The only ship to survive was the single one that had remained outside the fog. It had seen the lightning and heard the thunder within the thick gray mist, but the sea surrounding that one ship had remained calm. When the morning came, the sunrise splashing across the blue waters of the now peaceful Sagitta and tinting the gentle waves golden, the sailors upon the surviving vessel saw to their horror that the waters were strewn with the wreckage of the fourteen other ships and the bodies of all those who had sailed upon them. The wind in its favor, the remaining ship returned to its port in the harbor of the Coastal Kings to report what had happened.

WHEN KING ARCHERON, the emperor’s governor of the former Coastal Kingdom, now the Coastal Province, heard the tale told him by the captain of the surviving vessel, he smiled grimly. He had warned Gaius Prospero not to embark upon this ridiculous venture. Terah was no danger to Hetar and with Lara as wife to its ruler, it was certain to be protected by strong magic. Archeron grew angry.

“Eight thousand four hundred men lost to the sea, dead because of this ridiculous venture! Seven thousand mercenaries! Eleven hundred and twenty Crusader Knights, and two hundred and eighty incompetent men forced to sail ships they did not know how to sail!” the Coastal King raged.

“You must send a faerie post to the emperor,” one of his fellow kings said cautiously. “He must be advised not to allow the second half of the fleet to sail.”

“Will he listen?” another king asked nervously.

“Probably not,” Archeron answered, “but I will not give the order sending them to their certain deaths. We all know Terah is no danger to us. Now we also know that strong magic is protecting it from any attack by Hetar. That fog bank that arose and surrounded those ships was no natural occurrence. And the storm that destroyed the fleet? Who among us has ever faced a fierce storm at sea amid a thick fog? I will write to the emperor in the strongest terms that his attempt to conquer Terah must be abandoned.”

“If the women in The City learned of what has happened it might save the other half of the fleet,” the king named Balasi ventured softly. He was not known as a brave man, so they were all surprised to hear his suggestion. “They say this movement against the war is very strong and that the emperor hoped a quick and easy victory against Terah would silence it for good. But when word of this disaster is made known, who knows what the women will do, Brother Archeron?”

The other kings nodded in agreement.

“I would protect the remaining men of the fleet,” Archeron said. “Are the rest of you brave enough to support me in this matter? Or do I stand alone?”

“We will support you,” Balasi replied, and the other kings murmured, “Aye!”

“Can your son, Arcas, help us at all?” King Pelias asked Archeron.

“I will not ask him,” Archeron responded. “You all know I have disowned him. I have no son. And besides, I have it on the best authority that he spies for Lord Jonah, the emperor’s right hand. Given the opportunity, Arcas would betray us all once again as he has betrayed us in the past. Where is my secretary?”

A hovering servant hurried to fetch Archeron’s secretary. When the man had come, Archeron dictated a terse letter to Gaius Prospero informing him of the disaster visited upon the Hetarian fleet. He told the emperor in no uncertain terms that he would not give the order to the remaining fleet to embark to their own doom, for Terah was obviously protected by great magic. And all of the Coastal Kings were in agreement with him. If Gaius Prospero wanted to conquer Terah he would have to find another way. When the letter had been written and signed by all the Coastal Kings, it was dispatched by faerie post to The City.

Upon reading Archeron’s missive, Gaius Prospero flung the parchment from him, and began to rant. “He dares to say he and his fellow kings will not obey my orders? It is treason! Perhaps it is time I kicked his dignified ass from his throne and replaced him with Arcas. I did after all promise the weasel that he would serve me as governor of the province one day. At least I can control Arcas.”

“My good lord,” Jonah murmured, “I know how upset you must surely be by this betrayal of your governor, but Arcas is indeed a fool, as you have so often said. If you sent him to the Coastal Province the kings would not obey him and I am quite certain Archeron himself would cut his son’s throat. I regret to tell you that word of this disaster is already spreading throughout The City. We will have to do all we can to put down Lady Gillian and her women. This is a terrible loss for Hetar. This is not seven wagons of dead driven into The City. This is over eight thousand men, mostly Mercenaries and Crusader Knights. This is the cream of our defense and now it has been halved.”

“It is that damned faerie woman again!” the emperor snapped. “If I had known what troubles that exquisite girl I once sold was going to create for me, I would have taken my pleasure of her and seen her strangled afterwards!”

