"It was very brave of you to go into the tavern and listen, Corrado," Lara told him. "Did you learn the date they have scheduled to sail forth?"

"They were to sail in three days' time, Domina."

"So with any luck, they are three days behind you," Magnus Hauk said.

Corrado laughed. "They would need a great deal of good fortune, my lord. More than likely they are still struggling out of the harbor of the Coastal Kings who have refused to partake in this venture. They have trained the more intelligent among the Hetarians to manage the ships, but will not sail with them. New ships had to be built to transport men and weapons. They found the merchant ships would not do, and besides, the captains of those merchant ships would not put them in the hands of strangers, especially as those ships are alive, and house sea spirits."

"I will contact my mother and have her raise the fog bank off our coastline," Lara said to her husband. "They will get no closer than a hundred miles." She hurried off to her private chamber, and pouring water from a stone pitcher into her golden reflecting bowl Lara looked into the crystal liquid and called to her mother to come to her.

"Good morning, darling!" Ilona's voice echoed about the chamber.

"Hetar has set sail or is attempting to, Mother," Lara told her parent. "The emperor could not be deterred in his foolishness. Will you set the fog you promised Magnus a hundred miles off the coast, please?"

"Oh, I can do much better than that," Ilona chuckled. "Within the hour all of Hetar's little fleet will be thoroughly encased in a fog as thick as a mutton stew. The only way they will be able to escape it will be if they become turned about and are sailing toward Hetar." She laughed merrily. "And I believe I shall even conjure up a few fearsome sea monsters to frighten them even further."

"Don't hurt them, Mother," Lara said. "Their ships are peopled by fools, incompetents and innocents."

"I shall let them sail about in the fog until their water and foodstuffs are almost gone," Ilona said. "Then perhaps one fierce storm to buffet them the night long and they will be ready to return home, for they will be well terrified at that point. With their water and food gone they will be glad to see Hetarian shores again. I doubt Gaius Prospero can get them back to sea for another year, if then," Ilona chortled.

"And it will certainly prove a costly venture that yields absolutely no return," Lara noted. "Thankyou, Mother."

The queen of the Forest Faeries flashed her daughter a brilliant smile and then was gone from the surface of the reflecting bowl, and when Lara waved her hand over the vessel the water itself vanished from the bowl leaving it completely dry. Lara placed it back on its shelf and went to find her husband, so she might relate to him her mother's plans for the Hetarian fleet.

Both Magnus Hauk and Corrado laughed heartily when Lara told them her mother would send several sea monsters to be clearly seen by the Hetarian ships.

"They are sure to wet themselves," Corrado chuckled. "There won't be a dry pair of breeches to be had and their ships will stink of piss."

Within the hour as Ilona had promised, the Hetarian fleet found itself encased in a thick fog. The watchtowers along the Terahn coast reported that they could see a thick wall of gray sitting atop the horizon. Aboard the Hetarian ships there was consternation. There should be no fog upon the sea at this time of year, yet the mist was so thick they could not see a hand before their faces, let alone another vessel. Several ships hit one another over the next few hours. And then night came.

The sea surrounding them was flat. They could hear nothing but murmuring sounds of confusion coming from the ships around them. The sky was not visible at all, so there were no stars by which they might plot their course. And all about them an eerie silence prevailed. Fifteen ships had set sail, each carrying a full crew of five hundred Mercenaries, and eighty Crusader Knights. Once they reached Terah and sent back word, another fifteen ships would follow them. Over the next ten days three of the Hetarian ships escaped the fog only to find themselves back where they had started. Their inexperienced captains drew straws and two of the ships returned into the fog to seek the rest of the fleet while the third ship remained skirting the edges of the mist.

Aboard the fog-bound ships, panic began to ensue as the rations grew smaller and the water barrels began to empty. Reaching Terah was no longer an option for the Hetarians. Escaping the fog that encased them was. The air about them remained still and hot. There was not the faintest hint of a breeze and even breathing became difficult. Over the last few days the inhabitants of the ships had been badly frightened at various times by great sea dragons, some with blue and green scales, others with red and green scales, and all with long graceful necks and heads with small horns, rising from the sea around them to peer curiously down upon the vessels bobbing in the calm waters. Several of these monsters nibbled upon the ships' masts. And one mercenary leaning over the side of his ship puking his supper suddenly found himself face-to-face with a beast who swallowed him whole and then regurgitated the man back onto the deck with a disgusted snort. Both the mercenary and the sailor who had been next to him died of their terror, to the consternation of those about them.

