Magnus Hauk, flanked by Anoush and Dillon, Zagiri in his arms, disappeared in a flash of light and a puff of greenish smoke. Lara sighed. She loved the picture they had made waiting for her to work her magic. Leaving the tent she made her way through the encampment where all the clan families were in the midst of departing for their own territories and homes. In the green field beyond the camp, horses grazed. “Dasras!” she called and the great golden stallion separated himself from the herd and galloped over to her. “Time to go home, old friend,” Lara said to him. “I have sent the others on ahead.”
“Climb on my back then, mistress,” Dasras said.
Grasping a handful of his creamy mane Lara pulled herself up onto the horse’s back. Her slender leather-clad legs grasped the beast’s sides. Her fingers wrapped around his mane, making a little fist as Dasras galloped across the green field, his great white wings unfolding slowly as they took to the skies. The horse circled the encampment below while many members of the clan families, looking skyward and recognizing Lara and Dasras, waved at them. Lara waved back. Then her mount turned to the Emerald Mountains and Terah which lay beyond. They would be home even before the midautumn’s early sunset.
The cold air stung her cheeks as they traveled. The winds had begun to come from the north. Lara briefly glanced in that direction as she rode. The Dark Lands beyond did not seem as threatening to her as it once had. She laughed to herself. Even a faerie woman might have her fantasies, she thought, wondering why she had once considered those mountains so ominous. Turning away, she leaned forward, eager to get home. The brief month she had spent away from her husband seemed longer than it normally did. Perhaps next summer she would not, after all, return Dillon and Anoush to the New Outlands to live among their father’s people.
Then she had a somber moment. Perhaps next summer they would be at war. She would need to consult with her mother who knew everything that was happening in Hetar. She would have to speak eventually with her mentor, Kaliq of the Shadows, who was also a font of information. Terah did not want war. She would have to do everything in her power to try and prevent it. But Lara knew that even faerie magic could not solve everything. And while she disliked admitting it, Gaius Prospero was a force with which to be reckoned.
9
“YOU ARE GOING TO MARRY Vilia?” Gaius Prospero looked astounded at the news. “Why? She is certainly past her prime now, Jonah.”
“My lord, I do this for you,” Jonah said. “Despite all your kindness to her and your great generosity of heart, she feels ashamed that you have cast her off to wed the beautiful lady Shifra. And now that you have announced that you plan to make Shifra Hetar’s empress, the lady Vilia’s shame is slowly turning to anger. We must stem that anger, my lord. Quickly!”
“But how does marrying a freed slave help Vilia’s anger?” the emperor wanted to know. “She is a proud woman, born into one of Hetar’s finest and most ancient families.”
“My lord, it is true that I served in my early years as your slave, but did you never once consider my heritage? It is a respectable one. Perhaps not as fine as the lady Vilia’s, but ’tis naught to be ashamed of, I assure you,” Jonah said.
“You know who your parents were?” The emperor was both surprised and curious. “Who were they then?”
“My father was Sir Rupert Bloodaxe of the Crusader Knights. He is long dead, as you know. My mother is the lady Farah, a Pleasure Mistress. Sir Rupert Bloodaxe paid the Pleasure Mistress for the privilege of my mother’s company for a full year.
“After I was born and put to a wet nurse, also paid for by my sire, my mother returned to her duties. As you know, she became a famous Pleasure Woman and eventually was given charge of the house in which she served. You may question her. My mother will not deny me, my lord, and my blood is good.”
“But why were you a slave?” Gaius Prospero wanted to know.
“Sir Rupert died when I was sixteen. Illegitimate children of a Crusader Knight belong to them as much as any piece of property. Usually these men make a provision in their wills freeing any children they may have sired outside of their marriage. Sometimes they don’t even know if they have sired children, but make the provision anyway. Unfortunately, my father simply forgot.
“So I became the property of his estate and Sir Rupert’s wife was a jealous woman. She had borne her husband five daughters but no son. It impeded my father’s advancement and he was not pleased.
