“My lord, my powers over the years have grown greatly, and if I wanted to turn you into dust I should have done it long since. You are not worth my time. Aye, you are safe with me. It is my mother you have to fear. Her patience with mortals is not great.” And Lara laughed as Lord Jonah paled briefly. She turned to her husband. “Are you ready, my lord?” And when he nodded with a small smile at her she waved her hand over him and he was gone.
“Will we be safe while you are gone?” Lady Gillian asked Lara.
“Remember that Prince Kaliq has put a spell about The City walls that will keep the Wolfyn out until we are prepared to act,” Lara assured her. She looked to Jonah. “Now if you are ready, my lord,” she said and before he might answer Lara swirled a mauve mist about them and when it evaporated they were gone.
“Stay with me at least for the night,” Lady Gillian invited Lady Vilia. “The streets are dangerous in the best of times now and it is growing dark. You will be safe here. The Domina has said we are safe.”
“Perhaps I will,” Vilia returned. “I am alone in my own home but for the servants and many of them have gone into hiding. Servants are not as loyal as they once were, I fear,” she complained with a sigh.
“Nothing is as it was,” Lady Gillian replied. “Once everyone had a place here in Hetar, and everyone knew their place. We had prosperity and order. I am still trying to figure out what happened to bring us to such a pass as we now face.”
“Greed for more and more,” Vilia replied. “Too much prosperity being shared by fewer and fewer of our people. If a person’s belly is full and they are useful, they are content. But when the people grow hungry and are idle, that is when trouble ensues. That is why the emperor shipped so many of our poor to the Outlands so they might be useful again.”
Gillian laughed dryly. “The poor in the Outland province may have been put to labor, Vilia, but they are still hungry and unhappy. The magnates work them to death because there are always more of them to be used. But one day it will not be so. Then what shall we do? Whoever seeks to rule Hetar will have to solve all the problems that these past years have caused.”
“And what do you favor?” Vilia asked slyly. “Shall we return to the old days of the High Council and no single head? Or shall we retain the imperial rule begun by my former husband?”
“I have not yet decided,” Gillian replied. “But I do believe Lara is correct when she says that it is time women made up at least half the ruling body, whatever it is. Our population is now more women than men because of all the turmoil Gaius Prospero has caused us. We should have a say in those things affecting our lives. Our voices should be heard and our wishes should count for something, Vilia. Present whatever face you wish to present to your husband and to others, but speak the truth to me.”
Vilia was silent for a long few minutes, and then she said, “What if a woman ruled Hetar, Gillian? Not from behind the throne, but on the throne?”
“It is an interesting concept,” Lady Gillian said slowly. “But I think it too soon, Vilia. First we must make our voices heard within the High Council. That will shock enough people as it is, but once they are used to it, then aye!” She chuckled. “I wonder what your mother-in-law would think of these thoughts you harbor.”
“Farah? Pah!” Vilia said scornfully. “She gave no real thought to Jonah until she saw him rising to power. When his father’s widow sold him into slavery as a boy she might have bought him herself and rescued him. But she did not. Her only concern is for her own prestige. I personally question whether she will be a good headmistress of the Pleasure Guilds, but then of course time will tell. Why did you retire? You are yet young enough to manage the responsibilities.”
“No headmistress may serve more than three ten-year terms. I had served my time and under the law I had to retire,” Gillian said. “Besides, I am not unhappy to be free of the burden of management.”
Vilia nodded and then she said, “I hope Jonah is all right. He has never been comfortable with magic. And I think the Domina frightens him although he would never say it. She is not the girl she once was, is she?”
“Your husband will be fine with Lara,” Gillian assured Vilia. “They will even now be speaking with the surviving commanders of the Crusader Knights.”
And Gillian was correct. Lara and Lord Jonah had appeared in King Archeron’s hall in a swirl of smoke. Everyone had been startled but Archeron had stood up smiling.
