A Distant Tomorrow

by Bertrice Small

  “Nay. The innkeeper was busy in his taproom with the many revelers,” Lara said. “Does the City no longer rest, Lothair? Or have I forgotten what it was like?”

  “Once the nights were silent after the eleventh hour, but no more,” he responded. “It is so crowded that people rent their beds for just a few hours at a time so they may sleep. Many lack homes to go to now. And there is a new evil among the poor. It is call Razi. When put into frine it offers dreams, some beautiful, some horrific. One never knows which will ensue, I am told. It is sold quite legally and cheaply at what are called Razi kiosks. I understand that the emperor’s man, Jonah, owns quite a few of these kiosks. Dreaming helps to keep the poor from rebellion and offers them an escape from the hopelessness and drudgery of their lives. And the kiosks are open all day and all night for the convenience of their customers.”

  Lara sighed. “Lothair, what will happen to Hetar?”

  He shrugged. “I do not know,” he said.

  “Perhaps now would be a good time to go,” Magnus said quietly. He could see that Lara was very distressed by the state of things in Hetar. It would be best to take her away from the cause of her misery.

  Lothair nodded. “I will go with you,” he said. “There are no meetings of the High Council scheduled for the present. In fact, we scarcely meet at all these days. I suspect the High Council is retained only to give the appearance that everything is as it has always been. Lara, we are going to Shunnar now.” And he waved his hand in a languorous fashion.

  Magnus put his arm about Lara, and just briefly he felt as if his body had turned to flowing liquid. Then he found himself in a wide hallway, open on one side that was colonnaded, and had a waist-high balustrade. Lara sagged against him. She was suddenly very tired.

  “I will find my brother,” Lothair said.

  “You do not have to,” Kaliq said coming from the duskiness of the long corridor.

  “Welcome to Shunnar, my lord Dominus. A servant will take you to your quarters, and in the morning we will speak. I can see Lara is exhausted. Was your visit to Hetar so hard?”

  “We have to talk,” Lothair said with a small smile. “Lara has tired herself in a most wicked and foolish feat. But she now sees the error of her ways.”

  A serving man was at Magnus’s side. “If you will come this way, my lord,” he invited.

  The Dominus picked his wife up and carried her off. They were safe now.

  “What did she do?” Kaliq asked as he and Lothair stood looking over the green moonlit valley below.

  “Her powers have truly grown, Brother. But she must learn to control them better. The emperor declared himself, and offered her a place by his side. Lara was offended for a variety of reasons. She delved into his mind and allowed him to know what it would be like to take pleasures with her, because she told him he never really would. To be fair, she did give him the choice of not knowing, and warned him that if he accepted her offer he would never again know satisfaction with another woman.”

  “And of course Gaius Prospero greedily took her offer, and will now suffer for it. That Hetar should be governed by such a fool!” Kaliq exclaimed angrily. “We will need Ilona to come and speak with her daughter. To advise Lara on the more careful use of her powers. It would appear her faerie blood runs stronger than her mortal blood now.”

  “It was cruelly done,” Lothair said, and then he could not refrain from chuckling. “Can you imagine the agonies this emperor of ours will suffer over what has happened this night? It will certainly not make him any easier to control. But that she could do it, Kaliq! And she is not even all faerie, my brother!”

  “Which is why Ilona must speak with her. Tonight Lara veered toward the darkness. It is the first time I have known it to happen. And it must not happen again,” Kaliq said seriously. And then he, too, chuckled. “Aye, it was clever of her.”

  The serving man came and stood by his master’s side waiting to be recognized, and when he was the man said, “They are settled, my lord Prince.”

  Kaliq nodded, and the servant left him. “I want to speak to Lara first,” he told Lothair. “Will you remain with us? On the morrow you will entertain the Dominus, and show him our valley while I deal with our naughty faerie woman.”

  “Call me when you want me,” Lothair said. “I will be in my own palace tonight.” Then he was gone.

  Kaliq found his own chamber and slept for but a few hours. In the hour just before the dawn he awakened, bathed, dressed and then called out to Ilona.

