“Will it be dangerous for you to go to Hetar?” Taj wanted to know.

“Aye and nay. I have many friends there, and a half brother I can trust to shelter me should I need shelter,” Lara told him.

“You must go to my sister,” Taj said. “Zagiri must know you are there.”

“Nay, Taj, I do not want Zagiri or her husband knowing I am in Hetar,” Lara said. “Jonah stole your sister and wed her because he believed that in times of trouble Terah would aid Hetar because we were bound by blood. It wasn’t enough for him that our kingdoms had an alliance, and that Terah would keep its word. As for Zagiri, she was told she was not to marry the Lord High Ruler of Hetar, but she schemed with Jonah to do so. She must live with the choices she has made, but I will tell you that I am told she is very happy as First Lady of Hetar. I will only interfere in Zagiri’s life should I believe that life is in danger, Taj.”

He nodded his understanding now that she had explained. “Who else aids in this endeavour?” Taj asked.

“The faerie kingdoms and the Shadow Princes,” Lara said.

“I think you should ask Aunt Nidhug to come from Belmair and scorch the Darkling and the Dark Lands into ash,” he told her.

“Nay, Taj. There must always be a balance between good and evil. Light and dark. If there were not who knows what would happen to all the kingdoms of all the worlds both magic and mortal,” Lara explained.

“There is so much to learn,” Taj complained. “Will I ever know all that I must to be a good Dominus, Mother?”

“Nay, you will not,” Lara said. “And the older you get you will find there are many more questions than there are answers, Taj.” She ruffled his golden head.

“Some days growing up is very difficult, Mother. And other days it is wonderful, and I cannot get to where I am going quick enough,” Taj told her.

Lara laughed. “It is the same for me, my darling. Remember I am still considered a child in the faerie world.”

“A clever child,” he replied with a grin.

“I do not know if your grandmother would agree,” Lara said.

“Grandmother Ilona is very proud of you,” Taj answered her. “Oh, she probably will not say it, but she is. I see how she looks at you, Mother. It is more than love in her eyes. It is pride in you.”

“That is very observant of you,” Lara noted, feeling a rush of pleasure at the boy’s words. Sometimes the very young saw what older eyes did not.

“How long will you be gone?” he asked.

“I cannot say,” Lara responded.

“It is almost time for my coronation, Mother. And you must be here. It cannot be postponed, as you know,” Taj reminded her.

Lara swore softly under her breath. He was right. If he was not formally crowned on the first anniversary of the day of Magnus Hauk’s death then there was a window of opportunity for any male within the Hauk clan to claim the throne. She had become so involved in the problems assailing them that she had completely forgotten the time. “I will be here,” she said, “and I will help you plan the coronation, as well. Your uncles will also aid you as part of their duties as your council.” She leaned over and kissed Taj’s cheek. Gracious! Did she feel a bit of beard erupting on his face? “Go to bed, my darling,” she told him. “I will be here in the morning, I promise you.”

He arose and returned her kiss, then left Lara to her troubled thoughts.

14

THE DOMINA CALLED THE Dominus’s Council to her the following day. “The time draws near for the Dominus to be officially crowned,” she reminded them. “Unless, of course, one of you would like to take over.” And she laughed at the look of dismay on their three faces. “In less than a month’s time the first anniversary of my husband’s death is due, and on that day Taj must be crowned. I need your aid, Corrado, Tostig and Armen. There is trouble coming outside of Terah, but if it is not stopped it will spread to Terah. I am among those who must stop it, and so I must learn from you what is involved in Taj’s coronation now. I will then give instructions, and trust that you will carry those instructions out while I am gone.”

“Like our marriage ceremony,” Corrado said, “the coronation is a simple affair. There will be three days of festivities sponsored by the family for any and all who would come to the castle. A stipend will be awarded to each village in Terah for local celebrations. This will include the New Outlands. On the first day the memory of Magnus Hauk will be celebrated. On the second day the crowning of the new Dominus will be solemnized. On the third day we observe the blessings bestowed on Terah by the Great Creator in providing us with a new Dominus.”

“I see,” Lara replied, considering that it would be easy to arrange everything for her son’s crowning, and still do what must be done. “What of the ceremony itself?”

“It, too, is simple,” Armen answered her. “Only the family and a single representative from each fjord is permitted to observe it.”

“You cannot offend the people of the New Outlands,” Lara reminded him.

“Of course not,” Armen replied. “This will be the first time they participate in such an affair. We will accept your guidance in this matter, Domina.”

“Since each fjord sends a single person I think the New Outlanders are entitled to only one representative. Let it be Rendor, the head of their High Council.”

“Agreed,” the Dominus’s three uncles said.

“What of Hetar?” Corrado asked. “With the Dominus’s sister married to its Lord High Ruler, and that same man having once served his government as an ambassador to Terah, I think we have no choice but to ask him.”

The council members looked to Lara.

“I must go to Hetar shortly,” she told them. “I will ask Lord Jonah, and if he would come then I will bring him by means of my magic, and return him the same way. It is not wise for him to leave The City right now so I will transport him to Terah for only the second day, and see that he is sent back immediately afterward. His absence when it is known will be an afterthought and nothing more. It will help his cause, however, that he was here for the official ceremony.”

“What is happening in Hetar, Domina?” Tostig asked her. “Can you tell us?”

