The Twilight Lord (47 page)

When the last of the enemy had been slain the skies opened and a heavy rain came down on the battlefield. The downpour was so thick that they could see nothing of what had been. When it ended, the clouds fled northward and the skies became a clear bright blue and the sun shone down on them so that they saw all signs of the carnage were gone. There were no bodies to be seen. The tremulous voice of Gaius Prospero was heard as he came down from his throne to peer about. “Where are the bodies?”

“The magic kingdoms have taken them,” Lara said. “You will find those slain Hetarians in a newly created graveyard to the west of The City where their kin may come and pay their respects.”

“And the Terahns?” the emperor quavered.

“Our casualties were as bad as yours, Gaius Prospero, perhaps worse. Our people are not martial by nature. A great deal of Terahn blood has been shared to save Hetar and keep it safe. Remember that, for Hetar now owes Terah a debt. We will want to collect on that debt one day.”

Gaius Prospero nodded slowly in reply. Then he turned to address a slender young boy who had run up to where they stood. “What is it?” the emperor asked impatiently.

“I must speak with the lady Lara,” the boy said. To Lara’s eye there was something familiar about him.

“What is it, lad?” she asked him gently.

The boy’s face suddenly crumpled and he began to weep. “S…Sister,” he sobbed. “Our father is dead. Our father has been slain in the battle.” Then he flung himself at her and Lara’s arms closed automatically about him.

“Mikhail?” Her arms tightened around the boy.

His tear-stained face looked up at her and he nodded.

“You were an infant when I left Hetar,” Lara said. “And I know that your mother told you nothing about me. How did you know I was your sister?”

“Father told me,” the boy said low. “He was proud of you, but my mother is a jealous woman.”

“How came you here on the battlefield, Little Brother? And how do you know our father was killed?”

“He was beginning my training in warfare,” Mikhail said, his voice trembling as he spoke. “I awaited him on the edge of the battlefield with an extra sword and a mace. I saw him fall from his horse. When he tried to rise, a Wolfyn leapt upon him and slew him. Then his body disappeared as the battle ended. John Swiftsword, Hetar’s greatest swordsman, is dead, Sister.”

Lara stroked his nut-brown hair. “You must be the man of the family now, Mikhail. Susanna will need you. Be good to her. You will find our father’s grave, marked with his name, in the new graveyard west of The City. He rests upon the highest point there.” Then she tipped his face up so she might look into his eyes. “If you should ever need me, Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, you have but to call my name and I will come to you, for we share blood between us.” She kissed his cheek. “Go.”

The boy gave her a tremulous smile, then turned and walked away. Lara looked again at the emperor. “We will take our dead and be gone.”

“Now my people and I will bid you farewell, Gaius Prospero. Do not attempt to venture into Terah again. Let things return to the way they were between us, emperor of Hetar,” Magnus Hauk said in a stern voice.

A mighty clap of thunder shook the entire city and the Dominus of Terah, his wife, his soldiers and the Terahn dead disappeared. A gasp arose from those still present, then it was silent.

Finally Lord Jonah spoke. “My lord emperor, I believe the entertainment is now over. You will want to return to your palace.” He helped Gaius Prospero up.

“Yes, yes,” the emperor said. “Where is Shifra?”

“I am here, my dear lord,” the young empress said as she escorted her husband to their elegant gold litter. “I will see he is made comfortable, Lord Jonah.” Then at her signal the imperial litter was quickly borne off.

Vilia came to her husband’s side. “It has been a full day, my lord, has it not?”

“Why were you at Lady Gillian’s?” he surprised her by asking.

“She was alone and I was alone. She asked me to remain. I was glad to do so as you were gone, our servants had scattered into hiding and the streets are not safe at night,” Vilia said quietly. “Would you have preferred I walk home to an empty house in the dark, Jonah, my love?”

“How did you and Gillian hold off the Wolfyn?” he demanded to know. “I have heard naught but how brave you were, my wife, in seeking out the guard.”

