“Walk with me,” the Dominus said. “We need to talk. It’s almost a year now since your mother was stolen away. Answer me honestly. Do you believe that Kaliq does not know where she is? And what of Ilona? It has been weeks since I have heard from either of them and when I do, they say naught but that there is no hint of where Lara is. I think that they lie and I wonder why it is that they do. My suspicions grow daily.”

Dillon nodded. “I cannot say that I do not agree with you, Magnus. It has seemed odd to me that the Shadow Princes, the most powerful beings in our world, are ignorant of my mother’s fate. But I am yet a boy and my talents have not been trained. Still, I believe it is now time for you to request Prince Kaliq’s presence. Ask him directly what it is he knows and why he has kept it from us. We have all been patient but we are all suffering from Mother’s absence. Verica, my mother’s staff, has ceased speaking even to me. Andraste, her sword, hums incessantly from her place above the hearth in my mother’s rooms. Dasras yet sulks in the New Outlands with Sakira, and the clan families mourn without ceasing and blame themselves. But we know that they are not responsible for Mother’s disappearance.”

“Is it, do you think, her destiny?” the Dominus asked his stepson fearfully.

“It must be, but we will not know until we have summoned Kaliq,” the boy said. “You must do it, Magnus. You must call for the Shadow Prince to come to us.”

Magnus Hauk nodded. “Then let us go to the interior chamber from where your mother and I summon him. It is private.”

“First let us see the girls tucked into their beds,” Dillon suggested. “It will be better for us all in the quiet of the night when we are less apt to be disturbed. I will find Mila and see it done.”

The Dominus nodded and sought the little chamber to wait for Dillon. Lara! Her name echoed softly in his head. What had happened to his beloved wife? Where could she be? His first thoughts were that Hetar had somehow managed to gain custody of her. If so, he was ready to go to war over it. But Kaliq assured him it was not and Magnus Hauk had trusted Kaliq-although now he was not certain that he still should. And if the great Shadow Prince knew where Lara was, why had he kept the knowledge to himself? Questions, questions. He had far more questions than he had answers.

Finally his stepson joined him.

“All is secure. It is a quiet night, Magnus.”

“Then we are ready to summon Kaliq.” He turned and faced a blank wall opposite the door to the chamber. “Kaliq of the Shadows, heed my call. Come to me from out yon wall,” the Dominus intoned.

“Good evening, Magnus. Dillon,” the Shadow Prince said as he stepped through the wall and into the chamber. “It has been some weeks since we last spoke. You are both looking well, I am pleased to see.”

He was as handsome as ever, Dillon thought. The Shadow Prince’s bright blue eyes blazed with light. His ebony hair showed no silver despite his many centuries.

“We are not well,” the Dominus replied. “None of us. We all suffer Lara’s loss. Our children. The clan families. Dasras, Andraste, Verica, the Terahn people. I think you know where my wife is, Kaliq, and the time has come for you to be forthright with me.”

Kaliq’s eyes touched Dillon lightly. “And you, young Dillon? What think you?” he asked the boy.

“I agree with my stepfather, my lord prince. While I realize you have your reasons for keeping silent, I also think it is past time for us to know the truth.”

Kaliq smiled a small smile. “Use your instincts, young Dillon,” he said. “Concentrate and use them now! Tell me where Lara is!”

Dillon’s eyes closed slowly. He was silent for some few minutes and then opening his eyes he said, “My mother is in the Dark Lands, my lord.”

Kaliq nodded. “She is,” he agreed.

Magnus Hauk felt hot anger welling up within him. Forcing that anger back he said, “If you knew Lara was in the Dark Lands, why did you not tell us a year ago?”

“Come now, Magnus, you know the answer to that as well as I do. You would have mounted an expedition and warred with the Dark Landers. We could not allow it. Had you attacked them you would have loosed the forces of darkness upon both Terah and Hetar. Your worlds would not have known real peace for centuries. The darkness must always be contained, Magnus. We cannot wipe it out entirely for there must always be a certain balance between good and evil, but we can contain the worst of it. When we do not, war, pestilence, cruelty and famine roam the worlds and cause havoc.”

“But the Dark Land has always remained to itself,” Magnus Hauk said.

