“Put such a thought from you, Kaliq,” Cronan advised. “We of the Shadows value life too much to sully our spirits by enticing another to murder. To punish is one thing, but to kill is an entirely different matter.”

Kaliq sighed deeply. “I know,” he said. “Yet when I think of all the evil Kol has sent into our worlds, Cronan…” He sighed again. “But if Kol continues to shield his daughter’s thoughts from us he may kill himself.”

“Then that will be his decision, his choice that decides his fate, not ours,” Cronan said. “But I do not believe he will do it no matter how much she begs him. Have you looked at your prisoner recently?”

“I have not looked at him since I placed him in his prison,” Kaliq said. “I despise him. Looking at him reminds me of what Lara had to suffer to accomplish our ends.”

“Ah, the beauteous faerie woman. She is your weakness, Kaliq,” Cronan warned.

“I love her,” Kaliq said. “I know she is my weakness, but there it is, Cronan.”

“Shadow Princes can love truly, Kaliq,” Cronan told him. “But it is a rare thing. However, you must not allow your love to destroy either of you. Now, hand me the crystal globe on the shelf there. Yes, the large one. Place it here on the table, and let us see what we can see. Show us the imprisoned Kol,” he said to the crystal.

The two Shadow Princes stared into the clear ball. It grew cloudy, and then cleared to reveal a small dark stone prison cell. The chamber was square. There was no door, nor window, nor grating visible. There was no candle to light it, or brazier to warm it, but magic gave them the view of the cell and the prisoner. Kol sat cross-legged in the direct center of the little room. He remained perfectly still, his blinded eyes closed. The conditions of his prison were such that nothing about him had changed since the day he had been placed there. He had no beard. His hair remained its same length. His garment remained whole.

“He sits still because he needs to concentrate upon giving her what he can,” Cronan said slowly.

“Then he needs to be distracted,” Kaliq said. He looked into the crystal, and snapped his fingers once. Immediately a small black fly appeared in Kol’s cell, and began to buzz about.

At first Kol did not hear it, but then as it flew near his ear, buzzing, the Twilight Lord became flustered. He flailed about swatting at the insect he could hear, but not see. His concentration was broken, but then he grew still again. The fly buzzed near him, and with unerring aim his hearing, sharpened by his blindness, allowed him to pinpoint and kill the fly. He smiled triumphantly, but then his cell was suddenly filled with not just one fly, but dozens of the pesky creatures. Kol opened his mouth to express his outrage, but no sound could be heard as his vocal cords were frozen. Realizing what was happening, Kol sought to ignore the creatures, but they began to bite at him. He had no choice but to swat at them as they buzzed about him. His attention now diverted, he could no longer help his daughter. When she felt her powers beginning to weaken, she would be in his head quickly enough, demanding his help. Until then he would continue to swat at the flies.

“Nicely done.” Cronan chuckled.

“Ciarda will have to get rid of the flies that torment Kol before her father can once again concentrate. She will not find it either easy or simple. Lara will now have time to approach the Hierarch without interference,” Kaliq said. “Thank you for your help, Cronan. I am glad you yet live, for you are certainly the wisest of us all. Are you certain that you do not want to return to Shunnar? The desert heat would soothe your old bones.”

“For now I am content here in Belmair,” Cronan said. “Remain always in the light, Kaliq of the Shadows.” His blue eyes closed as he settled back in his chair.

“Then I bid you farewell, great prince,” Kaliq said, and, standing, he disappeared from the white-haired old lord’s chambers. Returning himself to Shunnar, he looked about for Lara, but she was not there. Of course! She would be in Hetar. But would she be with Cam or with Jonah? Kaliq poured himself a goblet of apricot Frine, and sat down. He would rest briefly and then join her. Wherever the Darkling was she would shortly discover that her powers were almost gone, and would seek to learn the reason why.

Where are you, Lara? Kaliq called out to her. He waited a moment and then she answered him.

I am with Jonah.

Shortly, the Darkling will be gone to learn why her few powers are waning. You will have the freedom to speak with Cam. I will join you soon, but will not be visible to anyone but you.

I await you, my lord, Lara said. Then she turned to Jonah. “I have spoken with the women, and they are ready to stand behind you, my lord. They are not pleased at any attempt to rob them of the few rights they have managed to gain over these past years.”

“What of the Hierarch?” Jonah wanted to know.