“Greetings, Lara, Domina of Terah,” he said, coming from his high board to take up her hands and kiss them. His curious glance went to her companion. “Lord Jonah, I bid you welcome, too,” he said.
The Crusader Knights and their commanders in Archeron’s hall looked uncomfortable. John Swiftsword stared at his daughter as if she were a total stranger.
“Greetings, my lord king,” Lara said. “Greetings, my lord commanders of the Crusader Knights. Greetings to all the knights gathered in this chamber tonight.” She did not single out her father. “I have brought Lord Jonah to attest to what is true.” Her gaze swept the hall, commanding their attention. “The Dominus of Terah and the magic kingdoms have offered to aid Hetar in its battle against Kol, the Twilight Lord, whose forces even now assail The City.”
A babble of surprise erupted among those gathered in the hall, but King Archeron signaled for silence so Lara might explain to them.
“While you attempted to invade a peaceful land, a land that has done you no harm, the Twilight Lord has sought to spread his evil and his darkness into Hetar. The Midlands have been ravaged,” she concluded.
“We must return you quickly to Hetar,” Lord Jonah said. “I bring the emperor’s written command. We will join with the forces of Terah to defeat the Twilight Lord.”
“Let me see the document,” the head commander of the Crusader Knights said. When Jonah handed it to him he scanned it carefully.
“It could be a forgery,” an under-commander suggested.
“Nay, it is Gaius Prospero’s signature,” the head commander replied. “I have seen it often enough to know his scrawl.” He turned back to Jonah. “Just what are we facing?” he asked the emperor’s right hand.
To their surprise, Lord Jonah deferred to Lara.
“The Twilight Lord has three groups of allies. We have already convinced the giants who have been serving him to eschew his rule. They will not turn against Hetar. The fiercest of Kol’s warriors are those he has sent to Hetar—the Wolfyn.”
“Wolfyn are naught but a myth to frighten children,” a Crusader Knight said.
“Wolfyn are very real,” Lara told them. “They are creatures with the heads of wolves and the bodies of men. They are savages who kill for the pure joy of it and who enjoy violating mortal women for no other reason than just to hear them scream with terror as they force them to yield pleasures. There is no kindness or pity in them. Kol sends these minions of his darkness to take The City, the heart of Hetar. Take The City and the rest will fall or be taken as the Midlands have been taken. And then Kol will turn his eyes to Terah.
“The emperor realizes that we must stop the Twilight Lord now before he takes The City, before Hetar is lost to Kol. To do that, all of us must band together. Hetar, Terah and the magic kingdoms,” Lara explained. “The Shadow Princes will transport you along with Terahn forces to a position just behind the Wolfyn. They will bring a small number of Terahns into The City to join with those remaining Crusader Knights and Mercenaries who remained in order to protect The City. When all is in readiness, we will have the enemy caught in a pincer movement and together we will crush them.”
“And the emperor is truly in accordance with this?” the head commander asked. “For once he appears to show some foresight.”
“You know well what he is like,” Jonah quickly put in, seeing an opportunity for himself, “but I worked hard to convince him that this was the wisest course.”
“To treat with our enemy?” a voice among the Crusader Knights called out.
“We have only
recently come into new information,” Jonah said smoothly, “that convinces us that the Terahn threat was nonexistent.”
“What a pity you did not have that information before you lost your men and your ships,” King Archeron murmured dryly.
“The Terahns are not our enemies,” Lord Jonah continued. “They are, it would seem, our friends, as their offer to help ward off the Twilight Lord has proven, my lords.”
Lara almost burst into laughter at this and struggled to maintain a serious face.
“And what will Terah’s help cost us, Lord Jonah?” the head commander asked. “How high a price must Hetar pay to escape the clutches of this Twilight Lord?”
“We seek nothing from Hetar except that you keep to your own borders,” Lara told them all. “Terah has avoided Hetar for centuries. We would continue that policy, my lords. There is nothing that we want or desire from you.”
They looked at her, astounded. Hetar was the pinnacle of the known world. There was no place like it. Yet Terah wanted naught from them? How could that be? The faerie woman had to be lying. But before they might explore this further, Lord Jonah spoke.
