"They delay because they have not yet finished deciding how to word their manifesto, my darling," Vilia told him.

"A manifesto?Vilia, my love, surely you are jesting with me? What could the women of Hetar possibly want that they do not already have?"

"They want the freedom to decide for themselves, my lord. They don't want their husbands and their fathers telling them what to do," she told him quietly.

"But women are frail and need to be protected," Jonah told his wife. "They do not have the wisdom to make decisions for themselves. It is the way the Celestial Actuary created them. Surely you agree with me, Vilia."

"Nay, my lord, I do not agree with you. Women are strong both in body and in mind. Men may own the Pleasure Houses, but it is the women who manage them.

"Shopkeepers' wives and merchants' wives can all tell you the inner workings of their husbands' trades and businesses. Women in the lower orders all manage to keep their homes running and all women, no matter their class distinction, bear children. We have women who are healers, but dare not practice too openly lest they offend the physicians who are all men.

"Yet, my dear husband, the women of Hetar have no say in how it is governed. But now, having suffered through the late emperor's ridiculous and bumbling reign-a reign that has cost us at least half of our able-bodied male population-the women of Hetar have decided that it is time for us to take part in the government of the land," Vilia concluded.

"Ridiculous!" Jonah exclaimed.She was involved. The wife of Hetar's ruler was involved in what was going to become an insurrection unless it was stopped now. If it were discovered by his enemies-and he was not foolish enough to believe he was beloved by all-they would have a merry romp making a fool out of him. And Hetar had had enough fools ruling it.

"Nay, my lord, it is not," Vilia told him firmly. "You are in danger of becoming Gaius Prospero, Jonah. You cling to the old ways which are no longer viable for Hetar. Make a different road for yourself and take it, my lord," Vilia encouraged him.

She was right in many ways. He was becoming his predecessor except that he was not as big a fool.

Terah was blocked to them for now. Hetar had to rebuild itself and regain its prosperity, yet the council was full of the same old faces. They were dull and their ideas were stale. He needed fresh ideas to help Hetar. "If I were to set my spies to learning about the Women's Movement," Jonah said, "I would find you were implicated, my love, wouldn't I? Tell me exactly what it is these women want, and I will tell you whether I can help them."

"Wait for the manifesto, my lord," she told him. "I will see that you have an early copy of it before it is made public. That will give you time to consider what is possible right now and what isn't." She did not directly answer his question, he noted.

"You are an ambitious woman, Vilia," he said to her, and he took up her hand and kissed it, nibbling on her small knuckles.And a clever bitch, he thought silently.

"Surely you always knew that," Vilia replied coolly.

He laughed. "I knew. Very well, I will be patient and allow you to orchestrate your scheme, my darling, because I know whatever you do it will be best for me. Now tell me this other thing you would tell me."

"I am with child," Vilia said quietly.

He was speechless. He had not known if she could bear him a child and he would need an heir eventually. His mother had only recently pointed that out to him, suggesting he divorce Vilia and marry a young girl of good family who would serve him as a breeder of his progeny. Or, she had said, if he preferred he might take a second wife. Vilia at her age would surely not want to bear another child, and yet here she was telling him that she was going to do just that.

"Say something, Jonah," Vilia murmured at him. "I cannot believe I have rendered you speechless, my lord."

"I did not think you wanted any more children," he finally managed to say.

"I could have hardly given you a child while I was yet married to Gaius Prospero," Vilia replied dryly. "And a child while Gaius Prospero lived would have made you vulnerable, my lord. Now, however, your position is secure. Now is the time for you to have an heir. I am still young enough to give you two or three children. Or did your dear mother suggest otherwise? Such a troublesome woman, Husband, and one who until it appeared you were climbing the ladder of success barely acknowledged you. Yet I have always had faith in you. Faith enough to betray Gaius Prospero for you," she reminded him. "What has Farah ever done for you but use your power to gain her election as the new headmistress of the Pleasure Guild?"

"She gave me life," he said softly.

