Bertrice Small - A Distant Tomorrow

He could think of nothing to say that would comfort her, and so the Dominus just held the woman he loved until finally her weeping ceased.

Lara looked up at him. “I do love you,” she told him.

“I have come to realize that,” he replied. “You do understand that I love you.”

Lara nodded. Her dark eyelashes were spiky with her tears.

“And we will prepare for our marriage?” he asked.

She nodded again.

“Soon?” He was smiling.

“Aye. As soon as possible, my lord Dominus,” she told him.

“And then we will go to Hetar,” he said.

“Do you still want to go?” She looked troubled.

“I want to go,” he said. “Before they invade the Outlands. I want to hear what these people have to say, and learn how they think. We will go quietly, just you and I. We will walk about the City, and listen. One learns a great deal just listening.”

“It is wise to know one’s enemy,” Lara agreed. “Hetarians are great talkers, my lord, and you will learn much, though I think you will be surprised by the differences between Terah and Hetar. Terahns are content to live comfortably, with purpose to their days, and in peace with their neighbors. Hetarians are concerned with how they appear to their neighbors, and are always eager for profit and more profit.”

“Why?” he asked her.

Lara shrugged. “I don’t know. It is simply their way.”

“How shall we travel?” he asked.

“By means of my magic,” she replied. “It is easier, and quicker. We will appear to be ordinary travelers sightseeing in the City. Well-to-do farmers from the Midlands,” she said with a smile.

“They will understand my language?” he asked.

“You and I speak the same tongue, Magnus,” Lara told him. “We all seem to speak it.”

“We shall tell my people we are taking a wedding trip to my small castle in the foothills of the Emerald Mountains,” the Dominus said. “But we shall really be visiting Hetar.”

“You must see the desert of the Shadow Princes as well,” Lara said. “And even the realm of the Forest Lords. My mother can keep us safe there.”

“I cannot wait until you are my wife, my Domina,” he said huskily, and his arms wrapped about her again. “It is not enough that we take pleasures together. I cannot be content until you are mine, and mine alone!”

Lara did not correct him. It would do no good. She would be his wife, his Domina, but she would never be any man’s possession. Even Magnus Hauk’s. She raised her face to his for a kiss.

“I MUST OVERSEE the transport of the Outlands clan families to their new home,” Lara told Magnus on the day that the Devyn were to be brought from the Outlands.

Messengers had already been sent to the seven inhabited fjords of Terah, announcing the wedding day of the Dominus and the beautiful faerie woman who had lifted the curse of Usi from the Terahn men.

“Our wedding is near,” he protested.

“I will be back in time,” she promised him. “It is only a few days. The seamstress has already fitted and fashioned my wedding gown. I never had a real wedding with Vartan, you know – I am going to enjoy this, though I thought at first that I might not. And Sirvat is taking care of the celebration feasts. I will be here by the time your mother and sisters arrive, I swear. We cannot have the lady Persis asking questions you cannot answer,” she teased him mischievously. Her mood had lightened visibly since their visit to the Gathering. He could sense the weight that had been lifted from her.

“Go then,” he said. “But what if I need you?”

“Call my name,” Lara told him. “We are bound together by love, and should you need me, Magnus, I will hear you.” Then she kissed him, and was gone in a mist of mauve smoke.

It seemed to Lara her faerie blood was growing stronger. She reappeared in the middle of a Devyn village just as dawn was breaking. Seeing Kaliq, she hurried toward him. “Was it difficult?” she asked.

“Nay, not as difficult as it will be transporting most of the others,” he told her. “Knowing Gaius Prospero’s plans for invasion in the spring, my brothers and I lifted our protection from the Outlands several weeks ago so we might gain enough strength to accomplish this feat of magic.”

“Shall we awaken Accius?” Lara asked.

He nodded, and together they entered the house of the Devyn’s clan lord, calling to him as they reached his hall. They found him in a chair by his fire, shaking himself awake. It was obvious he had been there all night.

“Is it done?” Accius asked them.

“It is done,” Kaliq replied.

“Our three villages?”

“All of them,” Kaliq assured him.

Accius stood up. “I want to go outside,” he said, and together the trio exited the house as the sun peeped over the horizon. Accius looked around, amazed. “It is beautiful!” he exclaimed excitedly. “You are right, Lara! I have never seen such green.”

