but wish my father were here to see my triumph.

There is no triumph yet, Kolgrim. You but wed Ulla's descendant.

The child she bears me will be the greatest Twilight Lord ever born, Mother. The darkness will hold the world of Hetar in its grasp beyond time as even we of the magic kingdoms know it. And you cannot stop it this time. You will be forced to accept my rule as will everyone else,
Kolgrim said.

We shall see,
my son.
We shall see,
Lara responded coolly.

You must stand by my side when I wed today. It is Hetarian custom that the parents of the bride and groom be by their side to give them to each other.

He grinned mischievously at her, and Lara suddenly saw the boy he once was. The boy she had never known, or wanted to know. There was a poignancy in that knowledge, and then she felt Kaliq reach out to take her hand in his. He had understood, of course.
You cannot give away what you never had,
she told the young man before her.
But I have come today, and so I will do you honor, Kolgrim, son of Kol. You will not be shamed before these people or before those who are your blood kin even without these marriages.
For a brief moment she thought she saw a glimmer of tears in his eyes, but then the illusion was gone.

"I am pleased to see you all," Kolgrim said jovially. "Now I must go and prepare for my wedding. But before I go I would tell you that I may have four witnesses of my own choosing at the defloration ceremony. I invite you, my lord Dominus and Domina, and you, Prince Kaliq and my dear mother, to be my witnesses. Will you accept?"

"Of course we will accept, my lord," Prince Kaliq said, speaking for them all. "We are honored to have been asked." He bowed toward Kolgrim.

Kolgrim flashed them a bright smile, and then was gone from the chamber.

"What in the name of the Great Creator is a defloration ceremony?" Cadarn wanted to know.

"Tell them," Lara said, swallowing her laughter, for she knew when her great-grandson and his wife learned they would be horrified.

"The bride is a virgin, which as you know is quite rare in both Hetar and Terah. When a girl who has known no man before is wed here in Hetar, her virginity is taken before a group of chosen witnesses because it is thought to bring honor to her family. The bride's family chooses four witnesses, and the groom chooses four," Kaliq explained.

"That is barbaric!" Lady Paulina declared. She turned to her husband. "Caddie, we cannot do this! We cannot!"

"Of course we can," Dominus Cadarn replied calmly. "The Twilight Lord has honored us, wife. If it is to be as my great-grandmother says, and I have no cause to disbelieve her now. We must keep on the good side of our kinsman Kolgrim."

"I will
not
be party to such a thing," Lady Paulina cried.

"You will do as you are told," Cadarn said in a cold hard voice. "If you do not, if you embarrass me, embarrass Terah, we will return home immediately. And when we get there I will see you are beaten for your insolence. You will be imprisoned till you die in Great-grandmother's old tower, which refuses to be destroyed. Then I will divorce you and take a younger, more obedient wife. You will never see your children, or your grandchildren again. Do you understand me, Paulina?"

Cowed, she bowed her head. "Yes, my lord," she said meekly.

"Do not feel sorry for the bride, Lady Nyura," Lara said to her great-grandson's wife. "She is aware of this custom. She chose to keep her innocence until she wed. I do not believe she knows it, but it has something to do with the powers she possesses. They would have been weakened by her sexual activity if she had indulged herself prior to marriage. Whether she sensed it, or the shade of her ancestress led her, we will never know. And she is pleased to bring honor to her family by her sacrifice."

"Every virgin screams the first time," Cadarn said in matter-of-fact tones.

"But to be taken before witnesses," Lady Paulina said weakly.

"There will be no intimacy between them prior to the defloration," Lara explained. "Their passion is not for our eyes. We are there to attest to the honesty and the value of the bride who saved her virginity for her bridegroom. Kolgrim's cock will be stimulated by several skilled Pleasure Women while at the same time Nyura is brought to a state of readiness by several equally skilled sex slaves purchased for just this occasion. When bride and groom have been properly prepared, they are brought together and complete the defloration with the aid of the Pleasure Women and the male sex slaves. It's actually a very civilized ceremony. If everyone involved does their job properly it will be over quickly. Then Kolgrim and his bride will disappear behind closed doors. The sheet upon which the deed was done is then brought back to the hall to be displayed to all the wedding guests. Then our part in the ceremony is over."

"Did you really steal his bride away and hide her?" Cadarn asked Lara.

"I did," Lara admitted. "I would have been very happy to keep Kolgrim from this marriage to Nyura Ahasferus, but it was not to be."

"What did you hope to accomplish by such an act?" Cadarn asked.

"This girl he is to wed was not chosen casually," Lara said. Then she explained to them about the Book of Rule, and how its pages wrote themselves, directing each Twilight Lord in his behavior. "I hoped to stop this marriage in order to save Hetar, but Kolgrim charmed my youngest daughter, Marzina, and menaced her."

