"Terah is not really a danger to us?" Vilia asked.

"From what I have observed as Hetar's ambassador, the Terahns want nothing more than to live in peace. Will they defend themselves against us if we attack them? Oh, yes, Vilia, my dear. They will most certainly defend themselves," Jonah said. "But that is all they will do. They will beat Hetar back and leave us to lick our wounds. And while the emperor directs this misadventure, we will undermine him."

"Will we kill him?" Vilia asked excitedly. "And his little empress?"

"Of course we will kill him," Jonah told her. "He will still have friends among the powerful, but killing him will turn their loyalty to us, for the magnates are ever mindful of their own interests. One does not fight a war and then leave the enemy alive to rebuild his fortunes. That is madness."

"There are some who will say you are cruel," Vilia murmured.

"They will not say it aloud nor will they have the authority with which to back up their words," Jonah told her. "But enough of strategy, my dear. I have bought you a present in the slave market today." He clapped his hands and immediately a naked young slave was led into the chamber.

He was very tall and shapely. His manhood was the largest that Vilia had ever seen and she could not keep her eyes from it. But then she turned to Jonah questioningly.

"Do you like him, my dear?" Jonah asked her.

Vilia nodded slowly.

"Examine him," Jonah suggested. "Touch him, my dear."

She walked about the slave whose head was respectfully lowered. She raised his head with her hand. He was a beautiful creature with velvety brown eyes, but they held no expression. He lowered his head again when she released it. Vilia ran a hand down the slave's hard bicep. She caressed his buttocks but then her hand could not resist the enormous manhood that hung between his sinewy thighs. She looked up at Jonah.

The faintest smile touched his lips and he nodded encouragingly.

Vilia ran her hand down the slave's length. She cupped the large seed sac behind it. It was cool to her touch. Cool with his virility. She felt heat suffusing her body, and when the slave's manhood began to burgeon beneath her touch Vilia gasped softly, looking again to Jonah, but she did not remove her hand. "Why?"

"You are a woman of great appetites," he began. "There will come a time when the press of governance will prevent me from being with you and I do not want you unhappy, but neither do I want you cuckolding me as you did Gaius. This slave has been trained to give pleasure. It is his only function. He has no other. He is perfect for you, my dear. He is mute but he will answer to your commands. And, my dear Vilia, I am told you will find both his manhood and his tongue skillful. If you do not, then I shall return him and find you another."

Vilia was astounded. "Oh, Jonah, my love," she said to him. "How can you know me so well? We are truly well mated. I would have remained true to you, Jonah, even though at times it would have been difficult for me. That you should consider my needs and give me this beautiful slave is beyond kindness." She caught his hand and lifting it to her lips, kissed it fervently. "Thankyou!"

"Let us see if he pleases you," Jonah said wickedly.

"Here? Now?" Vilia didn't know if she should be embarrassed.

"Why not, my dear? If he does not please you, the sooner I return him, the better."

"Jonah, I do not think..."

"I want to see him using you, Vilia. I need to know that you are happy," Jonah told her in a hard voice. "Lift your gown up now and bend yourself over the arm of that couch," he told her, pointing. "Look at Doran, for that is his name. His great member is eager to sheath itself in you. If you are to be my wife you must be more amenable to my wishes, my dear, for while I value your sage council, I value your obedience equally," Jonah said, his tone softening a bit now. "Come." He led her to the couch, and when she had bent herself over it he pushed her gown up himself, baring her shapely white buttocks. Then he signaled Doran. "Do your duty by your new mistress," Jonah instructed the sex slave.

Doran walked over to where Vilia waited. He positioned his enormous manhood. Then grasping the woman's hips with strong fingers he thrust hard into her.

She felt the entrance to her love sheath being stretched wide and then his great length pushed with a single smooth motion into her. He was so thick and yet she found to her surprise she was able to contain him. Never in all her days had Vilia entertained such a large member. Gaius had been average in size. Jonah was a large man. But Doran was huge. And then he began to ream her with his manhood, slowly at first and then with increasing speed. Her passions peaked once, twice, a third time. Her moans rose in intensity until she was almost weeping.

"Enough!"she heard Jonah command the slave, and Doran immediately withdrew from her.

"No!"Vilia cried."No! No! No!" And then she felt Jonah entering her and skillfully bringing them both to a perfect conclusion. "Oh, my darling," she sighed gustily with her total and utter satisfaction. "Thank you!"

