Magnus Hauk remained silent, listening carefully, absorbing her words.

“I was lost to you for a year, Magnus, although your memory of that time has been taken from you to protect me, to protect you, to protect us all. Taken from everyone in both Hetar and Terah. Taken even from myself, for a time. When I was returned to the New Outlands from whence I was stolen, it appeared to you, to everyone, that you had come to bring me and the children home as you always did. But the year before that the Munin lords came in the night and stole my memories from me and then when I awakened I was in the bed of Kol, the Twilight Lord.”

“How can this be?” Magnus Hauk wanted to know.

“In time I will do my best to explain it,” Lara said. “For now just let me tell the tale. Without my memories I knew not who I was. Kol told me I was his mate and wove a pretty story about how that had come about. The Twilight Lords are guided by something known as the Book of Rule. Kol was told by the Book of Rule that his mate-she who would give him a son-was a faerie woman. Twilight Lords only sire a single son a generation. He had looked into the reflecting bowl and seen me many times. He interpreted that to mean that I was the faerie woman meant to be his mate.”

“Did you give him his son?” the Dominus asked her in a tight voice.

“It was part of my destiny to do so,” Lara said, aching at the hurt and anger she saw in his turquoise eyes. “But before my time came, Kaliq came, and had the Munin restore all of my memories. I was horrified by where I was. More horrified at my growing belly. And most horrified by the fact that this bit of my destiny would hurt you should you ever learn. I never wanted you to know.”

Magnus Hauk looked at the prince and at his mother-in-law. “Tell me what purpose was served by whoring my wife to another?” he asked them coldly.

Ilona looked infuriated by his words, but wisely held her tongue.

Kaliq, however, spoke calmly to the Dominus. “At intervals of several hundred years,” he began, “the balance between the light and the dark begins to shift to the darkness. And when that happens something must be done to restore that balance. The last time this happened, Terah was almost rent asunder by the sorcerer Usi. Only the bravery of Geltruda saved your land and your people. And it was five hundred years before Lara came to you and removed the curse of Usi completely. This Twilight Lord is Usi’s direct descendant, Magnus. The Book of Rule was written by Usi. He could look into the future, which he did, and see what was necessary.”

“But why my wife? Are there not others like Lara who might have served this purpose?” the Dominus asked.

“There are indeed others, but none as pure of heart and as strong of will as Lara. None who could do what needed to be done,” Kaliq said.

“What needed to be done that only Lara might do?” Magnus demanded.

“When I came and restored her memories,” Kaliq responded, “and explained to her that only a single son was born each generation to the Twilight Lord and why, Lara cast a spell that separated the infant in her womb and created of it twin boys. When they were born, their births created chaos in the Dark Lands, which we hoped would prevent Kol’s plans to dominate our worlds. You see, no one at the birth could recall which of the twins was born first. They were identical, of course. Their father has now marked them so he may tell them apart, but with each birthday they celebrate those marks shall be faded entirely in order to keep the confusion. No prince of the Twilight may be harmed in any way by their own, and so Kol is forced to raise both of his sons.”

“But why was it necessary that Lara bear these children? And how could she conceive if she did not love him?” Magnus wanted to know. He was trying to understand for although he could barely look at his wife now a quick glance revealed her pain.

“That was one of the many reasons her memories were stolen from her. She did not know she was faerie or remember faerie ways,” Ilona quickly put in. “She became like any mortal female and Kol was fated to impregnate her.”

“And remember, Magnus,” Kaliq said, “that the Book of Rule directed this.” Fool! Kaliq thought. You do not deserve her, but she loves you, and so I will do whatever I have to do to make this right between you.

The Dominus turned to his wife, his face a mask of anguish. “Why do you tell me this now, Lara?” he asked her. “You have kept your secret since your return. Why now?”

She reached out to touch him, but he drew away and it was like a knife to her heart. Curse Kol of the Twilight! If only he had accepted that she was not his, nor would she ever return. But instead he was behaving like a spoiled child; if he could not have Lara then no other man would. “Kaliq felt the memories of my time in the Dark Lands would be too painful for me to bear. He arranged to have those memories taken by the Munin lords and stored away in their vault beneath the Obscura. But Kol’s memories were intact and he began to invade my dreams, attempting to reach me upon the Dream Plain. I did not know who was haunting me, or why, but I realized something was wrong. That is why I went to Kaliq. He explained he had taken certain memories from me that would pain me and make our life together difficult. But I insisted those memories be returned, for I could not fight whoever was trying to get to me upon the Dream Plain without full knowledge of what had happened to me in the first place.

“The knowing has been painful to me because I knew how hurtful it would be to you, Magnus. Know that the creature I am did not betray you. I love you and I always will love you, my dear lord. I never knew that this terrible trial that was visited upon me would be a part of my destiny. I could not have imagined such a thing. Kaliq has said that the worst of it is now over. I should have never shared this with you but that the Twilight Lord has refused to accept that I do not love him, nor want him, nor will I return to the Dark Lands by his side. He has begun a war with Hetar who would have begun a war with us. And now we must go to Hetar’s aid, Magnus.”

“But why,” he demanded again, “did you choose this time to share your misadventure with me, Lara?”

“Kol threatened to seek you out upon the Dream Plain and tell you of that lost year,” Lara explained. “I thought it better you learned of it from me than from that evil creature. My destiny has not been an easy one, Magnus, and it is not yet totally fulfilled. Ask me what you will about that year. Satisfy your curiosity.”