"I thought he did not kill blood kin," Cadarn said.

"He did not intend killing her. What he planned was far worse. She was in a room of glass that Kolgrim threatened to release into a bottomless cavern outside of his castle. Marzina would have been trapped, unable to escape, and condemned for eternity. As I have a particular fondness for this daughter," Lara told Cadarn, "I gave him back his betrothed wife, and he gave me back my child."

"How cruel!" Lady Paulina said softly. "I could see the evil in his eyes. The poor maiden who is to be his wife."

"Oh, she is quite delighted with her fate," Lara said. "Do not grieve for Nyura."

"Let us make ourselves comfortable until we are called to the wedding," Prince Kaliq said, seating himself upon a velvet couch, drawing Lara down beside him.

"Indeed," Cadarn agreed. "If this wedding is like all weddings, it will be a busy day." He sat himself upon another velvet couch, patting the cushion by his side.

Lady Paulina accepted his invitation.

Let silence reign among us all and quiet be until the call,
Prince Kaliq silently murmured the small enchantment. At once Cadarn and his wife fell asleep where they sat. "There has been enough talk," he said by way of explanation to Lara.

"Agreed," she replied. "They won't listen anyway. They do try, but they are so quickly led astray. They are beginning to sound more like Hetarians than Terahns. I can only imagine what Magnus would say."

"I think he would be very surprised to see what is happening in Terah. His son should have never allowed the Hetarian trading vessels to come to Terah. The kingdom was safer when the Terahn ships met the Hetarian ones at sea and transferred the cargo," Kaliq noted. "I will never understand why Taj did not listen to you in the matter."

"He was seventeen," Lara remembered, "and determined to escape the influence of his mother, the Shadow Queen. His grandmother, Lady Persis, persisted in irritating him about my position. She simply could not stomach a woman in a locus of power. And so to prove to her that he was Dominus and my authority was nonexistent, he allowed the Hetarian trading vessels to dock in Terah. Then he cajoled his uncles into declaring him old enough to rule alone, and that was the end of it. He had no respect for my advice after that, although he loved me. And then Persis died, and begged him on her deathbed to choose a traditional Terahn wife. His swore it, and his aunts acted swiftly." Lara laughed ruefully. "After that my power among the Terahns began to wane. There was nothing I could do."

Kaliq shook his head. "These mortal folk are determined to go their own way, and now here in the world of Hetar we must let them do just that. I am only sorry for the hurt they did you, Lara, my love. And now today we must watch as this marriage brings them closer to the edge of destruction. They will eat and dance and celebrate, not knowing until it is too late just what they have done."

THE DOOR TO THE CHAMBER OPENED AGAIN, AND a servant in splendid red-and-gold livery standing in the portal announced, "My lords and my ladies. The litters to take you to the wedding await you. If you will follow me, please." And he bowed to them.

Awaken refreshed!
Kaliq released the Terahn ruler and his wife from the spell he had set upon them earlier.

"Must have dozed off," Cadarn said. "Nothing like a little nap to refresh one."

His wife nodded in agreement as she stood brushing nonexistent wrinkles from her beautiful gown. Then she took her husband's arm and they followed the servant.

Lara and Kaliq came behind them, smiling at each other with amusement.

As they came out into the great entry foyer Lara remembered the first time she had been in this place. Strangely it did not seem so very impressive now as it had then. As they exited the palace into the late-morning light they found two magnificent litters awaiting them. Large enough to comfortably carry two adults, they were of carved ebony decorated with pure gold designs, upholstered with soft golden leather and hung with gold-colored and spangled silk gauze draperies.

"Look at the tassels on the pillows," they heard Lady Paulina exclaim to the Dominus as she climbed into the transport. "Do you think the jewels are real? Caddie, we must have a litter like this made for ourselves when we get home. Our litters are too plain by far. What will Vaclar's bride think of us with such ordinary litters?"

They did not hear Cadarn's reply, and Lara was more interested in the four young men who bore each litter. They were identical in face and form. "Are you brothers?" she inquired of them.

The men nodded in reply. Then they all opened their mouths to reveal they had no tongues and could not speak.

Lara saw their plight then asked, "Magic effected this perfection you all bear. Did it also take your tongues and with it your power of speech?"

Again the bearers nodded in unison.

"Are you well treated otherwise?" Lara wanted to know.

They nodded.

"Then I shall restore your ability to communicate without anyone realizing that you can," she said.
Hear my voice this very day. Hear what all your brothers say. Speak to them within your head. This is magic you need not dread.

A look of wonder suddenly lit the eight bearers faces, and Lara smiled.

"Take us to the wedding now. You will be able to speak with each other in this manner from this moment on. Those who rendered you voiceless will never know you have the power to communicate again," she told them. Then Lara climbed into the litter.

Thank you, faerie woman! Thank you!
one of the bearers said.

