The Twilight Lord (33 page)

“I need your counsel, mother,” Lara said.

“Come,” the queen replied, leading Lara to a comfortable seating area. “It must be serious, for never before have you come into my realm.” The two women sat and reaching out, Ilona took a cup that had appeared in midair and gave it to Lara before taking one for herself. “Sip your faerie wine slowly,” Ilona said. “It is very potent, my daughter. Then tell me what it is that has brought you to me.”

Lara sipped the liquid in her cup. It was delicious, and tasted of raspberries. “Of late, Mother, my sleep is troubled,” she began. “I hear a deep and dark voice calling my name. I am brought to the Dream Plain, but though I sense someone, I can see no one. There is something that has been taken from me, but I know not what it is.”

Ilona had grown pale. Tears sprang up in her beautiful emerald eyes. “You are more faerie than even I had realized,” she said. “You must have faerie blood from your father that we did not know about. This is why you are as you are, Lara.” The queen sighed. “You were born, my daughter, for several purposes. You have a destiny. You have fulfilled part of that destiny, but because it was such a difficult task, Kaliq and I called the Munin lords to remove your memories of those months.”

“What was the task?” Lara asked.

“I fear to tell you, my daughter,” Ilona responded. “There is still enough mortal blood in you that you will react with loathing, guilt and shame. Kaliq and I want to protect you, Lara. You still have much to do to bring peace to Terah and Hetar. We cannot have you discouraged and deterred by what was necessary and is now past. We need you to be strong.”

“If you took my memories from me, Mother, then why does my mind seek for them?” Lara asked quietly.

“The memories of faerie folk should not be stolen. Because we believed your blood was half-mortal and half-faerie, we believed we could take those memories and hide them away where they could not harm you anymore. But it would seem your blood is more than half-faerie, my daughter. It might not have sought to regain your memories were he not calling out to you.”

“My memories must be returned to me, Mother, and who is
he
that seeks me?”

“There must always, as you know, be a balance between the light and the dark,” Ilona began. “But sometimes the dark grows stronger and stronger, threatening to overcome the light and all that is good. Part of the reason for your birth was to push back that darkness and the evil that it brings. To do this it was necessary that you go to the Dark Lands and mate with its lord.”

Lara shrank back, horrified, but then her faerie nature took control. “Tell me,” she said.

“The Dark Lands is ruled by the Twilight Lord, and each Twilight Lord’s path is dictated by the Book of Rule which has been handed down to them for five hundred years. The masters of this realm can only produce one son in each generation. The book speaks differently to each Twilight Lord. In this case it told its master that you were the wife he must take and that the son you bore him would conquer both Hetar and Terah, bringing them into the darkness.”

“Why did you not protect me from this creature?” Lara demanded. She was not certain if she should be angry or just sad at being manipulated.

“Because it was necessary for you to fulfill the Twilight Lord’s destiny as laid out in the Book of Rule. He is a cruel creature and he stole you away, Lara, after having the Munin remove the memories of who you were. When you awoke with no memory, he convinced you that you were his wife and that you had been ill. Little by little he returned the knowledge to you that you needed, everything but who you were and your family. He impregnated you, and because you believed you loved him, you carried his child. And then Kaliq came to you and restored all of your memories, explaining why we had allowed you to be used in this manner. You cast a spell creating two sons from the one child. And when you gave birth to identical twin sons, the Twilight Lord was horrified, but the Book of Rule would not permit the spilling of one child’s blood in favor of the other. These children are chaos personified and they have already set the Dark Lands against itself. Factions have formed around each of these boys, for who knows which of them will be the next lord? This is what was meant to be in order to defeat the darkness for the next hundred years, Lara. And only you could do this for us all. I am sorry,” the queen concluded.

“Why take my memories of this, Mother? Did you think me so weak that I could not do what needed to be done?” Lara demanded to know.

