The Twilight Lord (27 page)

“We will be crowned together, my dear,” he told her. “I would not have it otherwise. And it will be a far grander affair than either of our predecessors has had. That I promise you, my clever and fertile Vilia.”

Vilia smiled up into his face. She had known from the first time she had seen Jonah that he would be great one day. By binding them together with a child, Vilia instinctively understood that this man, unlike Gaius Prospero, would never cast her off. Jonah looked at the larger picture. He looked ahead. And while he enjoyed pleasures, he enjoyed power far more, as she did. They were really the most perfect couple. Perhaps even as perfect as the Dominus and Domina of Terah.

True to his word, Jonah cajoled Gaius Prospero into an immediate coronation for Shifra. And in the next few weeks he also negotiated a marriage contract with Vilia’s uncle, Cubert Ahasferus. The wealthy magnate was a canny man not easily brought to a settlement.

“She’s a wealthy woman in her own right now,” Cubert said slowly as he sat with Jonah over goblets of wine from the Outlands vineyards. “What can you offer her in exchange for her fortune and her blood ties?”

“What can any man offer such a woman?” Jonah replied carefully.

Vilia’s uncle smiled broadly. Then he said softly, “
Power.
You are no fool like our beloved emperor, who believes as all old-fashioned men believe that women are of little use but for pleasures. You appreciate my niece’s intellect.”

“Of course, she will have a certain amount of respect as my wife, and aye, I do value her wisdom,” Jonah replied quietly.

Now Cubert Ahasferus laughed aloud. “You do not fool me, my lord,” he said. “You have ambition. Do you think I cannot see it?”

“The emperor once had ambitions,” Jonah answered.

“To be emperor, to take pleasures with beautiful women.” His companion sneered. “But you, my lord, see beyond the end of your nose. You want more, and if you would wed my niece I must be certain that when you get what it is you want she will share equally in your glory. Guarantee me that and I will draw up the marriage contracts between you,” Cubert Ahasferus said.

Jonah considered his request and then he said, “How is it possible for me to do such a thing, my lord? Anything we put in writing, no matter its innocent intent, could easily be misinterpreted as treasonous. Such a covenant between us could endanger not just my life and Vilia’s, but the entire Ahasferus family, as well.”

“You are cautious and right to be so,” Cubert Ahasferus said approvingly. “Your reputation proceeds you, however. It is said you rarely give your word, but when you do that word is as good as gold. Take my hand and swear to me a blood oath.”

“Whose blood would we swear upon if indeed I decided to take you up on your proposal?” Jonah asked curiously. The answer stunned him.

“Swear to me on the life of your unborn child,” Vilia’s uncle said.

“What child?” Jonah replied, hiding his surprise.

Cubert Ahasferus smiled again. “Why, the one you will put in her belly, dear boy,” he said. “I know you will keep your word to me if you swear on his young life. You will not endanger your heir. He will, I suspect, be your one weakness.”

“Nay,” Jonah said. “I have no weaknesses.”

“But you will swear, will you not?” came the reply. “You will give me your blood oath and Vilia will be yours along with all her wealth and the favor of the Ahasferus family. We have many friends, my lord, but then you already know that.”

Jonah was silent for a short time as he considered what Cubert Ahasferus had proposed to him. He wanted Vilia. She was as pleasant a bed companion as he had ever enjoyed. He wanted her wealth. He valued her advice. Her connections were important to him. When he became emperor he would crown her his empress. Did all of that not make her his equal? If it reassured her family to have him swear a blood oath on the life of his unborn son that she would be that equal, then where was the harm in it? He considered the suggestion from all angles, but it always came back to the fact that without Vilia Prospero, born Ahasferus, his plans would not come to fruition.

“I will have my secretary write up the contracts with the necessary dower portion. Did you know that my niece has a quarter share in our trading company?” Cubert Ahasferus said.

