The woman winced, hearing Lara’s shrieks of pain. Finally she could bear no more and entered unbidden, pushing the frazzled Macia and Anka aside. Looking down she swore, “Great Krell, help us!” seeing two thin little legs pushing from Lara’s body. The child was coming backwards and there was now no help for it. Without a word she reached up, inserted several fingers and helped the baby’s buttocks and torso to move down the birth passage. Lara screamed as the shoulders and head burst forth from her body, but then that the midwife cried out. “Great Krell, what is this?”

“What is the matter?” Lara gasped, then shrieked again and pushed as hard as she could. It had to be done quickly to keep the three women in a state of confusion. She could already hear the first child crying.

The midwife said nothing at first and just caught the second child as it shot forth from his mother’s body grasping the arm of the sibling who came before it. “There are two boys, great lady,” the midwife finally said. “Such a thing has never happened!”

“See to my sons! See to my sons!” Lara cried out to them.

The trio of amazed servants quickly did as they were bid, cleaning the evidence of the birth from the twins, swaddling them tightly. The two children were identical in every way. Tufts of ebony hair adorned each head. Dark blue eyes were now but barely visible. Milk-white skin revealed not the faintest hint of color. They were brought to their mother and shown to her.

Lara nodded. She was astounded that she felt nothing for these children. “Take them to their father,” she told Macia and Anka.

The two women obediently departed, each carrying a baby. The midwife then turned to caring for Lara who quickly passed the placenta. Then the woman began preparing Lara for the ceremony that would take place in exactly one week. Lara was silent under her ministrations for she was considering what Kol was going to say when he learned that he had not one son, but two.

Kol watched as his mate’s two serving women came into his privy chamber where he was seated with his chancellor, Alfrigg. They hurried to him and presented the bundles they carried. Kol stared in shock. “What is this?” he demanded, realizing even as he asked how stupid he sounded.

“Your mate has given you two sons, my lord,” Macia half whispered.

“Which one came first?” the Twilight Lord demanded.

The two women looked at him startled and shook their heads. “We do not know, my lord,” Macia said.

“How can I distinguish between them?” Kol wondered aloud.

Alfrigg came to his side and the serving women bent to show him the babies. “They appear identical, my lord. Undress them,” Alfrigg snapped.

Macia and Anka complied with the request, and immediately the two babies began to scream and flail their limbs in protest. Ignoring them both Kol and his chancellor sought some sort of difference that would distinguish the children but neither man could find anything. The infants were indeed identical.

“Wrap them up again,” Kol said to the two servants.

“This presents a problem, my lord. Was there nothing of this in the Book of Rule?” Alfrigg asked.

“Nothing,” Kol replied. “It just said I would get my son on Lara.”

“Look in the book now, my lord,” Alfrigg suggested.

Kol reached for the book kept by his chair. Opening it he gazed down, and stared hard. The book’s pages were blank beyond the prophecy regarding Lara.

“There is nothing,” he said.

“You must kill one of these children, then,” Alfrigg said.

“I cannot and you know I cannot,” Kol exclaimed. “It is against our law. This event is confusing enough. Nothing like it has ever occurred before. What if I kill the wrong son? Nay. They must be allowed to grow up and only then will I be able to tell which is the true heir, Alfrigg.”

The chancellor shook his head. “I fear for the days ahead,” he said. Then he turned to the Twilight Lord. “What will you call them, my lord?”

“Kolbein and Kolgrim,” the Twilight Lord said. Then he took a dagger from his belt and made a small cut on one infant’s cheek. The wound bled fiercely but after a few drops had fallen Kol touched it with a single finger and a thin scar immediately covered the cut. The baby, who had screamed at the piercing of his skin, grew silent as his father’s finger healed him and removed the pain. “This is how we will tell Kolbein from his brother.” He then marked the other twin in the same manner on his opposite cheek with the same result. “Kolgrim is marked on the left cheek, and Kolbein on the right cheek,” he explained.

“Cleverly done, my lord,” Alfrigg said.

“Return the twins to their mother and tell her I will come to her shortly to tell her what I have done and why. Notify Ema that those hefty dugs of hers will nurse both my sons and put them to her breasts while I speak to their mother,” Kol ordered his wife’s serving women, who hurried from his presence with the infants.