"Because she knew that your father loved her. Had he not, she would have rid herself of you, Jonah, but by keeping you she bound your wealthy father to her. Do not become sentimental about Farah at this point in your history, my love. When Rupert Bloodaxe died and his wife sold you into slavery, your mother did not protest. She let it happen because it was easier for her than having to pay for the schooling that your father had begun. Farah did not care what happened to you, my husband. She cared only about herself. Only when it appeared that you were, indeed, despite everything, becoming a person of importance did she acknowledge your existence."

"You are hard," he said to her.

"I love you, Jonah,"Vilia answered him. "I took you to my bed when you were still a slave. Your status mattered to me not at all. I will never desert you or this child of ours that I now carry. Your mother drops her poison into your ear because she sees the love I have for you. She does not know how to love, has never loved. But she understands power. And she wants no one influencing you but her."

"Aye, you are hard," he repeated, "but you are also astute, my love." He turned on his side so he might look down into her face. "If this child you carry is a son, Vilia, you will never have to fear being replaced in either my affections or my council. I know what my mother is, but having gotten her elected headmistress of the Pleasure Guild, I now need her influence. Now tell me, is she involved in this group of women? Are any of the Pleasure Mistresses?"

"Nay," Vilia said.We did not believe she could be trusted. She did not completely answer his question which told him exactly what he wanted to know and she knew it. But at least he would not know who, or how many women from the Pleasure Guild were implicated.

Jonah nodded. "It is possible," he said, "that these women can be of help to me. You accuse me of falling back into the old ways and not moving forward. But if I could aid Hetar's female population in obtaining a modicum of power I should be their hero. And while I prefer the order and civility Hetar has lost in recent years, it is entirely possible that with the best and most intelligent of our women helping to manage the government we could once again rebuild the finest of what was once Hetar." He leaned forward, and kissed her lips. "You have given me much to think about, Vilia." He bent lower, pulling aside her garment and licking at her nipples.

Vilia enclosed his head in her hands and smiled to herself. Jonah was hers and no one, not even his mother, was going to take him from her. While the magnates who owned the Pleasure Houses had chosen Farah to succeed Lady Gillian, the new headmistress was not particularly well liked. It would not be difficult to arrange an accident. She stretched her body, squirming out of her night garment, further arousing Jonah. She teased him with kisses, licks and wicked touches until he was almost whimpering with his need to be inside her and then she spread herself wide for him, crying out as he entered her lush body. "Be gentle, my love," she purred in his ear. "Remember the child." Her nails raked lightly down his narrow back as he pistoned her. Yes, Jonah was hers to command. Pulling his head to her, Vilia kissed him passionately.

When the headmistress of the Pleasure Guild learned that her son's wife was with child she shrieked with her outrage and frustration. "The bitch has done it deliberately!"

"Do not refer to my wife as a bitch," Jonah said softly. "You should be happy for me. I will have an heir at last."

"If it is indeed your child," Lady Farah snapped.

"What can you possibly mean, madam?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"She cuckolded Gaius Prospero with you while she was his wife. Who is to say she has not taken another lover now that she is your wife?"

"Anything is possible, but I am no fool. From the day Vilia became my wife she has been followed wherever she went. There is no one else. The child is mine," he told his mother. "The love slave I bought her is not fertile. I am not a fool."

"Unless, of course, when she goes to Gillian's her lover is awaiting her," Lady Farah murmured. "She was never before particular friends with my predecessor. But suddenly they are as thick as thieves. I find that most curious."

"I imagine that you would," he said, amused. "However I know why she meets with Gillian and it has nothing to do with a lover, madam. I do believe that Vilia is correct when she says that your renewed interest in me is because of my power."

Lady Farah hissed her annoyance. She was not pleased to learn that her daughter-in-law was far cleverer than she had previously thought. "You should have a second, younger wife," she finally said. "There is no guarantee that Vilia will be able to carry this child to term. She is, after all, in her late thirties. And what if it is not a son? She only gave Gaius Prospero one living son, but several daughters."

"She has promised me a son," he said implacably, "and I do not need a second wife. One wife is more than enough for me."

"I am so glad that Vilia has the gift of sight and can guarantee you a son," Lady Farah said sarcastically. "When did she gain this gift?"

