"Anoush said you were taking pleasures with our mother," Zagiri began. "Do you take pleasures with Mama often, Papa?"

The Dominus looked perplexed. He flushed.

"Really, Zagiri," Dillon spoke up, coming to his stepfather's rescue. "Pleasures are something private between adults. They are not discussed with little children, as you will understand someday."

"Do you take pleasures, Dillon?" Zagiri asked him.

"I am too young to take pleasures or even discuss them," Dillon said sternly. "And if I am too young, then you certainly are too young."

"But Anoush said-"

"Anoush," her brother said, glowering at his blushing sister, "knows even less about pleasures than I do, so I would not listen to any of her chatter, little one."

"Oh," Zagiri responded.

"Thankyou, my son," the Dominus said. "I could not have put it better myself."

Dillon swallowed the grin that threatened to explode across his face.

The evening progressed with food, frine and song, but ended early, for the trek to the Gathering would begin at first light. Many of the Fiacre would travel to the autumn festival held every year. The most elderly and fragile, however, would remain behind. This year it had been decided that Bera would not go.

"I want no discord," Liam, the lord of the Fiacre, said quietly.

"She is quiet, poor lady," Noss protested.

"Most of the time now, aye, but if something distresses her, and one never knows what will distress her, then she becomes very vocal and abusive," Liam said. "I do not want her among us this time. And, too, Cam will be there with Sholeh. He is sure to attempt to arouse her to a frenzy for his own amusement. Nay. Bera remains in Camdene this year. She does not go out now except to sit in her back garden. She will not even know that we are gone."

The next morning, Lara, Magnus and their three children arose early and ate quickly. Then they gathered with the others and mounting their horses, moved off. While Dillon and Anoush rode their own horses, little Zagiri rode with her father, seated before him on his saddle. It was two days' travel to the site, and when they arrived the Fiacre found two of the clan families just arrived, the Felan and the Aghy. Roan of the Aghy came forward to help Lara from her saddle, his hands lingering about her waist just a moment longer than they should have. She laughed down at him and shook her finger in remonstrance. He grinned back. Magnus Hauk glared at the Horse Lord but as always Roan of the Aghy wasn't in the least intimidated. He stepped forward, shook the Dominus's hand and bid him welcome to the Gathering.

Eventually all the clan families arrived, and for the next few days they feasted and socialized with one another. The annual meeting of the New Outlands High Council was held but there was virtually nothing to report. After several years the clan families had put down deep roots and were content to be freed from the threat of Hetar. In a short ceremony each of the clan families paid their annual tribute to the Dominus, who accepted it graciously.

Afterwards, Magnus asked his wife, "Should we tell them of Hetar's planned aggression against Terah?"

"Nay, not yet," Lara said. "If we need to confer later with the clan lords we can bring them to our castle, but the Icy Season is coming. It is unlikely that Hetar will cross the Sagitta until spring. We have the watchtowers on the heights to warn us of any approaching vessels. We have an army now that is well trained. The Emerald Mountain Range separates us from the New Outlands. There is no need to fret the clan families, but I would tell one of the lords. Rendor should know."

"Not Roan? He is the warlord of the clan families."

"That is true," Lara agreed, "but if you tell Roan, it will not remain a secret, for he will immediately begin planning for a battle that may never come. To plan a battle he needs to recruit more troops and then the secret is out. Nay, Roan need not know, but Rendor must, for he is the High Lord of the High Council. If we need to call upon the clan families he should be aware in advance of that possibility." She sighed. "I regret having to place this burden upon him but it would seem we have no choice, my lord."

The Dominus nodded. "Speak with him then, Lara," he said.

"Will you not be by my side when I do?" she asked softly.

"If you wish it," he replied, "but it is you that the clan families revere, my love. They have accepted me as their overlord only because I am your husband."

"You are the Dominus of Terah, Magnus Hauk. Who and what I am or what I have done for the clan families would not matter were it not for your generosity in allowing them to be relocated here. They do not forget that you are lord of this all. Nor do I," Lara said quietly. She well knew her husband's dignity and pride in his position. She would not damage it or allow anyone else to. "You are a good ruler, my lord."

He smiled down at her. She was clever and generous of heart, his faerie wife.

"Thankyou," was all he said.

They sought out Rendor of the Felan, and together told him that Hetar was considering a war against Terah.

"Why?" was the first thing Rendor wanted to know. He had ever been a practical man. "Is not the Outlands enough territory for him that he must cross a sea to war with a peaceful people?" Rendor shook his grizzled head. "Gaius Prospero was ever a fool."