“My poor half sisters were no beauties. Our father had paid a fortune in dowries to see them married properly. But worse, Sir Rupert truly loved my mother. I had been sent to an academy of learning by my father. On the day he was buried, a mercenary came and took me from my classes. I was sold in the slave market without delay. My mother was furious, of course, but it was your house, my lord, into which I was sold. I asked her to keep her peace because I wanted to serve a man that I admired,” Jonah said and the emperor bridled with pleasure at the compliment. “And that is what I am attempting to do now, my lord. Serve you as I always have served you.”
“Vilia knows of your connections?” Gaius Prospero asked.
“She does, my lord,” Jonah answered.
“And she will have you as her husband?”
“Her heart will always be yours, my lord,” Jonah lied with facile charm. Vilia didn’t give a damn about Gaius Prospero. She was completely his. “Despite your generosity to her, there have begun to arise some rather unpleasant murmurs regarding your behavior toward the lady,” he continued. “By quickly remarrying, she disproves the rumors. And we certainly cannot have her uniting with someone from an ambitious family who might use her to further himself and threaten your throne, my lord. I cannot permit it! And so I have offered myself to the lady Vilia as a husband. She will not accept me, however, without your personal permission and approval. So I have come to you on bended knee, my lord. Give us the favor of your approbation, my emperor.”
“Shifra and I will give the wedding!” the emperor burst out. “All of Hetar shall see how generous I am toward the mother of my children. But your heritage must be announced for the people to know,” he continued. “I want no one believing that I have insulted Vilia by forcing her into a marriage with a former slave. Perhaps it might even help if the two of you admitted that after her divorce you were attracted to one another. Then you came to me and I gave you my benediction. Yes! Yes! That is what we will do, Jonah. It is perfect and shows the people that my heart is a good one.” He beamed with pleasure at the thought.
“It is brilliant, my lord, and I thank you!” Jonah said, kissing his master’s hand.
Soon the word spread throughout The City. The emperor’s right hand, although he had spent ten years in slavery, was actually the son of Sir Rupert Bloodaxe and the famed Pleasure Mistress, Lady Farah. Sir Rupert’s daughters admitted it was true. Their mother was dead and if the truth were known, their father’s mistress had made him happy in his last years. It was she who had convinced him to increase their dowries, making each of them far more desirable. They had not approved, they declared in a loud and united voice, of their mother selling the poor boy into slavery.
Jonah smiled to hear this. His half sisters hadn’t given a damn about him. But he made public visits to each of them, embracing them and eating at their tables. They had all wed influential men and it would not hurt to have those men in his corner when the time was right. Vilia’s family was also vocal in their approval of her impending marriage to Jonah. So at last, he went to visit his mother.
Lady Farah publicly greeted her son at the door of her Pleasure House. Then she led him into her very private chambers. “How clever you are, Jonah,” she said to him with a warm smile. “And your patience is absolutely astounding. How long have you been planning this marriage?” She was a very beautiful woman with long straight ebony hair that she wore simply pulled back, and slightly slanted dark eyes like black cherries.
He gave her a brief smile. “For some time,” he replied.
; “I hope you have made her fall in love with you, my son.”
“She is devoted to me and my manhood keeps her more than satisfied,” he answered his mother. “I have obviously inherited your passions.”
“Excellent! You have the key to controlling her. If she is content and happy, her family will be content and happy. They can be of great use to you one day, I suspect.”
He said nothing and his dark eyes were inscrutable, revealing nothing of his plans or his emotions. Did he have any? Lady Farah wondered and then laughed at herself. Of course he had plans. From birth Jonah had been a calm and thoughtful being. But Farah knew in her heart what his plans were for she too was ambitious.
“I will help you when you ask me,” was all she said.
“And I will ask,” he told her with the tiniest of smiles.