You are welcome, my friends,
Lara said. She moved slightly to accommodate Kaliq, who had climbed in beside her. "How barbaric to take their tongues from them so they could not tell of the magic that made them identical. Some bad faerie did this. I hope it was not one of our forest folk. I will have Mother investigate."

"And how Hetarian of the Lord High Ruler to have handsome identical bearers for his litters. I wonder how many more of them there are," Kaliq wondered. "No matter. I have enabled any unknown to us to have the gift of mind speak. I will tell these bearers, and they can bring the news to the others."

They felt their litter lifted up, and the bearers set off at a swift trot across the green park that was the Golden District. Looking at Lara in her green gown, Kaliq felt a surge of desire and was startled to find her gaze on him. Closing his bright blue eyes, he began to imagine them making love within the litter. Catching his thoughts, Lara joined hers to his. They were naked, lying stretched out against the soft golden leather of the interior of the litter. He sat propped up by the many pillows, his great cock filling her as she sat facing him, her arms entwined about his neck, her breasts pushing against his chest. They moved together in perfect rhythm as the litter jogged along. And then their passions peaked simultaneously. They sighed, and opened their eyes, smiling at each other.

"That was delicious," Lara murmured to him, laying her head upon his shoulder.

"An appetizer for later when we have returned to Shunnar, and I may spend hours enjoying your beautiful body, your sweet lips, Lara, my love," Kaliq told her.

"If mortals knew all the things we could do they would be so envious," Lara chuckled mischievously. "Their perceptions of magic are far too simple."

They felt the tempo of the bearers slowing down and, looking through the sheer draperies, saw they were coming up a curved driveway. On either side of the path great tall bushes filled with round, deep pink flowers lined the way. Then suddenly a view of Grugyn Ahasferus's home was revealed to them. A low two stories, constructed of cream-colored marble, and generously colonnaded, it had two wings separated by a third single-storied section. Its exterior was almost as magnificent as the palace, but Lara wagered with herself the interior would be far more glorious. As long as the Ahasferus family was wise enough not to display their great wealth too publicly they were safe from Palben's wrath. No one but those few invited into both homes would ever be able to compare the two. And they would not dare to do so if they valued their lives.

The litter came to a stop and was set down gently. Kaliq emerged, holding his hand out to Lara, who then stepped forth.
Tell any others who have been afflicted as you have in the service of your masters that they can now use the mindspeak of the magic world, my friend,
Kaliq told one of the bearers.

There is no way in which we can thank you for this gift, my lord,
the bearer said with tears in his eyes.

Fight the darkness that will soon come with good,
Kaliq replied and then he turned to escort Lara into the great mansion of Grugyn Ahasferus.

The master of the house and his wife, Lady Camilla, having been advised of these most important guests, were awaiting them in the entry rotunda of the house. Cadarn had wisely waited for Lara and Kaliq despite his wife's insistence they go ahead. Lara nodded her approval to her great-grandson as they passed him by to meet Grugyn Ahasferus and his lady.

"We are honored by your presence, Prince Kaliq of the Shadows," the patriarch of the family said, bowing. "And by yours, as well, my lady Lara. I remember my grandfather, Cuthbert, speaking of you when I was a child. May I present my wife, Camilla, whose line of descent is through the eldest daughter of Sir Rupert Bloodaxe, who fathered your late son-in-law, Jonah," Grugyn Ahasferus explained.

Lara bowed slightly in recognition of his greeting. "Faerie blessings on your house this day, Grugyn Ahasferus," she said to him.

"We much admire your son, lady," he responded.

Lara smiled slightly. "Kolgrim is an interesting young man, well not really so young for he passed the century mark several years ago."

Lady Camilla paled. "He is old? But he looks no more than a man of thirty."

"His vanity would revel in your words, lady," Lara told her. "Twilight Lords age far more slowly than do mortals. But my son will keep your granddaughter young as long as she amuses him." Her words were cruel, and Lara knew it.

It would not, however, faze Lady Camilla. Tomorrow mattered little to Hetarians. Today and prestige was most important to them; and today Lady Camilla's granddaughter would wed a powerful magical being who ruled over his own land. No one else in Hetar could say that. She smiled coyly at Prince Kaliq, who kissed her hand. Lady Camilla had heard that Shadow Princes were great lovers. Of course that was legend. Shadow Princes didn't exist. Magic didn't exist. At least according to the powers that be. And yet here was a Shadow Lord kissing her hand, and she had just spoken with a faerie woman who was said to exist only in legend, and yet she was real. It promised to be a very wonderful and very exciting day. Lady Camilla focused on greeting the Domina of Terah, who was wearing one of the most beautiful gowns she had ever seen.

The thoughts in her head, so filled with self-importance and misinformation, boggle my mind, Kaliq.

