Bertrice Small - The Twilight Lord

Gaius Prospero fled his wife and hurried to his own quarters. Once there he sent a servant for Jonah who quickly answered his master’s call. Stammering and stuttering, Gaius Prospero told his good right hand of his visit to Vilia and what had transpired between them. “She will beggar me!” the emperor complained, gasping for breath.

For a brief moment Jonah almost felt sympathy for Gaius Prospero. Vilia at her coldest was a formidable opponent. He put a comforting hand upon the emperor’s arm. “You will not like what I have to say, my lord, but the lady Vilia is indeed entitled to what sheasks. You are clever, my lord. Your enterprises will quickly make back the half of your wealth that you give her. And even with the loss of that wealth you are surely the richest man in Hetar. She has not dissembled with you but has been honest and open in her wishes. Accept her terms and within the month the deed will be done and the lady Vilia will be gone from The City. You need never again set eyes upon her if that is your wish. And then when summer ends you may wed the lovely lady Shifra with a happy heart and a clear conscience. This matter might have taken many months to negotiate but the lady Vilia is a reasonable and wise woman.”

“But what if my Shifra gives me a son, Jonah? I already have a son,” Gaius Prospero said. “Is not Aubin my rightful heir?”

“Indeed my lord, he is, but I am certain that if his mother reasons with him he will step aside. But if you ask that of the lady Vilia then you must accede to her demands in return,” Jonah advised. He would not have thought to push Gaius Prospero so hard and so fast but Vilia obviously knew her husband better than any. Vilia was going to be a magnificent empress, Jonah thought admiringly. She had incredible instincts.

The emperor’s eyes narrowed as he considered Jonah’s words. Then he said, “Do you really think she can convince Aubin to relinquish his place in the succession, Jonah?”

“I think she is the only person who can,” Jonah replied. “Half your wealth, my lord, will buy you the woman you love for your wife and your empress and a clear line of descent. Isn’t it worth it?” Following Vilia’s lead he pushed the emperor, but gently.

Gaius Prospero sighed deeply. Then he said, “Go to her, Jonah, and tell her if she will convince Aubin to give up his place as my heir, then I will agree to all of her demands. You are right! I would end this as quickly as possible. As the bitch pointedly reminded me I cannot have another wife die suddenly merely for my convenience. I think she knows about Anora, though how I cannot be certain. But I will not allow Vilia to spoil my happiness. Nor will I allow any harm or slander to touch my Shifra.”

“I shall go at once, my lord,” Jonah told him, and he hurried off. Reaching Vilia’s apartments he was ushered into her presence. She received him seated in a high-backed chair. “Lord Jonah,” she said formally. “What is it my husband wishes of me?” She waved a hand at her serving women. “Leave us. I will call if I need you.” Then she turned her attention to Jonah, waiting until the women had left the chamber. “Well?” she demanded. “Has he recovered from his shock?”

“Your proposal is painful for him, my darling, but if Aubin will agree to give up his place in the succession, then the emperor will agree to give you what you want. He wants it done quickly and you gone from The City as soon as possible.”

“I will send for my son at once,” Vilia said.

Aubin Prospero came with all haste and listened to what his mother had to tell him. He was a younger version of his father, of medium height and stocky. When his mother concluded her tale he said, “I will want to be named your principal heir in your will, Mother. My sisters have husbands to provide for them. And if I am to find a rich wife it must be known that I am your heir. The wealthy do not give their daughters to poor men. Give me ninety percent of what is left when you go to the Celestial Actuary and the girls may each have five percent.”

“Is that not just a trifle greedy, Aubin?” Vilia asked her son.

“Nay, ’tis not. It isn’t likely my father will leave me anything, Mother. I was at the auction where he bought his new Pleasure Woman. Shifra is incredibly beautiful and she will probably give the emperor children. I don’t care about being his heir and inheriting his throne one day,” Aubin Prospero said. “I would not want to be in his shoes. I am content with my activities with the Merchants’ Guild. I should not like to have the responsibilities of Hetar upon my shoulders.”

“I will give you eighty percent, Aubin, and your sisters will each gain ten percent. That is fairer, my son.”

The young man laughed. “Done!” he said, holding out his hand to his mother.

Vilia took her son’s hand, shook it and then kissed it. “Thank you,” she said. “You will, of course, have to sign some sort of legal document, won’t he, Lord Jonah?”

“Aye, my lady, we must observe the legalities of the matter to the nth degree,” Jonah answered. Then he turned to Aubin Prospero. “You are certain, young lord?”

“I am certain,” Aubin Prospero answered him.

“I shall go and tell the emperor, my lady,” Jonah said and departed the room.

“What will you do?” Aubin Prospero asked his mother.

“I am going to my villa in the Outlands province,” she told him. “I love it there and have since the moment I saw the property. My home is spacious and comfortable. You must come and see it, Aubin. If you like it I will give it to you one day.”

He smiled at her. “You are not unhappy, are you, Mother? I suspect you are glad to be getting your divorce from my father.”

“He is going to marry her and eventually declare her the empress,” Vilia said. “I can hardly remain under those circumstances, can I, Aubin?”

Aubin Prospero shook his head. “He is giving her what should have been yours,” he said slowly. “I do not like that he shames you in such a fashion.”

“I can only be shamed if I allow it,” Vilia said. “He will marry her by summer’s end, but he will not create her empress until the people are used to her. He would destroy his credibility with the people if he crowned her while the ink was still fresh on our divorce papers.” Vilia chuckled.

“You are an amazing woman, Mother,” Aubin Prospero said. “What a shame my father could never see that. If I cannot find a woman like you I shall never marry,” he told her with a smile and then he kissed her cheek.