"But a dangerous fool," Lara said. "He is like a child standing before a large sweet who wants every bit of it for himself. He knows he cannot devour it all, yet his eyes are too big for his stomach and he must attempt it nonetheless. This emperor knows naught of Terah, but he has convinced Hetar that we pose a threat because I am the Domina. He bleats that my magic threatens them all, and preaches war."

"Can he take Terah?" Rendor wanted to know. He was a shrewd man who knew that if Hetar took Terah they would be unlikely for many years, if ever, to come over the mountains. Hetarians were not adventurous folk by nature. Greedy. Overproud. Tradition bound. Aye. But they were not by nature explorers.

"He cannot take Terah," the Dominus said firmly. "But unless he can be dissuaded from his path he will cause great misery, mostly in Hetar."

"He has converted many of the Coastal Kings' trading vessels into ships of war," Lara said. "But his naval force of men, but for the officers, is conscripted and not well trained. I can put up a fog bank to keep him at bay if he actually has the nerve to set sail.

"And the fjords can all be blocked to prevent his sailing up them. The cliffs descend directly to the beach below, and the beaches are only narrow strips of sand covered by water in high tide. Without a way up he will be caught."

"And we may shoot them easily from the heights with our bows and arrows," Rendor replied with a grin. "It will be like wolf-hunting season," he chuckled.

The Dominus laughed. "Aye, just like wolf-hunting season," he agreed. "I am relieved that you are not distressed by this news, Rendor, but I do apologize for burdening you with this information."

Rendor shook his head. "Nay, it is better I am kept fully informed in this matter. I will keep it secret from the others, for there is no need for them to know about something that might not come to pass. Roan would want to prepare for a war that at this moment does not exist. And Floren of the Gitta would start to dither about some new species of plant or tuber he didn't want destroyed by an invading army."

Lara laughed. "Yes, Floren would indeed dither," she agreed.

"In that case we will return to Terah on the morrow," the Dominus said. "I am, I fear, a man who enjoys his comforts and I long for my own bed."

"No more than I do," Rendor said with a grin. Then he embraced Lara, kissing her on both cheeks. "I will look forward to seeing you at the next Gathering," he told her.

"You could see me before then," she reminded him. "Next year we will stay in your hall with you and your wife, Rahil."

"We shall be honored," Rendor replied. Then he bowed to Magnus and Lara. "Farewell, my lord, my lady Lara. The Celestial Actuary keep you safe."

"And the Great Creator keep you safe, Rendor," Magnus Hauk responded.

Rendor left them.

"I will go and gather up the children," Lara said. "Tomorrow they will return home and their schooling must begin anew."

They found Dillon watching over his little sister, Zagiri, but Anoush was not with them. When Lara asked where her eldest daughter might be, Dillon frowned.

"Cam sought her out," he said.

Lara swore softly beneath her breath. "Do you know where they are?" she asked her son. "Could you not stop her from going off with him?"

"Nay, I could not," Dillon answered quietly. "It is time that Anoush learned to control her own actions. She knows you do not approve of Cam."

Lara grimaced. Dillon was right, of course, but there was something about being lectured by one's young son that grated on her nerves. "At least save me the trouble of stamping about the encampment," she said.

The boy grinned at her. "There is a stream on the edge of the camp, Mother. You will find them there," he said.

Lara hurried off. Her first instinct was to turn Cam into a snake but if she did he would probably bite someone and poison them. She had won Anoush back last year and she was not going to let Adon and Elin's son spoil that. She would not confront the boy, for that was precisely what he wanted of her. He was not capable of driving a wedge between Lara and Anoush. Only she could do that if she acted foolishly. Spying her older daughter, she called to her.

Anoush turned at the sound of her mother's voice, looking guilty that she had been caught. But to the little girl's surprise Lara did not scold her. Instead her mother put a loving arm about her and smiled.

"'Tis time for us to leave, my darling," she said in a sweet voice. "Good morrow, Cam. Sholeh tells me you are becoming a fine cattle herder." Lara looked down at her daughter. "Magnus, your brother and sister are waiting for us, Anoush. The Learning Season begins in a few days and you need to be ready. Say goodbye to your cousin now, and let us go." Her arm remained about her daughter's thin shoulders.

"I don't know why you have to live in Terah," Cam said, his tone sulky. "Isn't the New Outlands good enough for you and your brother anymore? You are Fiacre, not Terahn, after all."

"Oh, but Cam, Dillon and I are half-Terahn. We love the castle of the Dominus. We are happy to be living again with our mother and our stepfather is good to us. And we are learning so much. I actually love the Learning Season. We have a wonderful old scholar, Master Bashkar, for our teacher. He is a Devyn who left his clan family to travel beyond the old Outlands to see what he could see."

"You just like being rich and the stepdaughter of the Dominus who is so all-powerful," Cam replied irritably.

"Farewell, Cam," Lara said softly.

