His guest of honor wore a robe of black-and-silver silk. It was simple in design, but elegant. About his neck was a heavy chain of gold and silver from which hung a round silver locket studded with sapphires. A band of silver with a center sapphire was set about his golden head. Kolgrim had about him an air of command that needed no luxurious ornament. The Hetarian magnates recognized it as they entered the palace with their women and were introduced.
Palben looked about his banquet chamber and felt well pleased. None of his guests was as well dressed as he was. Most had brought younger second wives, which but pointed out to him that without a beautiful young bride by his side he was losing prestige. Aye, he would have to take another wife. Laureen, while a pretty woman, was simply past her prime. And she had never been a great beauty. But her pedigree was without par, and her wealth was most satisfactory. She had been obedient and dutiful, giving him two sons and four daughters. However it was time her face was retired into the background where it belonged so he might enjoy a nubile, beautiful, young wife. She would probably be relieved for he knew she didn’t enjoy these state dinners.
He had placed the Twilight Lord at his right hand at the table. Laureen sat on the other side of their guest of honor. Grugyn Ahasferus was seated at the left hand of the Lord High Ruler. As the meal progressed Palben leaned toward his friend and said, “You should know that Lord Kolgrim has come to Hetar to seek a bride.”
Grugyn Ahasferus grunted an acknowledgment as he chewed on a piece of capon. “What has it to do with me?” he asked low, knowing Palben would not speak to him of this without a reason.
“He wants one of your granddaughters, Grugyn. Do you know what a coup, an honor, this is for your house?”
“Why one of my granddaughters?” The magnate’s voice sounded disinterested.
“He will tell you himself. I have arranged for you to meet privily with him while my other guests are being entertained after the sweet is served. When I tell you, you will go to my own privy chamber. You know how to reach it, Grugyn, for you have often shared conversation and frine with me there.”
“He’s handsome. The girls would like that. Is he rich?”
“His train was magnificent when he entered The City,” Palben responded.
“I heard. Men-at-arms in livery, banners, musicians and dancers. A goodly show to be sure, but such can all be hired,” Grugyn said. “I need to know if he has the kind of wealth needed to ally himself to our house.”
“An alliance between your granddaughter and the Twilight Lord would mean an alliance between Hetar and the Dark Lands. I am sure Lord Kolgrim is worthy, and such a marriage could mean great new wealth for us,” Palben said meaningfully.
Grugyn’s eyes narrowed briefly in thought. “Such an alliance would add to both your prestige and mine,” he replied. “I would become richer than any in Hetar.”
“And my position upon the throne could never be challenged,” Palben murmured to his friend.
“I will listen to him with care and seek to gain the best advantage, but, between us, he can have one of the girls. A union between my granddaughter and the Twilight Lord will mean greater matches for her cousins.” He smiled. “We are in agreement, my lord.”
AS THE SWEET was served, and the guests distracted by an entertainer with a troupe of small dogs, Grugyn Ahasferus discreetly left the banqueting table. The Twilight Lord still sat murmuring in conversation with Palben. But when the magnate reached the Lord High Ruler’s privy chamber he found Kolgrim awaiting him. “How…?” he began.
“Magic,” Kolgrim said to him with a charming smile. “Sit down, my lord. My cousin, Palben, has told you why I have come to Hetar, has he not?”
“Your cousin? I was not aware that Lord Palben was your kin,” Grugyn said.
“He does not know it,” Kolgrim said with a chuckle. “It would be difficult for him to reconcile that his grandmother, Zagiri of Terah, was my half sister, that we shared the same mother, the faerie woman, Lara. After all, he rejects magic, doesn’t he?” Kolgrim laughed aloud. Then he said, “But you know magic exists, Grugyn Ahasferus, for you are a descendant of Ulla.”
“Magic is one of those subjects most Hetarians avoid these days, my lord Kolgrim. The Lord High Ruler does not believe, and therefore it is not fashionable to believe in it. But aye, I believe in magic and accept its existence in our lives.” He motioned Kolgrim to a comfortable chair, seating himself opposite the Twilight Lord. Then, leaning forward, asked, “Why one of my granddaughters? If you wanted a Hetarian wife, there are any number of suitable young women available. Why one of mine?”