"If she says it will be a son, then it will be a son. It is not like Vilia to disappointment me," Jonah told his mother. But truth be known, he, too, had wondered at his wife's conviction that the child she carried was a son. How did she know? And what if the child was indeed a female?

But Vilia insisted the child in her belly was a son. And, she told her husband, his name would be Egon. "It meansformidable, " she said.

"But if you should birth a daughter-"

"I will not," Vilia told him. There was no female in her belly. She knew. Oh yes, she knew. Just before she had realized that she was with child she had found herself upon the Dream Plain one night as she slept. She had heard a voice calling her name and then she had come face-to-face with a tall and slender man with dark eyes, and black hair. He was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes upon.

"I have been waiting for you, Cousin," he told her.

"I do not know you," Vilia said. "You are not my cousin."

"Are you Vilia, the descendant of Ulla?" the man asked her.

"I am the twelfth generation from Ulla, aye," Vilia answered him. "Who are you?" He really was lovely and there was something both intriguing and frightening about him, as well, yet she found herself fascinated by him.

"I am Kol, the twelfth generation descendant from Jorunn. Both of our ancestresses were impregnated by the great sorcerer, Usi. Before he was foully slain, Usi sent his concubines away so none would know of the seeds he had planted in their bellies. Ulla went to Hetar with her father. Jorunn was sent to Usi's brother, the lord of the Dark Lands. So as you can see we are related by blood, my beautiful cousin."

"Why did you attempt to invade Hetar?" she asked him.

"Because I wanted your lands," he told her with a charming smile. "And as your emperor was a weak fool, I thought to take advantage of him. If Terah had not aided you Hetar would now belong to me. I still want it but I shall gain it in another way," Kol told her. He reached out and drew her into his arms. His hand caressed her face. "You are a beautiful woman, Cousin," he told her, "and I would take pleasures with you."

Suddenly there was a wide black silken couch with a single broad rolled arm before her, and her night garments seemed to have dissolved, leaving her naked. Kol was naked, too, and Vilia's eyes widened as she viewed his massive organ. She gasped. He had two manhoods! A prominent long and thick one and a thin silvery one with a pointed tip much like an arrow. She had never seen anything like it and she was fascinated in spite of herself. But it was nothing more than a dream, she reasoned, and you could do whatever you wanted in a dream. And she wanted to take pleasures with this man who called himself her cousin.

And yet she demurred. "I do not know," she told him.

"It is but a dream,Cousin, " he murmured in her ear, one arm slipping about her waist while his other hand began to play with one of her breasts.

Vilia felt as if every ounce of resistance had drained from her body. She didn't want to repel this man. She wanted to lay with him and make love. She would never in her reality be unfaithful to Jonah for she loved him. But this was naught but a dream. Oddly, she already felt wet and her love bud was throbbing with its need. She moaned as he dipped his dark head and began to suckle upon the breast he had been toying with but seconds before. "Aye, I want to take pleasures with you," she whispered as he lay her on her back and straddled her as she spread herself wide for him. Her breath was coming in short hard bursts. She wanted him!"Hurry!" she begged him.

Kol laughed, and without another word drove himself deep into her eager body with his dominant rod while his lesser rod pushed between her buttock cheeks and buried itself in her fundament.

Vilia attempted to shriek with her surprise but Kol put his hand firmly over her mouth and shook his head at her.

"Nay, Cousin, you must take both. Cease being afraid and realize that you like it," he whispered. "Note the lesser rod will remain still while I am able to thrust myself back and forth within your delicious hot sheath." He pumped her vigorously until Vilia was weak with exhaustion.

She had reached her pleasure point several times now but he seemed not to be satisfied. She could feel both of his rods quite distinctly. They were swollen and throbbing within her lusty ripe body. Her lips felt raw with the kisses he was pressing upon her, yet she still wanted more of him. Vilia wrapped her legs about the man riding her and felt him slip even deeper into her body. "Yes!" she hissed at him, and Kol smiled down at her as he worked her harder and her nails raked his back ferociously.

