The Twilight Lord (17 page)

“When she returns to us, will she tell us of where she had been and what she has done?” Dillon asked the prince.

“Nay, young Dillon, she will not. Her memory of her time in the Dark Lands will be completely gone from her, and it is better that it is. She will be told that part of her destiny has been implemented and she will be satisfied with that knowledge,” the prince explained.

“Why will you not tell us what she is doing?” Magnus Hauk asked.

“Because it is not necessary that you know,” Kaliq responded quietly. “I will tell you only that Lara is helping us to keep the balance between the darkness and the light. Anything else would be too much for you to bear, Magnus Hauk. Why are you so suddenly insistent on meddling in matters of magic?”

“Because it is
my wife
whom you are using as your tool,” the Dominus said angrily.

Kaliq laughed aloud although he had tried not to. “Ah, my poor friend. How fortunate Lara is to have you for her husband. No other mortal could possibly love her as you do.” He put a comforting arm about the Dominus’s broad shoulders. “Please trust me, Magnus. Your time of separation is almost over. I swear it.”

“It would seem I have no choice unless it is to amass my armies and go into the Dark Lands,” the Dominus replied.

“You would be advised not to do that for many reasons but probably the one that would concern you the most is Hetar’s plan to attack Terah shortly. They believe that you have been weakened by Lara’s disappearance and they have convinced their people that Terah poses a threat to Hetar. Their proposed war against you is being undertaken to
protect
Hetar, or so it is being said. The Coastal Kings have been building great ships of war. I suspect you had best prepare to defend your own kingdom while Lara completes her destiny and balances the light and the darkness.”

“So that is why we have seen so little of Jonah of late,” the Dominus muttered. “Can you close the portal so he may not return? That way he cannot report when we reinforce our defenses along the sea and at the fjord entrances.”

Kaliq smiled. “The portal is already closed, Magnus. And now I must go. I wish to take Dillon with me for a time—with your permission, of course. I will return him shortly,” Kaliq promised.

Dillon’s green eyes grew wide with his excitement. “I am to be allowed to go to Shunnar?” he said and then his look swung to the Dominus. “Magnus?”

“I do not know,” Magnus Hauk replied. “Your mother did not want you going until you were twelve, Dillon.”

“Going to be
taught,
” the prince quickly interjected, “and I certainly agree with Lara, but this is just a little visit to quell Dillon’s curiosity and to ease his anxiety over his mother. I will return him in three days’ time, I promise you.”

“Oh, please, Magnus!” the boy begged.
“Please!”

“No more than three days, Kaliq, for I need him by my side,” the Dominus said.

Kaliq nodded. “I understand,” he said, and he did. Dillon with his budding magic was the closest thing Magnus Hauk had to Lara now.

“Very well then, but three days only, Dillon. Do you understand?” the Dominus told his stepson. “If your mother returned while you were gone I should have a great deal of explaining to do about this.”

“Thank you, Magnus,” the boy said as Kaliq enfolded him in his robes. And then they were gone in a magical and shadowy mist.

Magnus Hauk stood silently for some minutes after they had disappeared. He was very curious about what the Shadow Prince had said. A balance between good and evil that must be maintained. What had that to do with Lara? He wondered if he would ever really know what Kaliq had meant. He found himself impatient sometimes with the magical world that lived alongside of him.

Magnus Hauk left the chamber and sought his lonely bed. He had other matters to consider now, namely Hetar. He had hoped the clever Jonah could keep that fool who called himself emperor under control. But either he could not, or like his master he believed Terah was weak without Lara. The thought irritated the Dominus. Terah had been strong before Lara and would remain so in her unfortunate absence.
I hope I have done the right thing allowing Dillon to go with Kaliq,
he thought to himself just before he fell asleep.

D
ILLON HAD CLOSED
his eyes when the Shadow Prince had wrapped his cloak about him. Now Kaliq’s voice bade him to open those eyes. It was morning and the air was warm. Nay, hot. Seeing a sculpted balustrade across the chamber, he remembered his mother’s tales of her mentor’s palace of Shunnar. Unable to help himself, Dillon ran to the balustrade and looked down in the green valley below where several herds of magnificent horses were now grazing.