“You were gone a year, Lara. The clan families were in despair that you had disappeared while there. They felt responsible for your loss. Magnus and your children were frantic and heartbroken. When we stole you back we put a spell on the Twilight Lord to prevent him from coming after you. We took the memory of that year from everyone in Terah and Hetar. Do you truly believe your husband could have overlooked what happened to you? Do you believe he would have ever forgotten that you gave twin sons to another man, an evil man, especially when he wants a son of you himself? He could not have forgiven you, even knowing the circumstances of your abduction, for he loves you beyond reason, Lara. It is the nature of his mortal soul. To assuage his honor he would have declared war upon the Twilight Lord, a magical being, and brought destruction upon Terah even as Hetar was planning to attack you. It is very unwise to fight a war on two fronts, my daughter.”

“I understand all you tell me, Mother, but I want my memories of that time returned to me. It is obviously this Twilight Lord who calls to me in my dreams. How can I fight him if I know nothing of him or our time together? You have said I am stronger than either you or Kaliq knew. I am. The prince has been avoiding me, Mother. We must go to him together and convince him to return what is mine.”

“But when those memories return you will suffer with the knowledge of the time you spent with the Twilight Lord. Like all magical beings he is far more carnal than mortal men.”

“And being faerie, I responded enthusiastically,” Lara remarked dryly.

Ilona was forced to laugh. “He possesses two manhoods,” she said, “and sometimes he used both together.”

“Ahh,” Lara replied. “That is why…” She remembered her lovemaking session with Magnus the day before.

“Why what?” her mother asked.

Lara briefly explained.

“And that touched a chord in you, as well?” Ilona inquired.

“Aye, it did,” Lara responded.

“Then I must go with you to Kaliq,” Ilona said. “Your memories must be restored. If we do not those memories may attempt to rebuild themselves and do you harm.”

“I promised Magnus that I would only remain away a few hours,” Lara said.

“Go home then,” her mother advised. “This can wait another day. Tell Magnus that you are going to visit Kaliq with me because we wish to discuss Dillon’s schooling next year. That I have decided to involve myself in my grandson’s education, but that you need to set everything in advance so I cannot overrule your wishes,” Ilona said with a wicked smile.

“
That
at least will be true,” Lara replied and Ilona laughed. Then, before Lara, the shining tunnel opened again and she could see the lamp she had left flickering in her hidden chamber. She arose, as did the queen. Lara kissed her mother’s cheeks. “Thank you,” she told her. “Sometimes I think of my father keeping us apart when I was a child and I grow angry at him again, but it was meant to be, wasn’t it?”

Ilona nodded. “When you are ready to leave, call my name, Daughter. The tunnel will open for you and at its end will be the Great Corridor of Shunnar. I will meet you there.” She returned Lara’s kisses, then giving her a little push watched her depart, the tunnel closing behind her as she went until no trace of it remained. Then the queen of the Forest Faeries said, “Well, Kaliq, we have no choice. We must return Lara’s memories of her time with Kol to her and hope she is strong enough to bear the burden.”

The prince stepped forth from the shadows where he had been standing and listening. “Did you know Swiftsword had faerie blood in him?” he asked her.

Ilona shook her head in the negative. “I did not. Now I must look in the Faerie Record to learn how far back it is. It will not appear in any of his sons, for their mother is pure mortal I am certain. She is too dull and Hetarian to be otherwise.”

“What, Ilona, is that jealousy I hear in your voice?” Kaliq asked wickedly.

She gave him a scathing look. “I was young, beautiful and eager to couple with a mortal. He was handsome and vigorous. I am still young and beautiful. He is older and dull. You know as well as I do, Kaliq, that that is how it is with a mortal-faerie affair. I had been chosen to have this daughter with a preordained destiny. John had a rustic charm and I knew his fate. He was the right father for Lara. But while I loved him then, I have not loved him in years. Now let me consult the Faerie Record to learn how Swiftsword gained faerie blood that even he did not know about.” The queen of the Forest Faeries called a serving maid to fetch what she required. Then she and Kaliq sat and waited.

