“I shall do everything as you command, mistress,” Casnar replied.

“Has Doran had her? Was she able to take that wonderful cock of his?”

“She has been made familiar with it, aye, mistress. As a matter of fact, she took both of us at the same time. He had her female passage, and I the other,” Casnar said.

Lady Farah sighed regretfully. “What a shame my son is so enamored of her. If she were just an ordinary girl I would make her a Pleasure Woman. A female who can take both your cock and Doran’s at the same time would bring me a fortune. Be careful you do not stretch her so she cannot give her husband the pleasures he deserves.”

“Yes, mistress. We were careful, and her passage seems to restore itself quite nicely. The Lord High Ruler will have no complaints.”

“Excellent,” Lady Farah said. Then she dismissed him, telling him to send Doran to her. She had done nothing all day but think of the sex slave who had belonged to her late daughter-in-law, Vilia. He was quite a perfect creature. Vigorous. Creative. And able to plow her without ceasing. And he did not talk. A man who did not swagger and brag was truly a treasure.

Lady Farah smiled to herself. Her life, for all the trouble Hetar was now facing, had taken on a rosy glow. They had stolen the Terahn princess for her son to wed, which would surely force the faerie woman, Lara, into being their ally. And the prestige the girl would bring to Hetar would certainly quiet these unpleasant rumors of a Hierarch. And she had found a lover without par, who, if she could convince the Lord High Ruler to sell Doran to her, would bring her a fortune. She had already sent to Squire Darah requesting he seek out healthy young women in his Midlands Province so she might begin her breeding program. Aye, life was very good for the Head Mistress of the Pleasure Guild these days. Very good indeed.

6

LARA RETURNED FROM THE New Outlands to be greeted by her twins. She had been gone for eight days now. Coupled with her sojourn at the Oasis of Zeroun she felt more rested than she had in several months. Anoush had told her mother as they traveled to the New Outlands that she did not want to return to Terah to live.

“I am Fiacre, Mother. I am Vartan’s daughter, and I am happiest with my clan family. I want to remain with them. I will come and visit you, and you will come to see me, but I will not make the castle my home any longer. I had spoken to my stepfather before his death on this matter, and he said I must be where I was happiest,” Anoush said.

Lara sighed but she had known this moment was coming. “I will have a house built for you,” she told her eldest daughter. “Until it is constructed you will live with Liam and Noss.”

“Aye, I should like my own home,” Anoush responded. “It will make me a good marriage prospect despite my un-Fiacre talents.” Then she laughed softly. “But most of my clan folk are now used to me.”

“You wish to wed?”

“When I find a man whom I can love, aye, Mother. And I want children, too,” Anoush surprised her mother by saying. “Despite my talents I am really just a clanswoman.”

“I will see you have livestock and grazing land,” Lara told her eldest daughter.

“Thank you,” Anoush replied.

And so Lara had made the necessary arrangements for her child’s comfort. Vartan’s daughter would rejoin her father’s clan family. She would be a young woman of property, and even before Lara had departed the New Outlands young men were beginning to visit Liam’s hall. Mildri, Liam and Noss’s young daughter, knew all the gossip, and happily expounded to Anoush what she knew of the young men.

Lara could see how happy and relaxed her daughter was to be among her father’s people again. She saw how eagerly they welcomed Anoush, and realized that, as Anoush had assured her, they were used to the girl’s talents now. And, too, Anoush was not faerie as her mother had been. They saw her first as Vartan’s daughter, and that was good enough for the clan folk of the Fiacre. She left Anoush filled with a mixture of both happiness and sadness. She had but three children left.

But now as she hugged Taj and Marzina her eyes were sweeping the room looking about for Zagiri. “Where is your sister?” she asked her twins.

“She is still at Grandmother’s house,” Taj told his mother.

“And she is not yet back?” That was strange. While Lady Persis adored Zagiri, the girl did not usually remain with her grandmother more than three days when she visited. “Zagiri does not usually stay that long.”

“I think she was just avoiding her lessons,” Taj replied. “Marzina and I have studied hard in your absence, Mother. And we have not fought once! My twin is most respectful of my position and my high office.”

“Your twin is clever and wise,” Lara said dryly. Then she called a servant to her. “Send a messenger to Lady Persis’s home saying I have returned and would like Zagiri to come home immediately,” she instructed the servant.

