"My lord, you must face reality. You robbed this faerie woman of her memories of who she was, of her husband, of her children. Then you convinced her that she was your wife and you loved her. She was frightened and confused. You gained her trust. She did not know she was faerie, therefore you were able to impregnate her. Once her memories were restored she schemed against you, deceived you and with the help of her mentor, the Shadow Prince, she fled the Dark Lands to return to her husband, her children and their home. She does not love you, my lord.She does not love you! "

Kol leapt from his throne, picked up the dwarf and flung him down the length of the long chamber. Alfrigg landed with a loud thunk and for a moment Kol believed he had killed his chancellor. He was torn between a feeling of deep satisfaction and panic, but finally Alfrigg arose from the floor, shaking himself and running his hands over himself as if he were checking for broken bones. Satisfied he was still in one piece he reached up to inspect his head and discovered a trickle of blood. The dwarf turned and bowed stiffly to his angry master.

"I will leave you to yourself, my lord, while I attend to my wounds."

"Krell damn you to Limbo!" Kol cursed Alfrigg as the doors to his throne room closed. His chancellor was wrong. Lara loved him. He would regain her even if he had to unleash all the powers of the Dark Lands into Terah. The Shadow Prince had enchanted him so he could not leave his castle for a hundred years, but he did not have to leave Kolbyr to get her back. He could send his giants or the Wolfyn after her, after the Dominus of Terah who claimed her as his wife, after her children. But first he had to contact her upon the Dream Plain. Unless she returned to him he would destroy Terah and all that was in it. Her loyalty to the Dominus was only based upon the children they shared. Well she had given him children, too, and his sons needed their mother. He needed herand he would have her.

The Twilight Lord strode from his throne room to his bedchamber, a small, narrow, dark room, its walls and ceiling painted black. He flung himself down upon the bed, and his dark eyes closed as he reached out to her, commanded her to come to the Dream Plain. He had done this for many nights, and while he had sensed Lara's presence he had never been able to get close enough to her to treat with her. But tonight she appeared to him in a sudden burst of golden light, and he stepped back, surprised, for it hurt his eyes.

"Enough, my lord Kol! I will speak with you this night but after this nightnevermore. Why do you call me to the Dream Plain?" Lara demanded but she knew the words he would utter.

"You are shining. Your brightness is making me ill," Kol complained.

"I am more faerie than you can imagine," she told him. "I am more faerie than even I knew. I am not a creature of the half light and the darkness like you, Kol. When you had the Munin steal my memories from me you took away the knowledge of who I was and thus dimmed my light. You will not do it again."

"Come back to me," he said.

"No," Lara answered him quietly. "I will never come back to you. To live in the Dark Lands would kill me. I need the light, the flowers and the birds about me."

The brightness about her had lessened now and he could see her clearly. She was, it seemed to him, even more beautiful than he remembered. He felt his lust rising as he gazed upon her. "I need you," he said softly. "I love you and our sons need you."

"If you indeed love me, my lord, then take that love and shower it upon the sons you forced me to give you," Lara said coldly, her faerie heart hardening. Hewas a monster! And she could never forgive this creature for what he had done to her. And using his sons, Kolbein and Kolgrim, to attempt to reach out to her was unspeakable.

"You love me," he told her, his eyes changing from gray to black, glittering as he encompassed her with his burning glance. "You love me!" he repeated.

"I despise you," Lara answered him.

Her icy tone discomfited him. Was it possible? Was it just possible that she was speaking the truth? If it was then it would be unbearable. "Tell me that you love me, Lara." His voice was almost pleading. His lust for her, painful.

His love for her was weakening him, Lara realized in surprise. She had not considered that Kol could be weakened by anything. This was interesting. "I find the very sight of you repellent," Lara told him. "I do not love you, although perhaps the poor creature you created of me loved you a little. ButI do not."

Black anger rose up to fill Kol's soul with fury. "Do you believe that because I am sealed within Kolbyr that you can escape me, escape my vengeance? Consider Magnus Hauk and how he would feel if he learned you have given me what you will not give him," Kol sneered. "And what of your daughters? Perhaps I shall use my magic to bring them to my House of Women, and take them for concubines. Your eldest female child is already half-grown. And then there is your son by the Outlander." He smiled wickedly at her, but his smile faded as he jumped back to avoid the small ball of fire she threw down at his feet. It singed his robe.