“It is possible he may stand by your side, but if not in this matter, there will be others, my lord,” Lara told him.

“You never ask for your daughter,” he suddenly said.

“Hetar’s decline and fall and eventual rebirth does not concern my daughter,” Lara told him coldly. “I am told she has become the model of a wealthy Hetarian wife.”

He laughed. “Aye. Never did I think I would have such a wife.”

“And you would not had you respected the wishes of her brother, Dominus Taj,” Lara said sharply. “You stole her, corrupted her to your ways, and you wonder why I do not ask for her, my lord?”

“Zagiri was more than ready and eager to be corrupted,” he said softly. “But if it makes any difference to you I do love her, Domina.”

“Are you actually able to love, my lord? I did not think so. Be careful your lust for my daughter does not turn you into Gaius Prospero and his beloved Shifra,” Lara said cruelly. “We all recall how that ended.”

“You are cruel, Domina,” the Lord High Ruler of Hetar said to Lara.

“I am faerie,” she reminded him. “Now if you wish to save your skin, Jonah of Hetar, you had best enter your council chamber, and defend the women of this kingdom.”

“Will you be there when I do?” he asked her.

“So the others can think I stand behind you? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. You will not see me if I come, my lord. You must stand upon your own feet in this matter. You must be a leader now, not a despot. If you do not display strength you will be defeated. There can only be one ruler of Hetar, my lord. Remember that,” Lara warned him, and then she was gone from his sight.

Jonah stood up from behind the large table where he usually conducted all of his business. The council chamber would now be preparing to go into session, for he had called for a meeting. He smoothed his hands down the fur-trimmed purple velvet robe he wore. He brushed his dark hair back, and, taking his staff of office, he strode from his library calling his secretary, Lionel, to follow him. Entering the council chamber, he took his seat upon his high throne, and looked about. Every man and woman in the High Council was seated and waiting for him. Jonah thumped the ebony staff with its round gold knob upon the floor. “Let the High Council come into session,” he said. “We recognize Cuthbert Ahasferus. Speak, my lord!”

“I have listened to the Hierarch,” the head of the Merchants Guild began, “and it would appear to me if Hetar is to return to the days of its glory we must first return to our traditional ways. The greatest change that has come about in Hetar, and which has, in my opinion and the opinion of many others, caused our decline, is our permitting women to involve themselves in matters that they should not. Women are meant for pleasures, for childbirth, for home and hearth, yet we have allowed them to own Pleasure Houses and businesses, which goes against all we have ever known and been taught. For the sake of Hetar, women need to be returned to their rightful place.” He sat down.

“I have never heard such nonsense in my life,” Ysbail, a representative of the Pleasure Women’s Guild, said. “You cannot expect us to give up the power we have fought so hard to win, Cuthbert. We will not do it!”

“Might I remind Master Ahasferus that the profits from the Pleasure Houses has increased at least tenfold since the women were allowed to own them,” Maeve Scarlet, a representative from the Guild of Pleasure Mistresses, pointed out. “Certainly you are not so stupid as to believe that was by chance?”

“But such commercial ventures are not a woman’s place!” Aubin Prospero said.

“Aye,” the two Forest Lords agreed in unison.

“Can you truly believe that asking women to return to the past will solve Hetar’s problems?” Mikhail, son of Swiftsword, asked. “I do not believe it will.”

“And turning the Pleasure Houses back to male owners could cost you serious profits,” Eres, the other representative from the Pleasure Women, said softly.

“Do you dare to threaten us?” Squire Darah demanded to know.

Eres smiled, but did not answer him.

“What think you, my lord Jonah?” Prince Lothair said, and the eyes of all the council fell upon the Lord High Ruler.

Jonah waited in order to give his words even more weight. Finally he spoke, and all within the council chamber leaned forward to better hear him. “Our difficulties do not stem from keeping women subjugated or allowing them the freedom to indulge in business, my lords and ladies. The Pleasure Houses are, quite frankly, the only enterprises still truly profitable in Hetar. And as has been pointed out so succinctly by Maeve Scarlet, their profits have grown tenfold under the control of the women. I think it would be unwise to change management practices, my lords and my ladies.”

“What of the women who own shops? What of those who trade?” Aubin Prospero wanted to know. “We have not admitted them to our guild, but they still have the temerity to do business, and often are in conflict with us.”