The Shadow Queen (52 page)

Kaliq smiled from the shadows where he had retreated while mother and daughter had settled their differences. Zagiri would never understand the deep hurt she had inflicted upon her mother, but it had been unintentional, and at last they were reconciled.

“Now,” Lara said, “this matter of the Hierarch. I could lie to you, Zagiri, and you would believe me. But I will not lie to you. The Hierarch is my nephew Cam.” Then Lara explained to her daughter how the Darking Ciarda had ensorcelled Cam for her own purposes. And of how the magic world that championed the light had foiled the Darkling, but in doing so had left the Hierarch the mere mortal he was and helpless.

“Hetar needs to face its weaknesses, and then rebuild itself again. We might do it for them, but they would learn nothing from their mistakes then, and expect the magic kingdoms to help them whenever they failed. Instead we speak through the Hierarch, telling them what it is they need to do to rebuild their own kingdom. Their legend says the Hierarch will come in their time of trouble, and lead them back into the light. We have seen to it that happens, Zagiri. Had we left Cam to be discovered for the fraud he is the magnates and the Merchants Guild would have kept on squeezing every last drop of profit from the people.

“And, too, Hetar and its peoples would have resented any open interference from the magic worlds. This way the Hierarch gives them a direction, and a plan to follow. In doing so Hetar feels a sense of national pride and accomplishment, Zagiri. This is the way it should be in the mortal world. Mortals are eager to succeed. It makes them unique among the different races of beings. You cannot tell your husband the truth about the Hierarch,” Lara finished.

“I know,” Zagiri replied. “He would not understand, Mother, but I do. I will keep the secret. Tell me one thing, though. What happened to the Darkling?”

“The Twilight Lord decided she would make him a good mate,” Lara said. “As such she is not permitted to leave the Dark Lands without him.”

“Oh,” Zagiri replied. “Then she will not bother Hetar again.”

“It is unlikely,” Lara told her daughter.

Kaliq now stepped from the shadows, smiling. “I must put Zagiri back in her own privy chamber before she is discovered missing. I am happy to see that you two are reconciled once more.”

“Mother?”

“Yes, Zagiri?”

“Give Taj, Marzina and Anoush my love,” the young woman said, and she hugged her mother.

“I will arrange for you to visit soon,” Lara replied. “Your husband will find he owes me many favors, and I will certainly want to collect from him.”

Zagiri giggled, which made her mother smile.

“I will send you back,” Kaliq said.

“Thank you, my lord,” Zagiri responded, and, impulsively, she kissed his cheek, blushing as she did so at her own daring.

With a wave of his hand and a chuckle, Kaliq returned Zagiri to her own world.

“She called to you when I would not answer her?” Lara said to him, rather intrigued by her daughter’s foresight.

“Be glad she was clever enough to do so, and not run to Jonah,” Kaliq remarked.

“I cannot believe that she loves him,” Lara said. “I have never found anything lovable about Jonah. Still, I will admit that I have seen he loves her. Perhaps she can influence him to the good. Perhaps that is her destiny.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed, and his arm slipped about her waist. With a sigh Lara leaned against him, and, turning her heart-shaped face to his, kissed him softly, tenderly. “My brothers are correct when they say you are my weakness,” he told her.

Lara turned to face him, and took his handsome and ageless face between her two hands. “It would seem only fair since you are my weakness, my lord,” she told him, kissing him back, her lips warm against his.

He did not wait, but transported them to his bedchamber, smiling into her eyes as she magicked their garments away. Lifting her up, he buried his face between her breasts, tasting the salt of her slightly damp skin with his tongue.

Lara smiled down at him, hearing his thoughts as he touched her.
My faerie woman. Mine!
She twined her fingers through his dark hair as he slowly lowered her, walking as he did so, setting her upon his bed. Now it was he who cupped her face between his hands, smiling down into her green eyes.
My Shadow Prince. Mine!
Lara silently said to him.