“Hetar, for all its braggadocio, has fallen upon hard times. Its laws have not been followed, and there is a great deal of corruption, starvation, general poverty and plague. There is a legend in Hetar of a man called the Hierarch who will come when Hetar is facing its darkest hour, and return the kingdom to its glory. Unfortunately the legend is probably just that. Legend. But the powers of darkness have taken a mortal unknown in Hetar, and put him forth as the Hierarch. They are using what small magic they possess to make it seem as if he is making miracles. Their aim, of course, is to drag Hetar into the darkness, and if they accomplish this goal they will look to Terah. We have banded together, the Shadow Princes, four faerie kingdoms and myself, to prevent this from happening.”

“How does the Hierarch manage to gain the people’s trust?” Corrado wondered.

“By promising to return Hetar to its old ways and traditions, which have been ignored in the past years,” Lara said. “Every country must have checks and balances within its governing body. Unfortunately the greedy have managed to bypass the laws, and have caused a collapse of Hetar’s civilization. But the forces of light can help the Lord High Ruler return Hetar to where it should be without dragging the kingdom into the darkness. The faerie kings have aligned with the Shadow Princes to help in this matter. It is my task to deal with both the Lord High Ruler and with the Hierarch to bring about a resolution to Hetar’s problems and to save them from the darkness.”

“Jonah is a greedy man,” Corrado noted.

“But he is also ambitious,” Lara returned. “He schemed for years so that he might rule Hetar. Given the choice of losing his high place or future sources of wealth he will, I know, do everything in his power to protect his throne.”

“So marrying our princess did in the end gain him Terah’s help,” Armen remarked dryly. He cocked a questioning eyebrow in Lara’s direction.

“I do not do this for Zagiri,” Lara replied sharply. “She has made her bed. But if we do not stop the darkness from enveloping Hetar, it will next devour Terah. You are no fool, my lord Armen. You know this to be so.”

“I do,” he admitted, nodding.

“How long must I live in Terah before you will stop anticipating and interpreting my motives?” Lara asked him.

Armen flushed. “Forgive me, Domina,” he said humbly.

“When must you go to Hetar?” Corrado asked, attempting to defuse the situation.

“We will plan Taj’s coronation first. I will visit Hetar briefly, and then return for my son’s crowning,” Lara told him. “I will entrust you with the first day, Corrado, as you were Magnus’s best friend. My lord Armen, you will do the second day, and you, my lord Tostig, will be responsible for the third and final day. I shall see the monies distributed to the villages, and the invitations written and sent to those who are meant to be here. Are we agreed, my lords?”

“We are agreed,” they chorused.

Lara dismissed them, and sent to her son’s chief secretary, the former head scribe, Ampyx. “I will need your help,” she told him. “The Dominus’s coronation is near. Invitations must be sent to the headman or headwoman of every fjord, and to Rendor, head of the High Council of the New Outlands, as well as family members, and the High Priest and High Priestess. I will also carry to Hetar with me an invitation to their Lord High Ruler, Jonah. A blanket invitation is to be offered to all in Terah who come to the castle during those three days of festivities. And monies must be distributed to every village in Terah and the New Outlands so they may hold their own celebrations. The invitations must go out within the next few days.”

“Of course, Domina,” Ampyx replied, not looking in the least ruffled. “Is there anything else?”

“Is that not enough?” Lara teased him with a smile.

“Indeed, Domina, it is,” Ampyx returned. Then he bowed and left her.

Lara left the council chamber, and walked out into one of the castle’s many gardens. Like most of them it hung over the fjord below. Putting her hands flat on the top of the wall, she looked out over the green cliffs, and breathed deep. I am doing my best, Magnus, Lara said silently. Soon it will be a year since that terrible accident. Taj will be formally instated at Dominus on the anniversary of that first day. I miss you, Magnus, but if you were here I know you would be arguing with me about what is happening.

Lara smiled at that thought. She would have had to take time and energy explaining it all to him, and then he would have argued some more to make certain she understood that the decision was his alone to make. He had come a great distance in his thinking after she had married him, but hopefully their son would see things with a broader eye, understanding that Terah was no longer an isolated kingdom that could hide from evil. Having two companions who were not Terahn but New Outlanders was a good start. And sooner than later he would have to learn the true nature of Hetar. Jonah’s son, Egon, was just about Taj’s age. Perhaps when this was all over she would invite the boy to live in Terah for a year. Now that Taj was Dominus he could hardly leave Terah to spend time in Hetar. I am doing my best, Magnus, Lara repeated. A single tear slipped down her cheek. He had been a good husband.

Several days later Lady Persis appeared at the castle. She was, Lara noted, becoming frailer by the day, but her mind was still sharp. “Have you invited Zagiri to come to her brother’s coronation?” she wanted to know.

“I doubt her husband will allow her to come,” Lara answered, “but she has been included in the invitation I will personally carry to Hetar.”

Persis nodded, satisfied. “My grandson’s coronation robes?” she queried.

“No one has spoken to me about them,” Lara replied, and then she added, “Would you help me with them, Persis?”

Magnus Hauk’s mother smiled. “It will be my privilege, Domina. These garments, like the ceremony, are simple. He will wear a brocaded all-white silk robe. Nothing more. I have the robe his father wore those many years ago. It can be altered to fit Taj. Would you consider that suitable? Or would you prefer something new?”

“Nay! How wonderful that you kept Magnus’s coronation clothing. Taj will be so proud, Persis,” Lara exclaimed, and impulsively she hugged her mother-in-law.

The old lady’s eyes filled with tears, which she brushed away. “I will do the alterations myself,” she said. “My eyes are still good.”