The Faerie Record finally arrived, brought into Ilona’s chamber by six sturdy faerie serving men. It was an enormous volume bound in gilt-covered leather, hinged in silver gilt, its cover decorated in multicolored gemstones and pearls. It was set upon a golden platform to which four silver and gold wheels were attached. The queen arose, dismissing the servants as she did. Then she walked over to the great book and commanded the platform to lower itself so she might more easily peruse the record.

“How far back does it go?” Kaliq asked her, curious.

“Before time as mortals document it,” Ilona answered. “Even the Peris in your family are here.” Then she looked at the book and said, “Lara, daughter of Ilona, granddaughter of Maeve. Show me the line of descent through her father, Swiftsword.”

Slowly the book opened and the pages began to fly past until finally they stopped. Kaliq came to stand by Ilona’s side to view what the Faerie Record revealed. What they saw made Ilona laugh aloud and Kaliq cocked his head questioningly.

“Swiftsword’s grandmother was my great-uncle Rufin’s lover briefly. She bore a son she believed was her husband’s, Swiftsword’s father,” Ilona said laughing. “That is where Swiftsword got his natural ability with the blade, for my great-uncle was famed among the faerie world for his skills with that weapon. How fascinating that Lara’s blood on both her mother and her father’s side comes from my family, the royal family of the Forest,” the queen remarked. “In a mortal, the blood weakens with each passing generation. But faerie blood strengthens with each new line born. Perhaps one of Swiftsword’s sons will have a talent after all. I will have to watch them.”

“Then you believe Lara can bear the burden of knowing her time in the Dark Lands as Kol’s mate,” Kaliq said quietly.

“Close now,” Ilona said to the book which quickly shut itself. “She believes she can, but I still fret that perhaps it is her curiosity that drives her on, my prince. You must question her carefully tomorrow when we meet at Shunnar.” Ilona sighed. “I wish we could have put a mortal woman into Kol’s eye, but no mortal could have created the two from the one.”

“I am disturbed that he is able to reach out to her even with her memories hidden away,” the prince said thoughtfully. “Without those memories she is better protected.”

Ilona reached out and took Kaliq’s hand in hers, squeezing it gently. “You cannot always protect her,” she told him softly. “She must tread her own path. And she still has more to do before her destiny is completely fulfilled.”

His look was anguished. “So much responsibility upon such delicate shoulders,” hesaid. “I do not know how she bears it, Ilona.”

“She bears it because she is my daughter,” the queen answered. “Because she is faerie. More faerie than even we knew, Kaliq. And we will always be here to aid her when she needs us.
Always!
”

He nodded. “Aye, we will,” he agreed. Then he shook himself. “I must return to Shunnar. I will await your coming tomorrow.” And turning, he was gone into the shadows of the queen’s chamber.

Ilona sat alone for a long time. Lara was strong. But the memories she demanded were going to pain her deeply. And she would have to keep them secret from her beloved Magnus. That, the queen knew, would be the hardest thing of all for her daughter. But then Ilona suddenly knew that her grandson, Dillon, would be there for his mother as he always was. He would sense her pain and comfort her. And she would be there. They would not allow Lara to suffer from the forbidden knowledge she was about to receive. There was too much more for her to do.

M
AGNUS
H
AUK WAS PLEASED
when his wife returned from visiting her mother in a relatively short time. He was not pleased when she told him that evening during their family meal that she would be leaving them again on the morrow.

“I am going to Shunnar and will be away overnight,” Lara said.

“Why?” he demanded, his look dark.

“Because the time has come to discuss Dillon’s future schooling with Kaliq. My mother wishes to be there and I will not have her making decisions for my son that I should be making. It is important to me, so I do not wish to rush back as I did today. Had I not promised you I would return immediately, my mother and I would have gone to Shunnar from her palace in the Forest, but I always keep my promises to you, Magnus. Do I not?” She gave him a sweet smile.

He glowered at her in return. “Can this not wait until another time? What is the rush? It is another year before Dillon leaves us, Lara.”

