I never before realized that few Hetarians think for themselves. They want everything supplied for them. Tell them what to do, where their place in life is, and they thrive. Take away their place, and they collapse, Lara said.

Hetar was an orderly society, and now that the order has been disturbed it has caused chaos, Kaliq said to her. There are those who think, my love.

But not enough!

Kaliq laughed, replying, In every society there are those who do not consider beyond the end of their nose, but you are correct. Too many in Hetar have come to accept things as they have always been. And now the Hierarch would bring them back to that, and it appears to many to be the answer to their problems.

But it isn’t, Kaliq! Hetar needs to move forward.

It won’t until its problems are solved, but this time they must be solved in a different way while meeting the needs of its citizens. It will not be an easy transition, my love. We will have to struggle mightily to make these mortals see the light, and protect them from the darkness that will encompass them in their desperation.

Then I must befriend Cam. If he has not been totally lost to Ciarda, perhaps I can help him to return into the light. I realize now that the darkness has surrounded him since his childhood. His parents were so filled with envy and wickedness he was probably tainted in his mother’s womb. He claims to love Anoush, Kaliq. If he truly does then perhaps that love will help him to escape the clutches of the Darkling.

Be careful, Lara, Kaliq warned her. Ciarda is very determined.

Aye, she is, Lara agreed with him, but you and I both know that love is stronger than any other force in any of the worlds. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. Then she was gone from his side.

The Shadow Prince smiled his enigmatic smile. Lara was a force to be reckoned with. As dangerous as Ciarda was, she had no idea of how powerful his beautiful faerie woman was. Kaliq chuckled, and returned himself to his desert palace even as Lara, having observed Cam in his simple quarters and seeing him alone, appeared before the startled young man’s eyes.

“Aunt!” he exclaimed, startled, his blue eyes wary.

“Why?” Lara asked him quietly.

“Why? I do not understand you, Aunt.”

“Why do you allow the Darkling to control you? You are an Outlander, and the Hetarians will never accept an Outlander as their Hierarch. If indeed there really is a Hierarch, Cam. Do you truly wish to have power over Hetar? But of course, you really wouldn’t have any power but that which she allows you to have,” Lara taunted him gently, and then she smiled at him. “Your parents were ambitious, but until your father made the error in judgment of listening to your mother, who, by the way, was in the pay of Hetar, I never thought Adon stupid.”

“Do you not consider it justice that an Outlander is called Hetar’s Hierarch? How long have they scorned us? And we would still be in our ancient homeland had they not invaded it and sought to enslave us,” Cam said bitterly.

“But the clan families were saved by the Shadow Princes, and by me,” Lara reminded him. “We who stand in the light brought you to safety in a beautiful new land, Cam. Forgive me, nephew! Forgive me for my anger toward an innocent child. You belong in the light, not in the darkness.”

He looked very surprised by her request for his forgiveness. “Forgive you?” he said slowly. “You did me no real harm, Aunt. Taking me from my grandmother probably saved me. Sholeh was good to me. Aye, you are forgiven.” Amazing, he thought. The faerie woman had a mortal conscience. Now what could he gain from her? He was no fool, and he knew that Ciarda was using him, but the temptation to play the great man had been too much for him to resist. Now, however, Cam was beginning to realize that it was a dangerous game he played. Disappoint Ciarda, and he could find his life at an end. Still, the power she had put into his hands was too delicious to relinquish. Yet if the faerie woman who was his aunt could offer him something better, would he not take it? Of course he would. Cam smiled. “There is always a battle between the light and the dark, Aunt,” he said.

“But there must always be balance,” Lara responded. “If one overwhelms the other, Cam, then chaos follows.”

“Ciarda enjoys chaos,” Cam murmured, “and I find it exciting, too, Aunt.”

“Ciarda will ultimately fail. How great the cost to mortal Hetar is what we are now discussing,” Lara said softly. “She has taken you as her lover, hasn’t she? And before you she took one of the Twilight Lord’s twin sons as a lover. Her own half brother, Cam. She wants everything her father wanted. The Dark Lands, Hetar and finally Terah. She will be stopped, and all who follow her will fall victim to her greed and her ambition.”

“What can you offer me that she cannot?” he asked bluntly.

“Your life. A life with Anoush among your own Fiacre clan family,” Lara said. “If you truly love my daughter that is the life you will choose, Cam.”

“Does she still sleep?” he asked, and his cold blue eyes had suddenly warmed and become tender with emotion.

“She sleeps,” Lara said, “and only when you return to the light, Cam, will she awaken. Anoush will never be part of this. And you are a fool to believe that your lover, Ciarda, will allow you to take a wife that you actually love. Mind you, she does not want your love, for she does not know how to love herself, but she does not want you giving it to anyone else,” Lara told him. “You are her possession, and she does not share her possessions.”

“Can you protect me from her wrath if I heed your pleas, Aunt?” he asked her.

“You can be protected,” Lara told him.

“What would you have me do then?”

“Instead of seeking to overthrow the Lord High Ruler, become his wise counsel, and stand by his side to help him reform the system that has brought Hetar to its knees,” Lara said to Cam. “Like you, Jonah is an ambitious man.”

“And when Hetar stands strong again?” Cam asked her.

“You disappear even as you appeared,” Lara told him. “You will, of course, return to the New Outlands to pick up your old life.”

“Anoush will awaken, and you will give us your blessing and permit us to marry?” he asked.

Lara nodded.

