“I am, you will understand, reserving my judgment, my lord Aslak. I have only just seen the girl. She is extraordinarily beautiful, and she seems pleasant enough,” Arik answered. “But of course I cannot tell on such a short acquaintance. My nephew means to remain here for a few more days so I am able to make my decision. A marriage with a Hetarian girl might prove useful to Terah.”

“What should we care for Hetar?” the High Priest wanted to know. “They are good for trading with, and nothing more.”

“True, too true, my lord Aslak,” Magnus Hauk agreed amiably, “but there could come a day when Hetar will no longer be content to meet us in midsea to trade. There may come a day when they want to come here, and we cannot stop them. Perhaps a Hetarian wife would help me to understand them so if that day comes Terah will not be at a disadvantage. We will know more of them than they of us, eh?”

The High Priest digested the Dominus’s words, and then he chuckled. “Heh! Heh! You are a wickedly clever fellow, my son. I can see the benefit in such a tactic. Well, if she pleases you, and your uncle approves, you will have my blessing, also. I will even perform the wedding rite myself.”

“You honor me, my lord Aslak,” Magnus Hauk said jovially.

“Bring the girl to see me before you leave,” the old man said. And then his eyes closed. “I am weary,” he murmured.

“With your permission we will withdraw,” Arik said, “and leave you to your rest.”

The High Priest did not open his eyes again, but waved a languid hand in a gesture of dismissal to the two men, who backed from the chamber.

As they walked through the temple gardens Arik said in a satisfied voice, “He is content now that he knows everything there is to know, Nephew. You played your part well. I congratulate you on your answers to him. He is old, but his wits are yet sharp although not as sharp as they once were.”

“Can we begin our search tomorrow?” the Dominus wanted to know.

“Aye,” Arik agreed. “I will bring the books to you so Lara will not be publicly viewed searching through them. It is better, and will keep the gossip at a minimum.”

“What, Uncle,” Magnus Hauk teased his relation, “are you telling me you do not spend all your time in prayer and meditation within these hallowed precincts?”

Arik Hauk chortled. “I leave prayer and meditation to the youthful members of the brotherhood who are filled with the enthusiasm of piety,” he said.

“Have you no fear of the Great Creator then, Uncle?” the Dominus asked.

“The Great Creator knows my true worth, Nephew,” Arik Hauk said dryly.

They had reached the square stone path leading over the water to the guesthouse. “I will bid you good night, Nephew,” the older man said. “Enjoy the remainder of your evening. I think I almost envy you, but then I have not had the desire since entering the temple order to take a hearth mate, as many of my brothers do. Women can be a deterrent to ambition, and it is not my responsibility to breed up sons for our family.” He hurried off into the deepening twilight.

Magnus Hauk walked slowly across the waterway. He could smell the sweet elusive fragrance of the hyacinths and water lilies that grew all around him. The guest house seemed empty. Where had Lara disappeared to? He walked into a bedchamber, and he could hear her humming somewhere near. Moving through a smaller door at the end of the chamber he found himself in a bath.

“It’s wonderful!” Lara said from the water of the pool. “I have already washed my body, and my hair. Hurry and join me, Magnus.”

He stripped off his garments and washed himself in the bathing recess. There was a large sea sponge, and a dish of soft soap. He used them lavishly, following her lead and washing both his body and his dark golden hair. Then he stood beneath a spouting stone fish and rinsed himself off. Finally he entered the bathing pool, taking her into his arms, and kissing her a long, satisfying kiss.

“Should we be so carnal while we are on the temple grounds?” Lara asked him. Then she nibbled lightly on his lower lip.

“The Great Creator is devoted to life, my faerie love. Does our lustful play not embody life itself?” he asked her pulling her harder against him. He loved the feel of her soft breasts against his hard chest. He could feel his desire for her growing.

Lara slipped her arms about his neck. She felt his manly length hard against her thigh. He lifted her from the water, his tongue slowly licking up the length of her torso, between her breasts and up her throat. Lara lowered her head, and whispered into his ear, “I want you inside of me, my lord. I need to feel your hardness.”

He lowered her slowly back into the water and pushed her hard against the wall of the pool. He was burning for her. His hands cupped her bottom to lift her up as she wrapped her legs about him. He struggled with himself that he not enter her too quickly, for he wanted them both to enjoy the sweet anticipation a slow entry could give them.

