I will never leave you, my child. Because you have completed part of the destiny set forth for you by the magical realm does not mean you do not also have a mortal destiny. I was given to you by your mother to be there always to guard, to guide and to protect you. I will not fail in my duty, Lara. I am with you always.

And I am glad for it, Ethne!Lara told her spirit guardian. Now she turned back to Kaliq. "When?" she asked him.

"Now, if you desire," he answered her. "It is almost dawn in the New Outlands, my love, and time for you to awaken from your slumbers." Leaning forward he kissed her lips gently and Lara immediately fell into a somnolent state. He caught her as she fell toward him over the game board, and standing up, carried her into her bedchamber. Placing her gently upon her bed Kaliq called to the Munin lord."Lord of the Munin, hear my plea. Cease all else, and come to me."

The Munin lord appeared in his filmy robes. "I am here, my lord prince."

"You and your brothers have completed the tasks I set for you?" Kaliq asked.

"It is done, my lord. None in Hetar or Terah will recall this last year as anything special nor will they remember this lady's absence. Is it time for me to remove those memories we discussed from her? You have the container you wish to store them in, I presume," the Munin lord said in his whispery tones.

"I do," the Shadow Prince replied. "And when those memories have been taken from her and sealed away, you will take it with you and store it in your vaults beneath the Sea of Obscura where none will have access to it but you and I."

"You trust us to hold those memories, my lord?" the Munin said, surprised.

"I do," Kaliq responded, "for you know that my powers are greater than any, now. You will not betray me."

"Nay, I will not," the Munin lord said quietly. "My kind are best at keeping memories stored away. We know how to properly care for them."

Kaliq languidly swirled his elegant hand and a small round jar fashioned from silver and gold appeared in it. It had a crystal stopper. "The memories are dark," he said to the Munin lord, "but they will need a little light to survive and they should survive in their captivity. I carved your storage facility from a sea cave and gave it a glass roof. The water reflecting the diffuse light will suffice these memories. Too much light would harm them." He unstopped the jar and handed it to the Munin lord.

The wraith took the lovely round jar in his palm and then with his other hand thrust carefully into Lara's head, drawing the memories of her time in the Dark Lands from it. The thin strands were like silver threads but they glittered darkly with tarnish in the light of the chamber, twisting and squirming with an apparent life of their own. The Munin lord slowly pulled them one by one from Lara's golden head and lowered them with great care into the gold-and-silver jar. The last thread glittered brightly, for it contained Lara's memories of her recent days with the prince. Kaliq reached out and took that one strand from the Munin, who, when he had completed the task, put the stopper firmly into the mouth of the jar. A faint murmur of protest came from the jar as he did so and then all was silence.

Something passing for a faint smile touched the Munin lord's lips. "You have kept that one memory for your own, my lord. Be careful, for the strands are very fragile."

"It did not belong with the others," Kaliq said as he slid it into the pocket of his white robe where it glowed through the fabric. "I have a small crystal container to house it and will keep it in the sunlight."

"My task for you is completed, my lord prince," the Munin lord said. "May I return now to that fine castle you built for us? It is even better than Kol's and warm, too."

"You may go, with my thanks, Satordi," Kaliq said softly.

"You know my name!" the Munin lord cried, distressed.

"And knowing it I hold you in my power always," the prince answered him. "Farewell, Satordi of the Munin."

The Munin lord was gone even before the sound of Kaliq's words had died.

The Shadow Prince laughed softly. Knowing the Munin lord's name guaranteed his fidelity. In the magic world names were sacred. But then Kaliq turned to look down at Lara.Just for a moment more, he told himself with a sigh. She was his one weakness, though he kept it from everyone, even his brothers. Lothair, in particular, would be very annoyed that he had not been told of her visit. Had he known, however, Lothair would have wanted to share pleasures with Lara. He had always admired her passion. Kaliq now bent and kissed Lara's lips lightly a final time. "Farewell, my heart," he murmured and then he whispered the spell necessary to transport the sleeping woman back to her own bed in Liam's hall in the New Outlands."Send her back through time and space. Returned now to her rightful place." And Lara vanished before the Shadow Prince's bright blue eyes. With a sigh Kaliq turned and left the bedchamber. As he walked down the wide corridor he stopped to look over the balustrade down into the valley where the horses were settling themselves for the night. The copper desert moon was almost full and it shimmered in the skies above him. He sighed again. She would be awakening shortly, he knew. And Magnus Hauk would be coming soon to take his wife home again to his castle high above the Dominus's fjord. Sometimes being immortal was painful.

