Then she had a somber moment. Perhaps next summer they would be at war. She would need to consult with her mother who knew everything that was happening in Hetar. She would have to speak eventually with her mentor, Kaliq of the Shadows, who was also a font of information. Terah did not want war. She would have to do everything in her power to try and prevent it. But Lara knew that even faerie magic could not solve everything. And while she disliked admitting it, Gaius Prospero was a force with which to be reckoned.

9

“YOU ARE GOING TO MARRY Vilia?” Gaius Prospero looked astounded at the news. “Why? She is certainly past her prime now, Jonah.”

“My lord, I do this for you,” Jonah said. “Despite all your kindness to her and your great generosity of heart, she feels ashamed that you have cast her off to wed the beautiful lady Shifra. And now that you have announced that you plan to make Shifra Hetar’s empress, the lady Vilia’s shame is slowly turning to anger. We must stem that anger, my lord. Quickly!”

“But how does marrying a freed slave help Vilia’s anger?” the emperor wanted to know. “She is a proud woman, born into one of Hetar’s finest and most ancient families.”

“My lord, it is true that I served in my early years as your slave, but did you never once consider my heritage? It is a respectable one. Perhaps not as fine as the lady Vilia’s, but ’tis naught to be ashamed of, I assure you,” Jonah said.

“You know who your parents were?” The emperor was both surprised and curious. “Who were they then?”

“My father was Sir Rupert Bloodaxe of the Crusader Knights. He is long dead, as you know. My mother is the lady Farah, a Pleasure Mistress. Sir Rupert Bloodaxe paid the Pleasure Mistress for the privilege of my mother’s company for a full year.

“After I was born and put to a wet nurse, also paid for by my sire, my mother returned to her duties. As you know, she became a famous Pleasure Woman and eventually was given charge of the house in which she served. You may question her. My mother will not deny me, my lord, and my blood is good.”

“But why were you a slave?” Gaius Prospero wanted to know.

“Sir Rupert died when I was sixteen. Illegitimate children of a Crusader Knight belong to them as much as any piece of property. Usually these men make a provision in their wills freeing any children they may have sired outside of their marriage. Sometimes they don’t even know if they have sired children, but make the provision anyway. Unfortunately, my father simply forgot.

“So I became the property of his estate and Sir Rupert’s wife was a jealous woman. She had borne her husband five daughters but no son. It impeded my father’s advancement and he was not pleased.

“My poor half sisters were no beauties. Our father had paid a fortune in dowries to see them married properly. But worse, Sir Rupert truly loved my mother. I had been sent to an academy of learning by my father. On the day he was buried, a mercenary came and took me from my classes. I was sold in the slave market without delay. My mother was furious, of course, but it was your house, my lord, into which I was sold. I asked her to keep her peace because I wanted to serve a man that I admired,” Jonah said and the emperor bridled with pleasure at the compliment. “And that is what I am attempting to do now, my lord. Serve you as I always have served you.”

“Vilia knows of your connections?” Gaius Prospero asked.

“She does, my lord,” Jonah answered.

“And she will have you as her husband?”

“Her heart will always be yours, my lord,” Jonah lied with facile charm. Vilia didn’t give a damn about Gaius Prospero. She was completely his. “Despite your generosity to her, there have begun to arise some rather unpleasant murmurs regarding your behavior toward the lady,” he continued. “By quickly remarrying, she disproves the rumors. And we certainly cannot have her uniting with someone from an ambitious family who might use her to further himself and threaten your throne, my lord. I cannot permit it! And so I have offered myself to the lady Vilia as a husband. She will not accept me, however, without your personal permission and approval. So I have come to you on bended knee, my lord. Give us the favor of your approbation, my emperor.”

“Shifra and I will give the wedding!” the emperor burst out. “All of Hetar shall see how generous I am toward the mother of my children. But your heritage must be announced for the people to know,” he continued. “I want no one believing that I have insulted Vilia by forcing her into a marriage with a former slave. Perhaps it might even help if the two of you admitted that after her divorce you were attracted to one another. Then you came to me and I gave you my benediction. Yes! Yes! That is what we will do, Jonah. It is perfect and shows the people that my heart is a good one.” He beamed with pleasure at the thought.

