A Distant Tomorrow

by Bertrice Small

  “Will you come to see them once we are resettled?” he asked her.

  “Of course!” Lara told him. “They are my own, and I love them for all I cannot be the mother they should have. My magic has grown strong in Terah. I can use it to visit. How is Noss?”

  “With child again,” he said with a proud grin. “She wants another boy. She says Anoush is all the daughter she needs.” And then he flushed as he realized how his words must have hurt Lara.

  She saw the look upon his face, and laid a comforting hand on his arm. “Nay, Liam, I understand, and it is true. Anoush was still a baby when I left the Fiacre. I am glad she has Noss, and I am equally glad that Noss has her.”

  “How did you get to Terah?” he asked her.

  “Arcas betrayed me, but it was meant to be. He thought to send me as a slave to Magnus Hauk to earn his favor. I quickly disabused the Dominus of the idea that I was a slave, however,” Lara told him with a small smile. Then she went on to tell Liam of the curse upon Terah and how she had resolved it.

  “Your magic has indeed grown,” he said. “Your mother visits the children regularly, you know. She is quite doting, and often brings her son with her.”

  “I will have Ethne tell her what is happening,” Lara said. “Ethne can reach out to her from Terah, but I am not certain that I can, although I have not tried.”

  “Will you return to Terah tonight?” Liam asked.

  “Aye. We came only to tell you what was happening, and to offer the clan families a new home. Magnus cannot leave his lands for long periods of time. His people are most dependent upon him.”

  “What will they say when they find us upon the Terahn plain?” Liam was curious to learn.

  “They know nothing of what resides upon the Emerald Mountain range, or beyond it on the Terahn plain. I am not certain they even know there is a plain. They accept just what they see, and little else. They harvest their silk, weave their fabrics, make their jewelry, and other luxury items, which are then sent via the Dominus’s trading fleet to meet with the vessels of the Coastal Kings who bring salt, and lumber, pearls, hides and furs to the Terahns.”

  “I cannot help but wonder,” Liam said, “why the Coastal Kings have never wanted to see Terah.”

  “The Terahns will not permit them to come in sight of their shores. They have threatened to cut off all trade with Hetar if they violate this stricture. The Coastal Kings could not exist without the luxury goods they import, therefore they honor the restrictions placed upon them.”

  Liam nodded. “They are cautious men, the Coastal Kings. I would be more curious,” he said.

  “It is time for me to depart,” Lara told him. “I can see Kaliq is weary, and it will be well past dawn by the time we return to Terah.” She kissed his cheek. “Farewell, Liam. I will see you when you have been resettled in Terah.”

  “Will you not send your love to Noss?” he asked her.

  “Liam! Noss must not know I have been here,” she scolded him.

  Liam flushed embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I forgot.”

  “You cannot forget,” she warned him.

  “I won’t again,” he promised her.

  Lara nodded, and then walked over to Rendor. “We must leave, Rendor.”

  “Did you manipulate the tiles in the bag?” he asked her. “I could have sworn the tile I had was pushed into my hand.”

  Lara smiled. “Is it not better that the two strongest clan families go last?” she said. “I did not consider it prudent that the head of the Outlands Council go early. I thought the Devyn should go first to record the migration from the ancestral home.”

  “And Floren next before he could think any more upon it, or cause difficulty,” Rendor chuckled. “But what if he speaks to his wife without meaning to do so?”

  “By the morning all of the clan lords but you will have forgotten this meeting, Rendor. Only when they awaken the morning after their transport will they recall all that has happened here tonight. I thought it better that way. We can trust nothing to chance where Hetar is concerned.”

  “You have thought of everything,” Rendor said admiringly.

  “I hope I have,” Lara responded. “Go now, and take the others with you.”

  He kissed her upon her cheek, and nodded his agreement. Then he moved off, ushering the other clan lords from the meeting tent. When they had gone Lara made a quick gesture with her hand, and the tent vanished. Kaliq gestured next, and was gone. Magnus turned questioningly to Lara.

  “We are going home,” she said, gesturing a second time, and they were back in the Dominus’s bedchamber in his castle.