They fell together onto the bed. Their lips met in a fierce and passionate embrace, one kiss blending into another and another and another until they were both dizzy with desire. He lay upon his back as she explored him with her lips and tongue. She nibbled on his nipples, pushed her tongue suggestively into his navel, licked the length of his torso with her hot little tongue. Her hand closed about his love rod, which needed little encouragement for his lust was high. Lara bent and kissed its tip. Then she mounted him, her shapely thighs pinning him, absorbing his length slowly, slowly, until she had completely sheathed him. Then, leaning forward, she offered him a breast.

Kaliq’s mouth closed over her nipple with a snap. He sucked hard on it as Lara began a gentle movement upon his rod. His tongue licked around the nipple over and over again. The movement increased the tiniest bit. He sucked her again, then, unable to help himself, bit down upon the tender flesh. Her sheath squeezed him tightly, and he groaned and their eyes met. His fingers caressed her breast, then, taking it in his hand, he squeezed it and all the while his mouth never left her nipple. Taking his other hand, he pushed two fingers into her mouth, and with tongue and lips she played with them.

Kaliq’s lust was near to boiling over.
Enough, my love,
he told her.

“No!” she said aloud and nipped at the fingers between her lips.

In answer to her, he quickly rolled her onto her back, pulling his fingers from her mouth as he did so. “Now, my faerie woman, I have you at my mercy,” he told her, laughing as her legs clamped about his torso. “The time for teasing is over, and the time for pleasures begins.” Lara’s arms slipped about him, and, pulling his head to her, she kissed him again as he began to move upon her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated upon the size and length of him as he plumbed her depths until she was dizzy again with the delight he was engendering in her whole body. She clutched his rod tightly within her sheath, sighing as he groaned. Her fingers dug into his muscled shoulders, and clawed down his long back. The pleasures he offered her were so intense that Lara found herself close to losing consciousness. Then the inner storm began as her sheath began to spasm and Lara cried out as the pleasures overwhelmed them both. She slid into a heated darkness that enfolded her, wrapping her in warmth and contentment as he cried her name aloud.

Afterward as they lay sated with each other Kaliq said, “I want you to make Shunnar your home, my love.”

“I cannot,” Lara answered him. “Not until Taj is grown and ruling on his own. You know that I cannot leave him now, Kaliq.”

“I know,” he admitted with a sigh. “But when you can, Shunnar should be your home, not Terah.”

“We have much to do before that can happen, my lord. This business with Hetar needs to be finished. And Anoush must be awakened, Marzina taught self-discipline lest she become a danger to herself and others and my son grown and wise enough to govern without me. There will be time for us eventually, my dearest Kaliq, but neither you nor I are apt to neglect our duty, are we?”

“Nay, we are not,” he admitted. “Will you come to me when you can, my love?”

“Aye, I will. You are the only creature, mortal or magic, to truly understand me,” Lara said softly. “But you must remember always that I am faerie, for I would not hurt you deliberately, Kaliq.”

“I know that,” he told her, pulling her back into his embrace, and Lara sighed happily with the knowledge that whatever happened Kaliq would always be there for her.

* * *

I
N
THE
DAYS
and weeks that followed Hetar began to heal. By the time the Icy Season returned all in the kingdom had warm, dry shelters. The Hetarians were proud of what they had accomplished in those few months. Even the magnates and the Merchants Guild had stopped complaining about the monies they were spending, for they saw a future of fresh profits for themselves as the people became prosperous once again. It was time for the Hierarch to leave Hetar.

He did so at Winterfest in a dramatic fashion that would be remembered for years to come. The square was overflowing, for the Hierarch had announced several days prior that he would leave them on the last night of Winterfest. The crowds jostled with one another for a glimpse of the Hierarch. People hung from the windows of the buildings about the main square. They stood or clung to the rooftops. Children were held up for the Hierarch’s blessing as he made his way into the crowds that parted for him, and stood upon the painted platform that had been raised up for this occasion.

“I will not come again, my people,” he told the Hetarians who stood listening to his words with upturned faces. “Follow my teachings. Be kind to one another. Profit is a good thing when not carried to extremes. I have shown you how to restore your traditions so that they fit the times in which you now live. You have already demonstrated much progress in the rebuilding of your kingdom. I came but to guide you, but it is you who must, who can and who will restore this land by your own good efforts. Hetar is capable of great things, my children. I give you all my blessing,” the Hierarch said as he lifted his hands to encompass the crowds below, above and around him. Then to the gasps and cries of his audience he began to rise up. “Farewell!” he called out to them as he appeared to float away.