She is a juicy piece of lust,he thought, as he used her lush body to satisfy himself. Penned within his castle he had been unable to visit his women except upon the Dream Plain, but none had satisfied him. Until now. The carnal creature now gasping and moaning beneath his attentions pleased him well. She was newly with child by her husband, but his juices when he released them would bathe the tiny creature growing inside her with his essence. It would be almost as if he had created the child himself. And he planned for that child to one day accomplish what he had been unable to do. Conquer! His sons, he knew, would spend more time fighting each other than spreading darkness across the face of the land. But this child his cousin carried would be a perfect combination of both Vilia and Jonah-a man after his own heart, Kol thought. Perhaps one day he would visit him upon the Dream Plain.

The woman under him was about to faint away. "You are going to have a son, Vilia," he whispered in her ear. "Trust me,my cousin, that you will bear Jonah a son. You will name him Egon for it means formidable and he will be a great conqueror." Then Kol let his lust burst forth and Vilia swooned with the power she felt filling her.

When she awakened she was in her bed, amid a tangle of bedclothes. It was almost dawn and Jonah, as was his custom, was already in his library with his secretary, Lionel. Vilia reached down and touched herself between her legs. She was wet, sticky and naked. She knew she had gone to sleep in a light night garment, but even after she had gotten up and looked around her chamber, she could find no trace of it. Her lips felt raw, as if they had been kissed over and over again. Her nipples were tingling and sore as if they had been sucked and sucked upon. Of course it had been a dream. A terribly real dream, but a dream nonetheless. And yet it had seemed so real....

When word finally reached Terah that the Lord High Ruler's wife was expecting a child, Lara was not pleased. "I had hoped that if Jonah remained childless Hetar would continue to flounder. This child, especially if it is a son, will be a rallying point."

"They are an ocean away from us, my lady," Magnus Hauk reminded his wife. "Hetar does not exist for us any longer."

"I wish that were true," Lara murmured. Magnus Hauk, by virtue of the time in which he lived, was an insular man. It did no good to argue with him. Instead she waited until her husband slept, then she transported herself from the privacy of her little magic chamber into Lady Gillian's house where she was warmly greeted.

"You have heard our news then," Gillian said.

"It is certain?" Lara wanted to know.

"Aye. She proclaims it is a son and that she will call him Egon," Gillian replied. "I see you are with child also."

"It was time that the Dominus had a son," Lara answered. "Tell me, how goes the attempt to get women into the government? Have you made any progress?"

"Indeed we have," Gillian responded. "I believe that the Lord High Ruler is going to support us to a certain extent. Lady Vilia has said he is interested and agrees it is past time that the women of Hetar had at least some voice in what happens to them."

"Interesting," Lara remarked. "He obviously is not entirely certain of his position and seeks your influence and help."

"What does it matter, my lady Domina," Gillian remarked, "as long as we get our slipper into the door?"

Lara laughed a short laugh. "I am amazed to find Hetar ahead of Terah in this matter. Perhaps it is time I put my efforts to helping my own people. You obviously have everything well in hand here in Hetar. You have my permission to call me should you ever need me or my help." She began to fade away.

"Wait!" Gillian cried and when Lara had rematerialized she said, "Will you not continue to aid us, my lady Lara?"

"I do not believe that you need my help now, my lady Gillian. You have a strong group that still remains passionate. Lord Jonah knows what you want and appears willing to help you. There is naught more I can do for you."

"But what if Jonah is simply placating his wife who carries his child?" she wondered. "What if he is trying to learn more about us so he can arrest us?"

"You do not need me to tell you what to do if that should prove the case," Lara said. "You are capable of making your own decisions. You must accept the consequences of taking responsibility." She leaned forward and kissed Gillian's cheek. "Farewell, my friend," she said. And then Lara was gone in her mauve mist. And Lady Gillian had to admit that the faerie woman was right.

THE SUMMER HAD gone, and now autumn was almost over. Lara was slipping slowly back into the contentment she had once known with her first husband, Vartan. Kemina had been right in her advice. Reaching up she touched the crystal star that hung from its gold chain about her neck.You have been silent of late, Ethne. Have you nought to say to me any longer?

