They fell together onto the bed. Their lips met in a fierce and passionate embrace, one kiss blending into another and another and another until they were both dizzy with desire. He lay upon his back as she explored him with her lips and tongue. She nibbled on his nipples, pushed her tongue suggestively into his navel, licked the length of his torso with her hot little tongue. Her hand closed about his love rod, which needed little encouragement for his lust was high. Lara bent and kissed its tip. Then she mounted him, her shapely thighs pinning him, absorbing his length slowly, slowly, until she had completely sheathed him. Then, leaning forward, she offered him a breast.

Kaliq's mouth closed over her nipple with a snap. He sucked hard on it as Lara began a gentle movement upon his rod. His tongue licked around the nipple over and over again. The movement increased the tiniest bit. He sucked her again, then, unable to help himself, bit down upon the tender flesh. Her sheath squeezed him tightly, and he groaned and their eyes met. His fingers caressed her breast, then, taking it in his hand, he squeezed it and all the while his mouth never left her nipple. Taking his other hand, he pushed two fingers into her mouth, and with tongue and lips she played with them.

Kaliq's lust was near to boiling over. Enough, my love, he told her.

"No!" she said aloud and nipped at the fingers between her lips.

In answer to her, he quickly rolled her onto her back, pulling his fingers from her mouth as he did so. "Now, my faerie woman, I have you at my mercy," he told her, laughing as her legs clamped about his torso. "The time for teasing is over, and the time for pleasures begins." Lara's arms slipped about him, and, pulling his head to her, she kissed him again as he began to move upon her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated upon the size and length of him as he plumbed her depths until she was dizzy again with the delight he was engendering in her whole body. She clutched his rod tightly within her sheath, sighing as he groaned. Her fingers dug into his muscled shoulders, and clawed down his long back. The pleasures he offered her were so intense that Lara found herself close to losing consciousness. Then the inner storm began as her sheath began to spasm and Lara cried out as the pleasures overwhelmed them both. She slid into a heated darkness that enfolded her, wrapping her in warmth and contentment as he cried her name aloud.

Afterward as they lay sated with each other Kaliq said, "I want you to make Shunnar your home, my love."

"I cannot," Lara answered him. "Not until Taj is grown and ruling on his own. You know that I cannot leave him now, Kaliq."

"I know," he admitted with a sigh. "But when you can, Shunnar should be your home, not Terah.

"We have much to do before that can happen, my lord. This business with Hetar needs to be finished. And Anoush must be awakened, Marzina taught self-discipline lest she become a danger to herself and others and my son grown and wise enough to govern without me. There will be time for us eventually, my dearest Kaliq, but neither you nor I are apt to neglect our duty, are we?"

"Nay, we are not," he admitted. "Will you come to me when you can, my love?"

"Aye, I will. You are the only creature, mortal or magic, to truly understand me," Lara said softly. "But you must remember always that I am faerie, for I would not hurt you deliberately, Kaliq."

"I know that," he told her, pulling her back into his embrace, and Lara sighed happily with the knowledge that whatever happened Kaliq would always be there for her.

IN THE DAYS AND WEEKS THAT followed Hetar began to heal. By the time the Icy Season returned all in the kingdom had warm, dry shelters. The Hetarians were proud of what they had accomplished in those few months. Even the magnates and the Merchants Guild had stopped complaining about the monies they were spending, for they saw a future of fresh profits for themselves as the people became prosperous once again. It was time for the Hierarch to leave Hetar.

He did so at Winterfest in a dramatic fashion that would be remembered for years to come. The square was overflowing, for the Hierarch had announced several days prior that he would leave them on the last night of Winterfest. The crowds jostled with one another for a glimpse of the Hierarch. People hung from the windows of the buildings about the main square. They stood or clung to the rooftops. Children were held up for the Hierarch's blessing as he made his way into the crowds that parted for him, and stood upon the painted platform that had been raised up for this occasion.

"I will not come again, my people," he told the Hetarians who stood listening to his words with upturned faces. "Follow my teachings. Be kind to one another. Profit is a good thing when not carried to extremes. I have shown you how to restore your traditions so that they fit the times in which you now live. You have already demonstrated much progress in the rebuilding of your kingdom. I came but to guide you, but it is you who must, who can and who will restore this land by your own good efforts. Hetar is capable of great things, my children. I give you all my blessing," the Hierarch said as he lifted his hands to encompass the crowds below, above and around him. Then to the gasps and cries of his audience he began to rise up. "Farewell!" he called out to them as he appeared to float away.