“Aye, I knew,” Jonah replied. But he had not. He could see he was going to have to speak to Vilia about keeping things from him. “Have the agreement drawn up between us, and set a day for the signing. If I decide to accept your terms I will swear my oath on that day, my lord.” He arose from his seat. “I must leave you now. I hope you will forgive me, but the empress’s coronation is in just two more days. I have a great deal to oversee for the emperor.”

“Of course, of course,” Cubert Ahasferus responded jovially, offering Jonah his hand. “I will have the contracts ready the day after the coronation.”

Jonah shook the pale white hand, which was surprisingly strong. “Excellent!” he said and hurried off.

Jonah had hardly departed the chamber before Vilia entered the room by means of an inside passage.

“Were you listening?” her uncle asked. “Of course you were.”

“I heard it all,” Vilia replied. “Did I not tell you he was clever?”

“Let us hope he is not too clever,” Cubert Ahasferus said. “Will he sign? Will he swear the blood oath? And are you sure he can get you with child?”

“I am certain,” Vilia said. “And he will both sign and swear. Gaius never loved me, Uncle. He loved the support my family gave him over the years. Jonah, for all his coldness, does, I believe, love me.”

“Perhaps,” her uncle agreed, “but do not be blinded by your love for him, Niece. This man you are taking as your second husband is as cold as ice. Were there a better opportunity, he would seize it and cast you aside, Vilia. Make no mistake about that.”

“But you will protect me, Uncle, will you not?” Vilia murmured.

“Aye, Niece, your family will protect your interests first and foremost,” Cubert Ahasferus said firmly.

Vilia smiled. “Then I have naught to trouble myself about, Uncle.”

“You are taking part in the empress’s coronation, are you not?” he asked.

“I will carry her train,” Vilia said.

Cubert Ahasferus snorted. “What presumption!” he grumbled.

“Uncle, had not Jonah intervened I should have served as her footstool as she sat upon her throne. And Jonah, the emperor’s footstool. But my clever lover convinced Gaius that such an
honor
could undermine his authority to speak for the emperor. I understand that our soon-to-be empress was not pleased and the footstool upon which her dainty feet will now rest is an expensive concoction of gold and jewels,” Vilia said.

“What outrageous effrontery!” her uncle snapped. “The wench is most sure of herself that she would demand such concessions from the emperor.”

“He has been besotted by her from the moment he saw her in the slave market,” Vilia admitted a bit sourly. “She is very beautiful and reminds me a bit of the faerie woman, Lara, except Shifra’s hair is red-gold.”

“Who is she?” Cubert Ahasferus demanded to know. “Who are her family? What connections does she have that can be useful?”

“She is a nobody and claims to have lived with her grandmother on the edge of the forest bordering the Midlands,” Vilia replied. “But I sent my own agents to find the grandmother and the hut in which she lived, and they learned nothing, nor could any in that region help them. No one seemed to know Shifra or her grandmother, Uncle. My agents searched all along the forest border but could find no trace of her relations at all.”

“Interesting,” Cubert Ahasferus mused.

“So then I sought out Lenya the slaver, who had sold her. He swears he found her where she claims he did. He even said he saw a small hut that Shifra said was her grandmother’s home. And he did see the old woman, but spoke not to her, for he feared she would refuse to sell Shifra to him. He simply made off with the girl. I am certain he was telling the truth.”

“Then who is this creature Gaius Prospero would crown?” Cubert Ahasferus wondered. “Is she magical? Can she protect him?”

“I doubt she is magical herself,” Vilia said. “She would appear to be just what she is. A beautiful, simple-minded girl, who exists solely to please Gaius. She really is his ideal woman.” Vilia laughed softly.

“Not so simple that she did not attempt to thwart your dignity,” her uncle noted.

“But she did not protest too greatly when she could not. She simply persuaded Gaius to have a gold and bejeweled footstool made for her instead,” Vilia replied. “I see no malice in her. A budding greed perhaps, but no malice, Uncle.” Leaning forward she kissed his cheek. “You must go now,” she said.

“Aye, I want those contracts drawn up by tomorrow. I will have them sent to you for any omissions or corrections.”

