“Oh! Our poor son to have to marry into such a family,” Lady Pauline said, distraught. “And she will despise Terah certainly, and hate our castle, which is very old-fashioned when compared with this beautiful palace!”

“The girls are not sisters, but cousins. They have been raised by different parents. I am sure you will find Yamka Ahasferus a nice girl,” Lara tried to assure Lady Paulina.

“What choice have we?” Lady Paulina cried.

“You don’t!” Lara said sharply. “Unless, of course, you wish to have your husband’s kingdom completely taken over immediately by the Twilight Lord. Do you not comprehend that as long as you are kin to him he will give you a modicum of respect. Without that kinship Terah will cease to exist! This marriage Vaclar makes will save Terah. Yamka will have to make do like any other bride coming into her husband’s home.”

“Lara.” Kaliq spoke gently to her. Be calm. The woman cannot help but be what she is. A vain and foolish mortal. Be patient with her.

I am hungry, and not of a mind to be patient with this Terahn woman who cannot see her world collapsing around her, yet frets that her furnishings aren’t fashionable enough. Ohh, I am weary of these folk, Kaliq!

I know, he said. “Ahh, here are the refreshments for us.” He turned, smiling at Cadarn and his wife. “You must be hungry and thirsty, too, as we took you from your evening meal.”

“Oh, how beautiful the dishes are!” Lady Paulina trilled. She picked up a plate decorated with a floral design. “Look, Caddie, you can see through the china. We must have plates like this for the castle.” She turned to Prince Kaliq. “Do you think we might remain a few days here in The City, my lord? I must visit the shops.”

“I am certain that when the Ahasferus family learn you are here to personally take part in the negotiations for your son’s marriage, they will want you to stay with them,” Kaliq said. He was at his most charming. “If you remain, I shall see you have a trunk of the proper garments for your stay. And I shall return you to Terah when you wish to go.”

“Paulina, I cannot leave Terah without my governance,” Dominus Cadarn said.

“Ohh, Caddie, just two days? Terah will not fall apart in two days,” Lady Paulina pleaded prettily. “And if this young noblewoman is to be our new daughter, we really should get to know her family.”

“Two days, but no more, and only so I may oversee Cadoc and my uncle’s negotiations for this marriage,” Cadarn responded sourly.

As husband and wife spoke back and forth Lara suddenly realized that her passion for this world, her desire to save it, was not as strong as it had previously been. Was Kaliq right? Of course he was right. She could not recall the last time, if ever, when he had been wrong.

The door to the guest chamber opened suddenly. “Mother! I was told that you had come, but I would not believe it until I saw you with my own eyes.” Kolgrim, the Twilight Lord, stepped into the room and, coming over to her, kissed her on both cheeks.

“I was unable to resist wishing you my felicitations,” Lara said drily.

Kolgrim laughed aloud.

“This is your son?” Lady Paulina twittered.

Kolgrim’s changeable gray eyes looked directly at Lara, waiting for her answer.

“Aye, this is my son,” Lara finally said.

“He is very handsome,” Lady Paulina replied. “How fortunate his bride.”

“And extremely wicked, are you not, Kolgrim?” Lara taunted him.

The gray eyes darkened slightly. “No one knows my character better than my dearest mother,” he agreed. “Is that not so, Mother? She felt so sorry for my betrothed, she stole her away and hid her from me. Only when I threatened to destroy my sister did she relent and return Nyura to me.”

Lady Paulina tittered nervously not knowing whether to believe him or not. “Oh, my lord,” she finally said. “You surely jest.”

“Not at all, Lady Paulina,” Kolgrim said, smiling at the woman.

Lady Paulina shuddered delicately, suddenly realizing this beautiful young man was a dangerous man. She reached out for her husband’s hand.

But the Twilight Lord had already turned away from her. She was pretty, but too old for his taste although he just might take pleasures with her when he brought Terah under his control. He could see that Cadarn would need to fully comprehend who the master was. He would take the woman before her husband, making him watch as he forced her to cry out with delight. Nothing broke a man more than seeing the woman he loved violated by another man…and enjoying it.

What evil are you contemplating? Lara silently asked.

He told her and watched as distaste flooded her beautiful face. Then he said, I am glad that you came, Mother. I could but wish my father were here to see my triumph.