And then early one evening, lightning began to blaze in the foggy skies. Thunder rolled across the sea as it began to rise and roil. Darkness fell and the storm became ferocious. The Hetarian fleet was tossed upon the waters, up one side and down another. Enormous waves crashed over the ships. The men were unable to control their vessels, and one by one they sank beneath the waves, carrying all who had embarked with the fleet to their deaths.

The only ship to survive was the single one that had remained outside the fog. It had seen the lightning and heard the thunder within the thick gray mist, but the sea surrounding that one ship had remained calm. When the morning came, the sunrise splashing across the blue waters of the now peaceful Sagitta and tinting the gentle waves golden, the sailors upon the surviving vessel saw to their horror that the waters were strewn with the wreckage of the fourteen other ships and the bodies of all those who had sailed upon them. The wind in its favor, the remaining ship returned to its port in the harbor of the Coastal Kings to report what had happened.

WHEN KING ARCHERON, the emperor's governor of the former Coastal Kingdom, now the Coastal Province, heard the tale told him by the captain of the surviving vessel, he smiled grimly. He had warned Gaius Prospero not to embark upon this ridiculous venture. Terah was no danger to Hetar and with Lara as wife to its ruler, it was certain to be protected by strong magic. Archeron grew angry.

"Eight thousand four hundred men lost to the sea, dead because of this ridiculous venture! Seven thousand mercenaries! Eleven hundred and twenty Crusader Knights, and two hundred and eighty incompetent men forced to sail ships they did not know how to sail!" the Coastal King raged.

"You must send a faerie post to the emperor," one of his fellow kings said cautiously. "He must be advised not to allow the second half of the fleet to sail."

"Will he listen?" another king asked nervously.

"Probably not," Archeron answered, "but I will not give the order sending them to their certain deaths. We all know Terah is no danger to us. Now we also know that strong magic is protecting it from any attack by Hetar. That fog bank that arose and surrounded those ships was no natural occurrence. And the storm that destroyed the fleet? Who among us has ever faced a fierce storm at sea amid a thick fog? I will write to the emperor in the strongest terms that his attempt to conquer Terah must be abandoned."

"If the women in The City learned of what has happened it might save the other half of the fleet," the king named Balasi ventured softly. He was not known as a brave man, so they were all surprised to hear his suggestion. "They say this movement against the war is very strong and that the emperor hoped a quick and easy victory against Terah would silence it for good. But when word of this disaster is made known, who knows what the women will do, Brother Archeron?"

The other kings nodded in agreement.

"I would protect the remaining men of the fleet," Archeron said. "Are the rest of you brave enough to support me in this matter? Or do I stand alone?"

"We will support you," Balasi replied, and the other kings murmured, "Aye!"

"Can your son, Arcas, help us at all?" King Pelias asked Archeron.

"I will not ask him," Archeron responded. "You all know I have disowned him. I have no son. And besides, I have it on the best authority that he spies for Lord Jonah, the emperor's right hand. Given the opportunity, Arcas would betray us all once again as he has betrayed us in the past. Where is my secretary?"

A hovering servant hurried to fetch Archeron's secretary. When the man had come, Archeron dictated a terse letter to Gaius Prospero informing him of the disaster visited upon the Hetarian fleet. He told the emperor in no uncertain terms that he would not give the order to the remaining fleet to embark to their own doom, for Terah was obviously protected by great magic. And all of the Coastal Kings were in agreement with him. If Gaius Prospero wanted to conquer Terah he would have to find another way. When the letter had been written and signed by all the Coastal Kings, it was dispatched by faerie post to The City.

Upon reading Archeron's missive, Gaius Prospero flung the parchment from him, and began to rant. "He dares to say he and his fellow kings will not obey my orders? It is treason! Perhaps it is time I kicked his dignified ass from his throne and replaced him with Arcas. I did after all promise the weasel that he would serve me as governor of the province one day. At least I can control Arcas."