She nodded her understanding.

“Do your part well at the coronation ceremony,” Cubert Ahasferus advised her. “The family will all be there watching. I have had a great deal of difficulty calming them down over your divorce and the emperor’s decision to crown this young wife of his. I suspect that he had Anora disposed of although such a thing would be difficult to prove. I have told them we are fortunate he did not murder you, as well.”

“He never intended to, Uncle,” Vilia told him. “He simply wanted me out of his life. It was Jonah who warned me and told me what to ask for in the settlement.”

“While standing by to snap you up like a tasty morsel dropped from his master’s table,” Cubert Ahasferus remarked dryly.

“Uncle, he could not have had me had I not wanted him. We have been lovers for several years now,” she told her relation, who wore a look a complete surprise on his face.

“You were cuckolding Gaius Prospero, Vilia?” he gasped.

“It was very exciting, Uncle.” She laughed.

He looked at her now with something almost akin to admiration. “And he never knew or even came close to catching you? Well done, Vilia! Ah, what a pity you are not a man. You could rule the world!”

“And can a woman not rule the world, Uncle?” she responded softly.

His mouth fell open in surprise at her question.

“What difference should it make that I have a love sheath and a man has a manhood? Why is one considered more dominant than the other? How ridiculous,” Vilia told him, secretly amused by the different emotions drifting over his features.

“You are an interesting woman,” Cubert Ahasferus finally told his niece. “I can but hope this new husband of yours will appreciate you.” Then with a quick bow to her he departed.

Vilia chuckled. She had surprised her uncle and that was a good thing. She would allow her family to broker her marriage as was Hetarian custom, but she did not want him thinking that she was weak or foolish. She had been very young when they had seen her married to Gaius Prospero, but now she was well into her thirty-fourth year. She would rule through Jonah. But rule she would. Was not the faerie woman, Lara, now ruling in tandem with her husband, the Dominus of Terah? The daughter of a mercenary—well, a Crusader Knight now, Vilia allowed—and a faerie ruled a land vaster than Hetar.

Jonah had said that Terah was no threat to Hetar, but how could it not be? Perhaps not now, but eventually it would be. Primitive, Jonah said, but Lara had been raised in Hetar. How could she not miss the elegance of Hetar’s ways? Eventually she would want those ways for Terah and so it would begin. Terah would eventually become a danger to Hetar. Better it be conquered quickly before it turned the tables upon them all. Jonah would have to be convinced and she would convince him, Vilia decided.

But not yet. There was too much for them both to accomplish before they looked to Terah. A coronation, and here Vilia allowed her true feelings to surface briefly. How could Gaius Prospero dare to give
her
crown to that creature whose only accomplishment was to open her legs and give the fat fool pleasures? It was galling! He had refused her that crown which was rightfully hers, murdered Anora, oh yes, she knew he had, and then divorced her. She was fortunate, Vilia thought to herself, not to be dead.

Well, she would repay the fat fool in kind. She would dutifully carry Shifra’s train at her coronation in two days’ time. She would be gracious to all those who saw her and knew the crown should be on her head. Then she would marry Jonah and give him a son. Then when Hetar went off to war next spring she would pray to the Celestial Actuary that Terah wreak havoc on the Hetarians. She felt a small twinge of guilt at that thought but she pushed it aside. It had to be if Jonah was to overthrow Gaius Prospero.

And when he had, Vilia thought, she would be Hetar’s empress. Jonah loved her. He would not refuse to have her crowned. She would rule by his side and their son would one day be Hetar’s emperor. And Hetar would absorb Terah into its fold as it had absorbed the Outlands. Vilia’s hand went to her belly.
I will carry a son,
she promised herself.
I will give my lord Jonah a son.
She smiled. Everything was proceeding exactly as they had so carefully planned.

“S
O
G
AIUS
P
ROSPERO HAS
had his young wife crowned empress of Hetar,” Lara said.