“What you have done is impressive, my lord,” Alfrigg said. “With your permission I will notify all the lords of your prowess and the success it has led to with these births. The invitations will be sent immediately for the Completion Ceremony.” He bowed and withdrew from the chamber on his short legs.

Kol sat for several minutes taking in the fact that he had fathered two sons instead of the requisite one. It was obviously the will of Krell or it would not be. Rising from his chair he hurried from his privy chamber to congratulate his mate on their incredible achievement. It never occurred to him that anything might be amiss.

7

KOL FOUND LARA exhausted with her labors when he entered her bedchamber. Bending he kissed her lips gently. “You are amazing, my precious,” he told her. “Have they shown you how I marked the twins yet?”

Lara nodded. “What are their names, my lord?”

“Kolbein and Kolgrim,” he told her. “Kolbein is marked on his right cheek, and Kolgrim on his left.”

“Oh, my lord, I am so sorry,” Lara said feigning a sob. “Why has this happened? Why did my womb birth two sons instead of the required single child?”

“I do not know,” Kol admitted to her, “but it can only be Krell’s will, my precious. Do not fret yourself. When our sons are grown men I shall set them to several tasks, and the one who succeeds in completing them all will be my heir. If they both succeed then they shall battle to the death for supremacy. Whichever of them lives will rule the Dark Lands after me.”

“Oh, how clever you are, my darling,” Lara told him.

“You must rest now,” he said to her. “I will not see you for seven more days. We will meet at the Completion Ceremony.”

“What is the Completion Ceremony?” Lara asked him.

“A celebration of our sons’ birth that you and I will perform for our high lords,” he answered. “You will enjoy it, I promise you, my precious.”

She drew his head down to her and kissed him again. “Then until that day, my lord,” she said smiling at him. “I am relieved not to have displeased you.”

“You could never displease me, Lara,” he said softly. Then he arose and left her. Outside in her dayroom he called Macia and Anka to him. “Your mistress, not being born a Darklander, does not know the particulars of the Completion Ceremony. You will not tell her anything. I want it to be a surprise for her. And if you behave yourselves, I will permit you both to take part in the Afterwards. You will choose any of the lords present for your lover that night.

“You understand that this is an honor. But if Lara is not amazed and delighted by her part in the Completion Ceremony I will have you both slain and fed to my dogs. Do I make myself clear? Macia? Anka? If my mate learns beforehand of her part, you will both die.”

“Yes, my lord!” the two women chorused.

“We will say naught,” Macia swore.

“Any of the lords?” Anka boldly asked.

“It will be your choice. You favor the Wolfyn, don’t you?” Kol chuckled. “You are a lustful creature, Anka.” Then he left them.

“The Wolfyn frighten me,” Macia said.

“Then whom do you favor?” Anka asked her.

“Perhaps a sturdy giant lord or mayhap two of the dwarf lords. Surely I may have two of them, as two equal one Darklander,” she said thoughtfully.

“How do you think the mistress will enjoy taking pleasures before the high lords?” Anka wondered. “She is a delicate creature. I suspect she will not like it at all, but if we do not tell her and obey our master, she will be well repaid for beating us, will she not, Macia?” And Anka laughed.

Macia laughed, too. She would not tell Lara what awaited her, either, but only because she feared the Twilight Lord more than she feared Lara. She did not doubt for a moment that he would kill them and she suspected it would be a nasty death.

Two nursemaids were found to watch over the twins. Several times a day they would bring their charges to Ema to nurse. Although Ema had unusually large breasts, the twins were voracious eaters and emptied each breast at each feeding. Lara realized that if Ema was to survive her nurslings she would have to set a firm schedule for the wet nurse’s comfort. She saw that the woman was fed six times a day so that she might keep her strength up. Ema was also to rest in between the feedings. Her only duty, Lara told her servants, was to feed the twins. She would be burdened with nothing else.

And each day of the first week of her sons’ life, Lara was bathed daily, her sexual organs treated with salves, and she was given herbal draughts to drink down several times a day. She was not unhappy to find herself completely healed so very quickly and feeling quite well by the sixth day. She began to consider when she would call out to Kaliq and make good her escape. But she sensed that she must wait until after the Completion Ceremony was celebrated lest she break any taboo that would render the twins’ birth irrelevant and permit Kol to seek another mate with whom to create another male heir.