The Dominus sat down heavily upon his throne. “I told no one of my decision to send Cadoc to Hetar,” he said. “How could you know?”

“You have never believed in me, my powers or my world, Cadarn. But that does not mean we, it, do not exist. We do. You are right to replace Amren. He has lived in Hetar for most of his life and is more Hetarian than Terahn. He has reached an age where he would garner some wealth, for wealth is all-important in Hetar. Nonetheless he has served you faithfully and honestly. That is why you will give him this new position. He maintains his status in Hetar, brings more stature to Terah and can do no harm as a trade emissary.”

“And he can collect his bribes,” Cadarn said with a small smile. Then the smile was gone. “I do not like being told what to do, my lady. I do not like a mere female making my decisions for me. But you are damnably clever. You have gained your own way while making it all appear as if I have done this. Very well, I agree.”

“Thank you,” Lara said softly.

“You say you are leaving Terah? Why? And where will you go?” the Dominus Cadarn asked her. “I know that you and I have no close relationship, but you are my blood. For the sake of Magnus Hauk I need to know you are safe and cared for, my lady.” Turquoise-blue eyes, so like her late husband’s, looked directly at her.

“I am going to Shunnar, the palace of the Shadow Prince Kaliq. I should have departed Terah years ago, but I could not seem to make myself go despite all the changes that I despised happening about me. Kaliq is my life mate, and I have always had a home at Shunnar. I will be more than safe in my own magical world, Cadarn. But I am touched that you would consider my welfare.”

“I have heard you speak of this Shadow Prince before, my lady, but Shadow Princes are but legend. They do not exist now, indeed if they ever did,” Cadarn said.

Lara shook her head in amazement. “Cadarn, look about you. Your court stands frozen. I have stopped time. You stand in the presence of magic, and yet you do not believe. Do your eyes not see, my most mortal descendant? How do you explain to yourself the great-grandmother who looks like a young woman? How do you justify any of this? Do you think you dream, Dominus of Terah?”

He had the grace to look briefly confused, but then he said, “I do not have to account for any of this, my lady. Perhaps I do dream. And if you truly mean to go, it will make it easier, for then there shall be no one whispering about your unseemly appearance, or the superstitious murmuring about something that is not like magic. No one here really knows you. The wife of Magnus Hauk is more legend than truth.”

Lara shook her head. “You are a fool, Cadarn. Your great-grandfather was unique in that his mind was more open than any Terahn before him, and since him. While Magnus Hauk ruled, Terah existed in a golden age. But those who could not, would not, tolerate change have destroyed all he and I worked for, Cadarn. There is nothing left of our world, and I weep. Once Terah was a shining light. Now you have allowed Hetar to bring world-weariness and corruption into it. You believe in nothing. I pity you.”

“Lady,” he said, “I think you are ill. Return to your apartments, and I will send the physician to care for you.”

Lara laughed. “Nay.” She turned toward the court, and with a small motion of her hand, restored all as it had been. “Lords and ladies of Terah,” she said to them, and curious, they looked at her. The men admired her beauty. The women her rich garb. “Your Dominus does not believe the witness of his own eyes. He claims there is no magic in your world, that there are no Shadow Princes. He is wrong. Now behold the truth! Prince Kaliq, heed my call, and come to me from out yon wall!”

The great Shadow Prince stepped forth from the chamber’s wall and walked to where Lara stood. “Is it time, my love?” he asked her.

It is time. Let me depart first, and then you will make your exit. These fools will not believe in magic, and so I would leave them with something their own eyes cannot deny, my lord.

The men and women in the chamber were buzzing with astonishment. They stared at the tall dark-haired man with the bright blue eyes who was so richly, yet simply garbed. They had all seen him step from the wall. How had that happened? Was it some Hetarian conjurer’s trick?

Lara turned again to look at her great-grandson. “I will leave you now, my lord Dominus,” she told him. “I will not desert Terah, but you may not see me again, Cadarn Hauk. Explain away the magic you have viewed today. But it does exist.” She looked to Cadarn’s wife. “Faerie blessings upon you, Domina Paulina,” Lara said in a gentle and kind voice. “Now farewell!” There was a clap of thunder. A thick puff of lavender smoke rose about her. When it cleared, Lara was gone from the castle’s Throne Room.

The Terahns gasped aloud collectively, looking about for her.