"My good lord," Jonah murmured, "I know how upset you must surely be by this betrayal of your governor, but Arcas is indeed a fool, as you have so often said. If you sent him to the Coastal Province the kings would not obey him and I am quite certain Archeron himself would cut his son's throat. I regret to tell you that word of this disaster is already spreading throughout The City. We will have to do all we can to put down Lady Gillian and her women. This is a terrible loss for Hetar. This is not seven wagons of dead driven into The City. This is over eight thousand men, mostly Mercenaries and Crusader Knights. This is the cream of our defense and now it has been halved."

"It is that damned faerie woman again!" the emperor snapped. "If I had known what troubles that exquisite girl I once sold was going to create for me, I would have taken my pleasure of her and seen her strangled afterwards!"

"Alas, my lord, hindsight is no real gift," Jonah said dryly.

Gaius Prospero looked sharply at his good right hand, but Jonah's face was its usual emotionless mask. The emperor wondered if Vilia took pleasures with her new husband. He somehow could not see Jonah sweaty with passion.

There was a soft knock upon the door and Jonah's servant, Lionel, entered. "Forgive me, my lord emperor, my lord, for interrupting, but an urgent message has just been brought from Squire Darah of the Midlands."

"What is it?" Gaius Prospero demanded to know.

Lionel beckoned to a shadowed figure in the door and a man entered into the chamber. "My lord, the messenger," Lionel said.

"Well, what have you to say?" Gaius Prospero shouted impatiently.

"My master, Squire Darah, sends me to tell you that creatures he believes to be Wolfyn are streaming forth from the forest and laying waste to our Midlands. Fields are being fired, livestock slaughtered, women and children carried off. Squire Darah requests your aid, my lord emperor. We are doing our best to hold them off, but our men are few, and most are old. They cannot fight these creatures."

Gaius Prospero looked surprised. "I thought the Wolfyn were but a legend me ant to frighten naughty children," he said to Jonah.

"All legend is rooted in fact, my lord," Jonah answered. This was not good. He had hoped to use the disaster in the Coastal Province to help him unseat Gaius Prospero.

"I cannot help your master," Gaius Prospero finally said. "All of our mercenaries are in the Coastal Kingdom, for the invasion has begun. There are less than a thousand Crusader Knights here in The City and they are mostly elderly. Besides, we will need them to defend us should these Wolfyn come here."

Squire Darah's messenger look both outraged and devastated.

"What the emperor means," Jonah quickly put in, "is that we must prepare The City for any attack by these Wolfyn, but we could spare you one hundred Crusader Knights to help you mount your own defenses and train your few men. Is that not so, my lord?" Jonah looked encouragingly at the emperor.

And to his credit Gaius Prospero understood his good right hand. "Yes! Yes! Of course I will send you a small force to help out," he said.

The Squire's messenger knelt and kissed the emperor's hand fervently. "Thankyou, my lord! Thank you!"

"Lionel," Jonah said sharply. "Make the arrangements."

"Yes, my lord," came the answer. Lionel escorted the messenger out.

"Well, now," Gaius Prospero said, "what mischief is this and why did the Forest Lords not warn us of this new peril? We must quickly recall our forces from the coast. And send to Lord Enda, the Head Forester, for an explanation."

"At once, my lord," Jonah said. He bowed to his master and then hurried out. He had to apprise Vilia of this new and sudden danger that faced them all. They would have to decide how to use it to their own best advantage. Gaius Prospero's time was fast coming to an end. Jonah smiled one of his rare smiles. He could almost taste the power that would soon be his.

"HOW COULD YOU allow all those men to die?" Lara demanded of her mother. She had just learned the depth of the tragedy that had afflicted the Hetarian fleet.

"You have one weakness, my daughter," Ilona replied. "You yet have mortal compassion in your heart, even for your enemies. Destroying that fleet was necessary to protect Terah. And only half the fleet had put to sea. The second half was meant to follow after Hetar reached Terah."

"Was my father among those you slew?" Lara asked.

"Nay. He was on the vessel that was spared," Ilona said. "I suppose some part of me still cares for him or perhaps my love for you caused me to keep him safe."

"Well, some good has come of it all," Magnus Hauk said.

"What possible good could come from the deaths of over eight thousand men?" Lara wanted to know.

"Hetar is now very afraid of us," the Dominus replied. "They have recalled their armies. It is not likely they will consider attacking us again until the memory of what has happened fades from their history."

