“Aunt!” he cried.

She saw his fear and smirked inwardly. “Well, Nephew, you seem distraught. What is the matter?”

“Where is she?” he asked her. “Where is my Darkling?”

“The Dark Lands have a new Twilight Lord on its throne. Ciarda has been chosen to bear his heir. The mating has already taken place. Lord Kolgrim has no further interest in you, Cam. Ciarda’s powers have been stripped from her. Women in the Dark Lands are not expected to be ambitious or intelligent. They are expected to accept their inferior position. Ciarda is now learning her proper place, Nephew.”

“Then what is to become of me?” he shouted at her. “What happens to me?”

Lara heard Andraste begin to hum softly from her position in the scabbard on Lara’s back. “You are the Hierarch,” Lara taunted him mockingly. She was so tempted to leave him here to be unmasked as the fraud he was.

His bravado crumbled. “You know I am not,” he said, low.

Lara nodded. “Aye, I know, but you will have to continue this charade, Cam, for a little while longer. Hetar needs hope, and the Hierarch represents that hope.”

“But I have no powers,” he said. “What can I do?”

“You will do precisely as I tell you,” Lara answered him. “And if you agree to my terms, Nephew, I will see to it that a Shadow Prince stands by your side, invisible to all eyes but his own kind. It is this prince who will perform the miracles that will be attributed to the Hierarch. And Hetar will walk the road to recovery.”

“Why do you care what happens to these people?” Cam queried her. “They sold you into slavery. They persecuted the clan families for centuries. Is there any good in them, Aunt, that you would help to save them?”

“There is good in everyone, Nephew, even you,” Lara told him. “Yet there is also wickedness. But the light must prevail, Cam. Now, will you agree to my terms?”

“Aye, I will. I just want to go home to Rivalen,” he admitted.

“You will, and soon,” Lara told him.

“And you will keep your promise to me? You will give me Anoush to wife? Land? Cattle?”

“Land and cattle I will gladly give you, Cam, but remember I have said it is Anoush’s decision to wed you or not. If she will have you then I will have you,” Lara said to him, and she smiled.

“Then let us do what needs be done,” Cam said. “I find I am eager to return to my own life and leave this Hierarch behind.” Aye, he had had enough of magic folk, and power games. He had been a fool, but no more! He would have wealth and Anoush.

“So it shall be,” Lara told him.

18

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY for Lara and her allies to simply correct the problems that Hetar had burdened itself with, but they did not. The lesson would not have been learned had they done so. At Lara’s direction Cam walked through the streets of The City to the palace in the Golden District. He was garbed in a simple long white robe, a black rope girded about his waist, leather sandals upon his feet. His young face was smooth shaven, his short dark hair, which had become ragged in recent days, trimmed neatly, his blue eyes resolute. He trusted that a Shadow Prince walked with him, for his aunt had promised him that he would have a companion to perform the small miracles he needed to perform to reassure the people of The City.

And they came forth to greet him. Touching his robe, calling his name. His heart beating furiously, Cam smiled, stopped to touch an infant held out to him. “Blessings, my child,” he murmured with a soft smile before moving on. “The Celestial Actuary be with you all,” he called to the crowds that followed him to the gates of the Golden District, where they were barred from entering.

“Hierarch!” a voice in the crowd called out. “Let us come with you!”

Cam turned. “Nay, my brother,” he replied. “This is a journey I must make alone. Wait for me here. When I have spoken to Lord Jonah I will come again to you.” Then, turning, he was passed through into the Golden District by the guards, whom he blessed as he passed them by.

Nicely done, Hierarch, a voice next to his ear said.

Cam started, surprised. “You really are there,” he whispered.

I am, and at the palace you will speak my thoughts to Lord Jonah, was the reply.

“May I ask who you are, my lord Prince?” Cam inquired, politely nodding and raising his hand in blessing to the woman with the two children who passed him by.

I am Kaliq, the invisible voice told him. Now, do not address me again, Hierarch, for those you meet as you reach the palace will think you mad to be speaking to yourself.

Cam nodded but, as no one else was approaching him, said softly, “Thank you.” Then he walked on until finally he came to the palace.

