The Twilight Lord (34 page)

“I should prefer to have Dillon alone with me his first year,” the prince said.

Ilona thought a moment and then agreed. “Aye, that would be best. My grandson is a bit crude yet. A year with you will smooth those rough edges of his.”

“Anoush is showing signs of being a healer,” Lara said. “It would seem both of Vartan’s children have magic in them.” Then she grew pale. “Oh! What if Kol tries to steal my children from me?” she asked. “Magnus would want to know why and what could I tell him?”

“Kol is secured at Kolbyr,” Kaliq reassured her.

“But he is reaching out to me on the Dream Plain. What if he reaches out to Magnus and tells him what happened?” Lara fretted. She had grown paler.

“We cannot prevent him from reaching out to the Dominus if he dares, but why would Magnus believe him? Magnus would think he was just having a bad dream,” Kaliq said to her. “Your husband does not really understand the ways of magic.”

Lara shuddered. “Kol wants me back. It is not enough that I have given him heirs. The Twilight Lord loves me. I can feel him reaching out for me, Kaliq! It frightens me. I know him well enough to know he will do what he must to get me back.”

“He is imprisoned at Kolbyr,” Kaliq repeated.

“I could not live in that awful place again,” Lara said. “There was no color. Everything was gray or black. The mountains, where they were not slate or craggy, were covered in dark green pines and fir trees. No sunlight filtered into the valleys. In fact, I do not believe I saw sunlight at all in my year there except for some rare sunsets. I remember looking out through the mountains at the colors of the sunset and thinking how beautiful they were and wondering why there could be no color in the land about us.” She trembled. “I should die if I had to go back there, Kaliq! What if Kol sends the Munin to take my memories again and steals me back? I could not bear it! I could not!”

“I will weave a spell about you, my daughter,” Ilona said reassuringly, “that will not allow anyone to ever again steal your memories.”

“The Munin will never again aid Kol,” Kaliq told her. “They learned his generosity was but an enticement to trap them so they would always be forced to do his bidding. I rescued them and they are safe now, my love. You need have no fears.”

“I suppose I am being foolish,” Lara replied. “But as the memories of those months in the Dark Lands come to the surface of my consciousness I do become afraid. I suppose it was the helplessness I felt when you made me once more aware of who I was, and I had to face the lies Kol had woven about me while pretending to be his beloved.”

“It will take time, my love,” he told her, “but those memories will eventually slip into your past and no longer be so painful.”

“Ah!” Suddenly her eyes lit up. “I believe I met Og’s father in the Dark Lands. His name is Skrymir, and he was the giant lord of the Dark Lands giants. He was on a hunting expedition when the Forest Lords murdered the Forest giants. He and his companions fled to the Dark Lands. Kol gave them sanctuary, and they are loyal to him as are the dwarfs and the Wolfyn. What if Kol sends one of them after me?” Lara wondered aloud and her fears came racing back to overwhelm her as she began to tremble.

“We are going to have to enchant Kol and his castle into sleep,” Ilona said. “We cannot allow Lara to fear him. She will alert Magnus that something is wrong and when he learns what it is he will never forgive her, foolish mortal!”

“I will have to discuss that with my brothers,” Kaliq said. “I do not know if we can enchant the Twilight Lord into sleep. It would swing the difference between the light and the dark too far one way and unbalance it. Too much good is no better than too much evil, Ilona. Balance is always best.”

“You can’t enchant Kol into a lengthy sleep,” Lara said. “He rules the Dark Lands. Without him chaos would reign and more than likely spill out into the New Outlands.”

“Then you must learn to master your fears,” Kaliq told her quietly. “Your magic is stronger than his because it is pure. That is one reason he wanted you for himself. Without your pure magic he cannot accomplish all he wishes to complete.”

“I can do nothing until I have convinced Kol that I will not return to him,” Lara replied. “He is a difficult creature at best. Almost like a child when he doesn’t get his way, Kaliq. Have you ever tried reasoning with a child who would have his own way?”

“Surely you are not considering returning to the Dark Lands,” Ilona said, horrified.

“Nay. I will have to summon him to the Dream Plain and reveal myself. I must control the situation. I cannot allow him to gain the upper hand,” Lara said thoughtfully. “It must all be on my terms. What of Og? Will you tell him?”