"Yes, farewell!" Anoush said and turned away with her mother. The two walked back across the encampment to the tent where they had sheltered during the Gathering. "I think Cam is jealous of Dillon and me," Anoush said. "And he does not like the fact that he cannot lead me about by the nose any longer," she noted. "I'm so glad you came to get me, Mama. I was about to leave him when you did."

Lara smiled, but said nothing. Inside the tent she gathered her family around her. "I will send you home now," she told them. "Then Dasras and I shall come back together. We will see you shortly. Dillon, tell Jason that Dasras will be coming so he can prepare his stall." She kissed her husband who let her lips leave his only reluctantly.

"Tonight," he murmured in her ear.

Lara smiled into his eyes and nodded. Then with a quick wave of her hand and a short spoken spell, "Send these four back to their home. No longer to roam."

Magnus Hauk, flanked by Anoush and Dillon, Zagiri in his arms, disappeared in a flash of light and a puff of greenish smoke. Lara sighed. She loved the picture they had made waiting for her to work her magic. Leaving the tent she made her way through the encampment where all the clan families were in the midst of departing for their own territories and homes. In the green field beyond the camp, horses grazed. "Dasras!" she called and the great golden stallion separated himself from the herd and galloped over to her. "Time to go home, old friend," Lara said to him. "I have sent the others on ahead."

"Climb on my back then, mistress," Dasras said.

Grasping a handful of his creamy mane Lara pulled herself up onto the horse's back. Her slender leather-clad legs grasped the beast's sides. Her fingers wrapped around his mane, making a little fist as Dasras galloped across the green field, his great white wings unfolding slowly as they took to the skies. The horse circled the encampment below while many members of the clan families, looking skyward and recognizing Lara and Dasras, waved at them. Lara waved back. Then her mount turned to the Emerald Mountains and Terah which lay beyond. They would be home even before the midautumn's early sunset.

The cold air stung her cheeks as they traveled. The winds had begun to come from the north. Lara briefly glanced in that direction as she rode. The Dark Lands beyond did not seem as threatening to her as it once had. She laughed to herself. Even a faerie woman might have her fantasies, she thought, wondering why she had once considered those mountains so ominous. Turning away, she leaned forward, eager to get home. The brief month she had spent away from her husband seemed longer than it normally did. Perhaps next summer she would not, after all, return Dillon and Anoush to the New Outlands to live among their father's people.

Then she had a somber moment. Perhaps next summer they would be at war. She would need to consult with her mother who knew everything that was happening in Hetar. She would have to speak eventually with her mentor, Kaliq of the Shadows, who was also a font of information. Terah did not want war. She would have to do everything in her power to try and prevent it. But Lara knew that even faerie magic could not solve everything. And while she disliked admitting it, Gaius Prospero was a force with which to be reckoned.

"YOU ARE GOING TO MARRY Vilia?" Gaius Prospero looked astounded at the news. "Why? She is certainly past her prime now, Jonah."

"My lord, I do this for you," Jonah said. "Despite all your kindness to her and your great generosity of heart, she feels ashamed that you have cast her off to wed the beautiful lady Shifra. And now that you have announced that you plan to make Shifra Hetar's empress, the lady Vilia's shame is slowly turning to anger. We must stem that anger, my lord. Quickly!"

"But how does marrying a freed slave help Vilia's anger?" the emperor wanted to know. "She is a proud woman, born into one of Hetar's finest and most ancient families."

"My lord, it is true that I served in my early years as your slave, but did you never once consider my heritage? It is a respectable one. Perhaps not as fine as the lady Vilia's, but 'tis naught to be ashamed of, I assure you," Jonah said.

"You know who your parents were?" The emperor was both surprised and curious. "Who were they then?"

"My father was Sir Rupert Bloodaxe of the Crusader Knights. He is long dead, as you know. My mother is the lady Farah, a Pleasure Mistress. Sir Rupert Bloodaxe paid the Pleasure Mistress for the privilege of my mother's company for a full year.

"After I was born and put to a wet nurse, also paid for by my sire, my mother returned to her duties. As you know, she became a famous Pleasure Woman and eventually was given charge of the house in which she served. You may question her. My mother will not deny me, my lord, and my blood is good."

"But why were you a slave?" Gaius Prospero wanted to know.

"Sir Rupert died when I was sixteen. Illegitimate children of a Crusader Knight belong to them as much as any piece of property. Usually these men make a provision in their wills freeing any children they may have sired outside of their marriage. Sometimes they don't even know if they have sired children, but make the provision anyway. Unfortunately, my father simply forgot.

"So I became the property of his estate and Sir Rupert's wife was a jealous woman. She had borne her husband five daughters but no son. It impeded my father's advancement and he was not pleased.

