"Of course, my lord. Your will is mine to obey," Jonah told him, then bowed himself from the emperor's library even as Shifra slipped into her husband's lap to soothe him, her little hand caressing his face with a gentle touch.

Jonah sent a messenger to the gate to inquire about those arrested. He then directed his personal servant, Lionel, to find his most useful spy, Arcas, and bring him to the palace. He was not pleased to learn that no one had been arrested. And when Arcas finally arrived, Jonah, who knew the emperor would not be pleased to learn this, rounded on the man who was his spy and in Jonah's debt.

"You have heard what happened?" Jonah asked grimly.

Arcas nodded nervously. "I have, my lord."

"Women in revolt, Arcas, and you knew nothing of it? The booth in the market where I placed you to toil as a scribe is next to a most popular women's destination. A large booth dealing in scents, lotions, soaps of the finest quality. It is always filled with women chattering. And you heard nothing of this rebellion? It has been months since you brought me anything of value, Arcas. I wonder if you have lost your ability to be useful," Jonah murmured, the threat veiled but unmistakable.

"I did hear something in the last few days," Arcas admitted nervously. "But my lord Jonah, they were babbling women. I did not think it was of any importance."

"It is not up to you to decide what is important or unimportant," Jonah said angrily. "You are in my employ to gather information.Everything you hear. I will make the decision if it is important or unimportant. Now tell me what you heard, you useless fool!"

Arcas, who had formerly been a Coastal King and was now exiled from that province, served Jonah as a gatherer of information. Some of that information Jonah passed on to his master, the emperor. But some of it he did not. Arcas suspected that Jonah planned one day to overthrow Gaius Prospero or at least make an attempt. But he had no proof at all that the man known as the emperor's right hand was disloyal and until he did he dared not speak out. "Recently," he began, quickly gathering his thoughts, "I have heard women speaking of their dissatisfaction with the emperor's plans to pursue another war. They say he does it to enrich himself and the magnates. They complain that the ordinary folk gain nothing from these wars. Rather they lose husbands, fathers and sons. That more poor are created by Gaius Prospero's wars as the women of Hetar and their children are left without their men to support them and protect them. They say that it is time the women of Hetar stood up for their families and told Gaius Prospero that they will not let their men be killed and crippled by his blind ambition and greed." Arcas stopped a moment to see if Jonah was pleased by his tidings.

Obviously Jonah was, for he said, "What else?"

"They gossip that Terah is no danger to Hetar. That Gaius Prospero lies when he says that they are," Arcas replied. "They say that in the few years since they learned of Terah's existence it has remained as it was before. Invisible."

"Do they mention the faerie woman, Lara?" Jonah wanted to know.

"They do not believe her powers are strong enough to harm Hetar. Besides, she is Hetarian-born," Arcas answered. "Even I who am her enemy know she would not harm Hetar."

"Do they not remember her part in the Winter War?" Jonah asked.

"They know the Winter War was won by the Outland clan families by better tactics, not by magic," Arcas said. "As I told you, my lord, foolish chatter."

"That foolish chatter brought over a thousand women to the emperor's palace," Jonah said softly. "From this moment on you will report to me daily and tell me what you have overheard. As I have told you, it is not up to you to decided what is relevant and what is not. Leave me now." Jonah impatiently waved his minion away.

Alone he began to consider how this turn of events might play into his hands. He did not believe for one moment that Hetar's docile women had considered the advantages and disadvantages of war. Someone had planted the idea in their heads, but who? The emperor was eager to arrest the lady Gillian, but Jonah thought not. This burgeoning movement was too volatile right now and it wasn't just Gillian who was leading it. Besides, her influence would soon wane as his mother, Lady Farah, became the new headmistress of the Pleasure Guild.

Jonah wondered if a war could be avoided. If this women's conspiracy were allowed to grow, could it be used to topple Gaius Prospero from his seat? He needed to know more and he needed his wife's counsel. Vilia was a clever creature. She would look at this situation from a completely different point of view. He left the palace and walked the short distance to his own home. Vilia had insisted when they married that they have their own house. While living in the emperor's palace had been convenient, he understood his wife's desire to be away from her former husband and his girlish new wife.

He found Vilia in her bath and she invited him to join her, dismissing the bath attendants. Jonah was always surprised at her ability to arouse him so easily. Long ago, when she was still Gaius Prospero's wife, he had planned to seduce her. She had seduced him instead and while he was still able to detach himself from his lust for her when he was away, it was impossible to do so when she slipped her arms about his neck and pressed her lush body against him, smiling up into his cold eyes.

