WHEN LARA AWOKE THE NEXT day she felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She might be faerie, but she wasn’t entirely invincible. The knowledge that she would not have to compete with Ciarda for Cam’s attention was a great relief. Now her foolish nephew would be forced to do her bidding without question. He could no longer betray her by attempting to make an arrangement with the Darkling more suited to his own nefarious and greedy purposes. She chuckled at the thought of his surprise when he learned that.

She bathed, and then considered what she would wear. A gown would make her seem vulnerable and feminine. She chose instead her leather trousers, a shirt, doeskin jerkin and boots. She sat quietly as Mila brushed out her long golden hair and then braided it neatly into a single, long, thick plait. Then, standing, she called to Andraste, who came to fasten herself onto Lara’s back.

“Shall I have Dasras saddled?” Mila asked.

“Nay, I will use magic to travel today. And I would first have breakfast with the young Dominus,” Lara answered her serving woman. With a smile at Mila, she hurried off to see her youngest son. She found him with his two companions preparing to break their fast. “I’ve come to join you,” she said, waving them back into their seats, for they had arisen politely at her entrance.

“I have hardly seen you of late, Mother,” Taj said, a hint of complaint in his voice.

“There has been so much to do, my darling,” Lara replied. “We have now restored the balance to the worlds, and the darkness has retreated. There remains but one thing to do, and I will go off today to see to it. Then I thought you would be pleased to learn that Marzina is coming home briefly.”

“What did she do?” Taj asked.

Lara laughed. “Does a visit home necessarily mean your twin has committed some fault, Taj? Perhaps she just grew homesick and wanted to see us.”

“Nay, I know my sister. She has done something to outrage our grandmother Ilona. I knew she would eventually. Marzina is always in a great hurry,” Taj said. “And besides, Mother, she was here for my coronation, so she couldn’t be homesick.”

“I have underestimated you, my lord son,” Lara told him with a smile. “Aye, she has indeed proven to even my doting mother that she is not quite ready for the responsibility of her magic. She will visit with us briefly, and then will go into the care of the Daughters of the Great Creator for a year or more to hopefully learn self-discipline and restraint. When the High Priestess Kemina says Marzina has learned these virtues Prince Kaliq will take her as a student, and train her in the magic arts himself. Her talents are far beyond my mother’s tutoring.”

“What did Marzina do that grandmother Ilona banned her from her kingdom?” Taj asked, curious, and both Gare and Sinon leaned eagerly forward to learn the answer, too, having heard all the previous discussion.

“The nature of Marzina’s crime is of no account to Terah or its welfare, my lord Dominus. I think we shall leave it at that,” Lara told him. “Oh, I see the cook has baked us fresh raisin bread this morning.” Reaching for the loaf, Lara cut a slice for herself and buttered it lavishly. “And baked pomme fruits with honey! I am ravenous.” She smiled at the three boys. “How are your studies coming?”

“We are learning the history of Terah,” Taj said. “Just before the time of Usi the sorcerer. Do you think he was as terrible as he is portrayed, Mother?”

“You should know as my son that there is both light and dark magic. Usi’s magic was evil,” Lara told her son. “His descendants rule the Dark Lands. And there is even a female line of his descendants in Hetar, Taj. Aye, Usi was the darkest of sorcerers.”

Taj turned to his two companions, who did not know of that dark time in Terah’s history. “When my mother came to Terah and the men heard her voice, they were astounded, for they believed their own females dumb and speechless. It turned out this sorcerer had cursed the men of Terah with his dying breath. While they thought their women had become speechless, it was actually the men whose ears had been stopped up to their voices. It was my mother’s magic that changed all that, and my father fell in love with her then,” Taj explained proudly.

Lara smiled, remembering her earlier days in Terah. Remembering its proud Dominus, Magnus Hauk. Now Terah was ruled by his son. For a moment she recalled. Taj’s coronation just a few weeks back. The family and the few representatives from the various cultures of Terah had come. The Lord High Ruler of Hetar, however, had not come, for he greatly feared to leave his kingdom for even a day. The first day of the celebration had honored Magnus Hauk, his life and his accomplishments. On the second day of the festivities, at the exact hour of Magnus Hauk’s death, the crown had been set upon Taj’s head by both Arik, High Priest in the Temple of the Great Creator, and his female counterpart, Kemina, the High Priestess. The third and final day was given over in celebration of the new Dominus. All of Terah had feasted and rejoiced at the peaceful transition between reigns. Then their lives had again picked up the daily rhythm of their world once more.