“And Lord Jonah has wed the cast-off Vilia,” Magnus Hauk replied.

They were seated in their small family dining room with Lara’s mother, Ilona, queen of the Forest Faeries, who had materialized in her usual mauve cloud several minutes prior to bring them the news.

“It was disgraceful,” Ilona said, her beautiful face showing her distaste. “Never among mortals have I seen such a show of gaudy and expensive waste. What is the matter with Hetarians that they did not rise up in anger over both of these celebrations? The ordinary folk grow poorer while the magnates grow richer, especially with Hetar’s acquisition of the Outlands.”

“I thought the land was suppose to have been distributed to those willing to work it,” Lara remarked. “Was it not?”

“They gave small plots to those who asked, but then those gaining such land were forced to borrow in order to build shelters and purchase seed and equipment. Vast tracts, however, were parceled out among the wealthy. They have planted large vineyards and produce fine wines. They graze cattle upon it not for milk, but for food, which is then sold at outrageous prices in the markets of The City.”

“Who works the land?” Magnus Hauk asked. “They gained no slaves from their hollow conquest of the Outlands.”

“They have transported thousands of poor from The City,” Ilona said. “They give them shelter and food, both scant I might add, in exchange for their labors. The death rate is high, but the magnates care not, for The City is filled with those willing to toil for food and shelter from the elements.” Ilona’s leaf-green eyes grew misty. “Even I cannot help but feel pity for Hetar’s poor,” she said. “There are so many of them now, my children. Even the forest is being affected by conditions in Hetar.”

“They cannot just bring the poor in to till, plant and harvest,” Lara said.

“Those from the Midlands, from families no longer able to sustain them, are employed to supervise the workers. They are treated just slightly better in that they are paid a small wage,” Ilona replied.

“And those working the fields are not?” Lara was shocked.

“Aye, they are given a wage, but then what they eat and the shelter in which they live is deducted from that wage. Little, if anything remains after that.”

“Then they are slaves,” Lara said.

“Nay, they have the right to walk away,” Ilona responded, “but if they do, then they have naught. They are not even returned to The City. They are driven from the large farms where they have toiled with only the clothes on their back. And the small plot holders will not take them in for they cannot afford to feed them or pay them to work for they are so burdened with debt themselves. Most eventually die on their own and unless someone finds them they are left to rot where they fall.”

Lara’s eyes filled with tears. “Once Hetar was a place of laws and fairness. It was an orderly world. Each citizen had his place in it. The quarter where I grew up was peopled by the Guild of Mercenaries. We were not rich, but our hovels were kept in good repair. We were kept warm in the cold and we always had enough to eat even if our food was not the choicest of viands. When Magnus and I were last there I saw homelessness and true poverty, Mother. And those awful kiosks selling Razi so cheaply that even the poorest could purchase it. And those drinking it, even the children, felt neither cold nor hunger. They would fall into a stupor and just dream. I found it horrifying. And now they transport the poor to slave their short lives away in the Outlands.” She sighed sadly. “What do the magnates do with all the profit they make? Why has Hetar’s society grown so greedy and venal that it cares nothing for those who cannot care for themselves? Given learning, skills and opportunity most people will gladly work. Everyone needs a purpose in life. Everyone needs to be useful.”

“Yet there will always be those among the mortal races who lack good fortune,” Ilona pointed out, “and who will always be poor.”

“But they should not be penalized for it,” Lara said. “I do not suggest coddling those who are lazy, but those who are genuinely helpless need to be cared for, and once Hetar did so. This lack of charity is shocking.”

“And now, having crowned an empress and seen to Jonah’s marriage, Gaius Prospero thinks to sail across the seas and attack Terah,” Magnus Hauk said. His handsome face was dark with his anger. “I am a peaceful man by nature, but I will resist Hetar and if I must I will destroy it. Why does the fat fool do this, Ilona?”