And those there in and about the main square watched, astonished, until the Hierarch had disappeared completely from their sight. A feeling of euphoria filled the air with his passing. All night long the people of Hetar celebrated the Icy Season, the Hierarch and each other. Frine flowed freely. There were stalls selling little hot meat pies and skewers with roasted vegetables. The Pleasure Houses were busier than they had been in months. Everyone agreed that Hetar's difficult days were behind them. They were well on the road to recovery, and the High Council would see they remained there.

As for Cam of the Fiacre, no one was more relieved than he to be returned home to his village of Rivalen. His last few months in Hetar had been very frightening, for he had never quite believed that his aunt would really aid him. Each day he had been required to perform as the Hierarch the Shadow Prince Kaliq stood invisible at his side, putting the proper words in his mouth, creating the miracles he was required to perform. Still, until he actually found himself back in his own environs he had never believed he wouldn't be betrayed. He appeared in Sholeh's hall with Lara even as the morning was beginning.

"Go and find your bed, Cam," Lara advised him. "I will return this evening, and we will speak with Sholeh together." She gave him a quick smile and was gone before he might question her further about Anoush.

Returning to Shunnar, Lara sought out Kaliq. "I need a favor of you, my lord," she greeted him.

"What would you have of me, my love?" he asked her.

"I do not wish to lie to Cam when he accuses me of turning Anoush's heart from him," Lara said. "When I awaken her I need your aid in this matter."

"Before I agree," Kaliq said, "I must look into Cam's heart to see if he truly loves her. We cannot in good conscience separate true love, for if we do neither lover will ever find real happiness, Lara. You know this to be so."

She sighed, nodding. "My instinct tells me he is the wrong man for her, but even my natural talents may be flawed by his parents' crime. Look into his heart, Kaliq, and I will abide by your decision in this matter," Lara said.

The Shadow Prince took his crystal globe from the place where it sat in the garden absorbing the sunlight by day, and the moonlight by night. Holding it in his left palm, he passed his right hand over it. Show me if your heart is true. Or loving you the maid will rue. Finally, after gazing for a brief time, Kaliq indicated to Lara that she should look into the globe herself.

She peered into the crystal and then said, "His heart is black as pitch." Then she sighed. "In a strange way I am sorry," Lara said.

"I will contact the Munin, and have all recent memories of Cam removed from Anoush's memory," Kaliq said. "Your instincts are sound, my love. When it is done we will awaken Anoush together."

"Aye, and in time perhaps my daughter will find a man who loves her with a true heart whom she will also love," Lara replied.

Kaliq called his friend the Munin Lord Satordi to him. He explained the situation, and together the two stood by Anoush's bedside while Satordi gently extracted the girl's recent memories of Cam from her head. Those memories were also excised from the Clan families. The Munin were the magical folk who had dominion over the memories of all beings. When memories were lost it was the Munin who found them and stored them away. They were also adept at taking memories if needs be.

"Store them carefully in a hidden place known only to you," Kaliq said.

"It will be done, my lord Prince," Satordi replied, and he was gone.

Kaliq then went to find Lara. They transported the girl by means of their magic back to her own home in New Camdene. Anoush would never know of her kidnapping and rescue while she slept. Gently they awakened her, undoing the spell that had put her to sleep those few months ago.

Anoush opened her blue eyes, yawned, stretched and then sat up. "Mother! My lord! Why are you here? How long have I slept?"

"For several months, my darling," Lara said. "You fell ill of a fever, and magical sleep was the only remedy for it."

"Mother, I had the oddest dream while I slept," Anoush said. "A handsome young man came and stood by my bedside. He stroked my hand, and said no harm would come to me for we were kin, and he could allow no harm to touch his kin. Isn't that strange?"

"And what did this young man look like?" Kaliq said in an amused voice so as not to alarm the girl, for he had heard Lara's soft gasp.

"He was tall, and fair with golden hair just like yours, Mother, but his eyes were a dark gray," Anoush replied.

"So, Mistress Anoush, you dream of handsome golden-haired men when you sleep," Kaliq teased her, chuckling.

Anoush giggled, sounding very girlish. "Maybe I will meet him one day, my lord," she said. "Do you think I will?"

"Ah, my child, I suspect it was nothing more than a dream," Kaliq told her, patting her shoulder. "As you were forced to sleep for so long I am glad you had such pleasant dreams to keep you content."

