“Master Bashkar has earned his rest,” Lara said. “Perhaps we shall let him go home to Shunnar. He always loved the heat of the desert. Now, my darling, run along. I must bathe and dress, and magick myself to Camdene before their evening begins.”

Taj jumped up from his place on her bed. Giving her a kiss upon her cheek, he dashed off. He had taken her little lecture on life span rather well, Lara thought. He had certainly surprised her by asking if she loved Kaliq. And she had surprised herself with her answer. She did love the Shadow Prince, and she had since girlhood. But he had been so insistent that it was naught but a fancy. Of course now she knew he had said it so that she would move on to experience life, to learn from it, to become what she must to meet her destiny. But wasn’t all of her life her destiny? The men she had loved. The problems she had faced and solved. Her children. And the unknown. It was all her destiny. And now once again she was being called upon to thwart the darkness.

With a small sigh of resignation, Lara transported herself into the hall of Liam, Lord of the Fiacre clan families. Beyond the open door she could see the leafless limbs of the trees black against the red-orange sky. The servants were quietly going about their evening duties, laying the tables, bringing in pitchers of Frine and beer. Noss was seated at her loom showing her daughter, Mildri, how to do a particular stitch.

Seeing Lara’s arrival, she jumped up and ran to her. “Oh, Lara, thank the Celestial Actuary that you are here. I wanted to call you earlier, but Liam would not let me.”

Lara immediately took her friend’s hands in hers. “What has happened, Noss? What has distressed you so greatly?”

“It’s Anoush!” Noss said, and she began to sob.

“Anoush? Noss! What has happened to my daughter? You must tell me!” She squeezed the two hands in hers hard, and felt guilt for deceiving Noss, but the truth was Anoush was safer as long as no one knew the truth.

“She cannot be awakened. This morning Gadara went to wake her, but she could not. And, odder still, she was unable to touch Anoush. It was as if there were some invisible barrier surrounding her. What can be the matter? What can have happened?”

“I must go to my child!” Lara said. “Who can have done this to her?” She hurried from Liam’s hall and through the village of Camdene until she reached her daughter’s fine stone house. Gadara saw her coming and opened the door, following Lara upstairs into Anoush’s bedchamber where Lara stood at the girl’s bedside looking down on her daughter. Anoush lay quietly, not moving at all.

Lara looked to Gadara. “Tell me how this has happened.”

“Domina, I do not know,” Gadara wept. “I came, bringing her her cup of dandelion tea. She likes to sip a cup each morning before arising. I saw her sleeping, which is unusual, for my mistress generally awakens with the dawn. Reaching out, I tried to shake her, but I was prevented from touching her.”

Lara reached out to put a hand on Anoush, but Kaliq’s invisible barrier blocked her. She sprang back as if she had touched something hot. “This is not my magic,” she said as if speaking to herself, “but it is powerful magic.” She turned to the servant. “Gadara, you will remain with your mistress. I must find a way to awaken her. I will be in Liam’s hall if there is any change in my daughter’s condition.”

“Yes, Domina,” Gadara whispered.

“Let no one but Noss in to see her,” Lara instructed further.

“Yes, Domina.”

Lara hurried back to the hall where Liam had now joined Noss. “My daughter has been touched by magic,” Lara told them. “The barrier that surrounds her is not my magic. Has Cam been here of late?” she asked them.

“Nay, he has not,” Noss said. Then her voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you think he had something to do with Anoush’s condition, Lara?”

“The lad has no magic in him,” Liam said. “And he hasn’t been here in several days, Lara. You must look elsewhere for the guilty party.”

“I had come to speak with my daughter and her suitor,” Lara told them. “I know that they have wanted me to come, but I was at Shunnar with Kaliq.”

“They were going to ask your permisison to wed,” Liam said. “Would you have given it to them, Lara?”

“Liam!” Noss shook her head admonishingly.

“Not yet,” Lara said candidly. “I would have wanted them to become even better acquainted before I gave my permission. Besides, I always envisioned an autumn wedding for Anoush. Has anyone sent for Cam to come?”

“We didn’t want to do anything until we had spoken with you, Lara,” Noss told her best friend. “Besides, we were not certain that Anoush wouldn’t wake up.”

“The spell woven about my child is an unbreakable one,” Lara told them. “She will not awaken until whoever put it there unlocks it. You must send for Cam to come and see what has befallen Anoush. Send a faerie post to him at Rivalen on the morrow. I mean to return home now, and speak with my mother. I will return in two days’ time, Liam. See that Cam is here so I may speak with him then.

