John Swiftsword sat back down again. He thought about what his daughter had told him, and was troubled, for as he had said to his wife, Lara did not lie. But several years had passed since Lara had left the City. How much had she changed? Gaius Prospero had promised him that she would be treated well, but obviously that had not happened. What was the truth behind her disappearance? She had not really said. He had met several Forest Lords, and they were certainly not pleasant men. And she had not, according to her version of the tale, murdered her master and fled. She had fled, and when the Forester had finally found her she had slain him. Why, if the year and the day allowed escaped slaves to gain their freedom had passed?
And the sword she carried! It was beautiful, and unlike any he had ever seen. Its craftsman had obviously had much magic at his disposal. It gave him a small feeling of pride to know his daughter had become a great swordswoman. He would have never considered his delicate, beautiful Lara as a warrior. But a sword could not fight for her. It could only fight with her. She had obviously been well trained, but by who? There was so much he didn’t know, and so much he wanted to. He had four fine sons, but only one daughter. He realized Susanna was jealous of Lara. She always had been. Alas, it could not be helped now.
He wanted more time with Lara, but he strongly doubted that he would be given that time. The invasion of the Outlands was near, and suddenly he was troubled. In the last few years it had been said that the Outlands were really Hetarian, but John Swiftsword did not recall ever having heard that before. Now, however, everyone said it was so, believed it was so. Why would the government lie to them? The City had always been crowded. And if all the Midland farmers farmed the way his father once had, resting alternating fields each year, it would have been fine. But the Squire of the Midlands had decreed that all the fields must be planted each growing season. The land had worn itself out. But when John suggested resting the fields to his brother-in-law, he had been scornful of John Swiftsword’s suggestion.
“You do what you do best, John, and I’ll do what I do best,” Susanna’s brother had told him. And then his wife had scolded him for trying to tell her family how to farm, for they had grown wealthy with their enormous crops. Now suddenly the land had refused to cooperate, and they could barely feed themselves. It was all very odd.
“Sir?” Nels was at his elbow. He hadn’t even heard the slave come into the room. “The mistress says you must hurry and dress if you are to be ready when the imperial litter comes for you.”
“Aye, I had better get ready,” he agreed, and standing up he hurried from the chamber. As he went he wondered if Lara would come, or whether she would disappear.
Lara was considering the same thing even as her father thought it. “We entered the City under a cloak of invisibility,” she said. “How did Gaius Prospero know I was here? He is far more dangerous than I had anticipated.”
“Do you want to attend the emperor? Or shall we depart?” Magnus asked her. “In a single day I have seen enough of Hetar to know that I do not like these people or their ways. I would be happy to sleep in my own bed tonight in Terah. You always spoke well of your stepmother, but I find her self-centered and selfish. And your father may be a great soldier, my faerie love, but he is a weak man, I fear.”
“I know,” Lara replied. “I saw it as a girl, and I see it again now. He is a man who trusts the establishment and what they tell him. He can see no farther than the end of his handsome nose. And I have confused him, I fear, for he knows I do not lie. Yet everything I have told him is in direct conflict with what the government has told him. But do not be too hard on Susanna. She is only protecting her family.”
“She is protecting her status and her possessions,” he said grimly.
Lara laughed. “Yes, she is. As a mother, however, she has considered her four sons in all of this. How sad that my brothers, especially Mikhail, do not know of me.”
“It’s cruel,” he declared. “I saw your face when she told you. The bitch hurt you, Lara, and for that she will have my enmity. Now, do we go and dine with this emperor of Hetar? Or do we return home?”
“We dine,” Lara told him. “I want Gaius Prospero to see what I have become, and perhaps even be afraid. But first we must drink.” And she drew two small vials from her pocket, handing him one. “Poison is one of Hetar’s favorite weapons. This will protect us against anything the emperor attempts to kill us with, my husband.”
Magnus Hauk shook his head wearily, but he took the vial, uncorked it and drank down the contents as she was doing the same. “It tastes like Tera berries,” he noted.