  “All this magic amazes me,” Magnus said.

  “Thank you for tonight,” Lara told him.

  “They are good folk, your Outlanders,” he replied. “They will do well in Terah. Like us they prefer keeping to themselves, but eventually the two halves of Terah must meet. Not yet, but some day. While those native born continue to produce beautiful things, your Outlanders can feed this world of mine.”

  “Floren would be pleased to hear such sentiments,” Lara said. “How he loves the land, and all that he can grow upon it.” Then she grew thoughtful. “I must remember to transport the Gathering stones to a suitable spot on the Terahn plain. Next year’s meeting should be quite a celebration.”

  “What were you speaking to that young Outlander about?” he queried her. “That was Liam, your husband’s successor?”

  “Yes. I wanted to reassure him I would not take my children from them,” Lara told the Dominus.

  “You do not want them with you?” He found that curious.

  “They are Fiacre. Dillon may one day lead his clan family. He cannot do that if he is raised as a Terahn,” Lara said. “And Liam’s wife, my friend, Noss, loves my daughter like her own. She has two sons, and is with child again. Liam says she wants another lad — for she has said she has all the daughters she desires in Anoush.”

  Magnus put his arms about her, and Lara began to weep softly, unable to help herself. His big hand smoothed her golden head. “Give me a daughter,” he said softly to her. “Give me a golden-haired faerie girl, Lara of my heart. She will not replace your Anoush, I know, but we will love her nonetheless.”

  “Do you know,” Lara sniffed, “that Vartan was disappointed at first when Dillon was born? He wanted a daughter. I knew he needed a son and an heir first, but he wanted a daughter. So I gave him a daughter three years later. She will never remember him, Magnus, nor will she remember me.”

  “You will visit her once the Fiacre are safely here,” he promised. “And you may bring her here as well.”

  “She thinks of Noss as her mother, and Noss loves her as if she had birthed her. I cannot come between them,” Lara sobbed. “Aye, she will know as she grows older that I am she who gave her life, but it is Noss she will love, not me.”

  He could think of nothing to say that would comfort her, and so the Dominus just held the woman he loved until finally her weeping ceased.

  Lara looked up at him. “I do love you,” she told him.

  “I have come to realize that,” he replied. “You do understand that I love you.”

  Lara nodded. Her dark eyelashes were spiky with her tears.

  “And we will prepare for our marriage?” he asked.

  She nodded again.

  “Soon?” He was smiling.

  “Aye. As soon as possible, my lord Dominus,” she told him.

  “And then we will go to Hetar,” he said.

  “Do you still want to go?” She looked troubled.

  “I want to go,” he said. “Before they invade the Outlands. I want to hear what these people have to say, and learn how they think. We will go quietly, just you and I. We will walk about the City, and listen. One learns a great deal just listening.”

  “It is wise to know one’s enemy,” Lara agreed. “Hetarians are great talkers, my lord, and you will learn much, though I think you will be surprised by the differences between
Terah and Hetar. Terahns are content to live comfortably, with purpose to their days, and in peace with their neighbors. Hetarians are concerned with how they appear to their neighbors, and are always eager for profit and more profit.”

  “Why?” he asked her.

  Lara shrugged. “I don’t know. It is simply their way.”

  “How shall we travel?” he asked.

  “By means of my magic,” she replied. “It is easier, and quicker. We will appear to be ordinary travelers sightseeing in the City. Well-to-do farmers from the Midlands,” she said with a smile.

  “They will understand my language?” he asked.

  “You and I speak the same tongue, Magnus,” Lara told him. “We all seem to speak it.”

  “We shall tell my people we are taking a wedding trip to my small castle in the foothills of the Emerald Mountains,” the Dominus said. “But we shall really be visiting Hetar.”

  “You must see the desert of the Shadow Princes as well,” Lara said. “And even the realm of the Forest Lords. My mother can keep us safe there.”

  “I cannot wait until you are my wife, my Domina,” he said huskily, and his arms wrapped about her again. “It is not enough that we take pleasures together. I cannot be content until you are mine, and mine alone!”

