The Shadow Queen (29 page)

Dasras began to decrease his altitude. He cleared the far cliff and sailed out over the waters of the dark blue fjord. Then, circling, he dropped down into his stable yard, coming to a gentle landing. It was always more difficult for him to land than it was for him to take off. Jason, his personal attendant, came racing from the stables to greet him.

Lara slid from the saddle. “Thank you, Dasras,” she said, and, rubbing his muzzle affectionately, she hurried into the castle.

“We didn’t know you were coming home today, mistress,” her servant, Mila, said as she came forward to welcome her home. “Where is the young Dominus?”

“I will bring him back in two days’ time,” Lara told Mila. “Two of his friends are coming with him. They will live in the castle and study with Taj. Tomorrow we must see that suitable quarters are made ready for them. I am tired, Mila. Fetch me something to eat. I am going to the baths to rid myself of the stink of my travels.”

“At once, mistress. I know just what you need for you look tired. All that feasting and playing at your Gathering.” She bustled off.

Lara entered her private bath. The attendants were waiting, having been notified by another servant that the Domina had returned. She stood silently as they soaped her and scrubbed her. The smell of the rough encampment of The Gathering and several hours on Dasras’s broad back was rinsed away. With a smile of thanks she walked to the marble soaking tub, immersing herself in the perfumed water so she might relax.

It had been an incredibly eventful few weeks. Seeing the twins she had borne to Kol—she still had difficulty thinking of them as her sons—had been quite a revelation. She had begun to wonder what they would have been like had she brought them into the light to be raised. She should not have allowed Kaliq and the others to make her leave them behind to Kol’s mercy. Certainly not after Kol was punished for his assault of her on the Dream Plain. Would not the Dark Lands, without heirs or their Twilight Lord, have been just as confused and conflicted? But it was too late to second-guess what had been done.

Kolgrim and Kolbein were their father’s sons. Kolbein was, of course, the worst of the two, having been raised by the Wolfyn. But Arild and his family had not been bad giants. And Kolgrim certainly had his father’s charm. And though she disliked admitting it, she had been amused by his sense of humor.
I could almost like him,
Lara thought, surprised. He and Kolbein would quarrel, of course, over everything having to do with ruling the Dark Lands. Alfrigg would have his hands full, but it was no longer her concern, especially as she had prevented the Darkling from interfering.

But it was Ciarda who concerned Lara the most. She had just enough magic to be troublesome, but not enough to accomplish all she sought to do. Unfortunately Ciarda did not realize that. Having no idea what she would do next, they would have to watch her carefully. Lara stepped from her soaking pool into a thick towel held by one of the bath attendants. “Nothing more tonight,” she said, waving the servants away as, wrapped in her long towel, she made for her bedchamber. The castle, she noted, was very quiet. She had never known it to be that quiet. Too quiet. She was glad she had let Taj bring his two best friends back with him. Three noisy boys would bring the old castle back to life again. She remembered Dillon’s youthful adventures when he lived here.

“I’ve brought you a nice poached breast of capon,” Mila said, coming into the room with a tray. She placed it on the table that was set in the wide bay window. “Fresh bread, a salad and a piece of that delicious sponge cake that your brother’s mate so loves.” She placed a fresh white napkin in Lara’s lap when she sat. Then Mila poured her mistress a goblet of pale golden wine. “Do you want company while you eat?” she asked. “Who are these boys who will return with the Dominus?”

Lara realized that Mila was not, despite her query, going to leave her to herself. “They are his two best friends, sons of Fiacre clansmen. They have played together since they were children.” She ate some of the capon and buttered her bread. “He had no sooner arrived than he was off with them.” She smiled and chewed her food slowly.

“I wonder that their presence might not offend some of the more important Terahn families,” Mila said slowly. “Why should these two foreigners be allowed to live and study with our Dominus? Are there not Terahn boys who are good enough? These are questions that will be asked, Domina.”