“I must think,” the prince said slowly. “It is possible that these giants may be convinced to ally themselves with us. I will speak with Og.”

“Does Og know the truth of my destiny?” Lara wanted to know.

“He knows little of what has happened so far, my love, but as your mother and I have told you, you have not completely fulfilled your destiny,” the prince answered. “Here at Shunnar there was no reason to wipe memories clean of that year. However if Og is to understand how you came by your information then we must tell him of those months. Do you trust him enough to burden him with the truth?”

“I have always trusted Og,” Lara replied quietly. “Send for him.”

The prince nodded and called for Og to be brought up from the valley where he spent most of his time working with the horses that belonged to the Shadow Princes. The giant had not been born when the Forest Lords had massacred his people, but his mother, Oona, had managed to escape to the deepest part of the forest where she had given birth to her son. They had lived in the forest until he was four and they were discovered. Oona saved her only child by telling the Forest Lords that he had not been born when they had killed her people. Her captors had slain her, taking the child giant back with them to their hall to be their servant. They did not know he possessed the collective memory of his people. While she had been in the custody of the Forest Lords, Lara had met Og, and together they had escaped the forest and come into the desert kingdom of the Shadow Princes. Lara had moved on eventually, but Og had remained with Prince Kaliq caring for the horses.

He strode into the garden where they now sat for, while he was a small giant, he was still over ten feet in height. His pale blue eyes lit up with pleasure seeing Lara. Going to her he knelt, taking her hands in his and kissing them reverently. “My faerie princess, I am overjoyed to see you once again!” he said with a wide smile. Then he sat, his legs crossed, before her.

Ilona raised an eyebrow. Was she invisible to this giant lout?

“Og, I am glad to see you, too,” Lara said. “You remember my mother, Queen Ilona, I am sure.”

The giant turned his head. “Greetings, oh Queen. You are as always the fairest.”

Slightly mollified, Ilona nodded in return. “Greetings, Og.”

“We have asked you here, Og, because we need your help,” Prince Kaliq began.

“This is burdensome, Og,” Lara told him. “I have learned something that may or may not please you, but before I can tell you, I need your word that you will keep my secrets, my old friend.”

“I would die for you, Lara,” the giant told her and they knew it was true.

Prince Kaliq then began to speak. He explained to Og how Lara’s destiny had brought her to the Dark Lands, and for what purpose. Og listened silently, but his countenance grew more and more sorrowful as Kaliq’s tale unfolded.

At last, Lara spoke. “As I have previously told you, Og, I met the lord of the giants, who is an ally of the Twilight Lord. His name is Skrymir.”

“That indeed was my father’s name,” Og said.

“Then Skrymir must be your father,” Lara told him. “He returned shortly after your people were massacred, and your mother had escaped into the deep forest. He and his party fled the carnage into the Dark Lands. The Twilight Lord gave them sanctuary and they pledged their loyalty to him. They have been there ever since.”

Og looked devastated. “Why did he not look for us?” he asked aloud.

“That is a question you must ask him yourself,” Lara said. “Og, I need your help.”

“Anything!” he exclaimed.

“Nay, wait until you have heard what I want of you, old friend,” Lara responded.

“Kaliq has imprisoned the Twilight Lord within his castle for the next hundred years, but alas, Kol seeks to reach out to me through the Dream Plain. Magnus Hauk knows nothing of my adventures, his memory of that year having been taken away. I love my husband, Og, but I also understand his mortal nature well. I doubt he could forgive me that time with Kol or the fact that I gave the Twilight Lord two sons when I have not yet given him the one thing he wants more than anything. His own son. He would see what was meant to happen and did happen as a betrayal of sorts. I cannot allow that to happen for Magnus’s sake and for the sake of my children.”

“Tell me what you would have me do, my princess,” Og replied.

“If Kol cannot be dissuaded to leave Lara in peace,” Kaliq said, “and I do not think that he can, then he is apt to send his giants, his Wolfyn or his dwarf allies into Terah to fetch her back to him. That would be disastrous. If you could meet your father upon the Dream Plain, Og, perhaps you would be able to convince him to eschew the Twilight Lord. The Forest Giants were once a gentle race.”