Recognizing him instantly, the guards knelt for his blessing, and then allowed him to pass by. A servant notified by a runner from the main gate of the Hierarch’s approach hurried forth to greet the Hierarch and lead him to the Lord High Ruler, who was waiting in his privy chamber. As much as it irritated Jonah, he knelt for the Hierarch’s blessing, but feeling a little burst of energy from the hands placed upon his head soothed his pride.

Arising, Jonah invited the Hierarch to be seated in a comfortable chair by the fire. He signaled to a servant to bring Frine and cakes. Then Jonah sat down, asking as he did, “How, my lord Hierarch, may I be of service to you?”

“The High Council must be called into session, my lord,” the Hierarch said. “Summer is half over, and we have much work to do before the Icy Season sets in again.”

“Can you not make a miracle, my lord Hierarch?” Jonah asked him slyly.

“What lesson would you or your people learn from that, Lord Jonah?” the Hierarch asked him. “Hetar has brought itself low. Now you must pull yourselves up by your own efforts even as you brought yourselves down by your own efforts.”

“But what can the High Council do?” Jonah wanted to know.

“It can follow the path that I lay out for it to follow, my lord Jonah. All the council members are currently in The City. Summon them now to the council chamber as I have bid you to do!” Cam was astounded by the words he was speaking and the commanding tone his voice had suddenly taken on, but then he remembered that Prince Kaliq had said it was his words that the Hierarch would speak.

Jonah stood up immediately, bowing to Cam as he did. “At once, my lord Hierarch,” he said. Going to the door of his privy chamber, he opened it and called to Lionel, his secretary, “Summon the members of the High Council to the council chamber immediately. The Hierarch waits upon them!”

“At once, my lord,” Lionel replied.

“We will wait here until they have all come,” the Hierarch said. “I find this little fire pleasant, for this late summer day holds a hint of the autumn in it.” He picked up his goblet and sipped the grape Frine as he closed his eyes in apparent meditation.

Well done again, Prince Kaliq said, but only Cam could hear him.

Jonah sat silent across from the Hierarch, studying the man. He seemed ordinary enough, Jonah thought. And yet…

When an hour had just passed a knock sounded upon the door to the privy chamber, and Lionel stuck his head into the room. “My lord Hierarch, my lord Jonah, the High Council awaits your coming.”

“All of them?” Jonah wanted to know.

“Aye, my lord, all of them,” Lionel replied.

Without a word the Hierarch arose, and, jumping back, the secretary held the door open for him and for his master as they passed through. Then Lionel ran quickly ahead of the pair, slipping into the council chamber by an almost hidden side door so he might take his place behind the chair of the Lord High Ruler where it was his duty to listen, and remind his master of anything he might later forget.

The guards at the main door snapped to attention and flung open the double doors for the Lord High Ruler and the Hierarch.

Cam raised his hand in blessing to them, and smiled as he passed by. Then he took Jonah’s marble seat, relegating him to a smaller chair next to him with a gracious nod. Cam had almost gasped aloud when he felt himself being gently pushed before the Lord High Ruler’s thronelike seat and then held in place as his head was made to nod in Jonah’s direction. He almost laughed at the look of outrage on the Lord High Ruler’s face, which was quickly masked as Jonah nodded in return and took his assigned seat. The council chamber was silent. All eyes turned to the Hierarch.

Cam felt his two hands being raised. “Greetings, and blessings to you all,” he said. “I have asked Lord Jonah to require your presence this day because it is past time we began to plan the restoration of Hetar. With summer almost over we must work to rebuild the infrastructure of both The City and the provinces.”

“And where are the materials to come from for this rebuilding?” the Forest Lord Enda wanted to know. “We will not allow you to deforest our lands as the emperor once did. Our woodlands, with the aid of the faerie Lord Thanos, are just beginning to thrive again.”

“Surely you have certain areas where the trees can be thinned,” the Hierarch said. “Harvest those areas for us, and trim the lumber. As for the rest of the wood we will need, ships are already on the way across the Saggitta carrying lumber for this endeavor.”

“And who is to pay Terah for their lumber?” Clothilde of the General Population wanted to know.

The Hierarch smiled benignly. “Why, the magnates will cover the costs, taking the gold from their outrageous profits. I will personally go to each of them to collect each share. The hovels in The Quarter must be repaired as swiftly as possible. Squire Darah-” and the Hierarch turned to the governor of the Midlands “-can you gather enough thatch and workers from your province quickly?”