  She appeared with her son, Cirilo, by her side. “Greetings, Kaliq of the Shadows,” she said. “My daughter is here, I know. Her brother wanted to see her. Where is she?”

  “She and her husband yet sleep,” Kaliq answered. “Cirilo, my lad, go and find the giant, Og, and have him take you to the valley of horses. When Lara is awake I will have Og bring you back. I need to speak with your mother now.”

  “Has my sister been naughty?” the boy asked with excellent instinct.

  Kaliq chuckled. “Yes, but it is not for you to involve yourself. Go to Og.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Cirilo said. He was a handsome little boy of seven, with his parents’ fair golden hair and his father’s deep blue eyes. With a smile he ran off.

  “Come,” Kaliq said, inviting Ilona to a table overlooking the valley. “Let us break our fast while we talk.” He seated her and offered her a bowl of fruit.

  “What has Lara done?” Ilona wanted to know, plucking a small bunch of green grapes from the bowl.

  “Her powers are increasing greatly, as we knew they one day would,” Kaliq said. Then he explained to the queen of the Forest Faeries what Lara had done to Gaius Prospero the previous evening.

  “He probably deserved it,” Ilona said, secretly proud of her daughter.

  “She must learn better to control her emotions when she uses her powers,” Kaliq said. “Unless she does she could easily slip into the darkness, Ilona. You know it is always there, waiting, watching.”

  Ilona sighed. “That is her mortal side, I fear. Mortal souls are easily taken into the darkness, Kaliq. Her faerie powers may be growing, but she is still half-mortal.”

  “I cannot disagree,” he answered, “but she must learn to control herself. She has made an enemy of the emperor when she might have simply ignored him.”

  “He would never forget her, my lord, even if she had not given him a glimpse of paradise. Gaius Prospero will always desire Lara. Only his death can end it. But then there would be a vacuum in the power base of Hetar,” she said. “And it is not time yet for the change, is it?”

  “Will you speak with her, Ilona,” Kaliq said. “Will you teach her how to control her mortal emotions?”

  “Yes,” Ilona said quietly. “Now tell me of her husband? Does she love him?”

  Kaliq nodded. “More passionately than she did Vartan, and the Dominus is completely distracted by his love for her.”

  “Is he a strong man?” Ilona wanted to know. “Or is he one of those namby-pamby mortals we faeries love more often than not?”

  “He is strong, and rules over much territory. He gave some of that land to the Outlands clan families, and with Lara’s aid we have transported them in their entirety from Hetar. The armies of Gaius Prospero will be met with empty territory. No villages, no flocks or herds, no people. Even the mines that the Tormod and Piaras once worked have been sealed over with ancient growth. Hetar will find nothing but the land. They will have to begin afresh, and it will cost them the instant profits they had hoped to reap from this violation of the old treaties.”

  Ilona smiled as she sipped her morning frine. “And so my daughter’s destiny proceeds exactly as it should,” she noted. “No, we cannot allow her to be lost to the darkness, Kaliq. It is time for me to be Lara’s mother once again.”

  Chapter

  16

  LARA AWOKE to find her husband stroking her naked body. “Umm,” she murmured, and rolled over to face him. “Good morning, my lord.”
/>   He leaned forward, and kissed her lips. “Good morning, my love,” he greeted her.

  Then pushing her onto her back he kissed her again, slowly this time, his hands continuing to caress her. His tongue began a leisurely exploration of first one nipple and breast, and then the other. His fingers trailed down her silken torso, running suggestively along her shadowed slit, slipping between her nether lips to tease at the kernel of her sex. “Wicked creature, you are already wet with your lust,” he scolded her, amused. Two fingers pushed slowly into her, growing still, letting her sense their denseness. “Shall this be all?” he asked softly, his tongue tracing the whorl of her ear as he whispered hotly.

  “No!” she replied.

  “Tell me what you want, Lara?” he tortured her gently, the fingers moving just slightly within her.