“Your favorite,” she said with a small smile. “Now I must use magic to clothe us, for we brought nothing but what we are wearing. Ordinary folk do not travel with vast wardrobes. You must be garbed with dignity, but not too ostentatiously.” She undid the leather belt holding her scabbard and sword. “Go into the shadows unseen,” she commanded Andraste who disappeared from her hand. “There,” Lara said. “She and Verica will keep each other company this evening, and anyone entering this chamber will not see them.”
“Dignified,” Magnus reminded his wife.
“Go and wash while I consider it,” Lara told him. She considered, and then with a small motion of her hand she produced a long white tunic with short sleeves, edged in bands of purple-and-gold, along with a pair of gold sandals, which she lay upon their bed. Another gesture of the same hand brought forth a simple long sleeveless gown with a draped neckline. The iridescent gown shimmered like it had been made with sunlight and moonbeams. Lara bathed herself in the basin her husband used, and slipped the gown on along with a pair of silver sandals. Her star crystal was her only jewelry. Her hair was plaited in a single braid.
“You are so beautiful,” he said. “I fear for you, Lara.” He was both handsome and regal in his tunic, which flattered his dark blond hair and turquoise eyes.
“We are both protected,” she assured him. “We will dine with Gaius Prospero, and tomorrow we will leave the City. We will go into my mother’s world, and then to that of the Shadow Princes. Hetar may be controlled now by the greedy and wicked, but it has many good people whose voices are not heard amid the chaos. I want you to see them, too, so that should you ever have to deal with Hetar you will know there is both good and evil here as there is in all worlds, husband.” She picked up her cloak, handing him his. “Let us go now, for I am certain the imperial litter is waiting for us. The innkeeper will be quite agog.”
“Do you think it is that man who has betrayed us to Gaius Prospero?” Magnus asked her. He donned a cloak to cover his elegant garments, and Lara did also.
“Nay. We appeared to be just what we said we were. No. Someone in the street saw me and recognized me. I tried to hide my hair, but they must have known my face. And it was someone from the emperor’s household,” Lara said.
Outside the inn a simple litter awaited them. It was not a vehicle that would have drawn any attention, but they knew it was for them. Entering it they sat silently as they were borne through the streets, and through the gates of the Golden District. Gaius Prospero might have gotten himself declared emperor of Hetar, but he still lived in the same grand marble house she had come to all those years ago. The litter was set down, the curtains drawn back.
Magnus Hauk exited and extended a hand to help his wife out of the conveyance. As he turned he saw a plump man in a cloth of gold tunic coming forward to meet them.
“Lara, my dear girl,” Gaius Prospero said effusively. “It is delightful to see you again.” He kissed both her cheeks. “Your father and his wife have already arrived, but then they had a shorter distance to travel. You will surely remember my chief advisor, Jonah.”
“Of course,” Lara murmured. “And may I present my husband, Magnus Hauk, the Dominus of Terah,” she said.
The emperor and Jonah looked Magnus Hauk over most carefully. They silently agreed he was a commanding figure. But how powerful? How rich?
“I welcome you to Hetar, m
y lord,” Gaius Prospero said. “But tell me why you have come with such stealth into my realm?” He linked his arm into that of the Dominus as they walked.
“Stealth is not a word I would use to describe our visit,” Magnus replied coolly, reaching out for Lara with his free hand. “I came incognito in order to observe the place from which my wife had come. I have no desire to treat with Hetar, my lord. Indeed, if Lara’s stepmother had not seen her in the street we should not have made ourselves known to any.”
Gaius Prospero was surprised by the answer, and not just a little offended. Hetar was the greatest kingdom ever created. No other could match it. “Hetar has much to offer, my lord,” he said defensively.
“Perhaps to some,” Magnus said, “but not to Terah.”