“My lords, we have little time to debate this issue. The emperor has given you his orders. You must obey them or be held accountable for treason. In wartime especially, such a thing cannot be tolerated.” He looked to Lara.
She was impressed in spite of herself. Jonah was obviously not a man to dither over a decision. “I will return to Terah,” she told them, “and then the Shadow Princes will come to you. Have your men ready immediately for transport, my lords. I will see you in the Midlands shortly.” And then she was gone in a puff of her signature mauve smoke.
“I do not like this,” the head commander said. “Have you actually seen these creatures, my lord? Or is this all faerie smoke to frighten us?”
“I have seen them. Squire Darah has seen them. He was so terrified he fled to The City, leaving behind his latest young wife to the tender mercies of the Wolfyn,” Jonah told them with a sneer.
“Coward!” a voice among the Crusader Knights called out.
“The threat is real and not something imagined by Gaius Prospero?” the head commander persisted.
“The threat is horribly real. The emperor hides in his palace with the empress, drinking Razi and dreaming his dreams, my lords,” Jonah told them. “When the Domina of Terah came to us and offered her husband’s aid, I was suspicious, but then I saw the Wolfyn with my own eyes and I heard Squire Darah’s terrified tale. The danger is real, my lords, and without the Terahns we should be at a terrible disadvantage.”
“Why should we trust the magic kingdoms?” a Crusader Knight asked. “That storm that destroyed all the fleet but for one ship was nothing natural nor was the fog that preceded it. John Swiftsword can tell you. He was on the single ship that survived.”
Lord Jonah looked to Lara’s father. “Tell me,” he said shortly.
“We were not far from the shore when this thick mist began to form. We spent days lost in it, never knowing where we were. Three of us managed to escape it, and at first we were not certain if it was the coast of the province, or if we had reached Terah. Finally, we realized it was our own shores in the distance. The other two vessels returned into the fog to tell them what we had found. And shortly thereafter, the storm began. But it raged only within the mist, my lord Jonah. While the sea around our ship was rough, the skies above were clear and sunny. And when the storm finally ceased and the fog bank was lifted we saw the destruction of our fleet and the dead floating in the waters of the Sagitta. It was no ordinary storm. It could only have been created by the magic kingdoms. Now these creatures offer to help us?”
“Would your daughter lie, John Swiftsword?” he was asked.
“The daughter I raised was a truthful girl, but this woman she had grown into is more her mother’s child now than mine. Faeries can be deceitful,” he said.
“There is no deceit about the danger we all face,” Lord Jonah told them.
“And perhaps the magic kingdoms did not approve of your attempt to attack Terah,” King Archeron said quietly. “Terah has always been peaceful.”
“They are so undoubtedly to hide their great riches,” a Crusader Knight said.
“I have been to Terah,” Jonah told them. “I saw nothing but a vast green land.”
“But the beautiful and costly goods they send us—” another Knight said.
“Produced in their own villages by their own hands,” Jonah told them. “There are no large manufactories, my lords. It is all craft work.”
“And you have seen this?” a Crusader Knight asked.
“Although I was kept to the castle of the Dominus most of my time in Terah, I was permitted several visits to the various fjords where the Terahn villages are located and the craftsmen and women live,” Jonah said.
“What of their city?” came the query.
“There are no cities of any size. Not even a small one. Terah is ruled by the Dominus from his castle.”
“It sounds quite primitive,” someone said.
“Indeed, I consider it so,” Jonah replied.
“Then how could such a primeval folk be considered a danger to Hetar?” a Knight Crusader commander demanded to know.
