Lara nodded. “I believe I can shoulder this secret,” she said. “But I do not know if I should, even if it was a part of my destiny and it was meant to be.” She pierced Kaliq with a sharp look. “However, you were very wicked to tempt me so.”

The Shadow Prince actually flushed beneath his tanned cheeks. “I but sought to help you,” he said, but he could not quite look at her.

Lara laughed. “You sought to help yourself, Kaliq. You are a devious prince.”

“What is this?” Ilona looked at the two of them, her head turning this way and that. Then her green eyes narrowed. “Kaliq!” she scolded. “You made love to my daughter when you knew you should not?”

“Her memories of the Dark Lands existed then and were painful. I but made love to her to soothe her cruel memories,” he excused himself.

“That is the real burden I will carry,” Lara teased him wickedly.

Ilona laughed, then she said, “You really should not have a husband, Lara. Husbands are such a bother. You are more faerie than mortal-your blood runs hot.”

“I am as much mortal as faerie,” Lara said.

“Nay, you are not. It seems your father has faerie blood in him, too, although he never knew it. Your great-grandfather was half-faerie, although his mother believed him the son of her Midlands farmer husband. She had dallied one Midsummer’s eve with Prince Rufin of the Forest Faeries, a member of my own family. So says the Faerie Record which lists all those born with faerie blood. Your faerie blood is weightier than your mortal blood, my daughter. And those with mortal blood who show signs of magic as you did grow stronger if their powers are developed as yours have been. Dillon will be a great sorcerer one day,” Ilona said in pleased tones. “Perhaps I shall send your half brother Cirillo to study with him.” She turned to the prince. “Do you think you and your brothers could manage two lively boys, Kaliq?”

“I should prefer to have Dillon alone with me his first year,” the prince said.

Ilona thought a moment and then agreed. “Aye, that would be best. My grandson is a bit crude yet. A year with you will smooth those rough edges of his.”

“Anoush is showing signs of being a healer,” Lara said. “It would seem both of Vartan’s children have magic in them.” Then she grew pale. “Oh! What if Kol tries to steal my children from me?” she asked. “Magnus would want to know why and what could I tell him?”

“Kol is secured at Kolbyr,” Kaliq reassured her.

“But he is reaching out to me on the Dream Plain. What if he reaches out to Magnus and tells him what happened?” Lara fretted. She had grown paler.

“We cannot prevent him from reaching out to the Dominus if he dares, but why would Magnus believe him? Magnus would think he was just having a bad dream,” Kaliq said to her. “Your husband does not really understand the ways of magic.”

Lara shuddered. “Kol wants me back. It is not enough that I have given him heirs. The Twilight Lord loves me. I can feel him reaching out for me, Kaliq! It frightens me. I know him well enough to know he will do what he must to get me back.”

“He is imprisoned at Kolbyr,” Kaliq repeated.

“I could not live in that awful place again,” Lara said. “There was no color. Everything was gray or black. The mountains, where they were not slate or craggy, were covered in dark green pines and fir trees. No sunlight filtered into the valleys. In fact, I do not believe I saw sunlight at all in my year there except for some rare sunsets. I remember looking out through the mountains at the colors of the sunset and thinking how beautiful they were and wondering why there could be no color in the land about us.” She trembled. “I should die if I had to go back there, Kaliq! What if Kol sends the Munin to take my memories again and steals me back? I could not bear it! I could not!”

“I will weave a spell about you, my daughter,” Ilona said reassuringly, “that will not allow anyone to ever again steal your memories.”

“The Munin will never again aid Kol,” Kaliq told her. “They learned his generosity was but an enticement to trap them so they would always be forced to do his bidding. I rescued them and they are safe now, my love. You need have no fears.”

“I suppose I am being foolish,” Lara replied. “But as the memories of those months in the Dark Lands come to the surface of my consciousness I do become afraid. I suppose it was the helplessness I felt when you made me once more aware of who I was, and I had to face the lies Kol had woven about me while pretending to be his beloved.”

“It will take time, my love,” he told her, “but those memories will eventually slip into your past and no longer be so painful.”