"I would not consider coming after me or mine if I were you," Lara warned him. "I am capable of killing you, Kol, even as I vanquished your ancestor, Usi. Perhaps I shall just take your sons and drown them instead. I would make you beg for their lives, but in the end I would slay them without mercy," she told him.

"There is darkness in you yet, my jewel," he murmured, pleased.

"There is darkness in all of us, Kol, both mortal and faerie, but most of us learn to overcome that darkness and let the light shine within our souls. There can be no wickedness in protecting those you love, my lord."

"Do you not love our sons?" he asked her.

Lara shook her head. "They are nothing to me, Kol. Only by stealing my memories were you able to convince me that I was who you said I was. Because I did not know I was faerie-nor knew their customs, I gave you the children that you wanted. Be satisfied, Kol, with that, for there is nothing more I can or will give you."

"If you do not return to Kolbyr to sit by my side I will create havoc in both Hetar and Terah, my gem," he told her. "That, Ican do, even imprisoned as I am."

"For each blow you strike out at me, I will return two blows," Lara warned him. "Do not be confused by my beauty, Kol, or your memories of the creature you made me. I am a warrior born and I will destroy you. My sword, Andraste, longs to sip your blood, my lord."

"You cannot slay me here on the Dream Plain," Kol told her. "You must come into the Dark Lands to do that, my jewel. If you come, my creatures will capture you and bring you to me. When they do I will never let you go again." And suddenly he was by her side. Reaching out, his arm went about her waist. His hot breath touched the fair skin of her neck and he kissed it. "You belong to me, Lara," he said as he fondled her plump breasts. "Consider what we could do together, my precious one. We could conquer our worlds." He turned her about, his thumb rubbing across her lips. Then he kissed her in a deep, demanding kiss, his forked tongue snaking into her mouth to hotly caress her tongue while his fingers pinched the nipple of a breast with which he had been playing.

Lara sagged against him, shocked by the sudden weakness that overcame her. She struggled feebly against him as he pulled her gown up and lifting her up impaled her upon his dominant rod. She tried to scream but her throat seemed to be constricted and she could utter no sound. She felt his great dominant rod pumping and pumping within her tight sheath. She tried to awaken, but he would not permit her to do so.

"Feel my strength and my lust for you, my jewel," he murmured against her ear. "My desire and need for you is every bit as strong as your hate for me. You are yourself now, Lara, not the weak creature I made you. Yet you are about to know pleasure with me again as you did before."

"Noooo!"Lara insisted, her voice now restored. Desperately she attempted to push him away, to get free of his dark hunger. She could feel him within her. Thick and long and probing deeply. He stretched the walls of her sheath with his fierce burning and throbbing rod."Noooo!" she cried again."Noooo!"

His dark laughter echoed, surrounding her, imprisoning her with its evil."Yes! You will yield yourself to me because you have no choice, Lara. You are mine. Mine alone to command. I am your lord and master, not Magnus Hauk of Terah."

Lara screamed as she felt his boiling juices scalding her-andworse her own satisfaction as she reached her pleasure peak. And then she heard Magnus's voice calling to her and the sound of it gave her the courage to shove the Twilight Lord from her and flee the Dream Plain.

"Lara, my love, wake up!" the Dominus said to his wife. "You are having a very bad dream. Wake up, sweetheart!" He shook her gently. "Wake up."

Lara's green eyes flew open and she almost wept with her relief. Clinging to Magnus, she wept wildly.

"What is the matter, my love?" the Dominus asked his wife. "What did you dream that has frightened you so greatly? I do not believe I have ever seen you really fearful, Lara. Tell me, my darling. What is it?"

The sound of his voice soothed and comforted her. She drew a deep breath and cleared her mind. She could hardly tell Magnus what had happened, that the Twilight Lord had raped her upon the Dream Plain. How had he wielded such power over her? The Dream Plain was supposed to be a neutral place. She needed to speak with Kaliq, but she could hardly return to Shunnar having just been there. But she must summon him to her as quickly as she could. "I cannot recall what I dreamed," she lied to her husband. "But suddenly I was very frightened, Magnus, and that as you know is unlike me. Just hold me, my darling, and I will be all right," she said, horrified further by the stickiness between her thighs.