"I have missed you today," she purred at him. Her teeth nibbled the lobe of his ear. "You are tense, my lord, and appear weighed down with your duties. Let me help you to relax, my darling Jonah." Reaching down into the water she cupped his seed sac in the palm of her hand. Her tongue ran about the outline of his mouth.

He felt her hand holding him but she did not fondle him. The simple subtlety of it was the catalyst for his arousal. Jonah kissed his wife a long slow kiss as his manhood burgeoned. He pressed it against her belly, his hands on her buttocks pulling her closer to him. Reaching out he pinched first one nipple and then the other. Vilia gave a little squeal of excitement. He kissed her again, his tongue pushing into her mouth to play with her tongue. "I want your ass," he growled at her, and he turned her about, helping her to brace herself upon the steps that led into the bathing pool, her bottom just out of the warm water.

Jonah reached out and with one hand lifted the lid from a jar that held a pure white cream. "Open!" he said, and reaching back Vilia drew the cheeks of her buttocks apart for him. He rubbed the white cream generously in and around the puckered flesh, grazing it seductively, pressing his thumb against it, feeling it give beneath the pressure. Removing his hand he directed his manhood to the same spot and patiently pressed against it until he felt it giving way to allow him entry. Slowly, carefully, he sheathed himself fully within her rear channel.

Vilia moaned. "I can feel you throbbing," she murmured to him. "It is so exciting, my love!" Then she gasped as his hand reached beneath her to play with her love bud. "Ohh, Jonah!" she sobbed as he brought her once, twice and a third time to perfect pleasure while his pulsing manhood beat a tattoo within her. Then he moved, just two strokes, and groaned as Vilia felt his juices being released. "Such a waste, my darling," she sighed.

He withdrew from her saying, "This is no time for you to give me a child, Vilia. Soon, but not yet. Now let us get out of our tub, for I have need of your wisdom, Wife."

They dried each other off with thick toweling, then donning simple cotton robes over their heads, they exited the bath and entered their bedchamber. At once a servant came forward, and Vilia told her to see that the evening meal was served in the dayroom.

"Let us eat first," Vilia suggested. "Then we will talk."

"When the meal is served, dismiss the servants and we will speak over our food," he countered. "We have decisions to make, Wife. And time is of the essence."

"I am intrigued, my lord," Vilia said.

Their food was quickly brought and the servants sent away. They sat eating and Jonah told his wife of what had transpired over the last several days at the palace when he had not come home to her. Then he explained how he had had Arcas brought to him. "The fool kept hearing things, but thought it just women's talk, and did not report it," Jonah grumbled irritably.

"A few women complaining before Gaius's palace," Vilia said. "Why are you so upset?"

"It was not a few women, Vilia. There were well over a thousand women there. Did you not hear them chanting 'no war'?" he asked her.

"I spend a great deal of time in our gardens by the waterfall," Vilia told him. "Perhaps I heard some sounds when I was in the house, but they did not seem threatening so I dismissed them. Women have virtually no real power in Hetar, Husband. Why do you fret about the wives of farmers, mercenaries and merchants?"

"Aye, there were many farmers' wives there, but there were also Pleasure Women, including the lady Gillian who is obviously one of the leaders. And I saw wives of Crusader Knights, as well. This is a serious movement, Vilia, and now I must decide how to use this to our best advantage. You know as well as I do that there is no need to pursue this war with Terah."

"You still believe that the faerie Lara is no danger to us?" Vilia asked.

"Nay, I do not," Jonah replied. "Do not make the mistake, Vilia, of taking seriously the gossip we have been putting out about the Domina Lara."

"If this movement of women grows," Vilia now said thoughtfully, "it might prove more of an advantage to us than a war. A war will cost us lives, even fought across the sea. Women do not fight wars. Men do. But without men to seed their women Hetar's population will not increase and we could be seriously vulnerable to Terah or another predator sometime in the future. If we did not know of Terah, my lord, what else do we not know?"

"Tell me how these women could be used to our advantage?"

"Could we not use them to bring down Gaius?" she asked him. "Then we should not be involved in his demise at all, Husband. A new emperor would have to be chosen and you have been building your alliances for some time now, Jonah, my love," Vilia said. "Would you not be the logical choice? Especially if you had these women behind you."

"If I am to gain the influence of these women," Jonah said slowly, "I will have to be most careful else the emperor learn of it and I am destroyed. I must think on it, Vilia."