“Why must you make this so difficult, my lord?” Lara countered cleverly, totally ignoring his questions. “I know how fond you have become of my son, and he of you, but Dillon has magic in him and it must be fostered properly. Kaliq wishes to discuss the program for Dillon’s first year because there are things I will have to instruct him in before he goes. It will not only be Master Bashkar teaching my son in his autumn term. I must teach him, as well.”

The Dominus sighed irritably. “I cannot forbid you,” he groused.

“Oh, you could try,” Lara teased him, attempting to help him regain his good humor. She chucked him beneath his chin. “But I know you love me enough that you will not.” Leaning forward she kissed him lightly on his lips. “You may never understand me, Magnus, my love, but I know I can be certain of your affection.”

“You are wheedling me,” he said, but his lips were twitching with their urge to smile. “One night, Lara. And I want you sleeping in the same chamber as your mother.”

She laughed aloud at that. “As if I should be unfaithful to you, my dear lord.”

“May I come to Shunnar with you, Mother?” Dillon asked eagerly, leaning forward.

“If he gets to go, then I should, too. And Zagiri,” Anoush piped up.

“None of you are going,” Lara told them. “I go to discuss your brother’s future, Anoush. And if I am correct, none of you has a school holiday. I will be gone one night.”

Her children looked disappointed, but said nothing further on the matter.

When the next morning came Lara went to her private chamber and called her mother’s name thrice. Immediately the shimmering golden tunnel opened before her. At its end she could see the columns and balustrade of the Grand Corridor in Kaliq’s palace. She stepped through into the tunnel and walked its length. When she had traversed the passage she stepped out into the wide corridor, and the heat of the desert surrounded her.

“Lara.” Her mother stepped forth from another glistening tunnel.

Lara hurried forward to greet her parent and as they embraced, Kaliq appeared in his pure white robes to welcome them.

“Your mother has told me why you have come,” he said quietly. “Let us go into my private garden where we may take refreshments and speak together.” He led them from the Grand Corridor, through a hallway that was familiar to Lara. The prince’s private garden was pleasant, and silent servants brought refreshments, frine and sweet faerie cakes iced in pink sugar icing. Settling themselves, they partook of the sweets but Lara could hardly contain herself. Finally she could no longer make polite conversation.

“My mother has told me of how you and she manipulated the memories of all when you retrieved me from the Dark Lands. But now, Kaliq, I need to have my memories restored. This Twilight Lord is reaching out for me and I cannot fight him without a complete knowledge of what happened. You cannot fully protect me now. My poor mind seeks to reconstruct those months. I need the truth, not whatever this Kol may implant in my brain in order to regain my person.”

“Those memories can only make you unhappy, Lara. And you must keep them from your husband. That will not be an easy thing, my love,” the prince told her.

“You treat me like a child, Kaliq,” Lara told him angrily. “I am not a child. I understand you allowing Kol to take me and to mate me. Your plan to cause chaos in the Dark Lands was clever and no mere mortal could have accomplished it. But you had no right to steal my memories of the time I had to spend with this Twilight Lord.”

“I have sealed him up in his castle,” Kaliq said. “I have taken away his reflecting bowls. You are safe from him.”

“Nay, I am not,” Lara replied. “He draws me to the Dream Plain and calls my name. And you cannot make him cease for the Dream Plain heeds the laws of neither the mortal nor the magical world. I cannot fight the Twilight Lord if I do not know what happened while I was in his charge,” Lara repeated. “Return my memories to me, Kaliq!”

“The pain may do you irreparable harm,” he pleaded with her.

Lara looked at him with a stony-eyed gaze.

“Very well,” he said, resigned. “I must call the Munin lord to do this for while I have kept your memories, I need his aid in restoring them to you. You will have to sleep, Lara. It will not hurt you if you are sleeping when it is done.”

“But it will hurt when I awaken, won’t it?” Lara replied.

He nodded, his deep blue eyes agonized.

“Do it!”
she commanded him.

