Lara closed her eyes. A sweet beast to be bred. She would not be bred, for she wanted no child of this man, or his brother. But neither her beauty nor her faerie blood would save her from their revenge if they chose to kill her. She had to get away from the Forest Lords before they grew suspicious of her. But how? And where could she go that she would not be branded an escaped slave? She shuddered, and Durga took it for passion rising in her and redoubled his efforts on her body until finally he cried out loudly, satisfied for the interim.

“By the old Forest gods, faerie girl, you know how to give a man pleasure,” he told her approvingly. Then he arose from the bed. “I’ll send some supper for you, but rest, for tonight I will share your bed until the dawn. This brief interlude has but whetted my appetite for your sweet faerie flesh.” He pulled on his clothing again, and left her.

For the first time since she had left her family, Lara cried. The human side of her was showing itself at last, after months in which her faerie blood had allowed her to be as hard as nails. It had aided in her survival, but with Og’s tale today she was only too aware of her precarious position within the realm of the Forest Lords until she produced the desired child. She needed to speak with Og, but she dared not leave the hall again today. And the night loomed long and dark ahead. She rose from her bed and washed herself clean of his juices, but his scent still clung to her body. The tears kept coming until finally she fell into a fitful sleep.

It had been early afternoon when she dozed off, but the sun had been already setting, for winter was upon them. Lara awoke in darkness but for the scrap of flame in the bedchamber hearth. She scrambled up and fed the fire until it was blazing again, then dressed, went into the dayroom and repaired the fire there. A tray had been set on her table, and as the food was hot she guessed that the footstep of the servant delivering it had awakened her. Everything smelled delicious, and she found she was hungry. She ate everything on the tray, and then began to drink from the carafe of sweet wine. She was going to need it to sustain her courage in the hours ahead. When Durga finally entered the room, she was able to muster up a small smile, which pleased him greatly. But the night was a long one.

In midmorning when Lara was finally able to rouse herself from her bed, she dressed quickly and fled the hall for the bathhouse.

“What is the matter, Lara?” Og demanded, seeing her lovely face with its tearstains. “What has happened to make you weep? Faeries rarely weep.”

She told him, the tears coming again, and to her surprise he lifted her up, and cradled her against his shoulder. It was an incredibly comforting gesture, and leaning her golden head against the giant’s shoulder seemed to renew her strength. “You can put me down now,” she said finally, and he gently set her on the floor.

“How typical of Enda,” he said scornfully, “to go off without telling you his brother would come to your bed. He is the more beautiful of the two, but he has less character. They are unique, you know, for they share not only a father, but the same mother as well. Before Durga was weaned from her teat and given to the lady Ida, the slave who bore Durga managed to lure his father into her bed again, and conceived Enda. I think she had discovered what was happening, and tried to save herself that way. Of course, they killed her after Enda was weaned. Her master never visited her bed after Enda was born.”

“Poor girl,” Lara sympathized, “but for Enda to go off and not tell me what to expect was more than unkind. It was cruel!”

“It was,” the giant agreed, “but typical. Enda is a beautiful weakling. Durga is a crude fellow, but he is proud of his family, and desperate to maintain the fiction of their heritage. For centuries, each of the clans in the Forest have only intermarried with one other family. The bloodlines have never varied. They were becoming very inbred, and in a way, Maeve actually did them a kindness. But Durga and his generation have only a quarter pure Forest blood in them. Their children will have less. They know it, and fear if their secret is revealed they will be considered weak enough to be attacked. Still they maintain the old ways, and keep to their traditions and customs. But times change, Lara, and nothing remains the same forever, even if we might wish it so,” Og said. “I had thought you would be given more time, but Durga has always been an impatient man. You must escape the Forest, and very soon, I think.”

“I will be considered a runaway slave,” Lara said.

“Nay, for the law gives you some small protection. Once you have crossed the border into another province without being caught, and can live free for a year and a day, you are legally free, Lara. The only place to which you may not return in safety is the Forest or the City. But live free a year, and you can return to the City.”

“But if I cannot return to the City now, where can I go?” she queried him.