"Mother, would you ask Gadara to set up my bath? And would you and Kaliq remain to eat with me?" Anoush asked. "I want to know everything that happened while I slept. Have you spoken with Zagiri? Has she come home yet? And how is Marzina? And my brothers?" She stood up on wobbly legs, but remained upright.

"Of course, darling," Lara said. Then she and Kaliq left Anoush. Finding Gadara, she told the servant that Anoush was awake, and would want a bath. "And we will remain for the morning meal." When Gadara had hurried off Lara turned to Kaliq. "How did he dare to reach out to her?"

"Be glad," Kaliq responded. "Kolgrim has sent you a message through Anoush. He has told you that he will never harm the other children that you bore, my love. This is a good thing, Lara. Though you will not acknowledge him, he acknowledges his siblings as his blood kin through you. It is sad, for what he really wants is his mother."

"I know! I know! Do you not think it has pained me beyond all to have to deny him? Dark though he may be, I see a glimmer of light in him. I want to reach out to him, but I know I cannot. Must not," Lara said, her voice trembling. "For a time I could forget the twins I bore Kol. And then the Darkling unknowingly raised the specter of that past I have struggled to forget. Kolgrim and Kolbein are my sons. But I will never say it aloud again, Kaliq. I must live with those memories that I would sooner forget. But when you tried to spare me those remembrances I knew something was missing, and demanded them back from the Munin."

"My poor love," Kaliq said, taking her into his arms to soothe her.

"It is all a part of this damned destiny I have been ordained to live out," Lara told him, half laughing. "This spirit whose powers are greater than all of us put together certainly seems to have a great sense of humor." She moved from his arms. "I am all right now, my good lord. And I find I am hungry. I hope Anoush hurries with her bath."

When Anoush finally entered the hall they sat together at the High Board, and devoured a fine breakfast of oat stir-about with dried apple, sweet spices and heavy cream; rashers of bacon; hard-boiled eggs; fresh baked bread; butter and a jam made from last summer's apricots. They drank apple cider. As they were finishing their meal Cam burst into Anoush's little hall. Lara grew pale.

"Anoush! You are awake at last!" he cried out to her, and he strode forward to stand before her High Board.

"Cousin, you were not expected," Anoush said, "but I welcome you to my hall. May I offer you some cider? Have you eaten?" She rose from her place, and stepped down from the High Board to greet him politely.

"Anoush, I have come to ask you to be my bride!" Cam said.

Anoush looked astounded. Finally she said, "Why would you think I would marry you, Cam? We have not known each other since we were children."

Now it was Cam who wore a surprised look upon his handsome face. "But last summer you fell in love with me," he said.

Anoush laughed. "Nay, Cam, I have never been in love, and I could certainly never fall in love with the man whose parents were responsible for my father's death," she said. "Are you mad, then, to think such a thing?"

Cam turned briefly from Anoush. His blue eyes fastened upon Lara. "You have made her forget me!" he shouted.

"Nay, nephew, I did not," Lara replied. She rose now from her place at the High Board, and came to stand by her daughter's side. "For your aid in pushing back the darkness I promised you land and cattle."

"You promised me Anoush, too!" he cried angrily.

"I said you could ask my daughter to wed with you, and if it pleased her I would agree," Lara responded.

"You have tricked me!" Cam said furiously. "Well, Aunt, if I cannot have Anoush no other man shall have her!" And he drew his dagger from its place on his waist, leaping forward, his arm raised for the attack.

Lara quickly pushed Anoush behind her even as she drew Andraste from the scabbard on her back, taking a defensive position, her sword before her. "Leave this hall, Cam!" she ordered him. "Leave it, and all will be well." She jumped back as he leaped forward, his dagger lashing out at her, tearing her shirtsleeve, scratching her arm.

Andraste began to sing in her deep voice. I am Andraste, and I will drink your blood, oh son of Adon the slayer!

Cam was not deterred. "Kill me if you can, faerie woman," he shouted. "If I do not kill you first!"

Lara felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her as a stinging pain began to burn her arm where he had cut it. The knife was tainted, she realized. "He has poisoned me, Kaliq!" And then with a burst of faerie strength she raised her sword, and with a single swift stroke sliced Cam in two from his head to his groin. The twin halves fell apart even as Lara crumbled to the floor.