She was always so wonderfully tight for him. Inch by inch he pushed forward into the heat of her.

Lara cried out softly as she felt him entering her with incredible restraint. Her teeth sank into the flesh of his shoulder and he moaned. Then to her surprise he was fully sheathed and walking slowly from the pool, his big hands clasping the firm twin moons of her buttocks. Reaching a marble bench he carefully straddled it, lowering her down. Then he began to pump himself back and forth within her until Lara was almost screaming with the pleasure he offered. Twice her juices flowed over the firm hot manhood within her.

Then to her great surprise he withdrew from her, turning her about, and pushed into a place she had never again thought to entertain a manhood. Lara gasped. The entry had hurt slightly, but now he just rested, throbbing, within the tight passage while she quivered beneath him, his hands bruising the flesh of her hips. “Magnus!” she managed to say.

His big body leaned over her. “You belong to me, my faerie lover,” he growled as he slowly withdrew, and then plunged back within her. “This makes you mine alone.”

Lara did not bother to tell him of the Shadow Princes, who had taken her body lovingly in every possible way. She could barely remember that night for as her princely lover had told her, she had been on another plane as they taught her the lesson of complete trust. “For now,” she agreed, and then he shuddered, spilling his juices within her in great and violent spurts.

He collapsed upon her briefly, finally rising and pulling her up into his arms that he might kiss her. Over and over his mouth pressed kisses on her, and Lara reciprocated. Then laughing she pushed him away at last, and returned to the scented pool. He quickly joined her, pulling her back into his embrace for more kisses.

“I adore you!” he groaned against her lips.

“Do not love me, Magnus. At least not yet,” Lara warned him gently.

“If I can’t love you, I will surely kill you,” he whispered to her.

Lara pulled away from him, taking his face between her two hands. “No, you won’t,” she told him. “Trust me, my lord Dominus. I will not fail either of us.”

He drew her back into his arms, and her head rested against his shoulder. “Did you blood me before where you bit me?” he asked her.

“You will be bruised, I fear, but I did not bite you hard enough to break the skin. One day I may if you continue to offer us such incredible pleasure, Magnus.”

“You seek to placate me,” he told her.

“Aye,” she agreed.

He laughed. “Such candor is refreshing,” he told her.

“I am always honest,” she said softly. Then pulling away from him she stepped up from the warm water, and reaching for a drying cloth began to dry herself. “For a religious order the accommodations are quite fine, my lord Dominus. They are obviously wealthy, and no poor mendicants.”

“A third of what we earn in our trade with the Coastal Kings is given to the Temple of the Great Creator,” he explained. He remained within the pool cooling his ardor for the moment. She would be in his bed the night long, and they would pleasure each other again. And mayhap yet again, he considered.

Lara sat down on the bench where they had recently sported, and rubbed her hair dry with the cloth. He watched her enjoying the simple task she performed. Then she arose, and with a smile at him disappeared into the bedchamber. The warm water had relaxed him after their long day’s ride. Magnus climbed from the bathing pool, and taking a fresh drying cloth rubbed the droplets of water first from his big frame and then from his thick hair. Then he padded across the marble floor of the bath and into their bedchamber. Lara was brushing her hair with her beautiful gold brush.

He took it from her, and began to groom her tresses himself. “It’s like thistledown mixed with moonlight and sunbeams,” he told her.

“How poetic,” she said to him. “I like to have my hair brushed.”

“Have other men brushed it?” he asked, an edge to his voice.

“Yes,” she answered him simply.

“Who?” he demanded to know.

“Magnus,” Lara told him gently, “it is too soon for you to want every detail of my history. And right now I am not of a mind to relate that history. I will tell you that both my father and Gaius Prospero considered me born to give pleasure. But what they did not consider was that my destiny has nothing to do with either my beauty, or my proficiency for passion.” She stood up, and took the brush from his hand smiling into his turquoise eyes. “Are you weary, my lord Dominus? I know that I am. It has been a very long day, and I am tired.”

Taking his hand she led him to the bed that they would share.

“I am the ruler of a vast land,” he said to her, “and yet you do not fear me, my faerie love. Should you not?”