"You have a greater problem now," Ilona said. "The reason Hetar recalled their troops is that they cannot fight a war on two fronts. The Twilight Lord has sent the Wolfyn into Hetar. He put them by means of his magic into the forest and from there they spread out into the Midlands. The City is already scrambling to protect itself."

Lara grew pale, and feeling faint, clutched at a chair to steady herself.

Seeing this the Dominus asked, "What is it, my darling? What is distressing you so?" He reached out to put an arm about her, but Lara pulled away.

Mother!She spoke silently to her parent.My secret cannot be kept any longer. Kol is following through on his threat, and eventually he and Magnus will meet. He will tell the Dominus of our time together, of the sons I bore him, and even if I deny it Magnus will always have some doubts. It is the nature of mortal man, and my husband may never trust me again. I must tell him of that lost time, for if I do not he will always believe me untruthful.

Do not tell him quite yet,Ilona said.Not until you are carrying his son. That way what will at first seem to him a betrayal will be softened.

We are about to be forced into a terrible war. Is this really the time to give Magnus his son?Lara asked her mother.

Under the circumstances, it is the best time,Ilona told her daughter.And Kaliq and I will explain to Magnus why this part of your destiny was necessary, not so much for you, but for our worlds. He may not be happy with what has happened, but it will seem a less treacherous act.

Last night we had a most passionate encounter, and I thought it was a perfect moment to conceive a son were it not for this threat of war,Lara admitted to her mother.

Ilona looked closely at her daughter, and then she smiled.It wasa perfect moment, she said with a small emphatic smile.If we love, sometimes the moment is chosen for us.

Do you mean...Oh, Mother, thankyou!

"Are you all right, my darling?" the Dominus asked his wife.

Lara nodded in the affirmative. "I just grew dizzy for a moment," she said.

Immediately Magnus Hauk became alert. "Do you think...Is it possible?" He didn't dare to finish the

sentence. But his face was hopeful.

Lara blushed. "Perhaps," she said. "My mother seems to think so."

"It would certainly account for your overreaction to the sinking of Hetar's fleet," Ilona remarked. "I

mean, really Lara, these people were out to violate Terah's sovereignty and attack your people. Surely you remember what happened the last time Hetar annexed territory that was not their own. The Tormod and the Piaras clan families suffered greatly."

"It is a son?" he asked. "It will be a son," Lara promised her husband. "Mother, we need Kaliq now." "Now?"Ilona questioned her daughter sharply. "Now," Lara replied. Kaliq! Come to us!the queen called and when the prince appeared, his white robes swirling about him, Ilona silently explained the discussion that had taken place earlier between her and Lara. And she would tell him now of Kol?the prince said. She has no choice,Ilona responded.Terah will need to help Hetar and to do that both Lara and Magnus must stand together. My daughter cannot do that if she is living in fear of Kol revealing his relationship with her. He hopes by doing so to separate Lara from Magnus. To give her no choice but to return to him.

Even if Lara lost Magnus,the prince said,she would never return to Kol. I know that and you know that,Ilona answered,but Kol, for all his evil, is in love. Lara greeted the prince with a kiss upon the cheek, then she invited them all to sit down. "My lord," she addressed her husband, "there is something that you must know. I have not wanted to tell you this, for I fear your love for me will die once you have learned it. But I have never intentionally lied to you, Magnus. And I cannot now, no matter the consequences." She reached out and took his big hand between her two small ones. "You know of the Dark Lands beyond the New Outlands. That placed is ruled by pure evil in the person of a creature known as the Twilight Lord."

Magnus Hauk remained silent, listening carefully, absorbing her words. "I was lost to you for a year, Magnus, although your memory of that time has been taken from you to protect me, to protect you, to protect us all. Taken from everyone in both Hetar and Terah. Taken even from myself, for a time. When I was returned to the New Outlands from whence I was stolen, it appeared to you, to everyone, that you had come to bring me and the children home as you always did.

But the year before that the Munin lords came in the night and stole my memories from me and then when I awakened I was in the bed of Kol, the Twilight Lord."

"How can this be?" Magnus Hauk wanted to know.

"In time I will do my best to explain it," Lara said. "For now just let me tell the tale. Without my memories I knew not who I was. Kol told me I was his mate and wove a pretty story about how that had come about. The Twilight Lords are guided by something known as the Book of Rule. Kol was told by the Book of Rule that his mate-she who would give him a son-was a faerie woman. Twilight Lords only sire a single son a generation. He had looked into the reflecting bowl and seen me many times. He interpreted that to mean that I was the faerie woman meant to be his mate."

