“We need you, Kolbein,” Ciarda said through gritted teeth. “Join hands now with us so I may summon the power of three. Our father needs our help.” She grasped their hands in hers.

Kolbein yanked his hand away from Ciarda and his brother. “Our father? That fellow who put me to be raised by Wolfyn, and my brother by giants? I thought he was long dead, bitch sister. Why would I want to help him?”

“Our father was imprisoned by the Shadow Princes and their allies,” she answered him. “But he has been transferring his powers to me so I might aid the Hierarch. Recently I have noticed he stopped and when I looked into my reflecting basin I saw he was being distracted by a plague of flies. He is weak, and cannot concentrate on more than one thing at a time. The flies bite at him and buzz at him. He needs us to destroy them so he may return to helping us.”

“Why is he transferring his powers to you instead of us?” Kolbein asked her now, totally sober. “Why would he give his powers to a mere woman, bitch sister?”

“Aye, indeed, why?” Kolgrim said. From what he knew of his father, Kol would never willingly give even the smallest of his powers to a female. Ciarda was lying. “I think, sister, that I do not trust you,” he murmured. “How have you forced our father into giving you powers you should not have?”

“I merely promised him his freedom when we bring the darkness into the worlds,” Ciarda told her two half brothers. “In exchange he is aiding me.”

“What a dangerous little Darkling you are, sister,” Kolgrim said softly.

“We should kill her!” Kolbein snarled.

“It is against the laws of the Dark Lands for any in this family to kill another of his or her blood,” Kolgrim told his brother. “If you spent your time studying with Alfrigg as I have been doing you would know that, brother.”

“We should not be arguing,” Ciarda said in what she hoped passed for a reasonable tone of voice. “The power of three can bring us to our father, and he will help us, brothers. Please!”

“Our father can rot for all eternity,” Kolbein said. “I don’t want to see him.”

“I, on the other hand, am most curious to see him,” Kolgrim admitted.

“Kolbein, please.” Ciarda gave her voice a pleading sound.

“I will want something in return,” he told her.

“I will give you whatever you desire,” Ciarda said.

“I want to watch while my women sexually torture you,” Kolbein said. “Then when they are finished I want to whip you first, then fuck you the night long. If you will agree to that then I help you now so we may use the power of three,” Kolbein said to her. He grinned evilly at her, his gray eyes more black than gray now.

Kolgrim looked to his twin brother. “I had not realized how creative you are, brother,” he said admiringly. “’Tis a delightfully thought-out entertainment.”

Kolbein grinned back at his twin. Then he turned to Ciarda. “Well?” he said.

Ciarda said, “I agree.”

“Good!” Kolbein said. “I will call my women back now.”

“Brother, if you could restrain yourself,” Kolgrim said in a pleasant tone, “time is very important in this matter. Let us do what must be done, and then you may spend a delightful evening with our dear sister as she is taught her place in our world. And you will not be restrained by time if you wait until later.”

Kolbein looked as if he would refuse, but then he said, “You are probably right, brother. I want my women to have all the time they need with her, and then I want my time with our bitch sister to be leisurely and not hurried.” He took Ciarda’s hand. Kolgrim took her other hand.

“By the power of three I command we be taken to our father’s presense,” Ciarda said, and there was a crack of thunder as they were transported into Kol’s prison. The chamber was fetid, and the swarm of biting black flies was intolerable. Kol now crouched down in a corner in an effort to avoid the flies.

Ciarda waved her hand, unfreezing Kol’s vocal chords. “Who is there?” he demanded in a surprisingly strong voice.

“It is I, Father. Ciarda.”

“Who is with you?” he asked her. The long chains confining him rattled.

“I am alone,” Ciarda said.

“You lie!” Kol said. “I may be blind but my other senses are sharp. There are two others in this room with you, daughter.”

Kolgrim stepped forward, and, bending down, he took his father’s hand. “I am Kolgrim, my lord,” he said. “My brother, Kolbein, is with me.”

“You are my son?” Kol said incredulously. “My sons are here with me?”

“Aye, we are,” Kolgrim said. The crouching creature was pitiful. He could not believe that this was the great Twilight Lord of legend. He drew back when Kol stood up and looked directly at him. His eyes, which should have been black, were white.

“We have used the power of three to reach you, Father,” Ciarda said. “Without you I cannot control the Hierarch. If you do not continue to give me your powers everything I have done so far will be for naught,” Ciarda told him.

“My powers have deteriorated,” Kol said to her, “and if I could release them to another it would be to my sons. They are the ones who should have my powers.”

“But I have worked so hard to complete your dream, my lord father,” Ciarda said. She was, to her surprise, near to tears.

“You are female, Daughter, and now that I have my sons whatever I have is theirs,” Kol told her.

Ciarda was suddenly filled with a burning anger. “Your sons are a joke, my lord Father,” she shouted at him. “Kolbein is a drunkard and a lecher. All he wants to do is lie about the House of Women drinking Frine and fucking its residents. As for Kolgrim, he finds everything amusing and as far as I can see is useless. I am the only one of your offspring worthy of you, my lord Father!”

“She is certainly an ambitious little Darkling, Father,” Kolgrim said. “Mother is having quite a time with her.”

“You know your mother?” Kol was both surprised and amazed.

“The bitch hates us,” Kolbein said irritably.

“He says that because I am her favorite,” Kolgrim taunted his sibling.

“Lara favors you, Kolgrim? Then it is you who shall have my throne!” the Twilight Lord said.

“Never,” Kolbein shouted angrily! “It is mine! Mine!”

“I have spoken,” said the Twilight Lord. “I may be blind, chained and imprisoned, my sons, but I know that if Lara favors one of you then it is he who should be my heir. Ciarda, tell Alfrigg that I have said it.”