  “You! Inside me!” she half gasped. The delicate sensations his fingers were engendering within her were both terrible and wonderful.

  “I do not know,” he said, “if you deserve my attentions, wife. I think you need to be punished for your actions last night.” His lips were close to hers again.

  “Magnus! I remember nothing of last night. Only that you love me,” she said.

  He swung his body over her, his manhood rubbing against her suggestively; watching the play of emotions across her face as she anticipated his next move. He pushed the tip of his lance just within her, and stopped.

  Lara gasped a second time. She was burning with her desire to be possessed by this man, her husband. “Magnus, please,” she said.

  “What do you think he thought when he imagined himself where I now am?” the Dominus asked. “Was he able to enjoy the anticipation of having you completely? Or did he just thrust into you like the pig he is, and greedily enjoy his pleasures?”

  “You are jealous for no reason,” Lara managed to say. “He knows nothing of me. Not really. He never will!”

  “Aye,” Magnus Hauk’s deep voice ground out. “I am jealous! But he will never have you, Lara! I would kill you first!” Then he drove himself deep within her over and over again until they were both moaning with the pleasures they were sharing. And finally they were satisfied with each other, and they lay gasping upon their backs like two beached turtles.

  Lara recovered first, and leaning over him she said but two words. “Only you.”

  Reaching up he pulled her down so that their lips met in a burning kiss, but he said nothing more.

  A small tap on the door of their bedchamber startled them both. A voice called out, “Are you awake?” as the door opened. Magnus Hauk stared in amazement at the woman in the doorway, then turned to look at his wife.

  “Mother!” Lara slipped naked from the bed, and ran to embrace her parent.

  “Darling Lara,” Ilona responded, hugging and kissing her daughter. Then her eyes turned back to the bed. “He is most suitable, daughter,” she said, her bold stare sweeping over the startled man. “And so nicely endowed, you fortunate creature.”

  Hearing her words the Dominus realized that all of his body was visible to this copy of his wife. He flushed, and pulled the coverlet over his tired loins.

  “Put something on, Lara, we must speak,” Ilona said imperiously. “Kaliq tells me your powers have grown stronger, but that you have used them unwisely. Having faerie powers entails first a sense of responsibility.” Her gaze caught that of the Dominus. “Magnus, get dressed, too — I will speak with both of you on this matter. I will await you in Kaliq’s dining chamber. There is food, and I would imagine you are both very hungry.” She flashed them a wicked smile before closing the door behind her.

  Lara laughed softly at the stunned look on her husband’s handsome face. “Let us hurry and bathe. She is not particularly patient. There can be no water games, my lord.”

  They bathed in the small room attached to their bedchamber, dressed, and then Lara, who remember Kaliq’s palace well, led her husband to the dining area, which overlooked some small gardens. They found both the prince and Ilona there, engaged in a spirited conversation. Their host waved them to their seats, and at once servants appeared to offer them fresh bread, fruit, yogurt, cheese, hard-boiled eggs and salted meat. There was cool freshly squeezed juice poured into their goblets, and the Dominus wondered just how it was kept cold in this very warm dry climate. He and Lara ate, waiting for Ilona to speak to them.

  Lara’s lips twitched with amusement, but she said nothing.

  Magnus Hauk studied his mother-in-law. She might be the queen of the Forest Faeries, but he was the Dominus of Terah. Why was he nervous? Probably because she had caught him at a disadvantage, and he had seen she had enjoyed it. She looked like Lara, and yet she was different. Upon closer examination he realized that being pure faerie, Ilona’s features were sharper while his wife’s mortal blood made her features softer. He decided Lara was the more beautiful of the two, and when the thought entered his brain Ilona suddenly looked directly at him. Then she smiled a quick smile before turning back to Kaliq.

  A boy came into the room and put his arms about Lara’s neck, kissing her on the cheek. Turning her head she smiled at him. “Cirilo! Let me look at you, little brother. My, you have grown taller, and you are going to be a very handsome man.”

