Suddenly the Dominus was a boy again. “Thank you, Noss,” he said, dashing off.

Lara smiled, and then she sighed. “He is really too young for his office,” she said to Noss as, linking arms, the two women strolled to Noss’s garden where they would spend much of this morning talking. “Thank you for asking his friends to come. Yesterday was very busy for him, and this morning he was officially anointed,” she told her best friend. “He will be officially crowned on the first anniversary of his father’s death according to Terahn custom.”

“But you rule Terah, do you not?” Noss asked.

“The Dominus Taj Hauk rules Terah,” Lara told her, and Noss nodded her understanding.

“Tell me of the girls,” Noss said. “Why are they not with you?”

Lara explained and again Noss nodded.

“Zagiri was always a bit wild,” she told Lara. “You, and especially Magnus, spoiled her terribly. A lovelier girl there has not been, but headstrong.”

“Mayhap it is not unfortunate, then, that she is Jonah’s new wife,” Lara replied dryly. “She will certainly keep him on his toes.”

“You do not mean that,” Noss said as, reaching the garden, they sat down upon a padded bench. A serving woman immediately brought them goblets of cool Frine. “You were probably heartbroken when you learned what that naughty child had done.”

Lara laughed. “You know me too well, but Kaliq convinced me that as Jonah actually cares for her, Zagiri will be safe as long as Hetar is safe. Now with the shock of my husband’s death easing, our son upon his throne and my daughters safe I have returned to the New Outlands to rest, and consider what is ahead, Noss.”

“Anoush’s home has just been completed,” Noss said. “She will be moving into it shortly.”

“Where is my daughter? Why did she not come to greet me?” Lara wondered.

“She had been traveling to the other villages commissioning furnishings for her house, and talking with the various cattle holders about breeding her bull. She planted an herb garden on her property even before the house was finished. I have never seen her happier, Lara. She is Fiacre despite your blood,” Noss told Lara. “Several young men are interested in courting her, but while she is charming with them she seems disinclined to pick a husband right now.”

“Let her be then,” Lara replied. “When the right man comes along she will show no reluctance whatsoever, Noss.”

“Agreed,” Noss said. “It was that way with us, wasn’t it?”

“Aye, and it was so long ago,” Lara answered softly. “The years have flown.”

“You grow no older,” Noss noted. “I am plump with age, and the brown hair that Liam so loved when I was younger grows thinner, and is beginning to be streaked with a gray that is most unattractive. It is not the lovely silver that some get, but rather a dull faded color. I hate it!”

“I will outlive many,” Lara admitted to her best friend. “That is the curse of faerie blood although that drop of mortal blood in my veins will eventually bring my life to an end sooner than if I were a full-blooded faerie woman. Would you like me to fix your hair for you, Noss? I can, you know.”

“I just want it to be the way it was,” Noss said plaintively.

“Then so be it,” Lara said with a quick wave of her hand. “I hope Liam won’t be too surprised.” And she smiled.

Noss ran her fingers into her hair. It was thick again, and the hair was not coming out each time she touched it. She pulled a lock of it, and smiled happily. It was a rich brown once more, free of dullness. “Thank you!” she said, hugging Lara.

Anoush returned from her visits to the other Fiacre villages, and she was radiant and serene by turns in her new life. She invited her mother to stay with her, but Lara demurred, explaining that she was enjoying being with Noss again. She would stay with Anoush on her next visit, she told her daughter. Anoush agreed with a sweet smile. It made Lara happy to see her eldest daughter finally so content.

It was, Lara would recall in later years, an almost perfect summer. While she missed Magnus Hauk, Zagiri and Marzina, Lara delighted in seeing Taj running, riding, hunting with his two best friends, Sinon and Gare. All the cares of his office had dropped away. Boyish laughter filled the air as the trio roughhoused and joked with each other.

Dasras had decided to remain with the herd of mares belonging to the Aghy Horse Lord, Roan, unless Lara needed him. Usually Roan was content to allow Lara’s stallion to roam freely, mounting his mares whenever the magical beast wished. This year, however, the Horse Lord had a new stallion he wished to use as a breeder. Dasras had set the young stallion into a frenzy as he casually moved among the mares, cutting those out who pleased him. The Horse Lord rode to New Camdene from his Aghy lands, greeting Liam as he entered his hall.

“Roan, I had not thought to see you until The Gathering,” Liam said.

“I must speak with Lara,” Roan replied. “Where is she?”

“In Noss’s garden, beneath the pergola,” Liam answered. “She meditates there every day at this hour. You know the way. Go and find her. You will stay the night, of course. Noss would be angry at me if you did not.”