Vilia laughed. “You will marry one day, Aubin,” she told him. Then she took his hand in hers. “When the news of our divorce becomes public and it soon will, you will be queried by friends and acquaintances alike. Do not fault your father in the matter. You are right when you say I am not unhappy. I am not. Actually, by freeing me your father has done me a great kindness, so let none speak ill of him.”

“I hope he has made a decent settlement upon you, Mother. You have served him well all these years,” Aubin said.

Vilia laughed. “If you want to know what I have taken from him, my son, then just ask it of me. When this is over and done with and the papers signed, your father will be poorer by half his wealth,” she told him, laughing again as his eyes grew wide with his surprise. “You will be a very rich man one day.”

When Aubin Prospero got past his shock he said, “Amazing! You have earned every cubit of it, Mother. Who negotiated the settlement for you with father?”

“I did,” Vilia responded. “Do you think I would pay some legal counsel when I was perfectly competent to do it myself?”

He laughed. “Amazing!” he repeated. Then he arose. “With your permission I will depart. I have an assignation at Lady Gillian’s tonight with an enchanting creature and I do not want to keep her waiting.” He caught his mother’s hand up and kissed it. “Goodbye, Mother. Do not leave The City before you have seen me again.”

“I shall not, Aubin,” Vilia said and watched as her son left her. He was a dear boy, she thought. Yet he could never imagine the plans that she and Jonah had and perhaps that was just as well. She would keep her bargain with her son, for any child she gave Jonah would inherit his father’s wealth.

HROLLEIF, CHIEF OF THE Wolfyn, looked about the table at his companions-Skrymir, chieftain of the Dark Land giants; Dain, chieftain of the Dark Land dwarfs; Alfrigg, the chancellor of the Dark Land; and the Twilight Lord himself. Why, Hrolleif wondered, had they all been called into the great Kol’s presence? Then Kol spoke.

“The time for conquest draws near,” he began. “I have the faerie woman in my power. She ripens with my heir. The Munin have been slowly restoring her memory. Soon I will return the memory of how to use all of her magic.”

“But will she wield it for you?” Hrolleif growled in a deep voice. The Wolfyn were creatures with the heads of wolves and the bodies of mortal men. They were fierce fighters and savage in their conquests, which had been few in recent decades.

“She has no memory of her past other than that which I choose to allow her,” Kol said. “She loves me. If she did not I could never have impregnated her with my son. She will do whatever I wish, for she trusts me. She believes I taught her the magic she now remembers. She believes I gave her the knowledge so she might help me.”

“I have heard it said that when you mate with other women you have them killed afterwards in order to please Lara,” Dain of the Dwarfs remarked.

“That seems a shameful waste of female flesh,” Skrymir muttered.

The Twilight Lord laughed. “I only killed a few to gain her trust,” he replied. “If she continues to believe that I kill more, it is all to the good, is it not, my lords?”

“Is it possible that your own black heart has been engaged by the faerie woman? It is said that her charms are irresistible,” Hrolleif growled. “Love is a deterrent to power, my lord, as you well know.”

Kol shot the Wolfyn chief an angry look. “If anything,” he replied, “Lara has strengthened my powers. Whether I love her or not matters little, for our magic combined is unstoppable. Do you question my vision now, Hrolleif?” The look Kol gave the Wolfyn caused Hrolleif’s pointed ears to twitch.

“Nay, my lord Kol!” he protested. “I am merely concerned for your well-being. Perhaps it is natural that you feel tenderly toward this faerie woman who has been chosen to bear your son. I recall a similar emotion when my mate dropped her first litter.”

“Aye,” Skrymir added soothingly in his rough voice. “We all have felt tenderly toward our mates when they are breeding. It is natural.”

Dain nodded in agreement.

“My lords, can we please get back to the matter at hand?” Alfrigg said sharply.

Kol hid his smile at the irritation in his chancellor’s voice. Alfrigg was not a sentimental man. “The timing will be crucial,” he said. “The planning, however, must begin now for the key to keeping our casualties low and the damage to the land at a minimum will be in that foresight.”

“We will want the forests of Hetar and the cattle pastures of the Fiacre for ourselves, my lord,” Hrolleif said.

“And we will want the mountains in Hetar and Terah for ourselves,” Dain remarked. “And the dwarfs there for our slaves.”

Kol held up an elegant hand. “My lords,” he said. “This can all be worked out. I shall leave you with Alfrigg to begin your work.” Then with a cold smile he left them.

Kol moved swiftly through the corridors of his castle. He was anxious to be with Lara, a fact that surprised him every time he realized it. In just a few more months she would deliver his son and heir. And then they might take pleasures together again. He had missed their couplings, but it was tradition that once the Chosen One was with child her lord did not use her body even casually. Strangely the lustful urges that generally overcame him were few of late and he rarely visited his House of Women where there lived a variety of beautiful females from his own world and others.

Reaching Lara’s quarters he swept into her dayroom. “Good morrow, my precious,” he greeted her with a small smile.

“My dearest lord!” Lara held out her arms to him in welcome. She was lounging upon a purple velvet couch with but one rolled arm. “What have you been doing today while I missed your company?” One graceful hand lay upon her swollen belly.

“Beginning the plan for our conquest of the other worlds,” he told her. “I have gathered Hrolleif of the Wolfyn, Skrymir of the Giants and Dain of the Dwarfs, all bound to me by oath. I left them with Alfrigg. What have you been doing?”

“I spent some hours looking into the reflecting bowl as you suggested. The fat emperor of Hetar seems to be a wife short from the last time I looked. He still does not know that his first wife is betraying him with his right hand.” She laughed. “And he has fallen in love, Kol! That obnoxious little man is in love!”