“I hope you can be happy here,” she answered him.

“Only a fool would be unhappy here,” he said. “I must go to the square and ring the meeting bell. I will need to tell my villagers what has happened. Then will you take me to my other villages?”

“I will,” Lara said. “Kaliq must now rest, for tonight he and his brothers have the great task of transporting Floren’s Blathma.” She blew a kiss to the Shadow Prince as he disappeared, and then escorted Accius to the village square when the lord of the Devyn rang the meeting bell to bring forth the inhabitants of his village.

When the sleepy men, women and children had stumbled forth from their homes and surrounded their leader, he began. “Listen, my good clan folk. A great miracle has taken place in the night!” Then he went on to explain the secret meeting that had been held at the Gathering. He told them of Hetar’s nefarious plans for the Outlands; of how Lara had found a wonderful land called Terah, and made it possible for them to find safety there. He related how the Shadow Princes had agreed to transport each clan family, and all that was theirs to Terah. “Last night,” Accius said, “you went to sleep in our beloved Outlands. You have awakened in Terah, my good clan folk! Look about you now!”

The Devyn were thunderstruck. It was a great deal to absorb. Slowly they began to look about them. Their village was familiar to them, and yet the ground upon which their cottages sat seemed different. They looked beyond their dwellings. The land was greener than any they had ever known. Excitedly they began to speak among themselves. Finally one woman spoke up.

“This is Terah, and not the Outlands?” she asked.

“Yes,” Lara answered her.

“And we are safe from Hetar?”

“Yes,” Lara replied. “You are far, far from Hetar, across the Sea of Sagitta. Do you see the mountains beyond you? On the other side of those mountains are the seven fjords of Terah, where the Terahn folk dwell. Their ruler, the Dominus Magnus Hauk, has agreed to shelter the clan families of the Outlands in exchange for their fealty. The clan lords have already sworn that oath. This land is uninhabited, and so you displace none. The Terahns are insular folk. It is unlikely you will ever see them, nor they you, for they know nothing of what is beyond their side of the mountains.”

“Where are the other clan families?” a man wanted to know.

“One clan family will be transported from the Outlands each night until all are safely resettled. Lots were drawn, and the Devyn were first. By this time tomorrow the Blathma will be in their new home. You were chosen to be first because you are the bards and poets of the Outlands. You will observe each clan family as it is made aware of this great change in their lives, and you will create and sing this history of your people so future generations will be aware of all that has happened in this time,” Lara told him.

“Once again,” Accius said, “the faerie woman, Lara, has saved us from Hetar. We must be certain her part is well documented in our songs.”

A murmur of agreement arose from the villagers.

“But now,” Lara told them, “Accius and I must travel to the other two Devyn villages to tell them of what has transpired this night.” She reached out and took the clan lord’s hand in hers.

Accius gasped to find himself in the second of his villages.

Lara laughed. “I have grown stronger since you first knew me,” she admitted. “Ring the bell now so we may speak with these folk.”

Once again villagers sleepily stumbled forth from their cottages, and both Accius and Lara explained what had transpired. Again there was amazement, and relief. They moved on to the third village where the scenario was repeated for the final time. All the Devyn had been brought safely to Terah. Lara remained with Accius and his family until early the next day, when Kaliq came for her.

The Shadow Prince looked exhausted with the efforts it had taken to transport the Blathma. Given the task involved in moving Floren’s people, goods and chattels, he was weary with the effort. When morning dawned on the newly transported Fiacre village Liam came from his hall in the company of a small boy. Lara cried out softly and, running toward the child, knelt to gather him in her arms. “Dillon, my son!” she said, hugging the little boy, kissing his cheeks. She set him back to look at him. “You have grown in the year we have been parted.” She brushed back a lock of his hair from his forehead.

“Have you come to stay, Mother?” he asked her.

Lara sighed. “Nay,” she said. “I cannot remain, but Dillon, something wonderful and magical has happened in the night.” She stood up. “Liam, call the villagers of Camdene from their homes so I may tell them all. I will shortly move on to speak with the others.” And when the lord of the Fiacre had assembled the people of his main village Lara told them of Hetar’s plot and how she and the Shadow Princes were working to protect the people of the Outlands. Like the Devyn and the Blathma before, the Fiacre were amazed.