“Yes, but as there is prophecy here and in Hetar, so there is prophecy in the Dark Lands. Lara has always known that she had a special destiny. Part of that destiny is in the Dark Lands. When she has fulfilled it she will be returned to you. Shortly, that part of her destiny will be met. And it must be met or the worlds of Hetar and Terah will suffer. That is why you could not know where she was. You must trust me in this. I will allow no harm to come to Lara. I would forfeit my own life first.”

“When she returns to us, will she tell us of where she had been and what she has done?” Dillon asked the prince.

“Nay, young Dillon, she will not. Her memory of her time in the Dark Lands will be completely gone from her, and it is better that it is. She will be told that part of her destiny has been implemented and she will be satisfied with that knowledge,” the prince explained.

“Why will you not tell us what she is doing?” Magnus Hauk asked.

“Because it is not necessary that you know,” Kaliq responded quietly. “I will tell you only that Lara is helping us to keep the balance between the darkness and the light. Anything else would be too much for you to bear, Magnus Hauk. Why are you so suddenly insistent on meddling in matters of magic?”

“Because it is my wife whom you are using as your tool,” the Dominus said angrily.

Kaliq laughed aloud although he had tried not to. “Ah, my poor friend. How fortunate Lara is to have you for her husband. No other mortal could possibly love her as you do.” He put a comforting arm about the Dominus’s broad shoulders. “Please trust me, Magnus. Your time of separation is almost over. I swear it.”

“It would seem I have no choice unless it is to amass my armies and go into the Dark Lands,” the Dominus replied.

“You would be advised not to do that for many reasons but probably the one that would concern you the most is Hetar’s plan to attack Terah shortly. They believe that you have been weakened by Lara’s disappearance and they have convinced their people that Terah poses a threat to Hetar. Their proposed war against you is being undertaken to protect Hetar, or so it is being said. The Coastal Kings have been building great ships of war. I suspect you had best prepare to defend your own kingdom while Lara completes her destiny and balances the light and the darkness.”

“So that is why we have seen so little of Jonah of late,” the Dominus muttered. “Can you close the portal so he may not return? That way he cannot report when we reinforce our defenses along the sea and at the fjord entrances.”

Kaliq smiled. “The portal is already closed, Magnus. And now I must go. I wish to take Dillon with me for a time-with your permission, of course. I will return him shortly,” Kaliq promised.

Dillon’s green eyes grew wide with his excitement. “I am to be allowed to go to Shunnar?” he said and then his look swung to the Dominus. “Magnus?”

“I do not know,” Magnus Hauk replied. “Your mother did not want you going until you were twelve, Dillon.”

“Going to be taught,” the prince quickly interjected, “and I certainly agree with Lara, but this is just a little visit to quell Dillon’s curiosity and to ease his anxiety over his mother. I will return him in three days’ time, I promise you.”

“Oh, please, Magnus!” the boy begged. “Please!”

“No more than three days, Kaliq, for I need him by my side,” the Dominus said.

Kaliq nodded. “I understand,” he said, and he did. Dillon with his budding magic was the closest thing Magnus Hauk had to Lara now.

“Very well then, but three days only, Dillon. Do you understand?” the Dominus told his stepson. “If your mother returned while you were gone I should have a great deal of explaining to do about this.”

“Thank you, Magnus,” the boy said as Kaliq enfolded him in his robes. And then they were gone in a magical and shadowy mist.

Magnus Hauk stood silently for some minutes after they had disappeared. He was very curious about what the Shadow Prince had said. A balance between good and evil that must be maintained. What had that to do with Lara? He wondered if he would ever really know what Kaliq had meant. He found himself impatient sometimes with the magical world that lived alongside of him.

Magnus Hauk left the chamber and sought his lonely bed. He had other matters to consider now, namely Hetar. He had hoped the clever Jonah could keep that fool who called himself emperor under control. But either he could not, or like his master he believed Terah was weak without Lara. The thought irritated the Dominus. Terah had been strong before Lara and would remain so in her unfortunate absence. I hope I have done the right thing allowing Dillon to go with Kaliq, he thought to himself just before he fell asleep.

DILLON HAD CLOSED his eyes when the Shadow Prince had wrapped his cloak about him. Now Kaliq’s voice bade him to open those eyes. It was morning and the air was warm. Nay, hot. Seeing a sculpted balustrade across the chamber, he remembered his mother’s tales of her mentor’s palace of Shunnar. Unable to help himself, Dillon ran to the balustrade and looked down in the green valley below where several herds of magnificent horses were now grazing.