“You do not ask my forgiveness,” he said softly and he heard Ilona gasp, shocked.

“Do I need your forgiveness, my lord?” Lara answered him in equally soft tones. “I did not know what was planned to happen to me. I should have never gone willingly into the Dark Lands to be the Twilight Lord’s mate. I did not even have the memories of that terrible year until Kol began to haunt me and I needed to have them back so I might do battle with him. Why do I need your forgiveness?”

“Could you not have protected her better?” Magnus Hauk demanded angrily of the prince. “You love her, too. I know that, and yet you let that damned evil reach out to Lara. Why did you not take better care of her? Now we must both contend with the memories of that year and I don’t know if it can ever be the same between us.”

“Ohh, arrogant mortal!” Ilona exploded with her anger. “How dare you whine over your wounded pride when my daughter has done our worlds such a great and terrible service? Though Kaliq penned the Twilight Lord in his castle for a hundred years and took away his reflecting bowls, Kol is yet managing to give orders to his minions from his castle. Regretfully we cannot put evil to sleep for that century. The balance would be destroyed entirely, but you do not understand that, do you?” Her green eyes were icy with her disdain. “If my daughter did not love you so deeply I should turn you to stone, Magnus Hauk! Beware if you should make my daughter unhappy!” And then in a clap of thunder and a flash of light, Ilona, queen of the Forest Faeries, was gone in a burst of deep purple smoke which indicated her anger at her son-in-law.

“Magnus,” Kaliq said gently, “none of what has happened is Lara’s fault nor is it of her making. Your pride is hurt as any man’s would be, but you cannot hold this against her, my friend. She loves you.”

“Your sons,” the Dominus said to his wife. “How were you able to leave them so easily? You make a habit of leaving your children, I note.”

If he had struck her he could not have hurt her more. “I was only the means by which Kol’s sons were birthed,” Lara told him, her voice shaking. “They were not mine.” Her eyes were filled with tears. “And I did not want them.”

Magnus Hauk closed his eyes briefly. Her honesty touched him. Kaliq was correct. His pride had been hurt but it was not Lara’s fault. Opening his eyes he reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Forgive me, Lara! I am a fool, but I love you so greatly that the thought of any other man possessing you is like a knife to my heart.”

Feeling his strong arms about her Lara began to cry, her tears wetting his tunic front. “I am pained to have hurt you so, my husband,” she sobbed. “Even though I didn’t know what was to happen or what I was destined to do. You are my life, Magnus! And now I carry a new life, our son, within my womb. I do not want you angry at me and I do not wish to be angry at you.” She clung to him and his arms tightened about her.

Knowing that they would now settle their differences Prince Kaliq stepped quietly into the shadows and disappeared. They never realized that he was gone, so wrapped up in each other were the Dominus and Domina of Terah. Lara caressed her husband’s strong face with gentle fingers, her eyes devouring him. Magnus Hauk stroked her golden hair tenderly, whispering small endearments into her ears as he did so. It was a hard truth for them to swallow, but they both realized that their love for one another was greater than the hurt each had suffered when Kol of the Twilight had involved himself in their lives. Their love would always be stronger than anything meant to harm them.

And having faced the hard truth of the lost year, Lara and Magnus decided together to tell no one else. They had Hetar to consider. Lara insisted on using her magic to go to Lady Gillian and learn what was really happening. The Dominus was concerned but his wife assured him that she would be safe. She was surprised that Gillian had not called to her for she had given her that privilege.

She found the retired headmistress of the Pleasure Guilds in her privy chamber. Gillian looked up surprised as Lara appeared in a burst of mauve smoke. “Tell me what is happening,” Lara said by way of greeting. “If Terah is to help Hetar at this time I must have accurate information. Have the Wolfyn invaded The City yet or are they still rampaging about the Midlands?”

“Did you work your magic to destroy our fleet?” Gillian responded.

“No,” Lara said. “And I did not know it would be done. My mother was simply to create a thick fog bank in which your ships would sail about until they ran out of water and supplies. They would then have been forced to return home. But then she created a great storm. I think she did it more to frighten your people,” Lara lied to defend her mother for as appalled as she was by what Ilona had done, she still loved her. There was no need for Gillian or anyone else in Hetar to know the truth of the queen of the Forest Faeries’ cruelty. “I am sorry, Gillian, but sadly in war lives are lost no matter our good intentions. This is why we must prevent war if it is at all possible.”

Lady Gillian sighed. “The Wolfyn have not yet attempted to breach The City’s walls and gates,” she said. “The Celestial Actuary help the Midland folk, for no one else can. Most of our army is caught in the Coastal Province. The Crusader Knights remaining in The City are older men who have seen better days.”

“And the emperor?” Lara asked.

“Holed up in the Golden District, reinforcing its defenses, of course. He is frantic, especially now that word of the fleet’s demise has reached The City,” Gillian replied. “I thought the Wolfyn were mythological creatures, Lara.”

“Nay, they are all too real,” Lara answered. “They made their home in the Dark Lands, which is ruled over by the Twilight Lord. His name is Kol and he means to begin a war that will eventually yield him both Hetar and Terah. He himself is penned by magic in his castle right now but he is capable of giving orders from there. He believes that Hetar is weak and easily taken, while Terah is stronger.”

“Alas, Hetar is weak,” Gillian said. “The Mercenaries and the Crusader Knights have become useless and exist only because of tradition.”