“Asked by the narrow of mind, and the insular,” Lara said, irritated, but Mila did make a point. “And please do not call folk from the Terahn province of the New Outlands foreigners. They had Terahn citizenship granted to them by Magnus Hauk, and all he gave them our son promised to continue. Taj has lived an isolated life here at the castle as most Terahn children do in their own homes. If he attended a Terahn school he would be deferred to, and nothing would be natural. You know how formal Terahns can be toward their Dominus. You live here at the castle, Mila, and you know us as people. The average citizen does not. I suppose I shall have to ask two Terahn boys to join Taj and his friends, but when those boys bow and scrape to my son, Gare and Sinon will certainly be put off by such behavior. And so will Taj.”

“You could offend those you do not ask,” Mila pointed out.

“Then I shall ask none at all. It will be announced that the Dominus has requested two friends from the New Outlands join him this year so he may learn more about these people, and integrate them better into Terahn life,” Lara told Mila with a grin.

Mila could not help but chuckle. “You are too clever for us, mistress,” she said. “There will be talk nonetheless, but if the Dominus has said it, the wealthy will swallow their pride and let it be. However, the Dominus’s aunts and grandmother will be certain to involve themselves in the matter.”

“Taj will silence them, you may be certain,” Lara replied as she finished her meal.

“You did not eat your cake,” Mila noted.

“I will eat it later,” Lara said. “Leave it, and take the tray away. I will not need you again tonight, Mila.”

The serving woman picked up the tray, and with a bow left her mistress. Lara unwrapped the towel she had been wearing and slipped a pale blue silk night garment over her head. Then, sitting, she brushed out her long hair and replaited it into a thick braid. Walking out into her garden, Lara looked out over the fjord and the cliffs around her. Terah was surely the fairest place in any world. To her right a moon rose. A night bird sang from some hidden perch.

“You don’t really want to be alone, my love, do you?” Kaliq asked her softly. He stood behind her, slipping an arm about her waist, kissing the side of her neck.

“I thought I did, but I don’t,” Lara answered, leaning back against him. “The castle is so quiet, my lord. I will be glad to have my son and his friends home.”

“This is the time for a respite, my love. We have put a watch on Ciarda. She considers what mischief she will next create.”

Lara rested her head against his shoulder. “She will be cautious, for she must certainly consider that we will be monitoring her.”

“Like most Darklings she is reckless,” Kaliq said. His free hand slipped beneath the sheer blue silk to cup a breast. His thumb rubbed the nipple slowly.

Lara sighed and relaxed against him. “I am so tired,” she said. “These last days overseeing Kol’s sons, thwarting the Darkling, have been busy.”

“Shall I go?” he asked her, and his fingers closed about her breast, squeezing it gently. “I will go if you wish, my love.”

“Nay,” Lara responded. “Do not go, Kaliq, but then curse you, you knew I would not want you to go. Why do you pretend the choice is mine when you know full well that it is not?” She turned in his arms, taking his handsome face between her two hands. “The passion you hold for me strengthens me, Kaliq. We both know it. But does it weaken you, my lord? I would not harm the great spirit you are in the slightest.” Her eyes searched his face for the truth, but then if he had lied to her she would not have known it for he was skilled at concealing his emotions.

He kissed her. His sensual mouth closed over her mouth as he drew her to him. The magic between them melted their garments away. They stood as the kiss deepened, their lips fusing together as their souls blended them briefly into a single entity before they finally broke apart, both breathless.

Kaliq’s hands fitted themselves about Lara’s waist. Slowly he lifted her up, his renewed kisses touching her neck, her chest, her breasts and belly. Restoring her to her feet, he took her by the hand, leading her to the bed where they collapsed together, limbs intertwined, belly to belly, her breasts flattening against his smooth, broad chest. He began to kiss her again and her lips parted to receive his tongue.

Lara felt as if her bones were melting away. Pleasures with Kaliq were like no other pleasures. His mouth left hers, and now fastened over one breast. He suckled upon the nipple. He played with it, drawing it out as far as the skin would stretch, mashing the tip of it between his two lips until she sighed with the delight it gave her. Releasing the nipple, he took the breast in his hand, squeezing it, kissing it as he traced its shape with his tongue. She sighed a long sigh, and he heard the happiness in that sigh.