“Farewell, Dominus,” Kaliq said. Then with a dramatic swirl of his cloak, he, too, was gone.

Cadarn Hauk called out to the servants in the chamber, “Open the windows at once! We have been poisoned by some bad air, and seen that which does not exist.” He turned to his wife. “Are you all right, Paulina?” he inquired solicitously.

The Domina nodded silently. Her husband might deny what they had just seen, but she could not. Being a proper Terahn wife, she kept her thoughts to herself.

WATCHING WITH KALIQ from the ether, Lara heard the Domina’s thoughts and smiled to herself. Then they reappeared in Shunnar together.

“Welcome home, my love,” he said to her as he gathered her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. “My brothers have planned a banquet tonight to welcome you.”

“Will it be like the first banquet I attended here,” she teased him mischievously.

“If it would please you, aye,” he said.

“I am world-weary, Kaliq. I need to regain that level of trust I once had,” Lara told him. “Mortals are most tiresome, and yet I still have hope for them.”

“You are younger than I, my love, but it is good you can still have faith,” he said. “I promise not to be jealous tonight as long as you end the evening in my arms.”

“I swear it!” Lara told him. “Now I must go and rest, Kaliq.” She left him, walking across the enclosed garden that separated his apartments from hers. The day was warm, and the fragrance of flowers perfumed the air. Cadi was awaiting her.

“You look tired,” the serving woman said.

“I am. I shall rest in the heat of the afternoon, then bathe. The Shadow Princes have planned a banquet tonight to welcome me back. We shall all take pleasures after the meal. Come and join in with us. They are incredible lovers.”

“I will,” Cadi said. “I have never had a Shadow Prince for a lover. If their reputations are truth then it should be a most enjoyable time, mistress. I have put some iced berry frine by your bedside. What will you wear this evening?”

“Just a simple white silk gown,” Lara said. She poured some frine into the cup next to the decanter and sipped at it. Shedding away her elegant garments and setting the cup aside, she lay down upon her bed, and immediately fell asleep. Awakening several hours later, Lara saw through the open colonnade that evening was falling. Stretching lazily, she called to Cadi, and her faerie serving woman was immediately by her side.

“The bath attendants are awaiting you, mistress,” Cadi told her.

Lara stood up. She was entirely naked, but neither she nor Cadi were embarrassed by her unclothed state. “I have not slept so well since I was last in Shunnar,” she remarked with a smile. “It is the deep silence I think.” Then Lara walked to her private bathing room, greeting the familiar bath attendants. “It is good to be home,” she said.

And to her own surprise she realized that Shunnar was indeed home to her.

The head bath woman came smiling forward. “It is about time you came home, my lady Lara,” she scolded gently. “It is past time, for that matter.” She pinned Lara’s hair atop her head. Then leading her to a shell-like indentation in the marble floor, she picked up her soapy sponge and began to scrub. When Lara was thoroughly soaped she took up her strigil, which was a thin scraper, and scraped the soap and dirt away. “Did they not bathe you properly in Terah?” the head bath woman asked.

“There are no baths in Terah or Hetar like here in Shunnar,” Lara said.

“How they can call themselves civilized I don’t know,” was the pithy reply as the head bath woman turned a gold faucet and sprayed her charge with warm water. Then she soaped Lara once more and plied her scraper again. This time however she seemed satisfied with her results and hummed beneath her breath as the rinse water sluiced down the beautiful woman’s body. Then she led Lara to a warm scented bathing pool to relax.

Lara leaned back against the marble sides of the pool and closed her eyes. From long habit she lifted a hand from the water so that another bath woman might manicure her nails. When the first hand was done she lifted the second to be attended to, sighing with contentment. About her the warm scented water lapped at her breasts and shoulders. Rose petals floated on the slightly oily surface.

A serving woman came with a basin and unbound and gently washed and rinsed her hair as she luxuriated within the pool. When she finally stepped out of the water, she was patted dry with a slightly moistened cloth, then wrapped in a warm towel and led to a chair, where the nails on her feet were carefully pared as her hair was dried with a silken cloth and brushed. Then she was taken to a padded table where her body was massaged with sweet oils. Lara sighed contentedly as the strong fingers worked the flesh of her shoulders, her legs, her breasts and her belly. Lastly the massage woman attended to her mound, her nether lips and her sheath.