She offered him frine and they spoke on mundane matters for a brief time and then Jonah departed his mother’s Pleasure House. He must learn who owned it and purchase it for her. He would be generous and the house’s master would sell it to him in order to gain favor with the emperor’s right hand. Jonah knew his mother was an honorable woman. He would not divide her loyalties between her son and her Pleasure Master. She would be free to give him all of her loyalty once the sale was complete. And when the lady Farah was elected new headmistress of the Pleasure Guild, his power base would expand even further. He hurried home to Vilia, who was already awaiting him.
She came eagerly into his arms and he gave her a small smile.
“I have visited my mother,” he told her. “She is pleased we are to wed.”
“May I meet her?” Vilia asked him. “We could have her here.”
“A most excellent suggestion,” Jonah approved.
“I am so proud of you,” Vilia said softly. “What ambitions you have! Not at all like Gaius. We had to push him every inch of the way to the throne.”
“And now together,” Jonah replied, “we will tumble him off that throne. The war with Terah will be the final straw for the people of Hetar.”
“Terah is not really a danger to us?” Vilia asked.
“From what I have observed as Hetar’s ambassador, the Terahns want nothing more than to live in peace. Will they defend themselves against us if we attack them? Oh, yes, Vilia, my dear. They will most certainly defend themselves,” Jonah said. “But that is all they will do. They will beat Hetar back and leave us to lick our wounds. And while the emperor directs this misadventure, we will undermine him.”
“Will we kill him?” Vilia asked excitedly. “And his little empress?”
“Of course we will kill him,” Jonah told her. “He will still have friends among the powerful, but killing him will turn their loyalty to us, for the magnates are ever mindful of their own interests. One does not fight a war and then leave the enemy alive to rebuild his fortunes. That is madness.”
“There are some who will say you are cruel,” Vilia murmured.
“They will not say it aloud nor will they have the authority with which to back up their words,” Jonah told her. “But enough of strategy, my dear. I have bought you a present in the slave market today.” He clapped his hands and immediately a naked young slave was led into the chamber.
He was very tall and shapely. His manhood was the largest that Vilia had ever seen and she could not keep her eyes from it. But then she turned to Jonah questioningly.
“Do you like him, my dear?” Jonah asked her.
Vilia nodded slowly.
“Examine him,” Jonah suggested. “Touch him, my dear.”
She walked about the slave whose head was respectfully lowered. She raised his head with her hand. He was a beautiful creature with velvety brown eyes, but they held no expression. He lowered his head again when she released it. Vilia ran a hand down the slave’s hard bicep. She caressed his buttocks but then her hand could not resist the enormous manhood that hung between his sinewy thighs. She looked up at Jonah.
The faintest smile touched his lips and he nodded encouragingly.
Vilia ran her hand down the slave’s length. She cupped the large seed sac behind it. It was cool to her touch. Cool with his virility. She felt heat suffusing her body, and when the slave’s manhood began to burgeon beneath her touch Vilia gasped softly, looking again to Jonah, but she did not remove her hand. “Why?”
“You are a woman of great appetites,” he began. “There will come a time when the press of governance will prevent me from being with you and I do not want you unhappy, but neither do I want you cuckolding me as you did Gaius. This slave has been trained to give pleasure. It is his only function. He has no other. He is perfect for you, my dear. He is mute but he will answer to your commands. And, my dear Vilia, I am told you will find both his manhood and his tongue skillful. If you do not, then I shall return him and find you another.”
Vilia was astounded. “Oh, Jonah, my love,” she said to him. “How can you know me so well? We are truly well mated. I would have remained true to you, Jonah, even though at times it would have been difficult for me. That you should consider my needs and give me this beautiful slave is beyond kindness.” She caught his hand and lifting it to her lips, kissed it fervently. “Thank you!”
“Let us see if he pleases you,” Jonah said wickedly.
“Here? Now?” Vilia didn’t know if she should be embarrassed.
“Why not, my dear? If he does not please you, the sooner I return him, the better.”