"If I were to secretly aid these women," Vilia said softly, "it would certainly put you in their favor, my

lord. You and I cuckolded Gaius for several years and he never caught us. We can do this as well, Jonah."

"Trying to stop Gaius Prospero once he has made up his mind is impossible," Jonah said.

"Don't try to stop him," Vilia said.

Jonah smiled. "Aye, let him start his war and we will help the women to quickly stop it before too many

are killed. Just enough to put a bad taste in the mouth of every Hetarian wife."

"He must be killed," Vilia said. "Gaius and his little empress must die."

"The High Council will want to hold a trial," Jonah replied. "But you are right, Vilia. He must be slain

quickly-and his lady Shifra with him. If he is not then the few friends he has will seek to free him and restore him to his throne. We could have a civil war in Hetar. That would not do at all, Vilia. We must prevent that at all costs."

She nodded. "You say the lady Gillian is involved in this movement?"

"Aye," he replied. "The emperor wants her arrested but I will prevent that. Making her a martyr would be very foolish." "I agree," Vilia said. "Better Gillian become a heroine of Hetarian women." "Aye, we do not want to destroy this movement," Jonah said, "but use it." "True. Let me see how strong these women are and if I learn Gillian is truly their leader I will help stoke their passions even hotter, my dear Jonah." Vilia sent her most trusted servant to investigate over the next few days. It took time however, for the women were cautious, as was Vilia's serving woman, Kigva. She visited the kiosk of a famed maker of perfumes in the Grand Marketplace and listened. She went to the public baths and listened. Finally one day she dared to approach a woman she overheard at a Razi kiosk speaking in low urgent tones to her companion. "Please," she said, "I have heard of this women's protest. Can you tell me more?" "I do not know of what you are speaking," the woman said nervously and moved away from Kigva, who followed after her and tugged on her sleeve. "My mistress is the wife of an important man," Kigva said low. "She wants to help, but dares not do so publicly. I know there are women of importance involved in this for I saw them marching in the streets that day you went to the emperor's palace. My mistress has sent me to learn more and to aid you." "Who is your mistress?" the woman wanted to know, but Kigva shook her head. "I dare not say her name for her well-being, but you would be surprised if you knew it." "Say nothing," the woman's younger female companion said, trying to draw her friend away. "This could be an attempt to harm us all."

"Please," Kigva pleaded, "I mean you no evil."

Turning, the two women hurried away from her.

Sighing, Kigva was about to move away from the Razi kiosk when another woman there murmured, "There is a meeting tonight in the house of the widow of the feather merchant, Aja."

"When?" Kigva asked without even reversing herself.

"At sunset," came the reply.

"Thankyou," Kigva said, but the woman had already moved off. She found the feather merchant's house by watching in the street for the cloaked women hurrying into one particular dwelling. She joined a small party of them, pulling her hood up over her head to shield her face as they were all doing.

The meeting began. Kigva was surprised to see the headmistress of the Pleasure Guild step forward, throw back her hood and address the gathering.

"Women of Hetar," Gillian said, "it is past time that our voices were heard. For too long have we been silent and docile while our leaders have brought the people of Hetar to poverty. Meanwhile, they have grown richer. Now Gaius Prospero, whom I well know, claims that this land across the Sagitta is a danger to us. That we must attack them before they attack us. He lies! And we all know he has lied to us before. This is not to protect Hetar. It is to enrich the emperor and his friends. We must resist this latest assault on Hetarian families that will only weaken us.

"Terah is a peaceful land. For centuries the Coastal Kings have traded with them, but never have the Terahns allowed any Hetarian to put a foot on their soil or even sail within sight of their coast. And yet Gaius Prospero claims they are a danger to us? How? He would risk the lives of our men for a war that need not be fought. But the Crusader Knights and the Mercenary Guild grow restless and he fears them.

"Our emperor is also a greedy man. He seeks the wealth of Terah. Not for Hetar and its folk, but for himself and his cronies. Look how we were told that the Outlands posed a danger to Hetar. That if we would conquer it, its lands would be divided among our citizens and its people would give us cheap labor as slaves. Its herds, its flocks, its mountain wealth would be ours. But they are not ours. The clan families of the Outlands were gone. Their herds and flocks were gone. And Gaius Prospero and the magnates have taken the majority of the land for themselves.