He stroked her disheveled hair quietly, curious. How could she not remember a dream that had had such a powerful effect upon her? He had awakened with the sound of her voice cryingno. And she had appeared to be thrashing and struggling against someone, but of course there was no one there. Strange, he considered, but then Lara never lied to him. If she said she could not recall her nightmare then she could not. But he wondered why. Lara lay against him and wondered what time it was and how long she had been dreaming. She could swear she could scent the muskiness of Kol's skin on hers. Could her husband smell it? She shuddered and Magnus's arms closed tighter about her.

"It's all right, my love," he told her reassuringly.

She nodded her head silently. She needed to get up. She needed to think. She needed to speak with Kaliq. Pulling away from Magnus she said, "I think I will get up and walk about a bit, husband. I would rid myself of these night terrors more easily, I believe. Go back to sleep. I am sorry to have awakened you." She arose from the bed.

"If you are certain you are all right," he said slowly.

"Whatever I dreamed," she told him, "I sense I need to move about a bit to calm my nerves." She forced a small laugh. "It really must have been quite dreadful to put me into such a state, Magnus." Bending she kissed his lips lightly. "I'll be fine, my love. Perhaps a warm bath and a stroll in our gardens."

"If you are certain," he repeated, lying back, his eyes already heavy.

"I will be fine shortly," Lara replied and then making a great effort not to hurry, she walked from their bedchamber through the passage that led to her private bath. She was already naked, for sleeping garments were but an impediment to the frequent lovemaking she and her husband shared. No attendant was about for it was obviously still the middle of the night. Lara washed herself in the small sunken shell, rinsed and took a large thick towel from the shelf nearby. She did feel better, but she was still seriously concerned by what had happened. She wafted herself to her private room so as not to disturb Magnus or be seen by the guardsmen."Prince Kaliq, heed my call," she said."Come to me from out yon wall."

Immediately the Shadow Prince appeared within the little chamber. He raised an eyebrow seeing her garbed in but a towel and he grinned. "My love, your attire is quite fetching, but I do not think the Dominus would approve of our meeting under these circumstances." Then seeing her face, he quickly amended his tone. "What is it, Lara?"

"I met Kol upon the Dream Plain tonight, Kaliq. We talked and I told him in no uncertain terms I would not return to the Dark Lands. He threatened Magnus and the children. I told him I would kill him if he touched them. But then suddenly he was by my side, touching me, kissing me. And..." She hesitated, going very pale. "He...he..."

"Say no more, my love, I understand," the Shadow Prince said. "You do not have to kill him, for I will. I have done something extremely foolish and underestimated his powers, even bottled up in Kolbyr as he is."

"Kaliq, how could this have happened upon the Dream Plain? He should not have been able to touch me at all, yet he did," Lara said.

"He took the power of an incubus into him," the prince said. "They are creatures of the darkness who can make reality of dreams. Your encounter would have killed it once Kol awoke, but he will undoubtedly have another he can use."

"Kaliq, he is so determined to regain my person," Lara told the Shadow Prince. "I am actually afraid of him, which I never was before."

"You are wise to fear evil. Did you tell Magnus of your dream?" the prince asked.

"I told him I could not remember it," Lara answered. "I do not know if he believed me. I have never really lied to him. I wish I had had Andraste with me. I think I would have sliced Kol's head from his shoulders but I could not have, could I?"

"If you treat with him again," Kaliq advised, "you must purge yourself of all emotions, Lara, my love. He and his incubus grew stronger because they fed off of your anger and then your fear," the prince explained. "The Dream Plain is neutral, but even it can be set awry by intense feelings."

"I will never deal with him upon the Dream Plain again," Lara said firmly. "He is too dangerous there, especially if I am prevented from fighting back. Kaliq, he made me feel pleasures! He is evil incarnate. He must die so that the Dark Lands can be set into even greater confusion than the birth of his sons caused. No one will dare to kill either of the twins, so they will have to wait until the Book of Rule dictates which of them is to be the next Twilight Lord. Alfrigg will see to it, for he is a stickler about the rules, and his dwarfs will follow his lead. The giants may be swayed to relinquish their loyalty to the Dark Lands if Kol is dead and we can offer them another home. It is the Wolfyn that I am most concerned about, for I suspect their fealty is to themselves first."