“Ah!” Suddenly her eyes lit up. “I believe I met Og’s father in the Dark Lands. His name is Skrymir, and he was the giant lord of the Dark Lands giants. He was on a hunting expedition when the Forest Lords murdered the Forest giants. He and his companions fled to the Dark Lands. Kol gave them sanctuary, and they are loyal to him as are the dwarfs and the Wolfyn. What if Kol sends one of them after me?” Lara wondered aloud and her fears came racing back to overwhelm her as she began to tremble.

“We are going to have to enchant Kol and his castle into sleep,” Ilona said. “We cannot allow Lara to fear him. She will alert Magnus that something is wrong and when he learns what it is he will never forgive her, foolish mortal!”

“I will have to discuss that with my brothers,” Kaliq said. “I do not know if we can enchant the Twilight Lord into sleep. It would swing the difference between the light and the dark too far one way and unbalance it. Too much good is no better than too much evil, Ilona. Balance is always best.”

“You can’t enchant Kol into a lengthy sleep,” Lara said. “He rules the Dark Lands. Without him chaos would reign and more than likely spill out into the New Outlands.”

“Then you must learn to master your fears,” Kaliq told her quietly. “Your magic is stronger than his because it is pure. That is one reason he wanted you for himself. Without your pure magic he cannot accomplish all he wishes to complete.”

“I can do nothing until I have convinced Kol that I will not return to him,” Lara replied. “He is a difficult creature at best. Almost like a child when he doesn’t get his way, Kaliq. Have you ever tried reasoning with a child who would have his own way?”

“Surely you are not considering returning to the Dark Lands,” Ilona said, horrified.

“Nay. I will have to summon him to the Dream Plain and reveal myself. I must control the situation. I cannot allow him to gain the upper hand,” Lara said thoughtfully. “It must all be on my terms. What of Og? Will you tell him?”

“I must think,” the prince said slowly. “It is possible that these giants may be convinced to ally themselves with us. I will speak with Og.”

“Does Og know the truth of my destiny?” Lara wanted to know.

“He knows little of what has happened so far, my love, but as your mother and I have told you, you have not completely fulfilled your destiny,” the prince answered. “Here at Shunnar there was no reason to wipe memories clean of that year. However if Og is to understand how you came by your information then we must tell him of those months. Do you trust him enough to burden him with the truth?”

“I have always trusted Og,” Lara replied quietly. “Send for him.”

The prince nodded and called for Og to be brought up from the valley where he spent most of his time working with the horses that belonged to the Shadow Princes. The giant had not been born when the Forest Lords had massacred his people, but his mother, Oona, had managed to escape to the deepest part of the forest where she had given birth to her son. They had lived in the forest until he was four and they were discovered. Oona saved her only child by telling the Forest Lords that he had not been born when they had killed her people. Her captors had slain her, taking the child giant back with them to their hall to be their servant. They did not know he possessed the collective memory of his people. While she had been in the custody of the Forest Lords, Lara had met Og, and together they had escaped the forest and come into the desert kingdom of the Shadow Princes. Lara had moved on eventually, but Og had remained with Prince Kaliq caring for the horses.

He strode into the garden where they now sat for, while he was a small giant, he was still over ten feet in height. His pale blue eyes lit up with pleasure seeing Lara. Going to her he knelt, taking her hands in his and kissing them reverently. “My faerie princess, I am overjoyed to see you once again!” he said with a wide smile. Then he sat, his legs crossed, before her.

Ilona raised an eyebrow. Was she invisible to this giant lout?

“Og, I am glad to see you, too,” Lara said. “You remember my mother, Queen Ilona, I am sure.”

The giant turned his head. “Greetings, oh Queen. You are as always the fairest.”

Slightly mollified, Ilona nodded in return. “Greetings, Og.”

“We have asked you here, Og, because we need your help,” Prince Kaliq began.

“This is burdensome, Og,” Lara told him. “I have learned something that may or may not please you, but before I can tell you, I need your word that you will keep my secrets, my old friend.”

“I would die for you, Lara,” the giant told her and they knew it was true.

Prince Kaliq then began to speak. He explained to Og how Lara’s destiny had brought her to the Dark Lands, and for what purpose. Og listened silently, but his countenance grew more and more sorrowful as Kaliq’s tale unfolded.

At last, Lara spoke. “As I have previously told you, Og, I met the lord of the giants, who is an ally of the Twilight Lord. His name is Skrymir.”

“That indeed was my father’s name,” Og said.