Summer was coming. Gare and Sinon begged the Domina to be allowed to remain with Taj. And Taj wanted his friends with him. They would all go to visit in the New Outlands in late summer and early autumn, remaining for The Gathering. Reluctantly, the parents of the two young Fiacre clansmen gave their consent. They could see the advantage for their sons, and for the Outland clan families in the years to come.

Lara returned to Hetar. She was not yet ready to inform the Lord High Ruler of Hetar’s most recent escape from the darkness. Hetar needed to be reformed, and the only way that was going to happen was if Jonah and his minions still believed they were in danger. She appeared in his privy chamber to discover him enthusiastically fucking a dark-haired female he had bent over his worktable.

“Give me your juices, Aprika,” Jonah panted. “Give! Give!”

“Oh, my lord Jonah, it is too much! Too much! I die!” the female cried dramatically. “Oh! Oh! Ohhhh!”

He grunted, stiffened and then sighed gustily as he stepped away from her, drawing down his robe. “You may go now, Aprika,” he said coldly.

The female arose slowly, and, turning, put a hand upon his arm. “My lord, did I not please you?” she murmured. “You said last night that I pleased you.” Then she gave a shriek of surprise as her eye met Lara’s.

“Go along, girl,” Lara told her in a kindly tone. “Your master is a pig who takes pleasures from little slave girls like you, but rarely gives them back. Good morning, my lord Jonah. You are well, I see.”

The girl gaped at Lara, then scuttled from the room without another word.

The Lord High Ruler of Hetar strolled around his worktable and looked at the faerie woman. “She is our sex slave,” he said. “And my wife was too busy taking pleasures with our two male sex slaves to attend to my needs this morning.”

“You really must be firmer with Zagiri, Jonah. She will not respect you if you are not,” Lara told him. She almost felt sorry for him but that she knew he was a coldhearted man. “Sell Aprika, and one of the male slaves. Then see that your wife receives and gives pleasures only with you. The slave you keep will be for special occasions, or when you are away inspecting the new roads that are going to be built,” Lara said.

“We are building new roads? Who is to build them, and from where is the coin to come, Domina?” he demanded to know. He was feeling irritable. Aprika had not satisfied him at all. Despite her reputation he found her boring. Only his beautiful wife could please him completely. He was a fool, but he actually loved Zagiri, and was terrified she would one day realize she had married a man old enough to be her father, and despise him for it. Or fall in love with another, younger man.

“The coin will come from the taxes you collect from the magnates for their unconscionable profits in these hard times. Odd that they should profit while the rest of Hetar suffers. The workforce will come from the general population who need jobs,” Lara told him, breaking into his thoughts.

“The magnates don’t pay taxes. They claim no profits,” Jonah protested.

Lara laughed. “They lie as well as they cheat. Did you not enact a new law that says they must pay taxes. And instead of taking a percentage of their profits if they have none we shall take a percentage of their losses. The bigger their losses, the bigger the tax to be collected. That should end the lie about no profits. You know they have been cheating you, and you allowed it so your own sin of greed might not be brought to public light.”

“You are harsh, Domina,” he said.

“You are this kingdom’s leader. Behave like a leader!” Lara snapped back at him.

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

“I will attend to him next,” she said, and then Lara disappeared from his sight.

Jonah swore softly beneath his breath. The faerie woman was very irritating, but now he realized from where his wife got her fire. Lara was right. He would sell Aprika and Casnar this day. As for Doran, they would keep him. Jonah had actually come to like Doran, and he was more talented than his companion. His mind turned back to the Hierarch, who had been silent of late. What could he be planning? Jonah wondered.

Cam, however, was planning nothing, for he did not know what was wanted of him. Ciarda had been strangely absent in the last few days. Cam was beginning to become very frightened. He was trapped in Hetar, and his face was now recognized by every man, woman and child. He could not walk out into the streets for fear of them touching him, begging for his blessing, asking when it would all be all right again. He was actually beginning to wish he were back herding cattle in the New Outlands when Lara appeared in his small chamber.