“Give me what remains of your powers, then, Father,” Ciarda said softly.

Kolgrim stepped next to his father again, whispering in the silent language he had recently discovered he could use. Say nay, Father. Ciarda means to leave me behind and lie to Alfrigg if you give her any powers.

You want the duplicitous wench? Kol asked.

I will mount her and mate her as soon as we return to the castle, Father. A son from her body will be evil incarnate. The Dark Lands will need a ruler like that in the future. In the meantime I will rebuild our strength, our forces for that day, Kolgrim said.

Have her killed by another after she has birthed your son, Kol advised. She is ambitious, and she seeks to rule over the worlds once she has brought them into the darkness.

I know, Kolgrim replied. I know Ciarda’s heart, Father, and I will keep her under control, I promise you.

My powers are weak to almost nonexistent, my son. But perhaps back in the Dark Lands they will strengthen, or at least help what is in you to grow strong. Kol took Kolgrim’s hand and pressed his hand against it. There, he said. What was mine is now yours, and you alone will reign as the Twilight Lord.

17

“NO, FATHER! NO!” CIARDA, who had been able to hear part of the conversation, cried.

Kol looked scornfully at her. “Daughter, do you not understand the way of our world? Females do not rule. What was left of my magic permitted me to reach out to someone who would listen. I knew not what had happened to my sons, but I knew you would still be in the House of Women, and I remembered of all my daughters you loved me best, and were the most dutiful. But you think to be what you cannot be, Ciarda. You have brought my sons to me, and I am grateful. It was careless of the Shadow Princes not to encase me within one of their spells. If they learn that you have used the power of three to reach me they will indeed make changes. I will not see you again, I fear. But I know now my kingdom is safe within Kolgrim’s hands, and for that I am grateful to you.”

“Not grateful enough,” Ciarda said bitterly. “Without my magic the Hierarch will fail. I will never be able to bring Hetar into the darkness. Already the Shadow Princes and the faerie woman plot to destroy me. Without my magic they may succeed.”

“You have the magic that you should have, Daughter,” Kol told her, and then he chuckled. It was a raspy sound. “So Lara still champions the light. Of course she would.” His gaunt, handsome face grew almost sad.

“We must go,” Kolbein said irritably. “Ciarda! Do what you must.”

“Ah, brother, Ciarda no longer has the power. I do,” Kolgrim said.

“The power of three! Does not Ciarda control it?” Kolbein asked.

Kolgrim laughed. Taking Ciarda’s hand, he said, “Thank you, Father. I will be certain to give Mother your most tender regards. Farewell, brother!” And both he and Ciarda disappeared from the dark cell, leaving his father and brother behind.

For a moment Kolbein did not quite comprehend what had happened, but when he did his face grew bright red with his fury as he realized he had been left behind. “Kolgrim!” he shouted. “Come back for me this instant!”

“He is not returning,” Kol said. “There can only be one Twilight Lord, my son, and your brother is he who was meant to be. And by leaving you behind he has not broken our laws for he has not shed your blood. You have no magic of your own, and what little might have been yours is now your brother’s. Because of the blood that flows through your veins you will live for centuries here with me. Be grateful you do not carry these long chains that I do.”

Kolbein roared his outrage, but the sound bounced off the damp stone walls of the cell to be heard by no one outside of his father and himself. He was trapped even as he had intended trapping Kolgrim. Ciarda would surely help him, wouldn’t she?

Ciarda, however, had other problems. Kolgrim had managed to transport them to a chamber in the House of Women. She recognized it immediately. When the Twilight Lord visited his women it was here he came. The walls were stone. The narrow arched windows looked out over the mountains and the gorge below. Furnished with a large bed set upon a dais, it was a room that had but one purpose.

Seeing where she was, Ciarda pulled away from Kolgrim and dashed for the door, but the key in the lock turned, and flew across the chamber into Kolgrim’s hand. He caught it, and pocketed it with a nasty smirk. He was already bootless. Then, striding over to the Darkling, he pulled her to him by her long black hair.

“Let me go,” Ciarda said in a suddenly shaking voice.

“You are so deliciously evil,” he purred at her, caressing her face with his knuckles. “I knew right away you would have to be the one to conceive and bear my son for me, Ciarda.” His fingers fastened into the round neck of her gown, ripping it away. His hand reached out to cup one of her high, pointed breasts and squeeze it. Bending his dark head, he bit down on her nipple, causing her to scream. Lifting his head up, he said in a hard voice, “Undress me, Ciarda. It is time we became better acquainted.”

“I will not…” she began angrily.

Kolgrim backhanded her ferociously. “Do you not understand, Ciarda?” he said in a cold but calm voice. “I am the Twilight Lord. You are a female. You do not question. You obey. I have chosen you to bear my heir. Your wickedness matches mine, and the son you will eventually give me will be great. Today I will seed you thoroughly, but until I wish it that seed will not bloom. But because you will mother my only son I will permit you to sit on a stool at my feet in the throne room so all who come to me may know I hold you in great favor. Now obey my command, Ciarda. My need to fuck you grows greater with each passing moment.”

Shocked by what was happening, Ciarda nonetheless hurried to follow his order. Her cheeks were stinging from the blow he had delivered to her. The nipple he had bitten ached. The few powers their father had given him seemed to have grown suddenly. Her fingers fumbled as she undid the laces at the neck of his shirt and slipped it off him. His skin was pale, but tawny gold hair covered his chest. Unable to help herself, Ciarda ran her palms over his muscled torso then bent to lick his nipples with a quick tongue. Kolgrim spoke only one word. “Kneel.”