And those there in and about the main square watched, astonished, until the Hierarch had disappeared completely from their sight. A feeling of euphoria filled the air with his passing. All night long the people of Hetar celebrated the Icy Season, the Hierarch and each other. Frine flowed freely. There were stalls selling little hot meat pies and skewers with roasted vegetables. The Pleasure Houses were busier than they had been in months. Everyone agreed that Hetar’s difficult days were behind them. They were well on the road to recovery, and the High Council would see they remained there.

As for Cam of the Fiacre, no one was more relieved than he to be returned home to his village of Rivalen. His last few months in Hetar had been very frightening, for he had never quite believed that his aunt would really aid him. Each day he had been required to perform as the Hierarch the Shadow Prince Kaliq stood invisible at his side, putting the proper words in his mouth, creating the miracles he was required to perform. Still, until he actually found himself back in his own environs he had never believed he wouldn’t be betrayed. He appeared in Sholeh’s hall with Lara even as the morning was beginning.

“Go and find your bed, Cam,” Lara advised him. “I will return this evening, and we will speak with Sholeh together.” She gave him a quick smile and was gone before he might question her further about Anoush.

Returning to Shunnar, Lara sought out Kaliq. “I need a favor of you, my lord,” she greeted him.

“What would you have of me, my love?” he asked her.

“I do not wish to lie to Cam when he accuses me of turning Anoush’s heart from him,” Lara said. “When I awaken her I need your aid in this matter.”

“Before I agree,” Kaliq said, “I must look into Cam’s heart to see if he truly loves her. We cannot in good conscience separate true love, for if we do neither lover will ever find real happiness, Lara. You know this to be so.”

She sighed, nodding. “My instinct tells me he is the wrong man for her, but even my natural talents may be flawed by his parents’ crime. Look into his heart, Kaliq, and I will abide by your decision in this matter,” Lara said.

The Shadow Prince took his crystal globe from the place where it sat in the garden absorbing the sunlight by day, and the moonlight by night. Holding it in his left palm, he passed his right hand over it.
Show me if your heart is true. Or loving you the maid will rue.
Finally, after gazing for a brief time, Kaliq indicated to Lara that she should look into the globe herself.

She peered into the crystal and then said, “His heart is black as pitch.” Then she sighed. “In a strange way I am sorry,” Lara said.

“I will contact the Munin, and have all recent memories of Cam removed from Anoush’s memory,” Kaliq said. “Your instincts are sound, my love. When it is done we will awaken Anoush together.”

“Aye, and in time perhaps my daughter will find a man who loves her with a true heart whom she will also love,” Lara replied.

Kaliq called his friend the Munin Lord Satordi to him. He explained the situation, and together the two stood by Anoush’s bedside while Satordi gently extracted the girl’s recent memories of Cam from her head. Those memories were also excised from the clan families. The Munin were the magical folk who had dominion over the memories of all beings. When memories were lost it was the Munin who found them and stored them away. They were also adept at taking memories if needs be.

“Store them carefully in a hidden place known only to you,” Kaliq said.

“It will be done, my lord Prince,” Satordi replied, and he was gone.

Kaliq then went to find Lara. They transported the girl by means of their magic back to her own home in New Camdene. Anoush would never know of her kidnapping and rescue while she slept. Gently they awakened her, undoing the spell that had put her to sleep those few months ago.

Anoush opened her blue eyes, yawned, stretched and then sat up. “Mother! My lord! Why are you here? How long have I slept?”

“For several months, my darling,” Lara said. “You fell ill of a fever, and magical sleep was the only remedy for it.”

“Mother, I had the oddest dream while I slept,” Anoush said. “A handsome young man came and stood by my bedside. He stroked my hand, and said no harm would come to me for we were kin, and he could allow no harm to touch his kin. Isn’t that strange?”

“And what did this young man look like?” Kaliq said in an amused voice so as not to alarm the girl, for he had heard Lara’s soft gasp.