"Now this emperor tells us that Terah is a threat to us, but we will conquer it and its lands, its people, and its wealth will be ours. I do not believe Terah is a threat to us, nor do I believe that its lands and wealth be ours if we conquer it. They will be Gaius Prospero's and the magnates'.

"Many men will die in this attempt and there is no guarantee that Hetar will prevail over Terah. Our men must sail across the Sagitta, and they do not know what awaits them when they get to the other side. We know so little of Terah, my sisters. But Ido know that if we attack this peaceful place they will resist. Whether we take it or not matters little. Our men will be killed. Who will take care of us when that happens?

"The other provinces are divided in this matter. The Shadow Princes will not aid us, nor will the Forest Lords. The Coastal Kings do not like Gaius Prospero, especially now he has taken their lands for himself and his friends and their vessels for this ill-advised venture. They cannot defy him openly, but they will do their best to thwart him. Only Squire Darah, the governor of the Midlands, sits in the emperor's pocket."

A woman stood up. "I am from the Midlands. Most of our sons have been conscripted to work in the factories of the Coastal Kingdom or as servants to the Mercenaries or the Crusader Knights. Our farms are old and the land tired. We were promised new lands, but few have been forthcoming for us. My brother and his family died last winter in the Outlands because they could not afford to keep the little house they built warm. Now my two oldest sons slave in the factories for the magnates and my younger one was recently taken to serve the Guild of Mercenaries as a servant lad. My daughters and I are left to work our land with my crippled husband. They would have taken him, too, but for his infirmity. Where is the justice in that?"

"There is no justice in Hetar any longer," another woman said sadly.

"No, there is not," Lady Gillian agreed. "Our once-proud country with its laws and its customs no longer exists. But why should we stand idly by as Hetar slides further into chaos?"

"We are but women," came the answer. "It is not our duty to rule or to instruct our men in that manner. It is tradition in Hetar that women are the lesser."

"Why should we be?" Lady Gillian asked her audience. "We manage the Pleasure Houses. We manage our families. Those of you wed to men of business more often than not are involved with your husbands' work. We bear the children of Hetar and teach them. A life of pampered and privileged leisure may be fine for some, but even those women will lose all they have if we do not stop Gaius Prospero and his minions from forcing us into a war that need not be fought. Will those men care for Hetar's widows and orphans? Have they done so in the past?" Lady Gillian looked out at the other women. "You know they have not. How many of you have taken in your sisters and their children? We do not need another war!"

"You say that this Terah is not a threat to us," a voice came from the crowd. "But how do you know that for certain? Do the men who are our leaders not know better than you?"

"Nay,they do not, " came the quick reply. And then Lady Gillian held out her hand to a shrouded figure who had been standing near her. "I bring you proof positive, women of Hetar. I bring you the Domina of Terah herself. Lara, daughter of Swiftsword and Ilona, queen of the Forest Faeries. She is a child of Hetar as are we all."

Stepping forward, Lara pushed back the hood on her cloak, smiling at the gasp from the large group of women crowded into the feather merchant's house. "I come in peace, my sisters, and bring you greetings from my husband and dear lord, Magnus Hauk, Dominus of Terah. As Lady Gillian has told you, Terah is a peaceful place. We wish no war with Hetar. If the truth be known the Terahns desire nothing more than to be left alone to pursue their crafts, which have been sold here in Hetar for several centuries. We are not a warlike nation, but we will protect ourselves if we are attacked."

"You say you are of Hetar, yet you speak for Terah," said a woman.

"I was born in Hetar and lived my early years here, but I am now the wife of Terah's ruler, and it is fitting that I take his land for my own."

"You have magic," another voice said.

"I do," Lara replied, "else I should not be here tonight to greet you all and answer your questions. My magic has grown stronger over the years, but I have used it only for good-except once when I used it to punish someone who was most wicked."

"You say Terah is a peaceful place and means Hetar no harm," a woman near the front said. "Why should we believe you? It is said you betrayed Hetar."

"And who tells you that?" Lara said with a small chuckle. "Gaius Prospero? Do you know why he speaks ill of me, my sisters? Because he lusted after me and I refused him. Now he would lead the men of Hetar into a war as he led them into the Winter War. Do you recall the seven carts piled high with the dead that were driven to his door when that debacle concluded? There are surely some of you in this room tonight who lost loved ones then."

A murmur of assent arose from among the crowd.

"It is said your magic caused those deaths," a woman finally said.

