“It hurts,” she whimpered at him.

“Does it?” He smiled into her face, drew his throbbing cock back and thrust forward hard. He felt her maidenhead give way as he ripped it asunder. Her scream was so loud that it was heard in the banqueting hall, and Nyura did not cease screaming for several long moments as her bridegroom thrust over and over and over again into her. But then her cries died away, and instead they heard her moaning as Kolgrim brought her the pleasures she had listened to other woman gush about since she was twelve, and old enough to understand, at least partly, what they were discussing.

He pumped her for several more deep strokes, and then his body stiffened momentarily as, groaning, he released his juices into her. Reaching up, he undid the bonds holding her, nodding to the two sex slaves to release her legs. Then, standing up, he smiled down upon her. “You did well, Nyura.”

Dazed she looked up at him. “Did I please you?” she asked softly.

“You have much to learn, but I will teach you,” he said. “Get up now, Nyura. The evidence of your honesty must be presented to our guests so they may go home. Then so will we, my pet.”

Nyura managed to gather herself together. She climbed from the bed. Looking down at the large stain of blood upon the white coverlet, she appeared startled. There was blood upon her thighs, too. Ripping the silk from the bed, she handed it to the Pleasure Woman, who bowed politely. Then with the two male sex slaves the three facilitators left the chamber.

“Our part in this is over,” Palben said. “Will you all agree that the bride’s claim to virginity was a legitimate one? And that the bridegroom was not cheated?”

His companions nodded.

“Then we will return to the banqueting chamber with the proof,” the Lord High Ruler said.

Stepping into the corridor from the viewing room, they found the three facilitators waiting for them. The Pleasure Woman bowed to Lara, handing her the bloodied coverlet.

“Thank you,” Lara said, nodding to her.

The Lord High Ruler snapped his fingers at the two male sex slaves. “You belong to the Pleasure Mistress Lady Helena?”

“We do, my lord,” one replied.

“Tell your mistress that this noble young lady would avail herself of your services this evening. You are to both come to the palace.”

“Yes, my lord,” was the reply.

“Why thank you, nephew,” Marzina said, smiling sweetly at him.

Behave yourself! Lara scolded her daughter, but her mouth was smiling.

He lusts after me because he sees me as young and fair, Marzina said. And it truly troubles him, Mother, because I am his great-aunt. She swallowed back a giggle.

They reached the banqueting hall. Lara entered and walked directly to the High Board, followed by the other witnesses. Moving to the table’s center, she was lifted atop it by the four male witnesses. Once there Lara unfurled the white silk coverlet, its crimson bloodstains now beginning to turn brown. “The bride was true!” she cried.

The banqueting hall erupted in cheers, and as she was helped down from the High Board she saw Grugyn Ahasferus being congratulated. Lara shook her head in wonder. Hetarians encouraged their daughters to take pleasures early so they might be contented wives; they loved their Pleasure Houses; yet one maid who retained her virginity was celebrated for it on her wedding day though she had been scorned for it in the years prior.

“Are you coming back to the palace with me?” Marzina asked her mother.

“Nay. I think Kaliq and I will go home to Shunnar. Will you come and see us soon, my darling? I need to speak with you.”

“Is it about Kolgrim?” Marzina asked cleverly.

“Aye, it is,” Lara responded candidly. She would not lie to her child now. Not when what she must say was so important. She wanted Marzina’s cooperation.

“I will come,” Marzina replied, “but, Mother, you must not worry about me. I know what Kolgrim is. Really is. I know as much as he desires a family, a little sister, he would kill me if it suited his purposes. I am aware of it.”

Lara nodded. “I trust your judgment,” she said.

“Now let me go. Those two delicious sex slaves are awaiting me, and I am eager to take pleasures with them,” the young faerie woman said with a twinkle in her violet eyes. “Do you think they are as sturdy as they look?”

“You will tell me when you come to Shunnar,” Lara told her daughter.

Marzina laughed and, turning, hurried away.

“Great-grandmother!” Dominus Cadarn had come to her side. “We need your help in the matter of my son’s betrothal.”

“Your uncle is expert in all matters Hetarian,” Lara said. “Can he not help you?”

“It is he who calls for you,” Cadarn said.

“Very well, I shall come.” She turned to Kaliq. “Will you wait or go home?”

“I will await you in Shunnar,” he said, bending to kiss her mouth. Then, stepping away from her, he swirled his cloak about himself and disappeared.