“Then you know that three Wolfyn gained entry into Gillian’s home through one of the old tunnels beneath The City,” Vilia told him.
Be careful,
her instinct warned her. “There was no one in the house but Gillian’s baker. They killed her and then found us in Gillian’s apartment. Stupid creatures! They had heard of Pleasure Women, and were impressed by Gillian’s manners and elegance. She pretended I was her sister and sent me for wine and restoratives.”

“And they let you go alone?” Jonah asked. “Then they were indeed stupid.”

“Nay, they sent one of their number as my escort. He came behind me. As we reached the bottom of the staircase in the main hall I spied a thin brass vase. I grabbed it, swung about and hit the beast with it several times. Then I fled from the house and found the guards.”

“Did you kill it, Vilia?” Jonah asked softly.

“Nay, he was still alive when the guards returned. They delivered the death blow, my lord,” Vilia told him.

He took her face between his thumb and his forefinger. “Were you ravished, Vilia? Do not lie to me, for I will know if you do,” he said in even softer tones.

“My lord! Nay! How can you even ask such a thing of me?” Vilia protested, shuddering with open distaste. She stared directly into his dark eyes as she denied it.

His strong thin fingers pressed hard against her cheeks. “I would have to kill you, Vilia, if I knew another had had you, my love.”

“You are jealous, my lord,” she taunted him. “But without reason. If I had been ravished I should have killed myself rather than bear the dishonor. Remember the noble house from which I spring, Jonah. Is it possible, just possible, that what began between us as an alliance of ambition has turned to love?”

A ripple of something passed so quickly across his face that she wasn’t even certain she had seen it. “Love,” he said coldly, “is for fools.”

Vilia laughed. “You were always a bad liar where I was concerned, Jonah, but I will leave it at that. The danger from the Twilight Lord has passed. The Terahns have left us to our own devices. Now, my lord, what are we to do next?”

“We will build our alliances, my love, while we wait for Gaius Prospero’s promised demise. It should not be long, Vilia.”

She smiled at him. “I agree. So let us go home. You could probably use a nice bath, some food, some wine from our vineyards. And then perhaps we may spend the night taking pleasures with one another. I have missed you while all of this has been going on, my lord. I long to have your manhood within me making me weep with delight. Are you not eager, my lord, for our reunion?” she purred, her tongue running provocatively over her lips.

“Aye,” he said. “I am hungry for you, my love.”

Thank the Celestial Actuary,
Vilia thought. His suspicions were allayed. The thought that he would have killed her had he known of her encounter with the Wolfyn angered her. How in the name of holy Hetar did he think a woman escaped a situation like that in one piece? Were all men fools? Gillian was right. It was time for the women of Hetar to take over.

Life slowly returned to normal, but the poor were poorer and the economy did not improve. Small grumblings were beginning to be heard in the public squares of The City. There was even some talk of removing the emperor, but no one dared move further. One morning the news flew through The City that the young empress had disappeared in the night. The emperor had fallen asleep in her arms and when he had awakened she was gone. A search of the palace was made, but no trace of Shifra was found. It was as if she had simply evaporated into thin air.

Gaius Prospero was convinced that his wife had been kidnapped. He offered a great reward for any information leading to her safe return but no one came forward to claim the bounty. And then to everyone’s surprise the emperor began to have nightmares that Shifra was calling to him from the Dream Plain. He would awaken covered in sweat and shouting her name. The physicians were called and they dosed the emperor with sleeping medication so he would have no dreams. Drugged at night and drunk on Razi most of the day, Gaius Prospero began to sink deeper and deeper into depression. He wept for his lost wife during his conscious moments. His children came to see him. His daughters brought his grandchildren but the emperor did not care. He kissed them absently and then sent them away. The most beautiful of The City’s Pleasure Women were brought to him yet he was not in the least interested, which amazed everyone, for Gaius Prospero had always been noted for his appreciation of a beautiful woman.

His other appetites declined, as well. He was no longer interested in the rich foods he had always loved. The palace cooks did their best, but other than a forkful or two his meals were returned untouched. His desire for fine wine was gone. Gaius Prospero, always a man of grand proportions, grew thin and wan. His hair fell out. He suffered great pains in his joints. And now even his need for Razi left him, for when he drank it he no longer dreamed of glory but suffered from terrible head pains. And he continued to weep for his lovely young empress who had been the only creature in all his life that the emperor had loved. Then one stormy, moonless night, as his faithful slave woman Tania sat weeping softly by his side, Gaius Prospero died, his lost love’s name on his parched blue lips.