He withdrew from her lush body, then turned her over so he might observe her. "For the slave, my dear, or for the other?" he asked seriously.

"For both!" she said enthusiastically.

Pulling her gown down he drew her to a standing position. "Then the slave pleases you, my dear?"

"Aye, but you please me more," she admitted.

He nodded. "You will use him then when you need him, Vilia?"

"Aye. It was a most thoughtful gift, my lord," Vilia told him, smiling.

"I am glad the gift delights, my dear." He kissed her brow and turned to the slave. "Go to the slave quarters, Doran. Your mistress will call you when you are needed. You have done well today and I am satisfied with you."

Turning, the slave ran out of the chamber, and taking Vilia by the hand Jonah led her to a seat large enough for both of them.

"The emperor wishes to give us our wedding," Jonah told her.

"I shall make certain then that it is a most extravagant one," Vilia said and he laughed aloud.

Vilia considered that she had only heard Jonah laugh perhaps once or twice before in all the years she had known him. Today had given her a new insight into her lover. She had realized from the start that he was clever and ambitious. But never until today had she known that he was a dangerous man. Vilia felt a frisson of fear travel down her spine. Jonah knew her too well, perhaps; still, that knowledge was rather exciting. Yet there were things he did not know about her and perhaps he never would. For now, caution was the better path for her to travel. She did love him and she had never really loved Gaius Prospero.

"Do not let Gaius spend so much coin that our wedding is vulgar. And we must also remember that if I am to replace him, eventually I must seem more a man of the people and less a magnate," Jonah advised Vilia. Giving her a kiss upon her cheek he arose from her side. "I must go and speak with the Pleasure Master of my mother's house," he told her. "I intend to purchase it."

"How wise of you!" Vilia cried, clapping her hands delightedly.

"I think it more prudent for both of our sakes," he remarked and then he left her.

Vilia considered recalling Doran to her side but she thought better of it. The sex slave was a comfort to be used sparingly except when Jonah could not be with her. She decided instead to send a faerie post to Lady Shifra so that they might meet and discuss Vilia's impending wedding preparations. Calling a servant to her, she sent the woman for a scribe to come and take her dictation.

THE FAERIE POST was delivered to the lady Shifra as she sat before her mirror having her long red-gold hair brushed by her favorite servant. She took the missive, noting with surprise Vilia's seal on the folded parchment. "What can she want of me?" Shifra said aloud. She broke the wax seal and, opening the message, read it slowly, carefully. Then summoning a servant, she said, "Go and tell my lord the emperor that I would speak with him as soon as possible."

"Yes, my lady," the servant said and hurried out.

"Brush some oil of lilies into my hair," Shifra instructed Tania who resumed brushing her locks. "You know how he likes the scent of it."

"Ahh," Tania said, "you want something of him."

"Not just something," Shifra replied with a small smile. "Lady Vilia is to marry Lord Jonah and she says that the emperor has offered to give the wedding. She asks that I give her my aid in the planning."

"Of course he would offer to host such a wedding," Tania responded. "It is a clever move on his part."

"Why?" Shifra wanted to know.

"Because the people will see it as generous," Tania said.

"To host a wedding for his ex-wife and his ex-slave?" Shifra remarked. "Does not the lady marry down, Tania? I was told her family is an ancient and proud one."

"And so it is, my lady," Tania replied. "But Jonah's lineage is almost as good and the fact that he served ten years in this house as a slave cannot tarnish his line. His father was a well-known Crusader Knight and his mother is a Pleasure Mistress. In fact, rumor has it that when the lady Gillian retires, the lady Farah will be elected headmistress of the Pleasure Guild. She is a blood kin of Squire Darah," Tania concluded.

"How do you know all of this?" Shifra demanded to know.

"I know because when Jonah first came into the House of Prospero he told me in a very rare moment of weakness and then swore me to secrecy. As such knowledge would not harm my lord Gaius I swore an oath to keep his secret. I could see then he would regain his freedom one day and be a great man. And so he has. This marriage is clever on his part for it allies him with some very important families."

"Will that make him a danger to my dear lord?" Shifra asked astutely.

Tania shrugged. "I have never doubted Jonah's loyalty and neither has the emperor, my lady mistress. You should not doubt it, either," she warned.

Gaius Prospero came into Shifra's chambers, beaming as his eyes lit upon her. "My darling," he said and she went immediately into his arms to offer her lips. He kissed her and then his nose twitched. "Lilies! You smell of lilies, my darling. When you called me I came directly from the council, for your wish is my pleasure."