“Ask Ethne,” he told her with a smile. “She is your guardian and your guide. Now, you must bathe before they wonder why you are gone so long,” the giant said with a smile. “Ethne will have some of the answers that you seek, Lara.”

“Ethne once told me I should find a good friend here in the Forest. I believe that friend is you, Og. You must come with me. I cannot go without you.”

“I have often thought of travel,” Og said. “I am told there are other races of giants on Hetar, but I have always been afraid to probe my memory too deeply for fear of what I would find. Perhaps now I should. I owe the Forest Lords nothing.”

“We must make a plan,” Lara said.

“The best plans are those carefully considered,” he advised her. “I know what you must bear now can only be difficult, but if we are hasty, we could fail, and that would be far worse.”

Og was right, of course, and Lara knew it. And now that Durga was certain that he could satisfy himself on her body at will, Durga came only in the night to grunt and strain over Lara. But her life grew no easier. Enda’s bride, Tira, was open in her hatred. Truda, her belly growing larger by the day, could scarce contain her jealousy. Even the soft-spoken Sita avoided her unless there was no other choice.

Enda returned from his hunt six days later. He brought a great deal of game with him, and was welcomed joyously. Now the hall’s larder was full for the long winter ahead. Lara was mending a piece of clothing when he swaggered into her chamber and, sweeping her into his arms, kissed her heartily.

“Did you miss me?” he demanded with a boyish grin.

“I had no time with your brother between my legs every night,” she returned angrily. “You could have told me, my lord!”

“But you knew he would come eventually,” he attempted to excuse himself. “He owns you, too. I thought it a good opportunity as I had to be away, and his woman has a big belly now. Did you please him?”

“He thinks your seed too weak,” Lara said cruelly. “He says you have rendered it impotent running between your wife and me, which is why I remain barren while Truda burgeons with his offspring.” She smiled, but it was a cold smile.

He slapped her hard, and Lara’s head snapped back. “Be careful, faerie girl,” he warned her. “If you do not continue to please me you could become a Pleasure Woman in the hall, servicing any man who desires you.”

“It would be a most generous gesture, my lord, considering the price you and your brother paid for me. More than generous,” Lara said, ignoring the stinging in her cheek. “You would probably do better to sell me and recoup some of your loss.”

“Never!” he snarled. “You will continue to be seeded by both my brother and me until you produce the child we desire of you, or I will kill you with my own two hands. I will share you with my brother, but no other, Lara.”

Lara said nothing more on the subject, nor did she bait him again; but turning away from him, she concentrated on her sewing once more. Enda slammed from the room angrily, and she did not see him again until the evening meal. He came into the hall arguing with his wife, and Tira, spying her rival, gave a shriek of outrage.

“You went to her first! I am your wife, but you went to the Pleasure Woman first! I will not stand for it! I will not! How dare she come into the hall when I am here?”

“Be silent, Tira, you do not understand,” Enda said.

“No, I do not! I want my own hall, and when I have it I will allow none of your Pleasure Women in it. My sister may put up with it from your brother, but I am not Sita!”

Lara gathered up her food and quickly exited the hall. Obviously Enda’s wife was not aware of the situation regarding the Forest Lords. Until she understood, she would accept no child of another woman. Behind her, Lara heard Tira cry out in pain, and the slap of flesh against flesh. Tira was being beaten for her rebellion. Poor girl, Lara thought. But even she knew enough not to argue with a man in a public forum.

Each night from then on both Durga and Enda came to Lara’s bed. The two men took turns using her until they all would finally fall asleep. At first she hated them, until the night she realized that they bored her in their competition to get her with child. After that she lay placidly thinking of her escape, moaning now and again, thrusting up to meet their downward rhythm, and they were content with her.

The Winterfest was coming, but there had been no snows yet. A Winterfest without snow was unusual, but they prepared for it anyway. Og had reasoned that the night of Winterfest would be a good time to make their escape. Durga and Enda would be celebrating with their wives, as Winterfest was considered a prime occasion for conjugal bliss. They had already told Lara she would be left alone, and should seize the opportunity for rest. She thanked them, and wished them good fortune with their wives that night.