  “And you will soon outstrip our mother with your beauty, elder sister,” Cirilo replied. “I have been with your giant, Og, in the valley of the horses. What glorious creatures they are! And how is your new husband?” The boy turned to look at Magnus.

  “Greetings, my young prince,” Magnus said, nodding his head toward the boy. “I am well.”

  “Do you love my sister?” Cirilo asked bluntly.

  “With all my heart,” Magnus answered.

  “Then I greet you in friendship, lord Dominus,” the boy replied. Taking a seat next to his mother he allowed the servants to fill his plate, and he set to eating.

  “He’s a beautiful child,” Magnus noted. “Will you give me a son like that? All golden with jeweled eyes?”

  “One day I will give you a son,” she replied. “But as for what he will look like, that is up to the Great Creator, isn’t it?”

  “I am glad you have him,” Magnus said. “I know it does not make up for the loss of your father’s sons, but this lad is more like you than they could be.”

  “I did not miss the younger sons that Susanna gave my father after I left. It is Mikhail, the little boy I knew, the eldest of them that I regret. I stood at my stepmother’s side and held her hand when he was born. I was there to hear his first cry. He was too small when I left the City to remember me on his own, but could not my father and his wife have spoken of me, and kept my fragile memory alive in my brother? What harm was there in speaking to him of me? It was my sacrifice that put my father on the road to his success. It is that I for which I can never forgive Susanna, Magnus.”

  “Foolish girl!” Ilona said. “I see Swiftsword has not changed a great deal since his youth. He was a charming fellow, a wonderful lover and a brilliant swordsman, but his will was easily led, and obviously still is. Yet it is what makes him a good Crusader Knight. He is a man who will always follow the orders of a superior. He will never question anything. Put him, his jealous mortal of a wife and their mortal offspring from your mind, Lara. It is unlikely you will ever have anything to do with them again. They have nothing to offer you. Neither love, nor loyalty, daughter. It was your father’s strong seed that helped create you, Lara, but you are my child before you are his, as you have discovered in the last months. Cirilo and I love you. And your great brute of a husband loves you. You do seem to like them extra large,” she noted wryly.

  “I know you are right, Mother,” Lara replied. “And yet…”

  “Put it from you!” Ilona said impatiently. “We have important matters to discuss, my daughter. Kaliq has told me what you did to Gaius Prospero. It was very, very foolish.” She shook her golden head with her disapproval.

  “But wonderfully clever,” Cirilo piped up, and then quickly lowered his hea
d to his breakfast at his mother’s angry and silent reprimand. His cheeks were red with her admonishment, but Lara caught his eye and winked at him. Cirilo felt much better at his sister’s encouragement.

  Ilona hid her smile. She was pleased to see her eldest born bonding with her youngest. That bond would one day be important to them both. Then she spoke to her daughter. “The powers that grow in you are more than most half faerie, half mortal beings have. This was foretold before your birth. Mortal blood runs in your veins, Lara, but you will have full faerie powers before long. But with those powers comes responsibility. You must exercise your powers only for good. If you do not you will be lured into the darkness, and your powers corrupted. The sorcerer you vanquished was like you, Lara, half mortal and half faerie. He was to bring greatness to the Brotherhood of the Great Creator. Instead he was drawn into the darkness, and Terah suffered cruelly under his rule. Only a creature like you, Lara, could have lifted the curse of Usi, and freed the Terahn people of his influence.”

  “Is that why I was brought to Terah?” Lara asked her parent.

  “Partly,” Ilona said. “Now promise me, my daughter, that you will never again use your powers for evil as you did the other night. I do not say Gaius Prospero doesn’t deserve to be punished, for he does, but time will take care of him, I promise you. You are meant for other and greater things. You must not be corrupted as Usi was.”

  “Every time we meet you refer to a destiny for me,” Lara said impatiently.

  “First your promise, daughter,” Ilona said refusing to be turned from her point.

  “Of course I will promise you, Mother. I will never again allow my anger to rule my magic. Now let us get back to my destiny.” Lara looked directly at her mother.

  “It is unfolding in its own time and manner,” Ilona said sweetly.