“You will tell my grandfather then that I am your chosen one, my lord, and that the wedding is to be set seven days from this day,” Nyura told him.

“The Dark Lands are very different from Hetar,” he said, not knowing why he bothered to say it. She was his. It was foretold.

“I know,” she said. “You have lots of wonderful storms. I will be happy there with you, my lord.”

“Let us join your grandparents now, and I will tell your grandfather of my decision,” Kolgrim said. He restored her robe, unlocked the door to the chamber and hand in hand they went to find Grugyn Ahasferus.

Nyura led the Twilight Lord to her grandfather’s sitting room, where he waited with his wife, Lady Camilla, Divsha and Yamka. The young woman entered, bowing first to her grandfather and then curtsying to her grandmother, who held out her hand to the girl. But Nyura did not take it.

“I have made my decision as to which of your granddaughters I shall take as my bride and my queen,” Kolgrim said to Grugyn Ahasferus.

“So quickly?” the magnate replied.

“Your granddaughter Nyura meets my criteria and that of the Book of Rule,” Kolgrim said. “She is a virgin, and she descends from Ulla.”

“You mean she has Ulla’s gifts,” Grugyn Ahasferus remarked astutely. “Both those virtues will cost you dearly, my lord Kolgrim.”

“Name your terms, but the marriage must be celebrated in seven days’ time,” Kolgrim responded.

“I thought you liked me best,” Divsha said, tears springing to her eyes.

“You are a most charming companion, my lady Divsha,” Kolgrim said.

“Did I not please you well?” Yamka demanded to know.

“You pleased me very well even if you lied to me.” Kolgrim chuckled. “Your ass was far too easy to breach, my pretty.”

Yamka flushed and stamped her foot angrily, but said nothing more.

“Did I not tell you to use the tightening lotion?” her grandmother hissed at her.

“I will want the mineral rights to your mountains,” Grugyn said.

“Forty percent of the ore you mine will come to me,” the Twilight Lord said. “And I will take all of the jewels you find while seeking the metals.”

“I want the transmutes,” Grugyn answered him.

“We will split them fifty-fifty,” was the quick reply. “But the rest of the jewels are mine.”

“My granddaughter is a prize worth having, my Lord Kolgrim, is she not?”

Grugyn said slyly.

“That you give me a pure virgin will shower honor and prestige upon your house,” Kolgrim replied, also slyly. “When I have her maidenhead her screams will echo throughout your hall so your guests may know the truth. You will choose the witnesses to her defloration yourself, my lord. And have a bloody sheet to fly from your housetop shortly thereafter. I am taking your granddaughter and making her a queen. Do you think any of her gifts are greater than mine? I am Kolgrim, sired by Kol on Lara, a faerie woman. My powers are enormous and they are strong. If I wanted, I could take the girl and give you nothing. But I am of a generous nature, and so I have come as any suitor would to sue for the hand of Nyura.”

Sixty percent of the mineral ore, half of any transmutes he found. He would shortly be the richest man in Hetar, Grugyn Ahasferus thought excitedly. Taking Kolgrim by the arm he said in a low voice, “Palben will expect a share of what I have. Let me tell him of our agreement, my lord.”

“So you may lie to him and keep a greater share for yourself, of course.” Kolgrim chuckled. “Why not? Nyura is worth it. Reverse the percentages for him, and tell him you are getting forty percent, then give him twenty. What you do about the transmutes is your business.” He chortled again. If Grugyn Ahasferus was an example of Hetar’s ethic, this world would fall into his hands like a ripe peach when he was ready. But not until after Nyura had birthed his son. He clapped Grugyn upon his back. “We are agreed then?”

“We are agreed,” came his reply.

“I believe this calls for a toast,” Lady Camilla said. She looked to Divsha and Yamka. “You may go home,” she said, dismissing them. Then she put an arm about Nyura’s shoulders. “Come, child, let us celebrate this magnificent betrothal you have made. We are very proud of you. Our quiet little granddaughter catching the heart of a powerful man,” she gushed.

“The Twilight Lord has no heart, Grandmother,” Nyura said bluntly.