Cadarn’s mouth fell open. “What happened to him?” he asked.

“He returned home, which I should like to do, so take me to Lord Amren so we may conclude the matter of Vaclar’s marriage. If I know your uncle, there is something he knows the Hetarians will consider unpleasant, and he wants me to press the point.”

The wedding guests had all gone, and the house was virtually empty but for the family and their servants. Cadarn led Lara to a large library where Grugyn Ahasferus was now seated with her grandson, Prince Amren. She nodded to them both then said, “Well, what is it that I am needed for, my lords?”

“Will you not be seated, Domina,” Grugyn Ahasferus invited Lara. “And I have not thanked you for being witness to my granddaughter’s defloration ceremony.”

Amren rolled his eyes at Grugyn’s polite speech. The Hetarian magnate was just attempting to get on the good side of his faerie grandmother. “They want the wedding here in The City,” Amren said, his tone annoyed. “But the wedding must be held in Terah, in the castle of the Dominus. Lady Yamka will one day be Terah’s Domina. Her marriage must be celebrated where she will rule.”

“Has neither of you heard of the word compromise?” Lara asked them tartly.

“She must be wed here among her family,” Grugyn Ahasferus said.

“Nay, she must be wed in Terah,” Prince Amren replied.

“She can be wed in both places,” Lara told them. “Let the first marriage be performed here in this house in the hour before sunset. Then I will transport them by means of my magic to Terah in time for the sunrise ceremony that is our tradition.”

“But what of the wedding feast?” Grugyn demanded. “Is my family to be made a laughingstock because we do not celebrate Yamka’s marriage as we have celebrated the marriages of my other two granddaughters?”

It would be one of the last things she did for them all, Lara thought. “Both Terah and Hetar will have their feasts,” she told them. “In Hetar you will celebrate within your banqueting hall for it will be night. But if you walk from your hall through a magic tunnel we will provide, you will find yourself in Terah celebrating in the gardens of the Dominus’s castle in the morning light. Neither of you will be embarrassed before your families and friends. Indeed you will be envied in both lands that magic made such a thing possible even though you all claim that magic no longer exists,” she mocked them.

Grugyn Ahasferus’s brow furrowed as he considered her words. “Indeed,” he finally said, “there has certainly never been a wedding such as this one will be. And none will be able to duplicate it. Aye! You have given us the perfect solution, Domina Lara.”

He looked to Prince Amren. “My lord, are you in agreement?”

“I am!” came the reply.

“You must have Dominus Cadarn’s permission for this,” Lara said quietly, realizing that the two old men were leaving Terah’s ruler out of the matter.

“Of course! Of course!” Prince Amren quickly agreed. “Nephew, will you give us your formal consent to celebrate the marriage of your son and heir, Vaclar, to Yamka Ahasferus, in both Hetar and Terah?” His tone was properly deferential.

The Dominus’s ego now properly soothed, Cadarn looked at the two men, and said, “I will agree, my lords. You have come up with a clever solution.”

“It is the Lady Lara who has found the solution,” Grugyn Ahasferus said, “and I am grateful to her. This will be a good marriage, my lord Dominus. My granddaughter has been properly raised, and knows her place, as I have previously said.”

“Aye, it is Grandmother’s magic that will make this all possible, nephew,” Prince Amren said quietly. Why was Cadarn so antagonistic toward Lara, he wondered.

“When would you celebrate this marriage?” Lara asked them. “Soon?” It has to be soon, she thought. Before Kolgrim moved to bring the darkness. Terah needed to be doubly related to the Twilight Lord by then.

“A month,” Grugyn Ahasferus said. “The bride needs to gather together her dower portion. The house must be prepared, and another feast planned.”

“Yamka must be isolated during that time,” Lara said. “She has taken lovers in the past, but now is not the time for her to decide to have a final spree of lust before she marries. It is of vital importance that any child she bears carries both her blood and Vaclar’s. I will keep her safe myself.”

“Certainly, Domina Lara, we may be trusted to keep Yamka safe,” Grugyn Ahasferus said pompously.

“I will not negotiate with you in this matter, my lord,” Lara told the magnate. “And it is already done. I have transported the sleeping girl to a safe haven. When she awakens it will be her wedding day.”

Prince Amren grinned, unable to help himself. Even Cadarn was forced to smile.

Suddenly a knocking sounded upon the library door, and it opened to reveal Lady Camilla. She was most distraught. “They are gone, Grugyn!” she cried.