“They are no longer gentle,” Lara said. “They are hard and fierce men, I fear.”

“My father, my mother told me, loved her above all others. He would not even keep another woman after they had mated. It was the one thing that broke her heart. That she did not dare to seek him out and he would never know what became of her or the child she carried,” Og said. “If I can find my father upon the Dream Plain I believe I can convince him to throw in his fortunes with us, for the love he surely still bears Oona. Tell me, Lara, do I look like him?”

“But for your eyes, aye,” she told him.

“Then I must have my mother’s eyes,” Og mused. “Can he see my eyes upon the Dream Plain? Will he see Oona in them? It would be a great advantage to us if he could,” the giant said thoughtfully.

“He can see your eyes,” Kaliq replied. “But what he will see in them is another thing. Still, I will give you a charm that may help you to reach out to Skrymir.”

“I have never attempted to reach the Dream Plain,” Og said.

“You have but to lie down to sleep and concentrate upon reaching out to your father,” the prince told his horse master. “I will send a message to your wife that you will remain here with me this night and not go home. It is better that you sleep where we may monitor you. That way when you awaken it will all be fresh in your mind.”

Og nodded solemnly. “I hope my father likes me,” he half whispered.

Lara slipped one of her hands into his huge hand. “How could he not be pleased with a son who has become such a fine and honorable man?” she asked, knowing better than most the pain that losing his parents had cost her giant friend.

Kaliq invited the giant to eat with them in the garden as the evening fell. And afterwards he brought Og to a large room with a great long bed that he had conjured up so the giant could be comfortable. He placed a golden charm shaped like a tree in full leaf about Og’s neck. The tree’s leaves were enameled in various shades of green. “This will keep you safe upon the Dream Plain.”

“What is it like, my lord?” Og asked.

“It is a misty place, but you will feel a firmness beneath your feet, and the mists will clear allowing you to see your father and he you,” the prince explained. “If at any time you find yourself threatened or even frightened you may simply picture yourself away from the Dream Plain. When you lie down, concentrate upon your father and call him to you,” Kaliq instructed. He handed Og a goblet of frine. “Drink this, my friend. It will aid in your sleep.” When Og had drained the large goblet, Kaliq said, “Now I will leave you. Dream well.”

Alone, Og looked about the chamber. It was large and simple with a long single window opening onto a garden. The giant sat down upon the bed and pulled off his boots. Then swinging his legs up he lay flat upon his back. The bed was more than comfortable, he was pleased to note. Outside the window he could hear the song of a night bird. Og closed his eyes and thought of the giant who was called Skrymir. Lara said that his father looked like him, but Og had only seen himself a few times in his life. Still, he concentrated and as he did he felt himself relaxing, slipping away into a deep sleep.

Opening his eyes suddenly, the giant found himself surrounded by a pale mist that swirled about him gently. This, he realized after a brief moment of fright, was obviously the Dream Plain. Could he move? He sat up and stepped forward cautiously. Aye, he could move. But where was his father? Then he realized it might help if he called him. “Skrymir, son of Thrym, son of Eggther, come to me!” his voice boomed out.

“Who calls me to the Dream Plain?” a voice thundered back. “Who dares to speak the hallowed names of my father and my father’s father?”

“I am called Og. I am the son of Skrymir and Oona of the Forest Giants,” Og replied. “If you are that same Skrymir, son of Thrym, son of Eggther, then you are my father. Show yourself to me.”

Og waited in silence wondering if the other giant would reveal himself, but then the mists fell away from the form of a huge man with red hair who did indeed look like him but that his eyes were amber. Skrymir stood at least two feet taller than Og. He was dressed in a green gown with a leather breastplate, but he was unarmed.

“You are small,” Skrymir said. “Why are you so small?”

“My growth was stunted by lack of nutrition and the conditions in which I was forced to survive,” Og answered. “Why did you not look for my mother?”

“You have Oona’s eyes,” Skrymir said sadly. “I see her now looking out at me. When we returned from the hunt four days after we had left we found the killing ground the Forest Lords had turned our home into,” he began. “The bodies had been mutilated. Some had already fallen prey to the beasts of the wood, and the crows and ravens had taken the eyes from many. We could identify no one. I assumed that your mother had died and our child with her. How did you both survive?”