“While in part his greed drives him,” Ilona told her son-in-law, “it is more from fear. You see, my dear Magnus, you possess what he does not—my daughter, Lara. Gaius Prospero and his minions have spent months convincing Hetarians that Terah is dangerous because Lara is its Domina. That her magic is certain to reach out and strike at them, and so Hetar must strike first. That Lara, Hetarian by birth, must be returned to Hetar, and her power used for Hetar and not Terah.” Ilona could not help but smile at the look of outrage on her daughter’s face.

“If Kaliq had not given that fat fool back his abilities to enjoy pleasures,” she grumbled, “this should have never happened. He was a broken man when I put my spell upon him. Now look what has happened. I am no danger to Hetar and Gaius Prospero well knows it, but let them come to Terah with conquest upon their minds and I will be!”

“The young empress is a creation of the Shadow Princes and was generated by them to distract the emperor. When the time is right the princes will remove her from him,” Ilona said. “There is a greater purpose here.”

“Can you tell us?” Magnus Hauk asked her.

Ilona nodded slowly.

“What!” Lara teased her mother. “You will actually tell us? But you will couch your words in mystery, of course, and we shall have to discover their meaning for ourselves, won’t we?”

Ilona laughed. “Nay,” she told them. “I will not cloak my words in hidden meanings. Magnus, I am sorry, but Hetar and Terah must struggle against one another until one of you overcomes the other. This world that you both inhabit must be made one world for the sake of peace. I will tell you things now that you have never known—but you must know if you are to survive.”

The Dominus of Terah reached for the decanter upon the table and slowly poured frine into each of the three goblets. Then setting the decanter back in its place he said, “Tell us, Ilona. What must we know to make a difference?”

Ilona nodded. “This world you all inhabit floats in the skies as do many other worlds. It is naught but a speck of light in what we in the magic kingdoms call the Cosmos. The star you call Belmair is another populated world of great culture and prosperity. But eons ago they were much like this world of yours. Once their many clans and peoples came together as one, peace ensued, and only peace as you in Terah know can bring true happiness. But before this came about, there was much discord on Belmair until the good and the light overcame the greedy and their spiral into wickedness and evil,” Ilona explained. “While there must always be balance, that balance cannot be toward the dark. It must be toward the light, for the Cosmos is vast and there are many worlds floating within it. We who labor for the good are not always in the majority in every world. Sometimes the darkness is even too much for us. But we never give up trying to bring the light into every corner of the Cosmos.”

Magnus Hauk struggled to wrap his brain around her words.
Other worlds? In the skies above them?
How could it be possible?

“Do not attempt to understand it all,” Ilona advised him, seeing the look of puzzlement on his face, with his brow wrinkling in concentration. “Just know that you and my daughter have been chosen in this time to unite your worlds and it will not be an easy task, Magnus. Hetar is mired in the muck of its own creation. It will take a great effort to draw it out but together you can do it.”

“Will you in the magic realms help us?” the Dominus wanted to know.

Ilona nodded. “We will, but even our powers cannot always overcome hearts that have been turned to stone, as the heart of Hetar has. You will have to soften that heart by winning its people over to you. Right now their fear of Terah, of Lara, is very great. The people have been told over and over again that she is dangerous to them, to Hetar. It is the same tactic they used when they sought to conquer the Outlands. Then, with the help of magic, you were able to save the clan families of the Outlands. Now you must save yourselves for there is nowhere you can flee.”

“We will never flee!” Magnus Hauk said, his turquoise eyes blazing fire.

“Yet,” Lara said, speaking up at last, “Hetar will never allow itself to be called Terah, nor will the people of Terah permit themselves to be Hetar. With such a passion for one’s history as both lands possess, how will we be able to unite into a single nation?”

“The people of Belmair call the large bright star that your world appears to be to them
Thare,
” Ilona murmured.

“There is time for names later,” the Dominus said impatiently. “Can we not attempt diplomacy before this situation degenerates into war, Ilona?”

“Diplomacy is a good beginning,” she agreed, “but you would have to win over Hetar’s High Council and right now only the Shadow Princes will support your cause. Squire Darah and fellow members from the Midlands Province, the Coastal Kings, the Forest Lords and the two new councilmen from the Outlands province will not.”