Lord Jonah knew first, for Tania, though heartbroken, was wise in the ways of her late master. She left her master’s dead body and hurried to find the emperor’s right hand. There were new alliances to be made now even for a slave. She was amazed when Lord Jonah told her that as the keeper of the emperor’s will, he knew its contents. Tania would now be free and given a small pension for her years of devoted and loyal service to Gaius Prospero.

Tania immediately knelt before Jonah. “Then it is as a free woman, my lord, that I offer your house my small services,” she said.

Jonah nodded. “And I accept them, Tania,” he told her. “You will watch over my wife for me, will you not?”

“Does Kigva not watch over the lady Vilia?” Tania said slowly.

“Indeed, Kigva is Vilia’s most loyal servant. But you, Tania, will be mine,” Jonah said meaningfully.

Tania arose from her subservient position before him and bowed from the waist. “As I loyally served my late master, Gaius Prospero, so will I loyally serve you, my lord Jonah,” she promised him, her face serious with her intent.

He gave her a nod of acknowledgment. “Go back and sit with the body so that no one else knows yet that he is dead. I will put my plans into motion.”

“Yes, my lord,” Tania said and hurried from his presence.

Kigva was crossing the far end of the broad hallway when she saw Tania coming from Lord Jonah’s library. She ran quickly to tell her mistress.

“The emperor must be dead,” Vilia said softly. “It is the only reason that Tania would go to my husband in the middle of the night. The clever creature is currying his favor. Quickly! I must send a faerie post to Lady Gillian. My husband must not be allowed to seize power. At least not until the women of Hetar have entrenched themselves in the ruling body. We will have no more of the men taking us into war and impoverishing our people. There must be change.”

Kigva brought her mistress her writing box and Vilia scrawled a message to Lady Gillian. The faerie post messenger, given the rolled parchment, dashed off to deliver the message. It had no sooner gone than Lord Jonah entered his wife’s apartments.

“Gaius Prospero is dead,” he told her without any preamble. “I am gathering my allies so that I may be given charge over Hetar before the High Council can meet to debate the issue to death and in the end do nothing.”

“You would be emperor then?” Vilia asked him.

“Nay, Gaius Prospero has given the title emperor a bad reputation. I would be called the Lord High Ruler of Hetar,” Jonah said.

“And I will be?” she pressed him.

“You are my wife,” he said to her. “You are the wife of the Lord High Ruler.”

“It is a great honor you do me,” Vilia murmured, but he did not, to her surprise, pick up on her sarcasm.

“Aye,” he muttered, his mind obviously somewhere else. “You have always been a perfect wife, Vilia. It is your forte.” Then he kissed her absently. “I must go, my love, there is much to do to cement my position. Of course, my first act once I am declared Lord High Ruler will be to plan a glorious funeral for my predecessor and beloved friend, Gaius Prospero. His contributions to the welfare of Hetar have been many.” He hurried off without another word to her.

For several long minutes Vilia stood silent and still. Once again she had been cut off from the power. Jonah had many times promised her that when he became emperor that she would be his empress. But now he would arrange a different title, Lord High Ruler, and she was again thwarted in her quest to rule. She would be relegated to nothing more than wife. Then Vilia laughed. Jonah was right. Love was for fools and she had been a fool for falling in love with him. He thought of her as all Hetarian men thought of all women. They were good for pleasures, for bearing children, but little else. Why had she believed he was different? Because until now he had treated her as his equal, but that had only been a ruse to help him climb the ladder of success.

Finally Kigva spoke. “What will you do now, my lady?” she asked softly.

Vilia laughed and then she turned to Kigva with a brilliant smile. “Let him be made Lord High Ruler if he can indeed manage it,” she told her serving woman. “Becoming it and remaining it are two different things, my girl. I have said it is time for the women of Hetar to speak up and indeed it is. Thanks to Gaius Prospero’s wars we are now the majority. We must now speak up for our rights and the rights of the generation of women to come.”