The Shadow Prince jumped forward, gathering the unconscious Lara into his arms. He disappeared before Anoush's wide, terrified eyes, reappearing in Shunnar shouting for his fellow princes to come at once. "Poison!" he cried to them.

At once the one called Nasim stepped forward. He lifted Lara's arms, sniffed and then quickly tied the arm at either end of the wound with silk cords he drew from the air. Then he began to press firmly upon the wound. Dark matter spewed forth, followed by a bilious green, and finally a clear fluid that preceeded her pale lavender-red faerie blood. Nasim sighed with relief, as did the other Shadow Princes surrounding them. Then he dressed the wound. "She will live, Kaliq, but she will be weak for some days to come. It was the right arm, praise the Creator! Had it been the left the poison would have reached her heart before I could stop it."

"What happened?" Prince Eskil asked anxiously.

Kaliq told them. "She and Andraste killed her attacker," Kaliq said.

"I trained her well," Prince Lothair, who had once been Lara's sword master said proudly.

"Take Lara to her chamber," Kaliq said to no one in particular. "I must return and reassure Anoush her mother is all right. And there is the matter of a body to dispose of, as well, I fear." He immediately disappeared, reappearing in Anoush's little hall.

The girl still stood in shocked silence. She turned, wide-eyed, to the prince.

"Your mother will live," Kaliq said.

Anoush relaxed visibly. Then she said, "What on earth ever made Cam think I would marry him, my lord? As a child we were friends briefly, but it was nothing more than that for me."

"Your mother promised him land, cattle and a house in return for his aid. He gave it to us, and performed well," Prince Kaliq said. "And he did indeed ask her in my presence if he might have you to wife. Your mother told him such a decision was yours alone to make, but if he asked, and you agreed, she would not stand in the way. I realize now he didn't fully understand what she meant."

Anoush nodded. Then she said, looking down, "I wonder if we shall ever be able to get the blood out of the stone, my lord." Her head came up again. "Give my mother my love, my lord. I will come to see her soon."

"She is in Shunnar," he said, and then disappeared from her sight.

He had transported himself directly to Lara's chamber in his palace. Drawing up a chair, he sat by her bedside for the next few hours. She was paler than usual, but her breathing was even and steady, to his relief. And then to his great joy her dark eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her green eyes to meet his ardent gaze. Kaliq caught her small hand in his two big ones, and, bringing it to his lips, kissed it fervently. "Nasim says you will be all right. He got the poison out in time," he told her. "It will take you several weeks to recover, however, and you are going to remain here in Shunnar. I will send word to Terah so the young Dominus will not worry. You can trust Corrado to guide him in your absense, my love." He kissed her hand again.

"Where is Andraste?" Lara said weakly.

"She didn't leave your hand until I got you here," he said. "She is with Lothair for the interim. She needs honing, for slicing Cam through dulled her. Lara, you cannot leave Shunnar right now. You are weak. You need to be taken care of until you are strong again. You cannot go!" Kaliq told her.

Lara's eyes grew misty. He was crushing her hand, but she would say nothing, for the concern on his handsome face, the desperate love in his eyes told her all she would ever need to know about him. He did indeed love her. She would never doubt it again. "Oh, my dear lord," Lara said. "You will not so easily get rid of me this time, Kaliq. Not this time!"

Not ever! the Shadow Prince told her in their silent magic language. But then he spoke the words aloud as if to reiterate them. "Not ever, Lara, my love. Not ever!"

ISBN: 978-1-4268-3094-5.

Also by BERTRICE SMALL.

The World of Hetar.

The Sorceress of Belmair The Twilight Lord.

A Distant Tomorrow Lara The O'Malley Saga.

Skye O'Malley All the Sweet Tomorrows.

A Love for All Time.

This Heart of Mine Lost Love Found Wild Jasmine Skye's Legacy.

Darling Jasmine Bedazzled Besieged Intrigued Just Beyond Tomorrow.

Vixens The Friarsgate Inheritance Rosamund Until You Philippa The Last Heiress.

The Border Chronicles The Captive Heart A Dangerous Love.

and also Dangerous Pleasures Sudden Pleasures Forbidden Pleasures.

Private Pleasures The Dragon Lord's Daughters The Duchess A Memory of Love.

The Innocent Deceived Betrayed.

Hellion The Love Slave Love, Remember Me To Love Again.

A Moment in Time The Spitfire Blaze Wyndham Enchantress Mine Beloved Unconquered.

Adora Love Wild and Fair The Kadin.