He sought his reflecting mirror, and saw it would be a beautiful day in the New Outlands.

THE HARVESTS had been good and were already gathered for the winter to come. The rising sun was warm, the air clear and crisp. Lara's eyes opened slowly. Rolling onto her back she yawned and stretched. It was not quite dawn and she had time to reach the hillock near the village to watch the sunrise. She arose, pulling a loose medium blue gown over her chemise. Not bothering with sandals Lara exited the chamber where she slept with her three children. The servants were drowsily preparing for the day in the hall, sweeping and setting the board for the morning meal.

Lara gave them a friendly wave and hurried outside, drawing a deep breath of fresh morning air. Above her the sky was a clear blue and the horizon was beginning to hint of sunrise. Gaining the top of the hillock, Lara sighed with pleasure. Then looking up she smiled and silently greeted the Great Creator of them all. Her eyes turned now to the impending sunrise, the edges of the sky beginning to color faintly. Above her, one large morning star blazed brightly. It would soon fade into insignificance with the sun's rays. A hand suddenly slipped into hers and looking down she saw her son. Lara smiled.

"I heard you get up," he said. "I love sharing the sunrise with you, Mother. I love it here and I love it at the Dominus's castle."

"Aye," she agreed. "I love going with you to the Morning Garden that faces the sunrise. Even on those bitter Icy Season mornings, my son."

"I do, too," the boy told her. "The Dominus has been so very welcoming to Anoush and to me. We are not of his blood. Nor are we even Terahn. Yet he loves us."

"Of course he does. You and Anoush are my blood," Lara told her son. "And you both share my blood with the daughter I bore Magnus. Magnus Hauk is a strong and respected leader, Dillon. He loves you and Anoush not just because you are my children but because his heart is a great one. Ahh, look! Here is the sun."

They stared at the golden-red orb as it pushed its way above the horizon into the palette of colors flooding the blue sky. All around them the sun's entrance into the New Outlands was greeted by a profound silence. It seemed as if every living thing was perfectly still for that brief moment. Mother and son stood silently in quiet admiration.

"I love this time of day," Lara said softly. "I love the warmth and light of the sun. I should die if I were forced to live in a world without the sun."

"Is there such a world?" Dillon asked.

"I don't know," his mother answered, "but if there is I hope never to go there."

They walked back together to the hall. With the sun now risen the chatter of birdsong filled the air. By the looks of the baggage carts before each house it would appear that the citizens of Camdene were just about ready to depart for the Gathering. She thought the date was on the morrow. She must transport Magnus today so he might join the trek with the Fiacre. Perhaps next year they would travel with the Felan clan. Lara didn't want to give the impression that she favored the Fiacre. As mentor to the clan families she needed to remain impartial. Entering the hall, she was greeted by Noss.

"Sholeh has just sent a faerie post," Noss said. "She wants to know if they should allow Cam to come to the Gathering or leave him behind with those too infirm to travel?"

"As much as I don't want to see him or have him see Anoush," Lara replied, "it is best they bring him with them. At least they have a better chance of knowing where he is, and what he is doing. Sholeh must never leave him on his own. Do you want to bring him back with the Fiacre when the Gathering is over? Or leave him with her for a few more weeks?" She sat down at the high board with Noss, saying to Dillon as she did, "Go and wake your sisters. It is far too beautiful a day to be lying in bed and soon enough the Icy Season will be on us."

Dillon ran off.

"Nay," Noss said to her, "we might as well bring him back with us, as you originally planned when you sent him to Sholeh. It is almost time for learning again and with Pakwa tending to Bera and Anoush gone, he is well isolated, though it saddens me."

"Watch him carefully. He will always seek to make allies among the other children. One or two is all he really needs, Noss, to cause trouble. Cam must be carefully observed at all times and his friends, as well. No child is to be told not to associate with him for then that is the one thing they will desire above all. The children will soon learn that Cam is not be trusted. They will eventually shun him without being told," Lara said quietly.

"He is just a boy," Noss remarked sympathetically.

"He is the son of Adon and Elin," Lara replied. And then she reached for the freshly baked bread that had just been put upon the table and tore off a piece to butter.

"When is Magnus coming?" Noss wanted to know. "We leave tomorrow."

"I'll transport him later today," Lara answered. "I've missed him and I do not think I can stay away from him so long again. I've been here with you for over a month."