“Yes, Domina,” the leader of the Fiacre replied to her.

And without another word to them Lara was gone from them in a puff of green smoke.

12

LARA RETURNED AS SHE HAD promised two days later. Arriving in Liam’s hall, she looked about to find Cam staring in surprise at her entrance. Lara restrained a smile. She had caught him off guard, and that was a good thing.

Noss hurried forward. “There is no change,” she told Lara. “She sleeps. She does not appear to be in any kind of pain or distress.”

“There is a blessing there,” Lara answered her. Then she turned to Cam. “Do you have anything to do with my daughter’s condition, nephew? Do not even consider lying to me for I shall find you out.”

“I have no magic about me,” he said. “How could I be responsible?”

He lies, Lara thought to herself, surprised. He has been given some sort of magic. It is not great, but it is there. The Darkling, of course. “Forgive me if I misjudge you, Cam, but whatever barrier contains Anoush it is not my magic. I came two days ago to speak with you and my daughter only to find her in this unwakeable sleep,” Lara said. “I do not even know why this was done to her. Do you?” There! Let her put a hint into his head that his Darkling lover might have done this out of jealousy. Lara almost laughed aloud at the sudden look upon his handsome face that was as quickly gone as it had come.

“Did you mean to give us your permission to wed, my lady aunt?” he asked her.

“Nay, not yet. I wanted you to know each other better before I made that decision, Cam, but your concern for Anoush’s well-being warms my heart.” She gave him a smile.

“Can you not awaken her?” Cam asked. “It is said of you that your magic is great, and grows stronger every year.”

“If I knew the type of spell that was used I might be able to unravel it and reverse it,” Lara said. “But I have yet to decipher it. Some spells like this one are quite unique, and meant only for the person who has been enchanted. You are a handsome young man now, Cam. Is there some lass you have disappointed who might have been jealous of Anoush, and sought out someone to magick her? Think carefully, I beg you.”

A thoughtful look touched Cam’s face, but then he shook his head. “I can think of no one who might have misunderstood my attentions toward her. Ask the lady Sholeh if you would confirm my words. Besides, I spend more time with the cattle than I do in society, Aunt.”

“Then all I can do is try to discover what sort of spell this is so I may lift it from my daughter,” Lara said. “When she is herself once more we will speak on what you would both desire.”

He bowed to her politely. “I can only await your success, but be assured that I love Anoush with all my heart, and she loves me.”

“It pleases me to hear your words, Cam, and I am touched by your sentiments regarding yourself, but as for Anoush I must hear her declare her love for you from her own lips,” Lara told him. Dismissing him with a small smile, she turned again to Noss. “Continue to watch over my child, and send to me if there is any change.” Then Lara was gone from Liam’s hall in a burst of her pale green smoke.

“I must return to Rivalen,” Cam said to Noss and Liam. “There is no reason for me to remain here. If Anoush wakes up will you let me know?”

“Of course, lad,” Liam said sympathetically.

Noss nodded. She had not liked Cam as a child, and she didn’t like him now, but she had concealed her dislike from all but Lara.

Cam hurried from the hall, going to the stables to fetch his mount. He would ride far enough from the village not to be seen, and then he would transport himself to Ciarda’s dwelling. Lara did not know about Ciarda, of course, and so her remarks had been but innocent ones. But it had set Cam to considering if his Darkling lover had put an enchantment upon Anoush so he might not wed her. Ciarda was inclined to jealousy.

He rode from Liam’s stable and out into the cold late morning. He could smell snow in the air as his horse plodded along. Finally, when he saw by the landscape about him that he was halfway between Camdene and Rivalen, he drew his horse to a halt. He tied the animal to a tree, and said aloud, “Take me to Ciarda.” And instantly he was there within her bedchamber.

Ciarda was with her Wolfyn lover. She was kneeling as he pumped himself within her. Cam watched them dispassionately until the Wolfyn howled with his attainment, but he could see Ciarda was not satisfied. He almost laughed as she rounded on her lover, beating him on his long snout with her fists.

“Pig! Do you dare to take your pleasures before giving them to me? Get out! And never return!” Her eyes lit on Cam. “This mortal knows well how to pleasure me, don’t you, Cam? Come, and show this fool of a selfish Wolfyn how easily I can be pleasured if one but tries. You will remain and watch us.”