  Lara did not correct him. It would do no good. She would be his wife, his Domina, but she would never be any man’s possession. Even Magnus Hauk’s. She raised her face to his for a kiss.

  Chapter

  13

  “I MUST OVERSEE the transport of the Outlands clan families to their new home,” Lara told Magnus on the day that the Devyn were to be brought from the Outlands.

  Messengers had already been sent to the seven inhabited fjords of Terah, announcing the wedding day of the Dominus and the beautiful faerie woman who had lifted the curse of Usi from the Terahn men.

  “Our wedding is near,” he protested.

  “I will be back in time,” she promised him. “It is only a few days. The seamstress has already fitted and fashioned my wedding gown. I never had a real wedding with Vartan, you know — I am going to enjoy this, though I thought at first that I might not. And Sirvat is taking care of the celebration feasts. I will be here by the time your mother and sisters arrive, I swear. We cannot have the lady Persis asking questions you cannot answer,” she teased him mischievously. Her mood had lightened visibly since their visit to the Gathering. He could sense the weight that had been lifted from her.

  “Go then,” he said. “But what if I need you?”

  “Call my name,” Lara told him. “We are bound together by love, and should you need me, Magnus, I will hear you.” Then she kissed him, and was gone in a mist of mauve smoke.

  It seemed to Lara her faerie blood was growing stronger. She reappeared in the middle of a Devyn village just as dawn was breaking. Seeing Kaliq, she hurried toward him. “Was it difficult?” she asked.

  “Nay, not as difficult as it will be transporting most of the others,” he told her. “Knowing Gaius Prospero’s plans for invasion in the spring, my brothers and I lifted our protection from the Outlands several weeks ago so we might gain enough strength to accomplish this feat of magic.”

  “Shall we awaken Accius?” Lara asked.

  He nodded, and together they entered the house of the Devyn’s clan lord, calling to him as they reached his hall. They found him in a chair by his fire, shaking himself awake. It was obvious he had been there all night.

  “Is it done?” Accius asked them.

  “It is done,” Kaliq replied.

  “Our three villages?”

  “All of them,” Kaliq assured him.

  Accius stood up. “I want to go outside,” he said, and together the trio exited the house as the sun peeped over the horizon. Accius looked around, amazed. “It is beautiful!” he exclaimed excitedly. “You are right, Lara! I have never seen such green.”

  “I hope you can be happy here,” she answered him.

  “Only a fool would be unhappy here,” he said. “I must go to the square and ring the meeting bell. I will need to tell my villagers what has happened. Then will you take me to my other villages?”

  “I will,” Lara said. “Kaliq must now rest, for tonight he and his brothers have the great task of transporting Floren’s Blathma.” She blew a kiss to the Shadow Prince as he disappeared, and then escorted Accius to the village square when the lord of the Devyn rang the meeting bell to bring forth the inhabitants of his village.

  When the sleepy men, women and children had stumbled forth from their homes and surrounded their leader, he began. “Listen, my good clan folk. A great miracle has taken place in the night!” Then he went on to explain the secret meeting that had been held at the Gathering. He told them of Hetar’s nefarious plans for the Outlands; of how Lara had found a wonderful land called Terah, and made it possible for them to find safety there. He related how the Shadow Princes had agreed to transport each clan family, and all that was theirs to Terah. “Last night,” Accius said, “you went to sleep in our beloved Outlands. You have awakened in Terah, my good clan folk! Look about you now!”

  The Devyn were thunderstruck. It was a great deal to absorb. Slowly they began to look about them. Their village was familiar to them, and yet the ground upon which their cottages sat seemed different. They looked beyond their dwellings. The land was greener than any they had ever known. Excitedly they began to speak among themselves. Finally one woman spoke up.

  “This is Terah, and not the Outlands?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Lara answered her.

  “And we are safe from Hetar?”