“Yes, Domina,” the servant replied, and bowed himself from the chamber.

An uneasiness overcame Lara. It was very unlike Zagiri to stay so long at her grandmother’s house. But perhaps Persis had attempted to put forth a candidate for Zagiri’s hand in marriage. Perhaps she had invited him to visit while Zagiri was with her and Zagiri actually liked her grandmother’s choice, and remained. Could it actually be that simple?

An hour later the servant returned. “Domina, the messenger has returned. Lady Persis says she has not seen Princess Zagiri in many days.”

Lara had no sooner heard the words he spoke than in a puff of lavender smoke she disappeared from the servant’s sight. Reappearing in her mother-in-law’s hall, she found Lady Persis actually expecting her.

“What is this all about?” the older woman queried Lara.

“I took Anoush to the New Outlands,” Lara said. “Zagiri said she wanted to come and visit you while I was away. I gave her my permission. I just returned this afternoon. I was gone eight days. You have not seen her in that time?”

Lady Persis shook her head. “Nay, I have not. What can have happened to my darling golden girl? Did she ride?”

“Nay, Marzina says she said she would walk because the weather was fair, and the distance short,” Lara said.

“Could she have fallen from the cliffs?” Lady Persis quavered.

“I will send searchers, but Zagiri was like a mountain goat on the fjord paths,” Lara replied. “I do not believe she would have fallen, but we will look.” Then in another puff of smoke she was gone from Lady Persis’s hall.

It was but two miles between the castle and Lady Persis’s home. The cliffs were searched for the remainder of the daylight. Two of the Forest Giants helped, walking in the fjord and searching the cliffsides carefully, but no trace of Zagiri could be found. Lara was beginning to become frantic in her worry. Finally she knew she had no choice.

“Prince Kaliq, heed my plea. Cease all else and come to me!” she called aloud.

He appeared immediately in a swirl of his snow-white robes. “What is it, Lara, my love?” he asked her.

“Zagiri is missing! She said she was going to visit her grandmother, but she never did, Kaliq. No one has seen her in over a week,” Lara cried.

“Have you asked your twins what they know?” he inquired.

“They know nothing! They thought she was at Persis’s house,” Lara said.

The Shadow Prince turned to look at Taj and Marzina. “The Dominus knows nothing,” he told Lara. “But your princess daughter does, don’t you, Marzina?”

“I promised not to tell,” Marzina said softly.

“But you will tell us now because you understand how serious this situation may be, don’t you, Marzina?” Kaliq said quietly.

Marzina nodded slowly, and then she spoke. “A few weeks ago Zagiri awakened to find a miniature of the Lord High Ruler of Hetar on her pillow.”

Lara drew a sharp breath.

“She showed it to me. She thought him handsome. I thought him old,” Marzina said. “Zagiri didn’t know how the miniature had gotten on her pillow, but she didn’t want anyone else to know of it. She was a little angry because you would not let her marry this man so she could become the ruler of Hetar’s wife.” Marzina did not tell her mother that Zagiri had boasted that as First Lady of Hetar she would rank above her mother, who was merely the widow of a Dominus. “She seemed intrigued and fascinated by the face in the miniature. She said it was a strong face, the face of a real ruler. If she had not been normal otherwise I would have thought her bewitched.”

“She was,” Kaliq informed the girl.

“How could she be?” Marzina asked, surprised.

“The spell was on both the portrait and Zagiri,” Kaliq explained. “When she looked upon Jonah of Hetar’s face she became ensorcelled. She was meant to desire him so greatly that she would find a way to go to him.”

“No!” Lara cried out.

Kaliq sighed reluctantly. “The Lady Vilia has died,” he told Lara. “Word came several days ago from the Shadow Princes on the High Council. It was not unexpected.”

“He has taken my daughter!” Lara cried out. “But how? How did he manage to steal Zagiri away?” She turned to her twins. “Tell me exactly the last time you saw your sister. What time was it?”

“It was early evening,” Marzina said. “We had finished our meal. Taj and I decided to play a game of Herder. Zagiri said she was going to bed. That was the last we saw of her. She had earlier told us she would walk to Grandmother Persis’s house so when she did not appear for the first meal of the day we thought she had already gone.”

“And so she had,” Kaliq said humorously.

“This is not amusing, my lord,” Lara cried. “How has Hetar managed to gain possession of my daughter? How?”