You are harsh in your judgments, my love,
he replied.
But that is because you are angry with what is happening. Do not be, Lara. We have done our best for Hetar. We can do no more, and so we will move on to new pastures and new adventures.

Then let us go now, Kaliq! I cannot watch this travesty.

Nay, we must yet remain,
he told her.
Our task here is not quite finished. Today you will give Kolgrim what he has always wanted of you. Your love and your approval. In doing so you weaken him, although he will not realize it. It means that one day the light can return to this world. And when it does it will hopefully be a better place.

So in the end I do defeat the darkness,
Lara said softly.

Nay, 'twill not be you who defeats it here, Lara, but by giving your love and favor to Kolgrim this day you will set in motion what is to be.

And then what?
Lara asked.

And then, my darling, we will ride Dasras together into the Cosmos. There is more, of course, but better you live it than I tell you of what is to come,
he said with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling at her for he knew what she would say next.

You know I hate mysteries, Kaliq!
Lara said, and Kaliq laughed aloud.

"Mother!"

"Marzina! What are you doing here?" Lara wanted to know.

"Kolgrim wanted me to come, and frankly I couldn't resist. The forest is almost emptied out of all of our race. Grandmother and Thanos will be the last to go, for they are so responsible. And I think Grandmother is sorrowing a little over Hetar. Dillon has offered them a permanent refuge on Beltran if they want it. I must admit the forests there are magnificent, but Grandmother is not ready to settle herself just yet," Marzina said. "I love your gown, Mother! The green is wonderful and exactly like the White Oak leaves of spring in the forest. Hello, Kaliq."

"Marzina," he said, amused by her chatter.

"I do not know if I want you to become so friendly with Kolgrim," Lara said to her youngest daughter.

"Why not? He is my brother after all. Not half brother, but
my brother,
" Marzina said meaningfully.

Lara sighed. "If I could have prevented it, you would have never known that, my daughter. And Kolgrim is evil as he was meant to be. When your grandparents leave the forest I want you to go with them, Marzina."

"You cannot plan my fate, Mother, as you could not plan that of your other offspring. Dillon went to Belmair. Anoush returned to the Fiacre clan family where she felt happier. Zagiri defied you, ran away and married the man she loved. Taj listened more to others than to you. He committed the worst sin of all by marginalizing you, Mother. I have my own destiny to follow, and I will."

"And just what is your destiny?" Lara wanted to know.

"I have absolutely no idea. I simply listen to the voice within, who guides me even as Ethne sometimes guides you," Marzina said airily. "Whatever my destiny is I am not afraid of it. Unlike you, I like enigmas." And she laughed her tinkling laughter.

"This is your brother's wedding day," Lara said, "and so you and I shall not quarrel, Marzina. But you must leave Hetar with the others."

Marzina, her violet eyes dancing with merriment, kissed her mother's cheek. "Have you seen all the handsome young men here today? I am in the mood to take pleasures with several of them."

Kaliq chuckled. "You are a naughty faerie maid," he teased her. "Try not to break too many hearts today, Marzina."

"Mother!" Kolgrim strode forward. Garbed in black silk decorated with silver, he was very handsome. He kissed her on both cheeks. "Thank you for coming."

"I always attend my sons' weddings," Lara said. "My daughters either run away, or stay unmarried."

"Marzina is too beautiful to marry," Kolgrim said. "I shall build her a House of Men in the Dark Lands next to my House of Women. She may keep her male concubines there for pleasures."

"What a grand idea!" Marzina said, clapping her hands. "You are the best brother any girl could have!" She threw her arms about him so she might hug and kiss him.

Lara felt an icy ripple race down her spine. Marzina was the most reckless of all her children. That, she supposed, was Kol's doing. But her daughter must not ally herself with Kolgrim. He was a fascinating man to be sure, but he must not take Marzina with him into the darkness.
He mustn't!

"I have a favor to ask of you, Mother," Kolgrim said.

"What is it?" Lara inquired of him. He wanted a favor from her? Curious.

"Marzina has already agreed to stand with me, but I would have you, too."

Lara's first instinct was to say no. But then she heard Ethne, her guardian spirit, speaking to her. Only Lara could hear her when she spoke.

Say yes, my child!
Ethne's voice was most plain.

Why?
Lara asked surprised.

Because it is important to him, and it is important for you to do so,
Ethne said.
Trust me, my child, as you always have.
The crystal star on the end of the chain about her neck glowed with its golden light.

Has Kolgrim bewitched you, Ethne?

Nay, my child, he has not the power for that. Now tell him aye.

"I will stand by your side, Kolgrim," Lara told the Twilight Lord.

His handsome face mirrored his delight at her words. "Then you do love me!" he said excitedly! "Sometimes I speak with Kolbein in his imprisonment. He says you will never love me, but you do.
You do!
"