"My poor half sisters were no beauties. Our father had paid a fortune in dowries to see them married properly. But worse, Sir Rupert truly loved my mother. I had been sent to an academy of learning by my father. On the day he was buried, a mercenary came and took me from my classes. I was sold in the slave market without delay. My mother was furious, of course, but it was your house, my lord, into which I was sold. I asked her to keep her peace because I wanted to serve a man that I admired," Jonah said and the emperor bridled with pleasure at the compliment. "And that is what I am attempting to do now, my lord. Serve you as I always have served you."

"Vilia knows of your connections?" Gaius Prospero asked.

"She does, my lord," Jonah answered.

"And she will have you as her husband?"

"Her heart will always be yours, my lord," Jonah lied with facile charm. Vilia didn't give a damn about Gaius Prospero. She was completely his. "Despite your generosity to her, there have begun to arise some rather unpleasant murmurs regarding your behavior toward the lady," he continued. "By quickly remarrying, she disproves the rumors. And we certainly cannot have her uniting with someone from an ambitious family who might use her to further himself and threaten your throne, my lord. I cannot permit it! And so I have offered myself to the lady Vilia as a husband. She will not accept me, however, without your personal permission and approval. So I have come to you on bended knee, my lord. Give us the favor of your approbation, my emperor."

"Shifra and I will give the wedding!" the emperor burst out. "All of Hetar shall see how generous I am toward the mother of my children. But your heritage must be announced for the people to know," he continued. "I want no one believing that I have insulted Vilia by forcing her into a marriage with a former slave. Perhaps it might even help if the two of you admitted that after her divorce you were attracted to one another. Then you came to me and I gave you my benediction. Yes! Yes! That is what we will do, Jonah. It is perfect and shows the people that my heart is a good one." He beamed with pleasure at the thought.

"It is brilliant, my lord, and I thankyou!" Jonah said, kissing his master's hand.

Soon the word spread throughout The City. The emperor's right hand, although he had spent ten years in slavery, was actually the son of Sir Rupert Bloodaxe and the famed Pleasure Mistress, Lady Farah. Sir Rupert's daughters admitted it was true. Their mother was dead and if the truth were known, their father's mistress had made him happy in his last years. It was she who had convinced him to increase their dowries, making each of them far more desirable. They had not approved, they declared in a loud and united voice, of their mother selling the poor boy into slavery.

Jonah smiled to hear this. His half sisters hadn't given a damn about him. But he made public visits to each of them, embracing them and eating at their tables. They had all wed influential men and it would not hurt to have those men in his corner when the time was right. Vilia's family was also vocal in their approval of her impending marriage to Jonah. So at last, he went to visit his mother.

Lady Farah publicly greeted her son at the door of her Pleasure House. Then she led him into her very private chambers. "How clever you are, Jonah," she said to him with a warm smile. "And your patience is absolutely astounding. How long have you been planning this marriage?" She was a very beautiful woman with long straight ebony hair that she wore simply pulled back, and slightly slanted dark eyes like black cherries.

He gave her a brief smile. "For some time," he replied.

"I hope you have made her fall in love with you, my son."

"She is devoted to me and my manhood keeps her more than satisfied," he answered his mother. "I have obviously inherited your passions."

"Excellent! You have the key to controlling her. If she is content and happy, her family will be content and happy. They can be of great use to you one day, I suspect."

He said nothing and his dark eyes were inscrutable, revealing nothing of his plans or his emotions.Did he have any? Lady Farah wondered and then laughed at herself. Of course he had plans. From birth Jonah had been a calm and thoughtful being. But Farah knew in her heart what his plans were for she too was ambitious.

"I will help you when you ask me," was all she said.

"And I will ask," he told her with the tiniest of smiles.

She offered him frine and they spoke on mundane matters for a brief time and then Jonah departed his mother's Pleasure House. He must learn who owned it and purchase it for her. He would be generous and the house's master would sell it to him in order to gain favor with the emperor's right hand. Jonah knew his mother was an honorable woman. He would not divide her loyalties between her son and her Pleasure Master. She would be free to give him all of her loyalty once the sale was complete. And when the lady Farah was elected new headmistress of the Pleasure Guild, his power base would expand even further. He hurried home to Vilia, who was already awaiting him.

She came eagerly into his arms and he gave her a small smile.

"I have visited my mother," he told her. "She is pleased we are to wed."

"May I meet her?" Vilia asked him. "We could have her here."

"A most excellent suggestion," Jonah approved.

"I am so proud of you," Vilia said softly. "What ambitions you have! Not at all like Gaius. We had to push him every inch of the way to the throne."

"And now together," Jonah replied, "we will tumble him off that throne. The war with Terah will be the final straw for the people of Hetar."