“We cannot have Noss angry.” Roan chuckled. Then he went to find Lara. Seeing her as she sat quietly, Roan felt a bolt of lust race through him. She was as beautiful as she had ever been, and she was widowed now. He held no illusions that she would marry again, and Roan knew she was not likely to remain in the New Outlands, but would she be averse to taking pleasures with him? He had always desired her. “Lara,” he said, coming up to her and bending from his great height to kiss her cheek.

“Lord Roan! I had not thought to see you so soon,” Lara answered him. He was as handsome as ever, she considered. His eyes had always fascinated her. They were so deep a blue as to appear almost black like summer cherries. The flaming red hair that had crowned his head forever was still bright although perhaps it was fading just a little.

“You must ask Dasras to return to you, Lara,” Lord Roan said.

“Why?” She overlooked the fact that Roan had addressed her familiarly. He was not a man who was easy with rules and formality.

“I have a new young stallion who shows promise, and I wish to see the kind of colts he will breed. Since Dasras arrived he has been in a frenzy for the mares all flock to your magical beast. I have penned my animal, but sooner or later he will break out of his confinement, and challenge Dasras,” Roan said. “I do not want the creature slain by your stallion, Lara. Ask him to return to you.”

“Why do you not ask Dasras to choose six favorites and then drive them to a far pasture?” Lara asked the Horse Lord.

“I did, and he was most amenable. But the mares not chosen by your horse refuse to mate with my breeding stallion. They will not settle down until they believe Dasras is gone for the year and their companions returned,” Roan said, running a big hand through his hair.

Lara giggled, and when he looked aggrieved she laughed. “I am sorry, Roan, but it is very funny. Really it is. Why did you not tell Dasras he was not welcome in your meadows this year? He would have stayed away, and been content with his mate, Sakira, who resides among the Fiacre. You know two blooded stallions cannot live peaceably together when a herd of mares is involved.”

Roan looked abashed. “I know,” he admitted, “but the truth is I always enjoy seeing Dasras’s enthusiasm for my mares. And I did not think you would come this year, Lara. I do not know how Terahns mourn.”

“In very much the same way as the clan families. Magnus’s funeral pyre was escorted to sea three days after his death,” Lara said. “My husband would have expected me to continue on as if he were here. Taj needed a carefree summer with his friends. He has taken his responsibilities as Dominus most seriously, and it is a heavy burden for a boy of thirteen,” she said.

“But you rule for him, do you not?” Roan asked.

“The Dominus rules,” Lara replied. “I but advise him, and I do so from the shadows behind the throne, for Terahns do not have female rulers.”

“Aah,” Roan replied, understanding dawning in his dark blue eyes. Then he grinned mischievously at her. “I have always liked dominant women,” he told her.

“Pah! You like all women, Roan of the Aghy,” Lara mocked him. “How many women do you call wife now?”

“Eight,” he replied, “yet none satisfy me as I know you could.”

Lara looked at the Aghy Horse Lord. He had always lusted after her from the first moment he had met her. She remembered Vartan, her first husband, warning his friend off. What kind of a lover would Roan be, Lara wondered? He probably lacked finesse, but would be as lusty and enthusiastic as his stallion. She had to admit she was curious.

“Do you want to take pleasures with me, Roan?” she asked him.

His mouth dropped open with surprise, but he quickly recovered. “Aye!” he said. “You know I have always wanted you, Lara. Do you want to take pleasures with me?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not,” Lara answered him. “If the moment is right it will come. And then it will go, for I am not of a mind to keep a permanent lover, Roan.”

“Nor I,” he told her. “And I need no more wives. I already have too many,” he said with a rueful smile.

“You could hardly take the Domina of Terah for a wife.” She reminded him gently of her status. “But mayhap we will enjoy each other’s company during the weeks I am here visiting my daughter and her family.”

He knelt before her, smiling. “Do you not age at all, Lara? You are more beautiful than ever if such a thing is possible,” he said. His big hands slipped beneath the soft cotton gown she wore, sliding slowly up her legs to her thighs. “Your skin is like the finest silk, Domina.” Then, bending his fiery head, he began to follow the path his hands had taken, kissing and licking his way to the junction of her closed thighs. He could smell her female scent, and it was intoxicating to him. He nuzzled at her, and her legs slowly opened to him. Pushing his head between her legs, he peeled her nether lips open with his thumbs, staring at her sex with admiration and awe, licking at her juices, which were already beginning to flow for him.