Kolgrim observed Grugyn Ahasferus carefully. Then he said with a candor that surprised even himself, “Because I have been directed to choose from among your family, my lord. The Twilight Lords live by the Book of Rule. And the book has instructed me to take a wife from among your three granddaughters. I don’t know why, but I must follow what is written. These maidens are all sixteen. A good age for marriage. I do not know which I will choose, but it must be one of the three. And the decision must be mine. It cannot be made for me.” Kolgrim glanced at his companion to see if he would accept his explanation. Oddly he had told the truth. He had just not told all of it. He hoped what he had said was enough to satisfy the Hetarian’s curiosity.
“I understand,” Grugyn Ahasferus said, and he did. When magic directed you, you followed whether you understood it or not. “Will your wife hold a place of honor in your kingdom, my lord Kolgrim? Will she be free to visit her family now and again?”
“First she must produce my son and heir,” Kolgrim said. “Then she is free to do as she pleases, my lord. Her duty is to birth this child. It is a great honor, you know, for Twilight Lords have only one son. My wife will be showered with riches, and live like the queen she will be. I will never mistreat her,” Kolgrim said.
“Perhaps I can help you to choose,” Lord Grugyn said. “What sort of woman pleases you best?” Of his three granddaughters, two of the trio pleased him greatly. They were high-spirited maidens with a passion for pleasures that would certainly please any husband. The third girl, however, worried him. She was the most beautiful, it was true, but she was quiet and shy. She had, if his son was to be believed, never had a lover. She was definitely not the kind of girl a powerful ruler like the Twilight Lord would choose for a wife. Still, he would have to present her to this princeling, for Kolgrim knew there were three. But he would wait until the other two had had their chance to dazzle Kolgrim.
“I have no preconceived notions with regard to my wife,” Kolgrim lied smoothly.
“Excellent, excellent!” Grugyn said, smiling. “Come to my home tomorrow afternoon, two hours after sun’s peak. I will introduce you to my granddaughters, and you may take your time knowing each of them.” He leaned forward and offered Kolgrim his hand in friendship. Then he added, “Of course your bride will be costly, my lord.”
“I would expect it no other way,” Kolgrim replied, smiling. “A perfect jewel is always well worth its price, my lord.” Greedy, fatuous fool, he thought to himself.
The two men returned to the banqueting chamber. Grugyn as he had come. And Kolgrim using his magic. The Twilight Lord had left a replica of himself seated within his chair, drinking, smiling, speaking. No one was aware that he had ever left the table. He nodded imperceptibly to Lord Grugyn as the other man reseated himself.
Grugyn Ahasferus smiled just ever so slightly in acknowledgment. He was not as stupid as Kolgrim thought he was. The magnate did indeed, as he had admitted to the Twilight Lord, believe in magic. And he knew the history of his family very well. The powers his ancestress Ulla had possessed passed into a single female in each generation of his family. Obviously one of his three granddaughters was the current host of this power, and Kolgrim wanted that power. Well, Grugyn Ahasferus thought to himself, he will pay dearly for it. I will want a monopoly on all the mineral rights in the Dark Lands, he thought to himself. There was surely gold and silver in those mountains as
well as valuable gemstones to be had. And they would all be his. He would become the richest man in Hetar.
Of course there was Palben to consider. He would expect a substantial portion of Grugyn’s spoils in exchange for his permission to allow a marriage to take place. Grugyn would not defy his old friend. Palben’s power base was too strong. One enormous bribe, and Palben’s cooperation would be far easier to obtain than with several large bribes, and an eventual betrayal. No. The Lord High Ruler and the magnate were old friends. They understood one another.
The question remained which one of his three granddaughters Kolgrim would choose. Each was sixteen. Each beautiful in face and form. But the girls all had very different personalities. Divsha was a blue-eyed blonde with large perfect breasts, who was sweet and gentle. She was a perfect Hetarian female, and there had already been a number of offers for her hand in marriage that the family was considering. Yamka was petite with dark auburn hair and amber-gold eyes. She was a lively girl, perhaps a bit too daring and reckless, but then her mother had been so at that age, too, yet once married became obedient and amiable. Grugyn expected Yamka would, too, and they already had, as with Divsha, several offers of marriage to consider for her.