Shifra took him by the hand and led him to a wide couch to sit by his side. "I have received a message from Lady Vilia. She said you have given your approval to a marriage between her and Lord Jonah."

"I have," Gaius Prospero replied. "And I have learned the most amazing thing about my good Jonah." He went on to tell Shifra what he had learned and she listened, pretending to be amazed by his disclosure about Jonah. "I always wondered about his breeding," the emperor said. "He has never had the look of a common Hetarian."

"We are to plan their wedding," Shifra said.

"Yes!" the emperor said enthusiastically. "Is it not brilliant, my darling? Together we will host this festive event."

"Nay," said Shifra. "I cannot."

Tania stifled her gasp. What was the matter with the little fool that she would defy Gaius Prospero's grandiose plans to appear the most benevolent and tolerant of rulers?

"Nay?"The emperor looked surprised. "Why would you refuse me, Shifra? You have never refused me anything, my darling. What is the matter that you would now?"

"You wed me quietly on the day your divorce was declared legal, my lord. There was no pomp about it yet I was happy simply to be your wife. But I have not yet been crowned your empress, my lord. Did you not promise me that I would be crowned empress of Hetar? How can we stand side by side to do proper honor to Lord Jonah, who has served you so faithfully all these years, and to Lady Vilia, who also served you with such devotion and gave you children, if I am nothing more than your wife and not Hetar's empress?" Shifra wanted to know.

Tania's mouth fell open with her surprise at her mistress's words. She quickly closed it and her gaze went to Gaius Prospero.

The emperor digested Shifra's words and then he said, "You are right, my darling! Before Jonah and Vilia can wed you must first be crowned Hetar's empress. Then we will host this marriage and as Hetar's supreme rulers, the honor we do those two will be considered incredibly generous." He jumped up from her side. "I must go and begin making preparations for your coronation this very minute!"

"I will want the lady Vilia to serve me at my crowning," Shifra murmured. "She must carry my train and then be my footstool as Jonah will be yours when we sit upon our thrones together before our people."

He turned, his face wreathed in smiles. "What a perfect picture you paint, my darling. I knew there was a reason I could not choose either of my two former wives as my empress. They were not worthy of the honor. They had not your majesty or vision," Gaius Prospero complimented her, then he left.

Shifra smiled, well pleased. But Vilia, when she learned why her wedding had been delayed, was furious.

"How dare she!" she almost screamed at Jonah.

He stepped quickly up to face her and clapped a restraining hand over her mouth. "Do not proclaim your emotions to everyone, Vilia," he warned her. "I will see what I can do to mitigate some of this. But if the emperor wishes to crown his wife empress before he hosts our wedding, he can do it."

Vilia tore his hand from her mouth. "I will not be her footstool," she hissed low. "I will carry the little bitch's train and I will smile broadly at all to see, but I will not serve as a footstool!"

"Nor will I," Jonah answered her quietly. "Trust me, Vilia, I will get this changed before Shifra's crowning day. I promise you that."

"But I like the idea of you and Vilia serving as our footstools," Gaius Prospero said to his right hand when Jonah brought up the subject several days before the coronation of Shifra. "It displays my ultimate power over all."

"Indeed, my lord, it does but is it not just a bit vulgar, a bit obvious? And it could easily diminish my authority when I speak for you," Jonah suggested slyly. "I know you would not want that. You do not need me beneath your feet to prove to Hetar that you are a great emperor or that I am devoted to you and your cause. And have you considered that putting Vilia beneath the feet of the young empress might appear cruel? The beautiful new wife swaggering over the older cast-off wife? Vilia is popular among the masses. She does not deserve such from you, my lord."

"Why, Jonah," the emperor said softly. "Are you coming to care for Vilia?"

"She will be my wife, my lord," Jonah answered him. "I will always treat her with respect and dignity for it will speak well of me as her husband-and well of you as my master, for have you not been my example of what is right and correct?"

"I have, it is true," Gaius Prospero answered him. "Oh, very well, Jonah, you shall have your way in this matter, for you are right. My passion for Shifra had blinded me to sensible behavior."

"I would not be the cause of any breach between you and the young empress," Jonah said softly.

"Nonsense!" the emperor chuckled. "Shifra will see reason."