His lips now began to travel across and down her torso. He used his tongue, his teeth and his mouth upon her as he traversed the length of her lush body. The chamber was silent but for the sounds of their lovemaking. Reaching her mons, he ran his tongue along the shadowed slash separating her nether lips. Eagerly he pushed his tongue between those fleshy folds seeking, seeking, and then finding precisely what he sought.

Lara gasped sharply as his tongue began to play with the sensitive core of her sex. He fastened his lips about it and began to suck upon it, causing her to cry out, but he knew he was not causing her any pain. He tugged fiercely upon that nubbin of flesh, and was rewarded when her juices began to flow. “I need you inside me, my lord,” Lara whispered into his ear as she licked at it.

He covered her body with his as their fingers laced and unlaced together. She felt his manhood pressing into her, and wrapped her legs about his torso. He thrust hard and deep, and she cried out as he continued the rhythm moving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Lara began to claw at him as he fiercely pleasured them, and now it was he who cried out as she tightened herself about him, increasing his delight.

Kaliq knew he could have kept up his passion for her for quite some time, but after an hour he brought Lara to complete and total fulfillment, taking his own release at the same time. The purple shadows beneath her eyes told him that she really did need her rest. There would be other times, other nights in which they would revel in each other. For now, however, she needed sleep.

Lying next to him, she snuggled into the curve of his arm. “You always know just what I need, and when I need it,” she told him. “Why is that, Kaliq?”

“You are a part of me, my love,” he told her. “Now sleep, Lara. The days ahead will be busy. Our impatient Darkling will not wait long to make her next move.”

“And I must be ready,” Lara said sleepily. “But not tonight, Kaliq. And not tomorrow. Stay with me, my lord. I do not want to be alone.”

“Meet me tomorrow at the Oasis of Zeroun,” he told her. “You must remember that you are the Domina, and as such have a reputation to uphold.”

“I am beginning to see the advantage in being pure faerie,” Lara murmured. “If I were I should not care what anyone else thought.”

“Magnus is gone but six months, my love,” he reminded her. “I will not allow you to let anyone have an advantage over you. You and you alone must guide Taj until he is old enough and wise enough to reign for himself. This is important, Lara, and while you may not understand why yet, you will eventually. Until tomorrow, my love.” And he kissed the top of her head.

She did not have to open her eyes. He was gone. His scent lingered, but the weight of him next to her on the bed had vanished. With a deep sigh of regret, Lara rolled over and went to sleep. To her amazement she did not waken until midday. “Why did you not call me?” she asked Mila.

“Because you needed the rest,” Mila said.

“But I have much to do, and I wanted to get away briefly today,” Lara grumbled.

“What is there for you to do, mistress? I have seen to the apartment that the Dominus’s young friends will share. I have notified the tutors, and the schoolroom is prepared for three instead of one. Dasras is content. The day is yours, and you needed your sleep,” Mila repeated.

“You take good care of me, Mila,” Lara complimented her serving woman. “Send to the stables, and tell Dasras I would ride out today. Then fetch me something to eat. I find that I am suddenly starving.”

“At once, Domina,” Mila said with a broad smile, and she hurried off to do Lara’s bidding.

Lara went off to her bath and bathed quickly. Then she dressed in her riding breeches and a white silk shirt, pulling her boots on over her stockinged feet. Mila returned with a tray, and Lara ate heartily of eggs poached in a cream sauce flavored with celery seed, a thick slice of ham and fresh bread, butter and cheese. Then she was off to the stables where Dasras awaited her saddled and ready to go. “Take his saddle off, Jason,” she told her horse’s stable man. “I intend riding him bareback today.” Jason obeyed the Domina but thought it odd. Still, when he saw her mount easily, grasping the stallion’s heavy, thick mane, he realized she knew what she was doing.

“We are going to the far meadow overlooking the sea,” she told Dasras. “You will wait for me there until I come again.”

“And you will be where, mistress?” the horse asked her.

“I go to Zeroun to meet the prince,” Lara told him.

“And as you value your reputation you wish this meeting to be private,” Dasras said. “That is very wise, and good advice the Shadow Prince gives you.”

“Can I not make a sound judgment without the prince?” Lara said.

“Indeed, mistress,” Dasras answered her, “but in this case I believe you have been well advised.”