“We were told that the faerie woman who is its Domina had gained greater powers. You all know of her antipathy toward our emperor. It was believed that she was planning a new revenge upon Gaius Prospero that involved harming Hetar and The City itself. Rumors abounded, brief whispers heard in the main market square of The City by our spies. The emperor grew paranoid and became convinced that Terah presented a grave danger to Hetar. Nothing any of us said—myself, the young empress, my own wife, the lady Vilia—could dissuade him,” Jonah told them. “A reasonable man would see that Terah in all its centuries of trading secretly with the Coastal Kings wanted nothing to do with Hetar. Why would they suddenly decide to attack us? As for the faerie woman, while she may not like Gaius Prospero she is Hetarian-born and has never shown any animosity toward her native land that I know of.” He turned again to John Swiftsword. “You would know better than any, Swiftsword. Does your daughter have an enmity toward Hetar? I have never seen that she does.”
“Nay,” John Swiftsword replied. “Lara does not dislike Hetar. While her faerie destiny called her elsewhere, I have never known her to show disloyalty.”
“Yet she speaks of Terah as her home,” the Crusader Knight standing next to Swiftsword said suspiciously.
“She is wife to Terah’s ruler,” Jonah answered for Swiftsword. “Like any well-born and mannerly Hetarian woman, she has cleaved to her husband’s house.”
“Have you not talked enough?” King Archeron demanded. He knew the Hetarians’ propensity for debating an issue until it was ragged. “Terah and the Shadow Princes have agreed to help Hetar. Gather your forces for transport, Knight Commanders. Day will soon be breaking in the Midlands and you must have your people in place before the first light. Surprise will be your greatest advantage.”
There was agreement around the high board, and as the Knight Commanders moved from the great table to gather their troops into the proper formations, a bevy of Shadow Princes appeared from the darkness in the back of the great hall of King Archeron. Their garments almost blinding in their whiteness, each of the princes attached themselves to a Knight Commander and soon the hall began to empty. Eventually only the Coastal King and Lord Jonah remained. It was then a prince came to the emperor’s right hand and with a bow to King Archeron, transported Lord Jonah back to The City.
Alone for the first time in months the Coastal King sighed audibly. He did not need to be told that Gaius Prospero was through. Lord Jonah’s careful and reasonable speech had already begun rallying the Crusader Knights away from the emperor. But he would lobby with others to prevent Jonah from becoming the next emperor. Hetar needed to return to its old way: a new High Council was needed. That was an idea he would most certainly get behind and so would his brother
kings.
But now while the rest of Hetar was busy fending off the forces of the Twilight Lord, the Coastal Kings would meet together and begin ridding their territory of those Hetarians who had usurped their lands. The manufactories attempting to replicate cheap luxury goods in a bad imitation of Terahn products would be torn down. Greenery would be planted again and the sand dunes would protect them once more from the winter seas. The beaches would grow wide as they had once been. It was time to slough off the invaders and return to what they had once been. The new government would be so busy repairing the damage done to the Midlands and to The City itself that little thought would be given to the faraway Coastal Kingdom.
King Archeron smiled to himself. It would soon be time to bring their living vessels from the sea caves where they had been hidden from Gaius Prospero and his minions. Had they possessed such vessels they would not have lost half of their army. It would soon be time to set to sea again and meet the Terahn traders at the midpoint of the Sagitta. Aye, in just a little while life would be back to normal once again.
16
THE FOUR WOLFYN MOVED carefully through the tunnel beneath The City. It had been carved from rock and was dry. How long it had been in existence they did not know. They had found its entrance only by chance when digging a foundation for one of their fire machines for their master, the Twilight Lord. The four Wolfyn were curious to see where the tunnel ended and if there was an exit into The City. If such an entry could be found it would save a great deal of damage and they might present The City intact to Kol.
At last the winding tunnel came to its end and before them was a narrow stone staircase. Cautiously the four made their way up the steps and there at its top was a door. It was locked, of course. There was no key but one of the Wolfyn took his knife and thrust it into the lock, wiggling it this way and that until they heard a distinct click. The Wolfyn placed a hand on the door and it opened, its hinges creaking noisily.
Quickly they stepped through the door to find themselves in a cellar filled with wine barrels. They could see on the other side of the chamber another set of stairs.
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