Shifra, however, did not see reason until her husband promised her a golden footstool studded with gemstones to replace Vilia's silk-clad back. "But it will not be nearly as dramatic and meaningful as my suggestion," she pouted.

"Even people like us must occasionally compromise, my darling," the emperor told his young wife. "Vilia is quite thrilled to be carrying your train."

"I shall bear the emperor's scepter," Jonah told Vilia afterwards when he returned to tell her of his success with Gaius Prospero.

She sniffed. "This young wife he has taken will cause Gaius Prospero more trouble than Anora and I together."

"And is not that to our advantage, my dear one?"

"I suppose it is," Vilia admitted. "As long as he is besotted by her he will make mistakes, he will not pay attention and eventually he will bring about his own downfall."

"Precisely!" Jonah said.

"But when will we move to attack Terah?" Vilia wanted to know. "The longer we wait the more dangerous these Terahns become to us. Or so the people must believe."

"Our most advantageous time will be late next spring when the seas are favorable for our vessels to cross the Sagitta. Terah may be primitive, but it is a magnificent land. However, it is not like Hetar. Its people live along seven fjords which are arms of the sea. The fjords, called Dominus, Silk, Jewel, Ocean, Star, Green and Light, push up into the land. On either side of them are great green cliffs. And beyond those cliffs is a territory so vast even the Terahns do not know how big it is. And it is cut in two by a range of mountains called the Emeralds. Who knows what lies on the other side? If the Dominus knows, he certainly never shared that information with me."

"And the faerie girl, Lara, is his wife still?" Vilia wanted to know.

"She has become a great lady," Jonah replied.

"A child raised in the Mercenary quarter? A halfling with a faerie for a mother?" Vilia said scornfully. She had not liked the sound of admiration in Jonah's voice.

"You have not seen her in many years, Vilia. She has grown in beauty, as well as magical skills. Like you, she is beloved of her people. She is wise and the Dominus depends greatly upon her, my dear. But she will not use her magic against Hetar unless Hetar strikes out at Terah. I think you know as well as I do that Terah presents no real threat to Hetar, Vilia. This war the emperor plans is but a means to an end for us. And when he fails and the young men of Hetar are killed, the people will turn against him and cry out for a new leader," Jonah said. "They always do. Remember when he blundered into the Winter War with the Outlands? It took him five years to regain the trust of the Hetarian citizens. But this time he will have no second chance."

"But the High Council was stronger then," Vilia reminded her lover. "And they had always governed Hetar well. What if the people demand a return to the High Council? Remember, Jonah, that you are called the emperor's right hand. You are very much identified with him and his policies. How can you gain the trust of the people under those circumstances?"

"You must leave that to me, my dear," Jonah told her softly. "I will not fail."

Vilia looked into his face and then she smiled. "No," she said. "I do not believe that you will, my darling. Now tell me, when is this coronation of Shifra to take place?"

"Are you so anxious to see her crowned then?" he asked.

"Nay, but I am eager to be wed to you and if that cannot take place until she has been crowned then aye, I am impatient to have it over and done with, my darling," Vilia told him with a small smile. "You see, I would like to have a child.Your child. Your heir, my darling. And I do want his birth to come as soon after our marriage as possible. I want us to have an heir before Shifra may give the emperor a son. I want people to think Gaius was a fool for casting off a fecund wife to marry a barren girl."

She had surprised him and briefly, Jonah was speechless. He had always intended to wed her, for her family connections were important to him. But he had not stopped to consider that he would eventually need an heir. But of course he would! "Vilia, my dear!" He took her into his arms. "This is most generous of you and I thankyou for considering this. Yes! We must have a child." Jonah's mouth took hers in a hard kiss.

His reaction to her determination delighted Vilia. She had not been certain at all how he would take her plans. She knew that she might prevent conception for she was now in her thirties and had not borne a child in almost twenty years. And she did not intend to spend the rest of her life out of the limelight. She had been born for greatness, as her mother had promised her from birth. Vilia kissed him back and then, pulling away, said, "I will do whatever I have to so you may attain your goals, my love."

"Is it safe for you?" he asked, finding he was actually more concerned for her well-being than her family ties. "I should not want to lose you, my darling Vilia."

"I married Gaius when I was thirteen and had our son, Aubin, when I was fourteen," she answered him. "He is a man now and my daughters are wed. But I am still young enough to be seeded and bred, my love. I could give you our son-for it shall be a son-by late next year." Vilia smiled at him, pleased by his caring.