"I used no magic in the Winter War," Lara told them quietly. "But I did fight by the side of my then-husband, Vartan of the Fiacre, who was later murdered in a plot fostered by Gaius Prospero. Hetar invaded the Outlands and tried to enslave two of the clan families. Gaius Prospero believed they were weak and disunited, but they were not. The five other clan families came to the aid of their brothers and sisters and drove Hetar from their lands."

"You fought by your husband's side?" a voice asked, disbelieving.

"She lies! The clan families are a myth. There was no one in the Outlands when we reclaimed it. It was empty and fertile land," another voice cried out.

"Land confiscated by Gaius Prospero and his friends," a third voice said.

Lara shrugged off her long enveloping dark cloak. She was garbed in the leather pants and the cream silk shirt she had once favored. "I do not lie," she told the gathering. Then reaching back over her shoulder she withdrew Andraste, her sword, from her scabbard and swung it over and around her head. "Sing, Andraste!" she commanded the sword. "Sing for the women of Hetar, I pray you!"

It was then that the women saw in the exquisitely decorated hilt of the sword the head of a woman whose emerald eyes opened and fixed them all with a fierce stare. Then the sword began to sing in a deep and dark voice."I am Andraste! I will drink the blood of the invader, and the unjust as is my right! Let Gaius Prospero and those who follow him beware my sting!"

Lara placed the sword before her, Andraste's stern face looking out at the women. "I was taught to use this weapon by Lothair, a Shadow Prince," she explained. "I am a woman first, but when I must be I am a warrior. As for the lies told you about the Outlands, it was my magic that removed the clan families to a place of safety from the danger Hetar posed for them. They, too, were peaceful folk, content to care for their flocks and herds, their gardens and mines." Lara did not mention the Shadow Princes' part in taking the clan families to the New Outlands. If the women believed that she alone was responsible for the rescue they would believe her magic even stronger than it was, and that was not a bad thing.

A deep silence enveloped the room as the women took in all Lara had said to them.

Lady Gillian finally broke the quiet. "We must force the emperor to put aside his plans to invade another peaceful land. If Gaius Prospero would govern us, then he must do so fairly and justly. He and the High Council must spend their time working to overcome the problems we have here in Hetar, not in planning wars that only enrich them and impoverish us."

Lara slipped Andraste back into her scabbard. She looked out at the women. "My sisters," she said, "I beg you to dissuade Gaius Prospero from this tragic mistake. Do not invade Terah. My husband and our people stand ready to defend our lands, and we will prevail." Then she turned to Lady Gillian. "Thankyou for letting me speak," Lara said. She reached for her cloak, putting it about her shoulders. "May the Celestial Actuary give you wisdom and keep you in peace," Lara said and with a flourish of her hand she disappeared in a pale mauve haze.

Moments later she reappeared in her own chambers. Mila, her serving woman, jumped at her mistress's appearance. "I don't think I will ever get used to you doing that," she said with a nervous chuckle.

Lara laughed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." She handed Mila her long cape, and removing Andraste from her back, set the sheathed sword in her place above the hearth in the dayroom. "I'm going to lie down for a little while," she told Mila. "Being but half-faerie, I am sometimes exhausted by the appearing and reappearing."

Mila nodded. "I put a decanter of fresh-squeezed juice by your bed," she said.

Lara nodded her thanks, and entering her bedchamber changed into a loose robe and lay down, falling into a slumber almost immediately. But her sleep was troubled, as it had been in the last few weeks. She kept hearing a voice calling her name and twice now she had found herself summoned to the Dream Plain only to sense another presence but not be able to see it or communicate with it, whatever it was. Awakening after a restless few hours she poured herself a goblet of juice and sipped it thoughtfully. Something was missing, she realized, and she knew that there was only one person who could help her. She needed to speak with Kaliq, but he had been avoiding her summons. That in itself was odd and only increased her curiosity. She sensed she could not remember something-what it was escaped her.

Magnus entered her bedchamber. "How goes your campaign to undermine Gaius Prospero?" he asked her with a small smile. He flung himself down next to her.

"You're back," she said. "How is Uncle Arik? All is well at the Temple of the Great Creator? And aye, my campaign goes well, I believe."

"My uncle sends his regards," the Dominus said. "He wants to know when you will give me an heir. No female can inherit the title of Dominus, as you well know." He ran a finger down her arm. "You are looking impatient with me," he grinned.

"There will be no more offspring until I am certain Terah is safe from Gaius Prospero and his ambitions," Lara told her husband. "We have spoken on this before."

"Will we ever really be safe from Hetar?" Magnus Hauk asked his wife.