“Alas, my lord, hindsight is no real gift,” Jonah said dryly.

Gaius Prospero looked sharply at his good right hand, but Jonah’s face was its usual emotionless mask. The emperor wondered if Vilia took pleasures with her new husband. He somehow could not see Jonah sweaty with passion.

There was a soft knock upon the door and Jonah’s servant, Lionel, entered. “Forgive me, my lord emperor, my lord, for interrupting, but an urgent message has just been brought from Squire Darah of the Midlands.”

“What is it?” Gaius Prospero demanded to know.

Lionel beckoned to a shadowed figure in the door and a man entered into the chamber. “My lord, the messenger,” Lionel said.

“Well, what have you to say?” Gaius Prospero shouted impatiently.

“My master, Squire Darah, sends me to tell you that creatures he believes to be Wolfyn are streaming forth from the forest and laying waste to our Midlands. Fields are being fired, livestock slaughtered, women and children carried off. Squire Darah requests your aid, my lord emperor. We are doing our best to hold them off, but our men are few, and most are old. They cannot fight these creatures.”

Gaius Prospero looked surprised. “I thought the Wolfyn were but a legend me ant to frighten naughty children,” he said to Jonah.

“All legend is rooted in fact, my lord,” Jonah answered. This was not good. He had hoped to use the disaster in the Coastal Province to help him unseat Gaius Prospero.

“I cannot help your master,” Gaius Prospero finally said. “All of our mercenaries are in the Coastal Kingdom, for the invasion has begun. There are less than a thousand Crusader Knights here in The City and they are mostly elderly. Besides, we will need them to defend us should these Wolfyn come here.”

Squire Darah’s messenger look both outraged and devastated.

“What the emperor means,” Jonah quickly put in, “is that we must prepare The City for any attack by these Wolfyn, but we could spare you one hundred Crusader Knights to help you mount your own defenses and train your few men. Is that not so, my lord?” Jonah looked encouragingly at the emperor.

And to his credit Gaius Prospero understood his good right hand. “Yes! Yes! Of course I will send you a small force to help out,” he said.

The Squire’s messenger knelt and kissed the emperor’s hand fervently. “Thank you, my lord! Thank you!”

“Lionel,” Jonah said sharply. “Make the arrangements.”

“Yes, my lord,” came the answer. Lionel escorted the messenger out.

“Well, now,” Gaius Prospero said, “what mischief is this and why did the Forest Lords not warn us of this new peril? We must quickly recall our forces from the coast. And send to Lord Enda, the Head Forester, for an explanation.”

“At once, my lord,” Jonah said. He bowed to his master and then hurried out. He had to apprise Vilia of this new and sudden danger that faced them all. They would have to decide how to use it to their own best advantage. Gaius Prospero’s time was fast coming to an end. Jonah smiled one of his rare smiles. He could almost taste the power that would soon be his.

14

“HOW COULD YOU allow all those men to die?” Lara demanded of her mother. She had just learned the depth of the tragedy that had afflicted the Hetarian fleet.

“You have one weakness, my daughter,” Ilona replied. “You yet have mortal compassion in your heart, even for your enemies. Destroying that fleet was necessary to protect Terah. And only half the fleet had put to sea. The second half was meant to follow after Hetar reached Terah.”

“Was my father among those you slew?” Lara asked.

“Nay. He was on the vessel that was spared,” Ilona said. “I suppose some part of me still cares for him or perhaps my love for you caused me to keep him safe.”

“Well, some good has come of it all,” Magnus Hauk said.

“What possible good could come from the deaths of over eight thousand men?” Lara wanted to know.

“Hetar is now very afraid of us,” the Dominus replied. “They have recalled their armies. It is not likely they will consider attacking us again until the memory of what has happened fades from their history.”

“You have a greater problem now,” Ilona said. “The reason Hetar recalled their troops is that they cannot fight a war on two fronts. The Twilight Lord has sent the Wolfyn into Hetar. He put them by means of his magic into the forest and from there they spread out into the Midlands. The City is already scrambling to protect itself.”

Lara grew pale, and feeling faint, clutched at a chair to steady herself.

Seeing this the Dominus asked, “What is it, my darling? What is distressing you so?” He reached out to put an arm about her, but Lara pulled away.