Kaliq nodded in agreement. "Aye," he said, "the Wolfyn will either challenge the Twilight twins for supremacy of the Dark Lands or they will run rampant out of that land to cause havoc among Terah or Hetar. They have no true civilization. They exist solely to feed their various appetites." He grew thoughtful for several long moments. "The clan families have not expanded their territories from those which Magnus Hauk gave them, have they?" Kaliq asked Lara.

"Nay, they have not, for each of them received double the lands that they had held in the old Outlands. Why?"

"If the last of the Forest Giants would relinquish their loyalty to Kol, then we could settle them in the forests beneath the mountains of the Dark Lands. It is part of Terah's New Outlands. The clan families do not stray from their own territories. They are not explorers by nature. And Terah is so large in land mass that even your husband does not know all he possesses, or what or who exists in those far places. We could resettle the giants in those far woods and as they are a solitary people, who would even know?"

"From the little Og has told us I do not believe that Skrymir and his giants will slough off their loyalty to Kol, but once he is gone from the picture it could be a different matter altogether," Lara responded. "These giants are not warlike by nature. I do not believe they will want to involve themselves in the quarrel that will erupt between the factions supporting Kolbein and Kolgrim. It will be many years before either is old enough to take up their father's mantle."

"Then we are agreed," Kaliq said quietly. "Kol must, like a poisonous viper, be defanged if we are to preserve peace in our world."

Lara nodded but then she said, "Kaliq, you know far more than you tell. Is it meant that Magnus Hauk remain my husband? If Kol can indeed reach out to him, the union I treasure can be destroyed. I do not want my family torn apart because of this damned destiny with which I have been saddled. It isn't fair, Kaliq, and while I know that life is not always fair, does not my sacrifice earn me a small bit of happiness?"

The prince sighed. "There is something your mother has not told you, Lara, but you should know. Now that we have learned that you are more faerie than mortal it is a surety that you will live far beyond a mortal's lifespan. You will be forced to stand by and watch those about you grow old, and eventually die. But the faerie race does not really grow old as mortals do. When you met your grandmother before she faded away you found her beautiful, yet she was hundreds of years old. You may not live as long as Maeve or your mother, Ilona, for you are not pure faerie, but you will live far longer than any mortal and you will have other loves in your life, Lara. For now, however, be certain that Magnus Hauk will love you until his death."

Lara was thoughtful for a moment and then she smiled at him. "I cannot believe you have given me a straight answer, Kaliq. Usually when I ask questions like that you speak to me in riddles," she gently teased him.

He chuckled but then grew serious. "This was not a time for being cryptic," hesaid. "There is going to be a war, Lara. We cannot escape it for Kol will not allow it. His plans are twofold. He desires conquest to spread his darkness and evil. And he wants you back and thinks that he can make you believe that if you will come back, he will cease warring. He will not, however. I believe he will attack Hetar first as a warning to you. He hopes if he does, you will bargain with him to save Terah, but of course he means to have Terah, too. We cannot stop him, but we can keep it brief, my love."

"I want to destroy his power," Lara said, her voice gone hard.

"I do not see how that is possible," Kaliq replied. "We cannot allow you to return to the Dark Lands. It is far too dangerous."

"Then give me the power to do it upon the Dream Plain!" Lara begged him.

"That will take time," Kaliq told her. "The Keepers of the Dream Plain must be consulted and give permission." She would not destroy Kol.He would!

"If they gave Kol permission to assault me on their territory then surely they will give me permission to slay him," Lara responded angrily.

"It is not likely the Dream Plain Keepers gave him any such permission," the prince told her. "Do you really believe Kol would even ask such a thing?"

"I would slay Kol myself," Lara said grimly. "Please, Kaliq, you must speak to the Keepers of the Dream Plain. I cannot go into the Dark Lands again while Kol lives and I am terrified of Magnus learning what has happened to me. If I am indeed to have a long faerie life then I would remain with the man I love for as long as he remains alive."

"I will speak with the Keepers of the Dream Plain, but I do not believe they will give you permission to kill another, even one as evil as Kol, within their territory," he told her.