For the moment you do not need me, Lara,her faerie guide said.To be honest with you, I have welcomed the respite from the tumult that usually surrounds you.

Lara laughed softly.It is almost like it was in Vartan's time, isn't it? I grow fat with child and am content with my life and my family.

Ethne chuckled, sounding like water running over a bed of little rocks in a forest stream.You've done much, my child. Rest is not a bad thing. How grows the child, this son you will give the Dominus?

He seems more restless in my womb than the others.

It is the sign of a brilliant creature. One who will lead his people,Ethne answered.

Will he have magic like the others?Lara wondered.

I do not know, my child. But given your bloodlines I would expect that he will have some magic about him.

Poor Magnus.Lara giggled softly, and Ethne chuckled again.

As her belly swelled Lara drew closer to her children. Dillon was shooting up into a giant of a boy. He was his father's image and gave evidence that he would one day be as tall as Vartan had been. He longed to leave Terah and attend the school of the Shadow Princes. Even without training his powers were growing. Lara found him in her private chamber one evening playing Herder with her half brother, the faerie prince, Cirillo.

"How did he get here?" she demanded to know.

Both boys looked nervously at her.

"Do you want me to speak to Mother?" she asked Cirillo who paled.

"I brought him," Dillon said quickly. "It's an easy spell, Mother."

"You are not to cast it again," Lara said sternly. "If you want to visit with your uncle I will bring him to you, Dillon. I am astounded that both of you would be so cavalier as to use magic when neither of you has been properly trained. Magic is not just words, and you, Cirillo, should know that better than Dillon, for you are faerie. Go home!" She waved her hand strongly at him and Cirillo tumbled over himself as he disappeared. Lara put an arm about her son. "I understand, Dillon, I truly do, but you must be patient."

"It seems so long until next autumn," he sighed.

"Patience is something you should learn to cultivate, Dillon," Lara told her son. She ruffled his dark hair. "You are not to come in here again without my permission," and he sighed again, causing Lara to smile over his head.

Anoush seemed to grow up a little bit that icy season. She was tall like her brother and slender. She had Vartan's dark hair and blue eyes but her profile was delicate. While she didn't look quite like Lara, it was obvious she was going to be beautiful one day. She kept the magic beginning to grow within her well masked for she was not yet certain that she even wanted it, and of course the choice would be hers.

As for Lara's littlest daughter, Zagiri, she was a mischievous and adventurous child who seemed to need far more watching over than her siblings. With her dark blond hair and her turquoise eyes she was her father's child in every way. Lara worried that when Magnus Hauk's son was finally born Zagiri would find herself relegated to second place. She was not a child who liked being put aside and she adored her father. Zagiri was quick and like her siblings excelled at her lessons. She was plainly Master Bashkar's favorite student for she had the habit of rhyming and making up stories, and her tutor, being Devyn-born, appreciated her talent, especially when she composed music to accompany her tales.

The Icy Season set in. Terah's trading ships were all in port, for the Sagitta was not a hospitable place at this time of year. The vessels would be refitted and repaired over the coming months in preparation for the next trading season. In the villages the Terahn folk crafted the goods that would go to Hetar. In the warm weather they would tend to their livestock and gardens.

When the Icy Season was half over, the time came for Lara's child to be born. The Dominus's mother, Lady Persis, had traveled from her own home up the fjord and through the snows to be there when her grandson arrived. She arrived wearing the beautiful fur cloak that Lara had given her when Lara had wed the Dominus. Because it had been fashioned through magic, the fur cloak always appeared as if brand new. The Dominus's mother loved it dearly. Lady Persis was not a woman to mince words but she was in awe of her faerie daughter-in-law.

"So, at last you are giving Terah an heir," she said as she settled herself into a comfortable chair in the great hall of the castle, accepting a goblet of rich wine.

"I have already given Magnus one child," Lara replied, amused.

"Zagiri is a female and cannot rule Terah one day," Lady Persis said. "This is not Hetar, where I hear the women of the land are suddenly involving themselves in how it is governed. Ridiculous! We all know what we are good for and governing is not it."