“Oh, my lord, it is just as my mother said!” he exclaimed excitedly. Then he turned about. “Why have you brought me here now?” he asked softly.

“I thought it was time for you to choose one of my horses for your own,” the prince answered smiling. “You need a like companion, for you are a unique boy in your world, Dillon. I will call the giant Og, your mother’s friend who is my horse master, and he will take you down into the valley. You will like him.”

“Mother has told me all about Og,” Dillon responded. “I have always wanted to meet him. She says he is a small giant but most kind.”

The prince smiled and called to one of his servants to request that Og join them.

The giant came and while Lara might say he was small, he seemed very large to Dillon. He might have been afraid were it not for Og’s gentle blue eyes. “Do not tell me! Do not tell me!” Og exclaimed. “I would know you anywhere—Dillon, son of Lara.”

Reaching down he lifted the boy up and settled him in the crook of his arm so they might speak on a more even level. “Welcome to Shunnar, young master. I did not expect that we would meet for another few years.” He smiled cheerfully at Dillon.

“Take the boy to the valley, Og,” the prince said. “Find him a horse that will be his own, and together, begin to train it.”

“I will, my lord prince,” Og said and then looked at Dillon. “Tell me, young master, have you any particular color horse in mind?”

“Well,” Dillon said, “I thought perhaps a dappled gray, Og. Do you think there is one in the valley that would be suitable for me?”

“We will have to go and look,” Og said. He set Dillon down again. “Follow me then, lad, and we will see where your horse is.” He bowed to the prince. “How long would you like me to keep him, my lord? We really should have the day.”

“You have it,” Kaliq said smiling, and he watched as Og moved off with the boy running in his effort to keep up. The prince then turned to his waiting servant. “Bring me the reflecting mirror,” he said and when the servant had complied he withdrew from the chamber. Kaliq placed the oval, set into a golden frame, into a polished wood stand. Then standing before it he said quietly, “Come to me, lord of the Munin.” At once, the wraithlike creature who spoke for his brothers appeared in the glass.

“Help us, Kaliq of the Shadows,” the Munin lord said, his filmy arms outstretched.

“What help do you require of me?” Kaliq murmured. “Are you not content in the Penumbras in the castle the Twilight Lord created for you?”

“He has imprisoned us here!” the Munin lord cried. “We are unable to harvest, to retrieve or to restore memories, which is our function in this world. Help us!”

“If I help you, then you must do what I ask in return,” Kaliq told the Munin lord.

“What do you want of us?” the Munin asked.

“The balance must be restored between the light and the dark,” Kaliq began. “You must return
all
of Lara’s memories to her. Only then can she act to fulfill her destiny. It must be done.”

“If we do as you ask, Kol will destroy us,” the Munin lord said desperately.

“If you do not do as I ask, I will leave you in the Penumbras and you will be forced to serve at Kol’s command for eternity. Do you really want the Twilight Lord using your gifts to his own advantage? You know what that would do to the balance. But if you do what I ask of you, I will give you another homeland and you will be free to roam at will as you should. You will have the protection of the Shadow Princes and Kol will not be able to harm any of your brothers ever again.”

“Returning all of her memories may destroy her, for in Kol’s charge the light within Lara has dimmed almost entirely. Her aura has grown purple. Even I am afraid of her,” the Munin lord said. “And if the shock of her restored memories should harm Kol’s heir, he may very well kill her.”

“She will survive and so will her offspring,” Kaliq said. “But that is not all I require of the Munin. My second request I will make at another time, however.”

“Where would you raise up our castle?” the Munin lord asked slowly.

“On the most remote shore of the Obscura. A tunnel would run from deep within your castle beneath the sea to your storage facility. No one in Hetar is even aware of the Obscura’s existence. This sea is wide and on its other side live the clan families of the New Outlands. They are not mariners but people of the land. We will render your castle invisible to all but magical eyes so you will be safe. Kol can see nothing in the blazing light of the desert,” Kaliq pointed out. “What say you?”

“You will protect us from his revenge, Shadow Prince?” the Munin lord asked.