"Did you give him his son?" the Dominus asked her in a tight voice.

"It was part of my destiny to do so," Lara said, aching at the hurt and anger she saw in his turquoise eyes. "But before my time came, Kaliq came, and had the Munin restore all of my memories. I was horrified by where I was. More horrified at my growing belly. And most horrified by the fact that this bit of my destiny would hurt you should you ever learn. I never wanted you to know."

Magnus Hauk looked at the prince and at his mother-in-law. "Tell me what purpose was served by whoring my wife to another?" he asked them coldly.

Ilona looked infuriated by his words, but wisely held her tongue.

Kaliq, however, spoke calmly to the Dominus. "At intervals of several hundred years," he began, "the balance between the light and the dark begins to shift to the darkness. And when that happens something must be done to restore that balance. The last time this happened, Terah was almost rent asunder by the sorcerer Usi. Only the bravery of Geltruda saved your land and your people. And it was five hundred years before Lara came to you and removed the curse of Usi completely. This Twilight Lord is Usi's direct descendant, Magnus. The Book of Rule was written by Usi. He could look into the future, which he did, and see what was necessary."

"But why my wife? Are there not others like Lara who might have served this purpose?" the Dominus asked.

"There are indeed others, but none as pure of heart and as strong of will as Lara. None who could do what needed to be done," Kaliq said.

"What needed to be done that only Lara might do?" Magnus demanded.

"When I came and restored her memories," Kaliq responded, "and explained to her that only a single son was born each generation to the Twilight Lord and why, Lara cast a spell that separated the infant in her womb and created of it twin boys. When they were born, their births created chaos in the Dark Lands, which we hoped would prevent Kol's plans to dominate our worlds. You see, no one at the birth could recall which of the twins was born first. They were identical, of course. Their father has now marked them so he may tell them apart, but with each birthday they celebrate those marks shall be faded entirely in order to keep the confusion. No prince of the Twilight may be harmed in any way by their own, and so Kol is forced to raise both of his sons."

"But why was it necessary that Lara bear these children? And how could she conceive if she did not love him?" Magnus wanted to know. He was trying to understand for although he could barely look at his wife now a quick glance revealed her pain.

"That was one of the many reasons her memories were stolen from her. She did not know she was faerie or remember faerie ways," Ilona quickly put in. "She became like any mortal female and Kol was fated to impregnate her."

"And remember, Magnus," Kaliq said, "that the Book of Rule directed this."Fool! Kaliq thought.You do not deserve her, but she loves you, and so I will do whatever I have to do to make this right between you.

The Dominus turned to his wife, his face a mask of anguish. "Why do you tell me this now, Lara?" he asked her. "You have kept your secret since your return. Why now?"

She reached out to touch him, but he drew away and it was like a knife to her heart. Curse Kol of the Twilight! If only he had accepted that she was not his, nor would she ever return. But instead he was behaving like a spoiled child; if he could not have Lara then no other man would. "Kaliq felt the memories of my time in the Dark Lands would be too painful for me to bear. He arranged to have those memories taken by the Munin lords and stored away in their vault beneath the Obscura. But Kol's memories were intact and he began to invade my dreams, attempting to reach me upon the Dream Plain. I did not know who was haunting me, or why, but I realized something was wrong. That is why I went to Kaliq. He explained he had taken certain memories from me that would pain me and make our life together difficult. But I insisted those memories be returned, for I could not fight whoever was trying to get to me upon the Dream Plain without full knowledge of what had happened to me in the first place.

"The knowing has been painful to me because I knew how hurtful it would be to you, Magnus. Know that the creature I am did not betray you. I love you and I always will love you, my dear lord. I never knew that this terrible trial that was visited upon me would be a part of my destiny. I could not have imagined such a thing. Kaliq has said that the worst of it is now over. I should have never shared this with you but that the Twilight Lord has refused to accept that I do not love him, nor want him, nor will I return to the Dark Lands by his side. He has begun a war with Hetar who would have begun a war with us. And now we must go to Hetar's aid, Magnus."

"But why," he demanded again, "did you choose this time to share your misadventure with me, Lara?"