Noss grinned. "You just miss taking pleasures with your husband," she teased. "I do believe you are considering giving him a son, aren't you? After all, Zagiri is now four years old. And Dillon will soon be gone to Prince Kaliq to be trained in your magic ways. Terah does need an heir to follow Magnus."

"Aye," Lara agreed with her best friend. "I think it is now time to give the Dominus a son. It is probably past time," she smiled, "and I have always been a woman for doing her duty. Yes, today is a good day to bring Magnus to me." Her eyes twinkled.

Noss laughed aloud.

Dillon returned to the hall with his sisters trailing in his wake. Lara directed her children to the lower end of the high board to eat their morning meal. She was tired and realized that her night had been a restless one although she could not recall dreaming at all. She missed Magnus. She would send the children out to play with their cousins and friends, and then take a little nap. And when she awoke, Lara decided, she would bring Magnus to her. She smiled. It seemed a good plan.

Dillon, Anoush and Zagiri all ran out into the sunshine. Like the rest of the village children they would not be seen for the remainder of the day, for these last days of summer were precious. Having asked Noss if there were anything she might do and receiving an answer in the negative, Lara returned to her chamber and lay down to sleep. When she awoke the long shadows of afternoon were streaming into the room. She was quickly alert and rising, washed her hands and face in the little basin on the table. She took up her hairbrush and unbraided her long hair, brushed it, then replaited it neatly. It was time. Standing in the middle of the chamber she chanted."Come to me, my love, my life. Come and now be with your wife."

Magnus Hauk appeared in a puff of white smoke. He shook himself impatiently. "You might at least warn me when you are going to do things like that, Lara," he said.

"Have you not missed me these past few weeks?" she pouted at him.

The Dominus of Terah grinned. "I have missed you very much, my darling," he told her. Then he took her into his arms and their lips met in a burning kiss. When they broke off the embrace he said to her, "Bar the chamber door, Lara, and I will show you just how much I have missed you." His turquoise-blue eyes met her green ones.

Lara did as she had been bid. Then she returned to the warmth of her husband's arms. "Show me now," she whispered to him, her hand caressing his strong face with a delicate graze of her knuckles. A single finger traced a path down the bridge of his long nose and then dragged across his lips. Reaching up she ruffled his dark gold hair. "Just how much have you missed me, my lord Dominus?" she teased him, pressing herself against his hard, masculine body."Tell me!"

"Obviously as much as you have missed me," he teased her, reaching up to fondle her plump breast. His thumb and his forefinger found the nipple and pinched it suggestively, sending a bolt of pure lust through her.

Reaching down she found his manhood beneath his long robe. She began to draw his robe up so she might take him in her hand. He took her hand away and in response pulled his robe off first and then hers. Then he removed his camise and her chemise. Lara began to giggle, her eyes dancing with mirth. Magnus Hauk looked puzzled and said to her, "What do you find so amusing in the midst of our mutual seduction, my darling?"

"You are wearing your boots," Lara told him.

"Then take them off," he told her.

"Can you not take off your own boots?" she demanded of him.

"I like it better when you take them off," he leered at her suggestively. "I love seeing your perfect little bottom when you bend to pull my footwear off." He sat down on the big bed.

"You are a most lustful man," she told him, but turning her back, she took one shod foot between her two legs and drew the boot off and then she took the other. All the while his two big hands fondled her buttocks, squeezing. When both boots had been removed along with his foot coverings Lara made to stand, but her husband pulled her back into his lap, his hands sliding around her torso to capture her two plump breasts. She squealed with surprise, but then feeling his manhood beneath her wiggled against it, teasing him as he was now teasing her. His breath was hot in her ear.

"I am a lustful man," he agreed with her cheerfully. "And I have kept my lust well in check these past few weeks you have been here in the New Outlands. But now I am here. And you are here. And I find no reason to restrain myself.Do you, Wife? " His lips found the nape of her neck and he began to nibble and kiss it. The warm fresh scent of her was intoxicating to his aroused senses.

"Nay, my lord," Lara replied amiably, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of his big hands on her breasts, his lips on her neck. The hardness beneath her was very exciting, and she was almost embarrassed at how eager she was to have him sheathed within her. The past few weeks had been lonely without him. Whatever had possessed her to spend time in the New Outlands? Now that Dillon and Anoush were living with her it really wasn't necessary. The children could come next year if they wanted but she was not going to leave Magnus Hauk again.

He took her nipples between his fingers, pulling and pinching at them. Lara leaned back, her head resting against his shoulder. "I love your breasts," he murmured in her ear as he licked the curl of flesh, then blew warm breath upon it.