“Nyura!” Lady Camilla reproved the girl. “Apologize to Lord Kolgrim.”

But Kolgrim laughed, and catching up Nyura’s hand kissed both the back of it and the palm, then the soft inside of her wrist. “She already knows me well, my beautiful bride-to-be,” he said. “There will be no illusions between us.”

Lady Camilla shrugged. “You are both too clever,” she noted.

“Nothing is settled until the Lord High Ruler approves this match,” Grugyn Ahasferus reminded them. “Tomorrow Lord Kolgrim and I will deal with Palben. Then we may prepare for the wedding feast.”

“The bribe must be large,” Lady Camilla said, “and Palben should not know that Nyura is the inheritor of Ulla’s powers. Any thought that there might be another more powerful than he will cause him to block this alliance.”

“If he knows of Ulla’s powers he will not believe in them. Palben does not believe in magic,” Grugyn reminded his spouse.

“Then he is a fool,” Lady Camilla responded tartly.

Kolgrim chuckled to himself. He actually liked these mortals who would be his relatives. They were greedy and thought only of themselves.

THE LORD HIGH RULER was pleased to receive the Twilight Lord and Grugyn Ahasferus in his privy chamber the next afternoon. He smiled toothily at them. “I take it you bring me happy news, Grugyn, my old friend,” he said.

“I have come to seek your permission for my granddaughter Nyura, only daughter of my younger son, Zenas, and his wife, Sabine, to wed with Lord Kolgrim,” Grugyn said.

“And what will be paid you for the girl?” Palben asked.

“I may mine minerals and ore in the mountains of the Twilight. Sixty percent of what I mine will go to Lord Kolgrim. The remaining forty will be mine. I will give you fifteen percent of the profits from the minerals and ores. I may also keep all the transmutes I find. I will give you thirty percent of those, my lord.” Grugyn looked expectantly to the ruler.

Palben was silent for what seemed a long time, and then he said, “I will accept your offer on one condition, my old friend. I want your granddaughter, Divsha, as my second wife. I have consulted on this matter with the First Lady Laureen, and she is agreeable. I will expect Divsha to give me children so that our offspring, and those of my lord Kolgrim will be blood kin through their mothers.” He smiled broadly again. “Is that not an excellent idea, my old friend?”

Grugyn Ahasferus was briefly rendered speechless. Then he managed to say, “This is a great honor you do my family, my lord Palben.”

Kolgrim was surprised. He had underestimated Palben. The man was clever. With the proper amount of fear instilled in him and training in how to serve, he would prove an excellent minion, the Twilight Lord decided to himself. “The nuptials could be celebrated together,” he suggested. “I am certain such loving cousins would want to be at the weddings. Once I return with my bride to the Dark Lands she must concentrate her entire being on giving me my heir. We will not come to Hetar for some time. If you would not mind sharing the day, my lord Palben,” Kolgrim said, “we might take our brides in seven days.” Seeing Palben hesitate, the Twilight Lord continued, “I can but imagine the joy you will have with a beautiful young bride to share pleasures with, my lord. I know I can hardly contain my anticipation.”

Lust sprang into Palben’s eyes. “Aye, aye,” he replied enthusiastically, “I agree! The marriages will be celebrated together.”

“Nyura is a proven virgin,” Grugyn said. “You know the fuss surrounding such a thing in the case of a bride, my lord. It will bring great notoriety to the House of Ahasferus. I would not want to overshadow your own nuptials. Perhaps you could wed the day before, and then my Lord Kolgrim the day after.”

Palben considered his friend’s words. “Aye,” he finally said. “You are right. Nothing should overshadow the wedding of the Lord High Ruler. It is settled then! I will wed the day before him.”

Grugyn bowed low. “I will inform my family of this double good fortune,” he said. He then turned to Kolgrim. “You will not see your bride until your wedding day, my lord. It is custom here in Hetar. I hope you will understand.”

“Of course,” Kolgrim replied. “I have some other business to conduct before the marriage. I will take this time to do it.”

Grugyn Ahasferus hurried home to tell his wife this latest news.