Reaching into his robes Kaliq drew forth a small vial and after uncorking it poured a stream of pale-gold liquid into Lara’s half-empty goblet of frine. “Take it across the gardens to the chamber that is always yours,” he told her. “When you drink it you will instantly sleep and you will sleep until I awaken you. I will not allow you to rest yourself for too long a time. Your mother and I will need time when you awaken to help you come to terms with what happened to you. I cannot allow you to return to Magnus Hauk until you are at peace with yourself, my love.”

Lara nodded. “I understand, Kaliq, and I am grateful for your care of me in this matter.” Then picking up the goblet she stood and walked across the gardens into her bedchamber.

Ilona looked at the prince. “I am sorry,” she told him.

“Do not be,” he answered her. “I have loved her from the moment I first laid eyes upon her but I am not fated to be with her.” He arose. “Come, let us summon the Munin lord, and I will have him bring the jar into which I stored Lara’s memories. I fashioned it myself, Ilona, of silver and gold, and stopped its opening with a crystal so the light would always keep her memories alive.”

“Call the Munin,” Ilona said a trifle impatiently. She was always surprised by this Shadow Prince’s romantic attachment to her daughter.

“Lord of the Munin, hear my plea. Cease all else, and come to me,”
Kaliq said.

Satordi, lord of the Munin, appeared almost immediately. “I did not expect to hear from you so soon, my lord prince,” he hissed in his whispery voice. Then seeing Ilona he bowed quite low. “I greet you, oh queen of the Forest Faeries.”

“I greet you, lord of the Munin,” Ilona replied, nodding respectfully.

The Munin reached into his filmy robes and drew out the vessel in which Lara’s memories were stored. “You will want this, of course. Does she sleep?”

“She sleeps,” Kaliq said. “How did you know?”

“The daughter of Ilona and Swiftsword is strong-willed, oh Prince. You sought to protect her but she must protect herself. And to do so she needs
all
her memories returned intact,” Satordi said. He held out the silver-and-gold jar. “Look through the crystal. Her memories are stirring restlessly. Unless they are restored to her they will be corrupted into something that they are not.”

“I was not aware such a thing could happen,” Kaliq replied.

“It is not usual for stored memories to behave in such a manner,” the Munin Lord whispered, “but her memories are still true. There is time, my lord prince.”

Kaliq said nothing more but in Ilona’s company led Satordi across his garden and directly into the chamber where Lara now slept deeply. “Do it!” he said.

Ilona watched as the Munin lord carefully opened the beautiful jar and slowly poured the glittering threads of Lara’s memories back into her head.

When he had finished he held out his hand to Kaliq who handed him the vial he had kept. Satordi added it saying, “It is done, my lord prince. The Domina’s memories are complete again.” He bowed to both of them. “If I may ever be of service again, you will call.” Then the Munin lord quickly disappeared back to his shadowy home.

Kaliq led Ilona from the chamber. “We will let her sleep an hour and then awaken her,” he said.

Together they waited, seated on either side of the bed where Lara slumbered. She grew restless, moaning softly, her body twisting. And then before they might awaken her Lara sat up with a start. Her green eyes were confused at first and then, as she focused, she saw her mother and Kaliq looking anxiously at her. Suddenly she burst into fulsome tears, sobbing as if her heart would break. Neither of her companions made any move to comfort her as she cried. Gradually her weeping died away and finally she looked up at them. Kaliq’s heart contracted in his chest. Her look was one of utter sorrow.

Reaching out, Lara took his hand in hers. “Thank you for trying to protect me, Kaliq,” she said. “You are right. These memories are difficult to bear, but bear them I must, for everyone’s sake. What a dark destiny I have been given, yet I sense that it will not all be cruel.”

The prince squeezed her hand. “Nay, my love, it will not all be dark,” he told her reassuringly. “Your sojourn in the Dark Lands was the worst of it, Lara.”

She turned to her mother. “Did you know how carnal a creature Kol is?”

Ilona nodded. “I did.”