  “Yes,” Lara replied. “You are far, far from Hetar, across the Sea of Sagitta. Do you see the mountains beyond you? On the other side of those mountains are the seven fjords of Terah, where the Terahn folk dwell. Their ruler, the Dominus Magnus Hauk, has agreed to shelter the clan families of the Outlands in exchange for their fealty. The clan lords have already sworn that oath. This land is uninhabited, and so you displace none. The Terahns are insular folk. It is unlikely you will ever see them, nor they you, for they know nothing of what is beyond their side of the mountains.”

  “Where are the other clan families?” a man wanted to know.

  “One clan family will be transported from the Outlands each night until all are safely resettled. Lots were drawn, and the Devyn were first. By this time tomorrow the Blathma will be in their new home. You were chosen to be first because you are the bards and poets of the Outlands. You will observe each clan family as it is made aware of this great change in their lives, and you will create and sing this history of your people so future generations will be aware of all that has happened in this time,” Lara told him.

  “Once again,” Accius said, “the faerie woman, Lara, has saved us from Hetar. We must be certain her part is well documented in our songs.”

  A murmur of agreement arose from the villagers.

  “But now,” Lara told them, “Accius and I must travel to the other two Devyn villages to tell them of what has transpired this night.” She reached out and took the clan lord’s hand in hers.

  Accius gasped to find himself in the second of his villages.

  Lara laughed. “I have grown stronger since you first knew me,” she admitted. “Ring the bell now so we may speak with these folk.”

  Once again villagers sleepily stumbled forth from their cottages, and both Accius and Lara explained what had transpired. Again there was amazement, and relief. They moved on to the third village where the scenario was repeated for the final time. All the Devyn had been brought safely to Terah. Lara remained with Accius and his family until early the next day, when Kaliq came for her.

  The Shadow Prince looked exhausted with the efforts it had taken to transport the Blathma. Given the task involved in moving Floren’s people, goods and chattels, he was weary with the effort. When morning dawned on the newly transported Fiacre village Liam came from his hall in the company of a small boy. Lara cried out softly
and, running toward the child, knelt to gather him in her arms. “Dillon, my son!” she said, hugging the little boy, kissing his cheeks. She set him back to look at him. “You have grown in the year we have been parted.” She brushed back a lock of his hair from his forehead.

  “Have you come to stay, Mother?” he asked her.

  Lara sighed. “Nay,” she said. “I cannot remain, but Dillon, something wonderful and magical has happened in the night.” She stood up. “Liam, call the villagers of Camdene from their homes so I may tell them all. I will shortly move on to speak with the others.” And when the lord of the Fiacre had assembled the people of his main village Lara told them of Hetar’s plot and how she and the Shadow Princes were working to protect the people of the Outlands. Like the Devyn and the Blathma before, the Fiacre were amazed.

  As she spoke Lara saw Noss standing holding the hand of a small girl. She did not need to be told it was her own daughter, Anoush. When she had finished speaking Noss came forward to greet her, but Lara could see her manner was more wary than friendly. “What is the matter, Noss?” she asked the young woman.

  “Will you take the children?” Noss wanted to know, and Lara understood her concern was not so much for Dillon as it was for Anoush.

  “Vartan and I gave them life,” Lara replied quietly, “but they are Fiacre, and should remain with the Fiacre. Dillon will always know me, but Anoush knows only you as her mother. As she grows old enough to understand, she will comprehend that I gave birth to her, but you will still be her mother as I cannot.”

  Noss began to cry softly. “I am so sorry,” she sobbed. “I know it is selfish of me, Lara, but I love Anoush so very much. And though I seem only able to produce sons, I have always wanted a daughter. I carry another son to be born in midspring.”

  “And I have given you a daughter,” Lara replied. “Do not feel guilty, dearest Noss. I am so grateful that you want Anoush, and love her as you do. Vartan’s children are a symbol to the Fiacre. I should never take them away from their clan family. Soon I am to marry the ruler of Terah, and I will give him children. I shall not leave them, Noss, but neither will I forget my firstborn son and daughter. I will be able to visit them in safety here, which I could not do in Hetar.” She knelt, and smiled at Anoush who stood half hiding in the folds of Noss’s skirts. “Hello, Anoush. I am Lara.”