There is no triumph yet, Kolgrim. You but wed Ulla’s descendant.

The child she bears me will be the greatest Twilight Lord ever born, Mother. The darkness will hold the world of Hetar in its grasp beyond time as even we of the magic kingdoms know it. And you cannot stop it this time. You will be forced to accept my rule as will everyone else, Kolgrim said.

We shall see, my son. We shall see, Lara responded coolly.

You must stand by my side when I wed today. It is Hetarian custom that the parents of the bride and groom be by their side to give them to each other.

He grinned mischievously at her, and Lara suddenly saw the boy he once was. The boy she had never known, or wanted to know. There was a poignancy in that knowledge, and then she felt Kaliq reach out to take her hand in his. He had understood, of course. You cannot give away what you never had, she told the young man before her. But I have come today, and so I will do you honor, Kolgrim, son of Kol. You will not be shamed before these people or before those who are your blood kin even without these marriages. For a brief moment she thought she saw a glimmer of tears in his eyes, but then the illusion was gone.

“I am pleased to see you all,” Kolgrim said jovially. “Now I must go and prepare for my wedding. But before I go I would tell you that I may have four witnesses of my own choosing at the defloration ceremony. I invite you, my lord Dominus and Domina, and you, Prince Kaliq and my dear mother, to be my witnesses. Will you accept?”

“Of course we will accept, my lord,” Prince Kaliq said, speaking for them all. “We are honored to have been asked.” He bowed toward Kolgrim.

Kolgrim flashed them a bright smile, and then was gone from the chamber.

“What in the name of the Great Creator is a defloration ceremony?” Cadarn wanted to know.

“Tell them,” Lara said, swallowing her laughter, for she knew when her great-grandson and his wife learned they would be horrified.

“The bride is a virgin, which as you know is quite rare in both Hetar and Terah. When a girl who has known no man before is wed here in Hetar, her virginity is taken before a group of chosen witnesses because it is thought to bring honor to her family. The bride’s family chooses four witnesses, and the groom chooses four,” Kaliq explained.

“That is barbaric!” Lady Paulina declared. She turned to her husband. “Caddie, we cannot do this! We cannot!”

“Of course we can,” Dominus Cadarn replied calmly. “The Twilight Lord has honored us, wife. If it is to be as my great-grandmother says, and I have no cause to disbelieve her now. We must keep on the good side of our kinsman Kolgrim.”

“I will not be party to such a thing,” Lady Paulina cried.

“You will do as you are told,” Cadarn said in a cold hard voice. “If you do not, if you embarrass me, embarrass Terah, we will return home immediately. And when we get there I will see you are beaten for your insolence. You will be imprisoned till you die in Great-grandmother’s old tower, which refuses to be destroyed. Then I will divorce you and take a younger, more obedient wife. You will never see your children, or your grandchildren again. Do you understand me, Paulina?”

Cowed, she bowed her head. “Yes, my lord,” she said meekly.

“Do not feel sorry for the bride, Lady Nyura,” Lara said to her great-grandson’s wife. “She is aware of this custom. She chose to keep her innocence until she wed. I do not believe she knows it, but it has something to do with the powers she possesses. They would have been weakened by her sexual activity if she had indulged herself prior to marriage. Whether she sensed it, or the shade of her ancestress led her, we will never know. And she is pleased to bring honor to her family by her sacrifice.”

“Every virgin screams the first time,” Cadarn said in matter-of-fact tones.

“But to be taken before witnesses,” Lady Paulina said weakly.

“There will be no intimacy between them prior to the defloration,” Lara explained. “Their passion is not for our eyes. We are there to attest to the honesty and the value of the bride who saved her virginity for her bridegroom. Kolgrim’s cock will be stimulated by several skilled Pleasure Women while at the same time Nyura is brought to a state of readiness by several equally skilled sex slaves purchased for just this occasion. When bride and groom have been properly prepared, they are brought together and complete the defloration with the aid of the Pleasure Women and the male sex slaves. It’s actually a very civilized ceremony. If everyone involved does their job properly it will be over quickly. Then Kolgrim and his bride will disappear behind closed doors. The sheet upon which the deed was done is then brought back to the hall to be displayed to all the wedding guests. Then our part in the ceremony is over.”

“Did you really steal his bride away and hide her?” Cadarn asked Lara.