“And yet you created me for the purpose of being his mate,” Lara said slowly. “How cruel you are, Mother! I am your flesh! You planned this before my birth, didn’t you? You made me almost entirely in your image so that Kol would want me. Did you also manipulate the Twilight Lord’s Book of Rule for your purposes?”

“Do not blame your mother for this,” Kaliq told Lara. “Those of us who were privy to Kol’s direction a century in advance planned this. You were created from the love between your mother and your father, but when we saw how beautiful you were becoming and that you had magic in you, we realized you were the perfect vessel. The Book of Rule does not warn its Twilight Lord of danger or of enemies. It simply states what is to come. We could not change the book if we wanted to, for its creator built fail-safes into it to protect his descendants. Do you know from whom Kol descends?”

Lara shook her head.

“Usi the Sorcerer. The same foul creature that you defeated when you removed his curse from the men of Terah. Usi got children on two of his women and sent them away into safety to protect his line. One was taken to the Dark Lands for his brother was the Twilight Lord then. The other child was brought to Hetar.”

“Do you know who that descendant is?” Lara asked.

“It was a daughter and her line was felt to be of no importance. We can learn that information should we need it. Usi’s brother had no son to follow him, so his nephew did. Down through the centuries that line has been kept pure and while each Twilight Lord is the father of many daughters, he fathers only one son a generation.”

“Until me,” Lara said softly.

Kaliq nodded. “Until you,” he said. “Your tactic to divide the child in your womb into two sons was brilliant.”

“It seemed only logical when you restored my memories and explained to me why I was there,” Lara agreed. She turned to her mother. “I am sorry I railed at you, Mother. It has been a shock to learn all that happened to me.”

“I am not angry at you, my daughter. You have a right to be angry. No woman should have to bear children she does not want,” Ilona said.

“I was but a vessel like any mortal woman,” Lara responded with a small smile. “A means to an end. It is so odd. I feel nothing for those children.”

“Thank the Celestial Actuary that your faerie heart has protected you from your human nature in that regard,” Ilona replied.

“Yet I love my own children,” Lara noted, sounding a little confused.

“You love them because you love their fathers,” Ilona said.

“But how could I give those children to Kol when I did not love him?” Lara wanted to know.

“Because he had you believing that you were his mate and you loved one another,” Ilona said impatiently. “You must remember everything, Lara, if you are to carry the burden of your knowledge. Magnus can never know for he would never be able to forgive you.”

Lara nodded. “I believe I can shoulder this secret,” she said. “But I do not know if I should, even if it was a part of my destiny and it was meant to be.” She pierced Kaliq with a sharp look. “However, you were very wicked to tempt me so.”

The Shadow Prince actually flushed beneath his tanned cheeks. “I but sought to help you,” he said, but he could not quite look at her.

Lara laughed. “You sought to help yourself, Kaliq. You are a devious prince.”

“What is this?” Ilona looked at the two of them, her head turning this way and that. Then her green eyes narrowed. “Kaliq!” she scolded. “You made love to my daughter when you knew you should not?”

“Her memories of the Dark Lands existed then and were painful. I but made love to her to soothe her cruel memories,” he excused himself.

“That is the real burden I will carry,” Lara teased him wickedly.

Ilona laughed, then she said, “You really should not have a husband, Lara. Husbands are such a bother. You are more faerie than mortal—your blood runs hot.”

“I am as much mortal as faerie,” Lara said.

“Nay, you are not. It seems your father has faerie blood in him, too, although he never knew it. Your great-grandfather was half-faerie, although his mother believed him the son of her Midlands farmer husband. She had dallied one Midsummer’s eve with Prince Rufin of the Forest Faeries, a member of my own family. So says the Faerie Record which lists all those born with faerie blood. Your faerie blood is weightier than your mortal blood, my daughter. And those with mortal blood who show signs of magic as you did grow stronger if their powers are developed as yours have been. Dillon will be a great sorcerer one day,” Ilona said in pleased tones. “Perhaps I shall send your half brother Cirillo to study with him.” She turned to the prince. “Do you think you and your brothers could manage two lively boys, Kaliq?”