“I will protect you. Even as I speak your castle stands awaiting you, the storage chambers beneath the sea cool and dim and ready for the memories you possess,” Kaliq said. “What is your answer, Munin lord?”

“I must speak with my brothers,” came the reply.

“You have five minutes,” Kaliq replied and he watched as the Munin lord disappeared from his sight in the mirror.

When the Munin returned he said, “First you must release us and then we will do your bidding.”

“I will move your brothers but you must remain,” Kaliq said.

The Munin lord nodded his agreement. “Very well,” he said.

“Then it is done,” Kaliq murmured. “I have filled your castle with images of the Munin so Kol will not know that you are gone. Now I will send you to Kol’s throne room. It is the sleeping hour there, so no one is awake. You will take the remainder of Lara’s memories from the alabaster jar by Kol’s throne and give them back to her. I will be by her side upon the dream plain while you do, so she is not frightened.”

“And when I have done your bidding?” the Munin lord asked.

“You will join your brothers,” Kaliq said.

“And the other request you would make of us?”

“In time, not yet,” Kaliq replied. “Now, prepare to enter the castle of the Twilight Lord.” Kaliq waved his hand and the Munin was transferred from his castle in the Penumbras into the great receiving chamber of the Twilight Lord. Kaliq watched as the mirror reflected exactly what was happening.

The chamber was quiet and dark but for two censers burning on either side of Kol’s throne. Silently, the Munin lord drifted to the tall alabaster jar. Carefully he removed the golden threads of Lara’s remaining memories and slipped them into his robes while drawing out a sheaf of empty memories which he placed into the jar. Kaliq watched and nodded. The Munin was clever. Now the creature drifted from the room and, making his invisible way down a series of corridors, finally entered Lara’s apartments. He moved past her sleeping attendants upon whom Kaliq had placed a deep sleeping spell so that there would be no chance of them awakening.

Entering Lara’s bedchamber the Munin lord floated over the faerie woman and reaching into his robes for her memories, allowed the slender golden strands to slide from his fingers and back into her head. When it had been done the Shadow Prince gestured quickly with his hand and the Munin was gone. Then Kaliq closed his own eyes and prepared to enter the dream plain to speak with Lara.

She stirred, then opening her green eyes, realized she stood upon the dream plain. About her, the warm mauve mist swirled. “Who is it?” Lara called. “Who seeks me?”

“It is I, my love,” Kaliq answered her and then he was at her side.

“What has happened to me?” Lara asked him.

He took her into his arms to comfort her. “Be still for a moment, my love, and it will all return to you. You are shortly to fulfill a portion of your destiny, Lara.”

“How can this be?” Lara suddenly cried, pulling away from him, her eyes dropping to her very distended belly. “Ohh! Ohh! How could you do this to me, Kaliq?” Her eyes were filled with tears. “Do you know what has happened to me? Do you realize who this child I carry is? And
this
was my great destiny? To be bred to a lord of the darkness? To give him a child?”

The Shadow Prince held up a hand. “Stop!” he said to Lara.

She grew silent and looked despairingly at him.

“Hear me out, my love, and all will be well, I promise you. There must always be balance between the light and the dark, for the mortal races seem unable to choose good over evil. Those of us in the magical world must therefore keep the balance between the two when the darkness threatens to overwhelm the light, which it does with certain regularity. If only it would go the other way—but it never does so we toil to counterbalance discord with harmony.

“We have known for some time what was written within the Twilight Lord’s Book of Rule. That in the twelfth generation after Khalifa, the lord would sire a son on a faerie woman. That this child would be the strongest Twilight Lord ever, possessing great and terrible magic, magic that could allow the darkness to forever eradicate the light in this world. We could not allow this to happen, Lara.”

“But you allowed my memories to be stolen from me so I would be compliant!” Lara cried.

“You are faerie,” he replied. “You cannot give a child to one you do not love and it is necessary for you to bear Kol’s heir. You could not have loved him if you had retained your memories, Lara, and you know that is the truth.” She looked so distraught that he wanted to hold her again but he knew now was not the time.

“I do not love him!” she said angrily.