"I love seeing your hands on my breasts," she told him breathlessly.

His big strong hands slipped from her bosom and caressed her belly. "I want the son you promised me," he told her.

"I am ready to give you that son, my lord and my love," she answered him.

He reached down and touched her mons, sliding a finger between her nether lips to find the center of her. She was already creamy with her need for him. She sighed as his finger played with her, and the longing in the sound made him turn her about so that they were facing one another. He lay back and she sat atop him licking her lips in anticipation of the passion to come. His manhood stood straight and tall before her.

Reaching out Lara caressed it first with delicate fingers that trailed down the thick pillar of hard flesh. Then she grasped him in her two little hands and slowly, slowly, pushed his foreskin down and then up again several times. The ruby head of his manhood glowed like a beacon and when a small pearl of his juices appeared Lara bent herself over him and lapped it up with her tongue. Then her tongue carefully encircled the tip several times before she took him in her mouth to suck upon him.

Magnus Hauk groaned, and for just the briefest moment he thought that his head was going to explode along with his manhood. "I won't spill my juices down your greedy maw," he told her in a tight voice. "My seed is strong and we can create a son with it."

Lara immediately released him, looking to him for direction.

"I have to taste you," he told her as he lifted her up and lay her on her back. "I need the taste of you flooding my senses." He yanked at several pillows upon the bed and pushed them beneath her so that her hips were elevated high. Then he pushed her legs apart and put his head between her shapely thighs. She drew her nether lips apart for him and he began to lick eagerly at her. His tongue moved slowly over the insides of her nether lips. It found her center, her jewel, and he nibbled at it. Then taking it into his mouth he sucked hard upon it and Lara's body spasmed beneath him as her juices flowed copiously. "I can't wait," he apologized as he mounted her. "Neither can I," she said softly and then gasped with delight as he filled her heated body with his throbbing manhood. Lara wrapped her legs about her husband's torso, clinging to him as he began to piston her with long, slow strokes, which quickened and grew more powerful in intensity. Her nails raked down his back, and raising her head she bit down on his shoulder hard. "Vixen!" he growled at her and then he groaned as his pulsing manhood felt her sheath tightening about him, as he sensed the climax of their lust beginning to quiver within her. He waited, waited, and then released his juices, shuddering as they attained pleasure together in each other's arms. "I love you, my faerie wife!" he told her.

"And I love you, my mortal husband," Lara murmured, reluctant to allow the pleasures to fade away as they eventually must.

A knocking came upon the door as they lay recovering in each other's arms.

"Mama! Let us in," they heard Zagiri calling. "I want to see Papa!"

Magnus began to laugh and Lara called out, "Papa and I are busy, Zagiri. We will see you later." She struggled not to giggle.

"No, Mama! Now!" Zagiri shouted.

"Zagiri," they heard Anoush say, "come away. They are taking pleasures now and do not want to be

disturbed. Come with me, Little Sister."

"What are pleasures?" Zagiri demanded to know.

But whatever Anoush told Zagiri they did not hear. It was obvious the two girls had moved away from

the bed chamber door.

Lara's eyes were brimming with her mirth.

"What can Anoush possibly know about pleasures?" Magnus demanded of his wife. "She is still a little

girl. And Zagiri is certainly too young to understand."

Lara laughed softly. "Aye, Anoush is a little girl but in the summer months she runs with all the village children. Some are older and some younger. And they all listen to adult conversations because adults

speak carelessly before children, not believing that the children could be possibly interested. That is how they pick up knowledge of things beyond their ken," she explained.

"We will have to learn to be careful in future, my love," Magnus told her.

"We will," Lara agreed solemnly but her eyes were still dancing.

He chuckled. "I suppose we should get up and join the evening gathering in the hall like a respectable

Dominus and Domina."

"Perhaps it would be a good idea," Lara agreed, "but I did enjoy this little interlude with you, my lord. I think I will not leave you again for several weeks' time."

"I think I will not let you," he agreed as he stood up.

They bathed quickly and dressed. Upon entering the hall they were greeted warmly by the Fiacre.

"Ah," teased Noss, "I see you are blooming with happiness to have your husband with you again. And he looks like a large yellow tomcat who has just enjoyed a very large bowl of warm, sweet cream. When did he arrive?"

"Earlier in the afternoon," Lara replied, watching as her three children now swarmed the Dominus. He hugged Dillon and Anoush first and then picked Zagiri up in his arms, kissing her cheek before putting her back down again.