“It is brilliant, my lord, and I thank you!” Jonah said, kissing his master’s hand.

Soon the word spread throughout The City. The emperor’s right hand, although he had spent ten years in slavery, was actually the son of Sir Rupert Bloodaxe and the famed Pleasure Mistress, Lady Farah. Sir Rupert’s daughters admitted it was true. Their mother was dead and if the truth were known, their father’s mistress had made him happy in his last years. It was she who had convinced him to increase their dowries, making each of them far more desirable. They had not approved, they declared in a loud and united voice, of their mother selling the poor boy into slavery.

Jonah smiled to hear this. His half sisters hadn’t given a damn about him. But he made public visits to each of them, embracing them and eating at their tables. They had all wed influential men and it would not hurt to have those men in his corner when the time was right. Vilia’s family was also vocal in their approval of her impending marriage to Jonah. So at last, he went to visit his mother.

Lady Farah publicly greeted her son at the door of her Pleasure House. Then she led him into her very private chambers. “How clever you are, Jonah,” she said to him with a warm smile. “And your patience is absolutely astounding. How long have you been planning this marriage?” She was a very beautiful woman with long straight ebony hair that she wore simply pulled back, and slightly slanted dark eyes like black cherries.

He gave her a brief smile. “For some time,” he replied.

“I hope you have made her fall in love with you, my son.”

“She is devoted to me and my manhood keeps her more than satisfied,” he answered his mother. “I have obviously inherited your passions.”

“Excellent! You have the key to controlling her. If she is content and happy, her family will be content and happy. They can be of great use to you one day, I suspect.”

He said nothing and his dark eyes were inscrutable, revealing nothing of his plans or his emotions. Did he have any? Lady Farah wondered and then laughed at herself. Of course he had plans. From birth Jonah had been a calm and thoughtful being. But Farah knew in her heart what his plans were for she too was ambitious.

“I will help you when you ask me,” was all she said.

“And I will ask,” he told her with the tiniest of smiles.

She offered him frine and they spoke on mundane matters for a brief time and then Jonah departed his mother’s Pleasure House. He must learn who owned it and purchase it for her. He would be generous and the house’s master would sell it to him in order to gain favor with the emperor’s right hand. Jonah knew his mother was an honorable woman. He would not divide her loyalties between her son and her Pleasure Master. She would be free to give him all of her loyalty once the sale was complete. And when the lady Farah was elected new headmistress of the Pleasure Guild, his power base would expand even further. He hurried home to Vilia, who was already awaiting him.

She came eagerly into his arms and he gave her a small smile.

“I have visited my mother,” he told her. “She is pleased we are to wed.”

“May I meet her?” Vilia asked him. “We could have her here.”

“A most excellent suggestion,” Jonah approved.

“I am so proud of you,” Vilia said softly. “What ambitions you have! Not at all like Gaius. We had to push him every inch of the way to the throne.”

“And now together,” Jonah replied, “we will tumble him off that throne. The war with Terah will be the final straw for the people of Hetar.”

“Terah is not really a danger to us?” Vilia asked.

“From what I have observed as Hetar’s ambassador, the Terahns want nothing more than to live in peace. Will they defend themselves against us if we attack them? Oh, yes, Vilia, my dear. They will most certainly defend themselves,” Jonah said. “But that is all they will do. They will beat Hetar back and leave us to lick our wounds. And while the emperor directs this misadventure, we will undermine him.”

“Will we kill him?” Vilia asked excitedly. “And his little empress?”

“Of course we will kill him,” Jonah told her. “He will still have friends among the powerful, but killing him will turn their loyalty to us, for the magnates are ever mindful of their own interests. One does not fight a war and then leave the enemy alive to rebuild his fortunes. That is madness.”

“There are some who will say you are cruel,” Vilia murmured.

“They will not say it aloud nor will they have the authority with which to back up their words,” Jonah told her. “But enough of strategy, my dear. I have bought you a present in the slave market today.” He clapped his hands and immediately a naked young slave was led into the chamber.

He was very tall and shapely. His manhood was the largest that Vilia had ever seen and she could not keep her eyes from it. But then she turned to Jonah questioningly.