CAMILLA THREW UP HER HANDS in frustration. “Two weddings in a week? It will require a miracle. Have you sent to our eldest son to tell him this good news? Divsha, the Lord High Ruler’s wife!”

“Second wife,” Grugyn said. “She will have no title but Lady. She won’t like that, I fear. Nor will she be pleased to learn she is to become the Lord High Ruler’s property. Still in all she is a clever wench. She will find a way to make a success of this.”

“It will cost us dearly to pacify her,” Camilla noted sourly. “It would have been better if we had just matched her with the son of another wealthy magnate.”

“Divsha is a good Hetarian woman. She has been brought up properly and will do what she is told for the good of her family,” Grugyn replied.

“She wanted the Twilight Lord, and will demand much of the family to go to the Lord High Ruler’s bed smiling,” Camilla insisted.

“We will give her everything she wants then,” Grugyn said. “Do you know what these marriages mean, wife? We are not only about to become the richest family in Hetar, but our power base will be greater than I had ever imagined. I will no longer be just Palben’s friend. We will become blood kin by this marriage, and blood kin to the Twilight Lord, as well. The House of Ahasferus will be the most influential in our world. Could you have ever imagined such a thing, Camilla?”

As the realization of his words hit her, she staggered with shock. “Grugyn! What have we done?” she half whispered. “You are the cleverest man in Hetar, my lord, to have engineered such a coup.”

He accepted her praise, but the truth was, he had done nothing. The Twilight Lord had come to him. The Lord High Ruler had come to him. His only contribution was in having three beautiful sixteen-year-old granddaughters.

“We must do something for Yamka,” Camilla said. “She will be devastated by her cousins’ good fortunes. Of course we can’t duplicate such magnificent matches for her, but we must find someone worthy.”

“Go and speak with her then, and reassure her,” Grugyn Ahasferus said to his wife. “We cannot have our daughter’s child unhappy, and she certainly will be at this turn of events. But she must not remain unhappy long. I won’t have her sulking about on the wedding days, taking the attention from the bride.”

“I will go and find her immediately,” Camilla said, and she hurried off.

WORD SPREAD QUICKLY throughout The City of the two great marriages about to take place. In the residence that housed the members of the High Council, the Shadow Prince Nasim heard first. Going to his private apartments, he expeditiously transported himself to Shunnar and found Kaliq. “News, my brother! Bad news!” he greeted him.

“What news?” Kaliq asked. “Lara, come quickly!”

“What is it?” She was at once by his side.

“Nasim brings news from The City,” Kaliq told her.

“What has happened?” Lara asked Nasim.

“Kolgrim came to The City. He had sent to Palben to request he be allowed to visit,” Nasim began. “It is the purpose of his visit that is most interesting.”

“He came for his bride,” Lara said. “And he has found her, hasn’t he?”

Nasim nodded. “Nyura, granddaughter of Grugyn Ahasferus, daughter of his younger son, Zenas, and his wife, Sabine. He had his choice of three of Ahasferus’s granddaughters, but he chose this one.”

“She has Ulla’s power then. The question remains, does she know how to use those powers? Few of Ulla’s descendants ever did. Villia tried, but all she accomplished was attracting the Darkling Ciarda. What is known of this girl?”

“Little,” Nasim said, “other than she is a virgin. She is fair to look upon, Lara, but her two cousins are actually more spectacular, and they have been enjoying lovers since they reached fourteen. But not this girl, which is why little is known of her.”

“Something more must be known of her,” Lara said.

“Of Divsha and Yamka I can tell you much,” Nasim said. “But this girl has kept to herself. I, myself, only saw her recently because of the fuss that was made when the three girls were brought to their grandparents’ house to be inspected by Kolgrim. They came through the streets of the Golden District in separate litters proceeded by musicians and dancers. I was there visiting a friend, and we watched the procession. She found the whole thing most amusing, given the reputation for enjoying pleasures that two of the maidens have. The third girl, however, she knew nothing about. I caught a good glimpse of her as her litter went by. Slender, fair, red-gold hair, a serene beautiful face. My friend named each of them as their conveyances passed us by. This is all I can tell you.”