“But surely they know I am not dangerous,” Lara said.

“In their hearts they do, but to admit it would be to go against Gaius Prospero. And he holds the key to all the riches they plan to acquire when Hetar conquers Terah.”

“There are no women on the High Council,” Lara mused almost to herself. “Perhaps it is time women began to speak up. Perhaps it is time for women to become involved in the matters of government. These wars are never quite as simple as they are purported to be.
It will be over and done with quickly,
Gaius Prospero always tells the people, but certainly they can be reminded of the Winter War. How many carts of Hetarian dead did we send into The City? It will be far worse this time. How many husbands, fathers and sons will die on our shores and be buried here? How many women will be widowed? How many children orphaned?

“The women of Hetar must be made aware of the bleak future they face without their men. And the High Council must understand that if they send their citizens into a battle with Terah, that a future generation will be lost. When that happens Hetar will become a hapless prey for Terah and their great history will be lost forever. The women will understand that. I must speak with Hetar’s women,” Lara said.

“If you go to Hetar,” Magnus Hauk said, “Gaius Prospero will take you captive. He has convinced everyone that if he has possession of you he can conquer Terah easily.”

Lara laughed softly. “Then you still love me, my lord husband?” she teased him, and her mother smiled. It was such a faerie gesture, Ilona thought.

“Of course I love you!” he shouted at her. “And I will not allow you to put yourself or Terah in danger. Let Gaius Prospero come. We will repel him and his Crusader Knights and his mercenaries.”

“What? Do you think I am foolish enough to make a great public show in Hetar, Magnus? Nay, I will use my magic. The hearts of those who are good, and there are many women in Hetar whose hearts are good, can be appealed to, my lord. The emperor will not send his forces against us until the late spring when the Sea of Sagitta is calm and easy to travel upon once again. We have the Icy Season in which to appeal to the women of Hetar. I must seek among them the bravest and the boldest, who will be the first to speak up among their friends. These will give the other women the courage to follow them. There is time, Magnus.”

“And meanwhile we will continue to enlarge our army,” the Dominus said.

“And I will place a thick fog bank off Terah’s shores,” Ilona told them. “If Gaius Prospero sends his fleet toward Terah before we are ready they will have a terrible time once they depart the shores of the Coastal Kingdom. Thanos, my mate, is most adept at storms. It is a talent your brother, Cirillo, has inherited.”

“You must be so proud of him, Mother,” Lara replied. “But I have not asked at all of your kingdom and its well-being. What of the forest? Is it still being cut back?”

“Nay, now that the Outlands are available for pillaging they have left the forest in peace. And they never got close to the deepest part of the wood where we reside,” Ilona responded. “We have caused new trees to spring up where the old were and the Foresters have cultivated more growth. They have become more ingrown if such a thing is possible. My mother’s curse still plagues those of them with pure Forester blood, but they are fewer now and the sons born of the new blood will have no difficulty in reproducing. The Forest Lords are as arrogant and small-minded as ever, but at least the women who give them sons now are not slaughtered. They are treated as concubines.”

“And the children?” Lara asked curiously.

“The children are taught to call their fathers’ formal wives
Mother,
” Ilona said.

“At least the concubines are not killed any longer,” Lara remarked.

“Will you attempt to reach out to the forest women?” Ilona asked her daughter.

Lara shrugged. “I do not know,” she said. “I must think on it, but I believe the women of The City must be stirred to action first.”

“Then we are agreed on our plan of action for the next few months,” Magnus Hauk said quietly.

They nodded and then Ilona said, “I must go now, my children. I can just hear Thanos calling me. All these years now and he worries if I am not with him, the foolish faerie man.” Then with a smile she was gone in her cloud of mauve smoke.

Lara arose from the table where they had all been sitting. She held out her hand to her husband. “Come, my lord, it is time for us to take pleasures of each other,” she told him with a small smile.