"Then you must allow Kol to come forth from the Dark Lands," Lara said. "You know as well as I do that he will continue to call to me until he gets his way or until I kill him. I will not go to him willingly again, but after what happened tonight I do not know what he will do and neither do you. If I sleep I cannot escape him now. And I must sleep sometime, Kaliq."

"I will not persuade the Keepers to allow you permission to slay him there, but I will see if there is some way in which they can prevent him from entering there and disturbing your rest," the Shadow Prince promised.

Lara nodded. "Very well," she said quietly. "If I cannot have one, I must be satisfied with the other. T hankyou, my dearest friend. Without you as my mentor I do not know what would happen to me."

"I should go," he said softly, running a finger across the top of her towel, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Aye," Lara agreed, then she suddenly grinned at him. "I do not believe I have ever consulted with anyone attired thusly."

"It is a most fetching garment, but I suspect Magnus would not approve. And how is it that you are more concerned he learn about Kol than you standing here in your towel discoursing upon weighty matters with me?"

"Good night, Kaliq," Lara said, and she wafted herself back to her bedchamber where her husband lay sleeping. As she did, she could hear the echo of Kaliq's laughter and she smiled.What would she do without him? she wondered. From the moment he had taken her from the desert, under his tutelage her life had been amazing. Once, he had warned her not to fall in love with him, but it was he who loved her and Lara knew it. He would have liked nothing better than for her to live by his side at Shunnar, but Lara could never have been content without children nor without the constant adventure her life had become. Tossing her towel aside she crept into bed next to Magnus Hauk.

He stirred and rolled over, his arms enclosing her. "Did you speak with Kaliq garbed only in your towel?" he surprised her by asking.

"How do you know I was speaking with Kaliq?" she countered, snuggling against him. "Have you developed the gift of second sight?"

"I do not sleep soundly if you are not by my side," he said. "I awoke and you were not here. I arose and you were not in your bath although I could see you had been. I assumed that you had retreated to your private chamber and called the prince to you. Am I wrong, Lara?"

"Nay, you are not," she answered.

"What was the nightmare that upset you so much?" he asked her softly, his kiss brushing her brow.

She could continue to lie to him, Lara thought, but Magnus would not believe her; or she could tell him a truth. Notthe truth, buta truth. "I dreamed I was attacked upon the Dream Plain. It was very frightening because the Dream Plain is a neutral place and such things are not allowed to happen there. I needed to consult with Kaliq. He will speak with the Keepers of the Dream Plain for he believes an incubus managed to slip onto the Plain. It must be caught, of course, and punished or disposed of quickly. That, of course, is the province of the Keepers to decide. Forgive me for not telling you immediately, but I was so startled by what had happened I knew I must calm myself first and then go and speak with Kaliq." Lara kissed her husband's shoulder.

"What is this incubus?" the Dominus wanted to know.

"A small demon who likes to enter your dreams, change them and then feed off the emotions they create within their victims," Lara told him.

"Oh," was all he said, then, "But what were you dreaming about before this incubus crept into your dreams?"

"I honestly don't remember," Lara said casually. "Oh, Magnus, let us not discuss this any further. It was a most disturbing incident. I do not want to relive it."

"I am sorry, my darling," he apologized and kissed her lips as she raised her face to him. The kiss deepened, tongues entwined and he groaned, rolling her onto her back.

Lara took his face between her two hands. "I want to take pleasures with you, my husband," she told him. Notwant, she thought. Sheneeded him. Remembering how Kaliq had wiped away the horrors of her time in the Dark Lands, Lara now sought to wipe away Kol's earlier assault on her. Kol sought to possess and control her. But Magnus sought to give and take pleasures with her because he truly loved his wife. She kissed his mouth, his nose, his cheeks, his eyelids.She loved him! And she would not allow the Twilight Lord to destroy what was between them.

Magnus let his hands roam over her lithe body. He caressed every inch of her, his fingertips moving seemingly from memory. And then his lips began to follow the trail of delicate shivers left behind by his fingers. They slid down the curve of her slender throat, lingering in the faintly shadowed hollow to feel the thrumming of the blood coursing through her veins. His dark golden head lay for several long moments upon her chest, while he inhaled the familiar fragrance of her body. He felt her fingers tangling in his thick hair, lightly massaging his scalp.