“My wife has a house, and she has land and cattle. I must have a house in Rivalen, land and cattle, too,” Cam said. “I have my pride, Aunt, and will not be just Anoush’s husband. I would be my own man.”

“Of course,” Lara said. “It should be no other way.”

“I must think on it,” Cam said. “I must weigh and balance what is being offered to me by both you and by the Darkling.”

“The Darkling cannot win, nor can she offer you Anoush,” Lara told him. “If you love her what is to think about, Nephew?”

“I must determine if I love her enough,” he said, slowly, “to give up all this glory that the Darkling offers me. I think I do, but I would be certain. I should not like to have any regrets in the years to come, nor should I wish to harm Anoush in any way.”

Lara felt her anger swelling. “If you must consider it, Cam, then you cannot love my daughter enough. That is unfortunate for you, and for Hetar. Farewell, Nephew! You have sealed your own fate, and chosen poorly!” And Lara disappeared in a cloud of dark green mist followed by a clap of thunder.

A minute later Ciarda entered the chamber in a cloud of red smoke. She sniffed, and sniffed again. “Who has been here?” she demanded of him.

Cam laughed. “My aunt,” he said.

“What did she want?” Ciarda demanded.

“Perhaps I shall tell you, and perhaps I shall not,” Cam said. “Now come to me, my Darkling. My lover’s rod needs to sheath itself in your heat.” He quickly pushed her against a wall of the chamber, and before she might refuse or protest, Cam had his way with her, driving deep and making her cry out with surprise as he took her pleasures from her. And all the while he used her Cam kept thinking, She is not Anoush. She is not Anoush. But he would eventually have Anoush. The Darkling would give her to him because she needed him, and Anoush would make him happy. If his aunt’s magic was as strong as all said it was she surely would not have come to him for help. No, the Darkling had the power, and he had the Darkling.

15

ALFRIGG, CHANCELLOR OF THE Dark Lands, was beside himself with frustration. He could get nothing accomplished, for his young masters quarreled constantly over everything. Women in particular. This was what the powers of light had wanted, of course, and they had certainly succeeded in causing confusion and disorder in the kingdom. If Kolgrim said aye, Kolbein said nay. The chancellor despaired, and when their half sister appeared to stir the pot, he found himself for the first time in his very long life close to committing violence. He always knew when she was about to appear, for the heavy scent of night-blooming lilies filled the air just prior to the cloud of scarlet mist in which Ciarda transported herself into his privy chamber.

“Alfrigg, dearest friend and Chancellor of the Dark Lands,” she greeted him, smiling her beautiful, wicked smile. “Where are my brothers? I have need of them.”

The old dwarf drew himself up, ignoring the pain in his back and shoulders. The heavy black and gold brocade robe he wore chafed at his bare legs above his old leather boots. His seal of office with its weighty chain felt heavy upon his chest. He glared at the Darkling as if she had interrupted something momentous. “Is it so important that I must disturb the Twilight Lords?” he asked her haughtily.

Ciarda shuddered. “How can you bear the plural on your tongue, my Chancellor?”

“I bear it because it is the reality,” he replied irritably.

“If there were but one,” she murmured. “Kolbein, perhaps?”

“If there were but one I would hope for Kolgrim,” he told her bluntly. “Your lover is too hot-tempered and ignorant, Darkling. Think not that I do not know what you are about, for I do. Remember, it is forbidden by the Book of Rule that any citizen of this kingdom raise their hand in violence against a member of the royal family. Do you suggest disposing of one of your half brothers, Ciarda? And to what purpose? So you might rule through the other? Foolish female! Put such nonsense from your head.”

“I can succeed where my father failed,” Ciarda said heatedly.

Alfrigg laughed scornfully. “Lord Kol was the greatest of the Twilight Lords, and you are a mere Darkling girl. Do not dare to be so presumptuous in your boasting.”

“You will see what I can do, old one. It is why I allow you to live, so that one day you will kneel at my feet to praise my accomplishments and beg my forgiveness,” Ciarda said half-angrily. “If the tone of your apology is sincere I may permit you to live an even longer life than you already have. If it is not I will kill you myself. Now send for my half brothers, and have them meet me in the throne room.” Whirling about, she stalked from his privy chamber.

If only she had been a male, the old chancellor thought to himself. She had strength and determination, and though she was only female, she was intelligent, he was forced to admit. If he could convince her to mate with Kolgrim, who was equally strong and intelligent, they would produce a son unlike any born into the lineage of the Twilight Lords. There had been matings between half siblings in the family before. But if Kolbein gave her a son it could be disastrous. The chancellor called a servant to him, and said, “Go and find both of the Twilight Lords. Tell them I request they join their half sister in the throne room where she awaits them.”

The servant bowed and hurried off. Chancellor Alfrigg pressed a panel in the wall of his privy chamber. Stepping into the narrow corridor he made his way to the throne room, where he exited directly behind the throne. Ciarda was only now entering the chamber. He watched her as she paced back and forth waiting for her siblings. When they entered, Kolbein attempting to push ahead of Kolgrim, and failing, she went forward to greet them.

“Brothers!” She smiled at them.

“What do you need him for?” Kolbein demanded, glaring at Kolgrim.

“Half sister, you are as lovely as ever,” Kolgrim greet Ciarda. “Forgive my brother’s wretched manners. He had the misfortune to be raised by Wolfyn.”

“You think your traitorous giants better?” Kolbein demanded. “Given the opportunity they bolted for Terah.”