Gaius Prospero was becoming intrigued. Was this lordling a fool that he did not see the advantages to being allied with Hetar? Was his own land an even greater place? Impossible! Hetar was the only kingdom worthy of the definition. Obviously this Magnus Hauk was attempting to gain the advantage by pretending disinterest in Hetar. Gaius Prospero almost laughed aloud with the thought. But instead he escorted his guests into his house and to the dining hall. “You will surely remember this chamber,” he said to Lara with a smirk.
“Of course,” she answered him. Her beautiful face was expressionless.
Gaius Prospero went on, turning to the Dominus, and saying, “The night I displayed Lara to the masters and mistresses of the City’s Pleasure Houses she was brought naked into this room upon a silver platter. I told them she was the sweet to complete our fine dinner,” he chortled, warming with the memory.
“Unfortunately,” Lara said sweetly, “you overplayed your hand, my lord, did you not?” She turned to her husband. “The Head Mistress of the Pleasure Mistresses’ Guild came the next day to tell Gaius Prospero that my beauty had caused great chaos among the Pleasure Houses. The women feared that I would steal their clients from them. The regular clients were threatening mayhem if they were not the first to be given one of my three virginities. So she was forced to forbid my sale to any of them.” Lara laughed lightly. “I was consigned to a Taubyl Trader, and purchased by the Head Forester. Still, you made a very comfortable profit, Gaius Prospero, considering I was scarcely in your tender care for more than a day or two.”
“You have become hard,” the emperor told her crossly.
“As a well-tempered blade, my lord,” Lara replied with a smile. “I can wield a sword now, you know. Perhaps you were told that when we returned your Mercenaries to you several years ago.”
“I was sorry to hear of your husband’s death,” Gaius Prospero murmured.
“I have another,” she replied.
Gaius Prospero laughed, and his pudgy fingers tapped her arm playfully. “Enough of our reminiscing, my lady. Ah, here are my two lovely wives, the lady Vilia and the lady Anora. Greet our guests, my dears,” he purred at them, and the two women obeyed.
They sat at the long table, lounging upon couches as they dined. Both Lara and Magnus ate and drank sparingly, a fact noticed by both Gaius Prospero and his advisor.
“Are you afraid of poison?” Jonah said low to Lara.
She turned her green gaze on him. “No,” she answered. “We are protected from such chicanery. In Terah, by choice, our meals are not so rich.”
“Is this land a good one?” he asked. “And how far from Hetar is it?”
“Am I a fool to answer your questions, Jonah?” Lara demanded of him.
“I am only making polite conversation,” he protested.
He was as thin and vulpine as ever, Lara thought. “You seek to wheedle information out of me for your benefit first, and possibly your master’s if that would be to your benefit,” she said mockingly. “Terah is where it is. Many weeks away from the farthest borders of Hetar. My husband does not dissemble with Gaius Prospero. He had no wish to treat with Hetar. He came to satisfy his curiosity. He has done so, and we will be gone by the morrow.”
“How did you get into the City?” Jonah asked, turning the subject.
“With a cloak of invisibility,” she answered him frankly. “We walked unseen past your guardsmen. Now it is my turn. How did you know we were here?”
“Aubin Prospero, the emperor’s son, saw you. He said yours was a face he would never forget, for it was the first time his father had included him in his commerce. He was eight then, but now is almost grown. He was meeting someone when he spied you speaking with your stepmother,” Jonah replied. “You once said you had no magic.”
“Once I did not,” Lara answered him.
“But now you do, and it is powerful or you should not dare to be here. You do not fear my master, or even the might of Hetar, Lara, daughter of Swiftsword,” Jonah observed. “I think you could be a dangerous enemy for Gaius Prospero to have.”
“Are you still so loyal to him then?” Lara asked him. “Or is it just that you have not gathered enough power to overthrow him yet?” And she laughed softly at the surprise in the dark fathomless eyes engaging hers. “Your secret is safe, Jonah. There is nothing Hetar has that I want. And I have no love for your master. Magnus has seen what he came to see. We will return home, and you will likely never meet us again. Your invasion of the Outlands should keep Hetar busy for some time to come, I think.”