Her beautiful breasts beckoned him onward and his mouth closed over a nipple. He suckled hungrily, grazing the tender flesh lightly with his teeth. She murmured low.

He moved one hand down to slip between her legs, stroking the soft flesh of her inner thighs, trailing down the narrow slit dividing her nether lips, pushing past them. Locating the sensitive little nub of her he teased it, and all the while he sucked on her nipple.

Lara sighed. She would not forget the nightmare in which Kol attacked her but lying now in her husband's arms as he made tender love to her, it receded into the dimness of her mind as he pushed two fingers into her love sheath. His hand was quickly drenched with her juices as he swirled them about within her tight, hot sheath. He moved his head from one breast to the other now and his fingers moved in rhythm with his lips as he pleasured her slowly, gently until she was writhing with her building hunger and he could no longer keep from joining himself with her.

"Oh yes, my darling!" Lara cried as he withdrew his fingers and mounted her. She reached for his love rod, guiding it eagerly into her sheath, sighing as he thrust deep.

Her slender limbs wrapped themselves about him as he drove deeper and deeper and deeper until Lara was almost mindless with the joy his passion engendered within her. She shuddered with her pleasure, her hands caressing his long lean body.

Magnus Hauk slowed his pace, drawing himself almost all the way out of her sheath and then slowly, slowly, pushing himself back inside her heated body. His mouth took hers in a lingering kiss that left them both breathless. "I love you, my faerie wife, and I will allow no one to harm you, awake or dreaming," he told her.

She almost wept at his declaration. If only he knew how helpless he really was among those who possessed magic. But this declaration of his love was wonderful. She tightened the muscles of her sheath about him and he groaned with delight as his juices spilled forth. What a pity, Lara thought, as she allowed herself to drift away surrounded by his arms and his love, that this was not the night to create a son for him. But that time would come, she vowed, and then she cried his name aloud as the final pleasure washed over her, leaving her weak and content.

They slept the few hours remaining of the night. It was to be their last peaceful moment for some time, for in the morning the Dominus's brother-in-law Corrado brought word that the Hetarian fleet was preparing to set sail for Terah.

CORRADO, MARRIED to the Dominus's youngest and favorite sister, Sirvat, had been lurking off the coast of Hetar, something Terahns never did. They always met their trading partners at the midpoint of the Sea of Sagitta which separated the two kingdoms. But recently with the talk of war Corrado had taken it upon himself to spy on Hetar and Lara had aided him by making the small vessel he was sailing invisible. He had gone into the harbor where the Hetarian ships were being assembled and seen the men, the supplies and the weapons being loaded upon the waiting vessels. Then he had beached his own small craft in a hidden cove and walked into the village of the Coastal Kings where he sat in a tavern and listened to the talk about him.

"And what is the talk?" Lara asked him as they sat in the Domina's private dayroom. "Is their emperor still propagating his lies about Terah?"

"Aye, but then you would have expected it, Domina," Corrado replied. "But I learned a great deal more as I ate a rather tasty fish stew. The women of Hetar are in rebellion over Gaius Prospero's latest campaign. They will do nothing to help their men. The Pleasure Houses in The City have opened their doors to the women who would come to shelter there and have refused service to all men. The new headmistress of the Pleasure Guilds is being made to look useless, for Lady Gillian is one of the leaders of this movement and she is greatly respected due to her many years in power, as well as her reputation for kindness and fairness. The women say that the emperor instigates wars, claiming that Hetar is in danger when it is not, and promises riches to everyone, yet the common folk of Hetar grow poorer with each of these misadventures. What is worse, they claim, is that their men are being killed off and the women and children are being left to fend for themselves. What kind of a world is Hetar that families do not care for one another when they lose members? Profit and acquisition seem to be their only values.

"The poor are being swept up to serve in many capacities. The men, all but the truly old, are being sent to the ships; the women and children go to the factories and to the farms in the Outlands. They are no better than slaves now. Hetar, not being a sea-faring nation but for the Coastal Kings who traded with us, is attempting to set to sea with a group of inexperienced men. If any storms should hit while they are afloat, I fear many lives will be lost," Corrado concluded. "This emperor of theirs must be totally mad to even attempt such folly."