“Jonah, I do not think…”
“I want to see him using you, Vilia. I need to know that you are happy,” Jonah told her in a hard voice. “Lift your gown up now and bend yourself over the arm of that couch,” he told her, pointing. “Look at Doran, for that is his name. His great member is eager to sheath itself in you. If you are to be my wife you must be more amenable to my wishes, my dear, for while I value your sage council, I value your obedience equally,” Jonah said, his tone softening a bit now. “Come.” He led her to the couch, and when she had bent herself over it he pushed her gown up himself, baring her shapely white buttocks. Then he signaled Doran. “Do your duty by your new mistress,” Jonah instructed the sex slave.
Doran walked over to where Vilia waited. He positioned his enormous manhood. Then grasping the woman’s hips with strong fingers he thrust hard into her.
She felt the entrance to her love sheath being stretched wide and then his great length pushed with a single smooth motion into her. He was so thick and yet she found to her surprise she was able to contain him. Never in all her days had Vilia entertained such a large member. Gaius had been average in size. Jonah was a large man. But Doran was huge. And then he began to ream her with his manhood, slowly at first and then with increasing speed. Her passions peaked once, twice, a third time. Her moans rose in intensity until she was almost weeping.
“Enough!” she heard Jonah command the slave, and Doran immediately withdrew from her.
“No!” Vilia cried. “No! No! No!” And then she felt Jonah entering her and skillfully bringing them both to a perfect conclusion. “Oh, my darling,” she sighed gustily with her total and utter satisfaction. “Thank you!”
He withdrew from her lush body, then turned her over so he might observe her. “For the slave, my dear, or for the other?” he asked seriously.
“For both!” she said enthusiastically.
Pulling her gown down he drew her to a standing position. “Then the slave pleases you, my dear?”
“Aye, but you please me more,” she admitted.
He nodded. “You will use him then when you need him, Vilia?”
“Aye. It was a most thoughtful gift, my lord,” Vilia told him, smiling.
“I am glad the gift delights, my dear.” He kissed her brow and turned to the slave. “Go to the slave quarters, Doran. Your mistress will call you when you are needed. You have done well today and I am satisfied with you.”
Turning, the slave ran out of the chamber, and taking Vilia by the hand Jonah led her to a seat large enough for both of
them.
“The emperor wishes to give us our wedding,” Jonah told her.
“I shall make certain then that it is a most extravagant one,” Vilia said and he laughed aloud.
Vilia considered that she had only heard Jonah laugh perhaps once or twice before in all the years she had known him. Today had given her a new insight into her lover. She had realized from the start that he was clever and ambitious. But never until today had she known that he was a dangerous man. Vilia felt a frisson of fear travel down her spine. Jonah knew her too well, perhaps; still, that knowledge was rather exciting. Yet there were things he did not know about her and perhaps he never would. For now, caution was the better path for her to travel. She did love him and she had never really loved Gaius Prospero.
“Do not let Gaius spend so much coin that our wedding is vulgar. And we must also remember that if I am to replace him, eventually I must seem more a man of the people and less a magnate,” Jonah advised Vilia. Giving her a kiss upon her cheek he arose from her side. “I must go and speak with the Pleasure Master of my mother’s house,” he told her. “I intend to purchase it.”
“How wise of you!” Vilia cried, clapping her hands delightedly.
“I think it more prudent for both of our sakes,” he remarked and then he left her.
Vilia considered recalling Doran to her side but she thought better of it. The sex slave was a comfort to be used sparingly except when Jonah could not be with her. She decided instead to send a faerie post to Lady Shifra so that they might meet and discuss Vilia’s impending wedding preparations. Calling a servant to her, she sent the woman for a scribe to come and take her dictation.
THE FAERIE POST was delivered to the lady Shifra as she sat before her mirror having her long red-gold hair brushed by her favorite servant. She took the missive, noting with surprise Vilia’s seal on the folded parchment. “What can she want of me?” Shifra said aloud. She broke the wax seal and, opening the message, read it slowly, carefully. Then summoning a servant, she said, “Go and tell my lord the emperor that I would speak with him as soon as possible.”
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