“You know about the invasion?” He was disturbed. She was a stranger now to the City, and yet she had already heard of their plans. How much did she know? And if she was no longer associated with the Outlands, why would she care? Perhaps he was being too wary. People spoke of the coming invasion all over the City these days. Still, he was curious. “How?” he asked her.
“My stepmother mentioned it in between her pleas for us to go away before we jeopardized my father’s position within the ranks of the Crusader Knights,” Lara said. Better he not know of their allies among the lords of Hetar. “Is he to lead one of the invading forces, or did she really gain her large home because she births strong sons for the order, as she bragged to me?”
Jonah laughed. “You do not like her,” he said knowingly.
“When I helped her to elevate my father from the Guild of Mercenaries to the ranks of the Crusader Knights I did not realize how petty and venal she was. She had no style then, but she has improved somewhat by her association with the other knights’ wives,” Lara noted dryly. “But I neither like her, nor dislike her.”
“You two have been chattering forever,” Gaius Prospero said. “What do you speak about?”
“Politics, my lord,” Lara said. “In other words, nothing at all.”
A ripple of laughter erupted about the table, and then dessert was served.
Chapter
15
HIS GUESTS HAD DEPARTED back to their dwellings. Anora, his second wife, clung to his arms purring deliciously lascivious and salacious suggestions into his ear. Gaius Prospero shook her off. “Not now,” he said testily. “I have other things that need attending before I come to bed.”
“What things?” Anora demanded. “I see you will need my whip on your fat bottom tonight, Gaius. You have neglected me dreadfully of late.” She slipped her arms about his neck, pressing against him, a hand reaching down to grasp his male member.
Again he pushed her away. “Anora, there are matters concerning Hetar that require my immediate attention. Go to your bed. I have no time for you.”
“Then divorce me, and send me back to my Pleasure House!” she cried. “I cannot exist without pleasures. I am not your senior wife, Vilia, content to be ignored as long as my lofty status remains intact. I need passion!”
An unpleasant smile touched Gaius Prospero’s lips. He wrapped his hand in Anora’s long hair, and yanked her to him. “I have no intention of divorcing you, my pet,” he said to her. Then he slapped her viciously several times. “And remember that I, too, know how to give pain. You have taught me well, Anora. Now leave me!” He flung the woman from him, and she fell to her knees upon the marble floor sobbing.
“I love you, Gaius,” she whimpered, looking up at him.
Her cheeks were stained with tears, and he saw the red marks his hand had made upon her cheeks. He felt the strange satisfaction that punishing her always brought him. Then getting to her feet Anora ran from the room. She would, he knew, be waiting with her whip to punish him when he was ready for her. And then they would experience glorious pleasures together until they were too weak even to rise from the bed.
“Jonah!” the emperor called to his assistant.
“I am here, my lord,” Jonah said appearing from the shadows.
“Come,” Gaius Prospero beckoned. “Let us have some more wine and discuss the evening.” He sat down in a thronelike chair while Jonah poured two goblets of wine for them, handing his master one as he stood by his side. “Now tell me what you thought of the beautiful Lara and this husband of hers. Shall I have him killed before they depart the City? Tonight? Then I might console the widow personally.”
“Too obvious, my lord, but then you knew that before I even spoke,” Jonah said.
“You know I have always desired her,” the emperor continued. “Would she not make me a fine empress? How old do you think she is now? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?” He licked his lips. “To take pleasures with her would be as close to divinity as a man might come, I think.”
“The ladies Vilia and Anora might not approve of such plans,” Jonah said dryly.
“They argue over who should be my empress, which is why neither one of them shall ever be,” Gaius Prospero said.
“The woman you entertained tonight, my lord, was hardly the girl you sent off to be sold into slavery eight years ago,” Jonah reminded his master. “That girl had no magic. But this woman does have magic, and it is great magic.”
A Distant Tomorrow Page 35