To marry into the House of Ahasferus was an incredible honor. The descendants of Ulla were considered to have the finest pedigree in all of Hetar. Any magnate seeking one of Grugyn Ahasferus’s granddaughters for himself or his son had best have an impeccable Hetarian lineage, and an obscene amount of wealth. The daughters of the House of Ahasferus were used to the best of everything, and nothing any of them had ever sought had ever been denied them.
Grugyn now considered his third granddaughter, Nyura, a tall willowy girl with long golden-red hair, and gray-green eyes. The only daughter of his younger son, she had always been a puzzle to him, and to their family. She was certainly obedient, but she was also quiet and introspective. She spoke little, but when she did it was obvious that she was very intelligent which, of course, was not a good thing in a Hetarian female. No man wanted to be outshone by a woman. There had been no offers for Nyura’s hand in marriage so far. She would end up being some elderly magnate’s second or third wife. A pretty trophy to display at public events and dinner parties. But they would obtain an equally good bride price for Nyura as they would for her cousins, Divsha and Yamka.
As they were transported home in their lavish gold litter with its royal-blue velvet curtains, Grugyn Ahasferus told his wife, Camilla, of his conversations this evening with the Lord High Ruler and with the Twilight Lord. A plump woman with a still-pretty face, Camilla listened, the fat beringed fingers of one hand tapping gently on a pillow as he spoke, her light blue eyes thoughtful.
“He is not Hetarian,” she finally said. “And what do we really know about the Dark Lands? They have been an inhospitable, mysterious part of our world for centuries. Now suddenly this man claiming to be its ruler comes to The City and says he wants one of our granddaughters to be his wife. I would know more before I entrust a member of our family to a virtual stranger.”
“I believe he is who he says he is,” Grugyn replied. “He has magic.”
Camilla Ahasferus’s face grew wary. “My lord,” she began in a warning tone.
“He has magic,” her husband repeated meaningly.
“That does not make him who he says he is,” Camilla said.
“What possible proof could you require that would satisfy you, wife?” Grugyn Ahasferus looked irritated. “One of our granddaughters is going to be elevated to the rank of a queen. I am well pleased.”
“Then I am well pleased, too, my lord,” Camilla Ahasferus said softly, smiling as she saw the building anger drain from her husband’s face. Of course she was not. And she would seek to learn what she needed to learn before she would allow one of her granddaughters to be given in marriage to a stranger.
“I have invited the Twilight Lord on the morrow to come meet the girls,” Grugyn Ahasferus told his wife.
“Only present Divsha and Yamka,” Camilla suggested. “Nyura is too somber, especially when the three are together.”
“He knows there are three,” Grugyn Ahasferus responded. “I will display all of them. Remember that the choice is his to make, not ours.”
She shrugged. “You are right, my lord,” she agreed. “How did he know of our granddaughters?” she asked her husband.
He told her, and Camilla listened carefully. If this fellow was who he said he was, and if he proved worthy, she considered, then perhaps a marriage alliance with him could turn out to be a very good thing. Yet how was she to learn what she needed to know? That would prove the difficult part.
BUT THE NEXT MORNING GRUGYN Ahasferus sent a message to Kolgrim asking him to visit on the following day. Then he sent for his two sons and his daughter, who was Yamka’s mother. When they came later that day, he told them of the Twilight Lord’s request. His daughter immediately began to cry. Grugyn ignored her.
“Mother is concerned he may not be who he says he is,” his older son said.
“I believe he is,” Grugyn Ahasferus replied. “Palben is far to canny a man to be taken by a fraud. But more importantly, I have seen the man’s magic.”
“We would be fortunate if he chose Nyura,” his younger son said. “I don’t know who we will get to marry such a serious girl.”
“I don’t want to lose my Yamka!” Grugyn Ahasferus’s daughter wailed.
“Yamka and Divsha are my choices,” Grugyn Ahasferus said. “He won’t be able to resist either of them and will have a difficult time choosing. Nyura is lovely, I will grant you, but she is, as you have pointed out, my son, too serious. Now send my granddaughters to me by nightfall. I want them ready to greet our honored guest when he arrives tomorrow morning.” And Grugyn Ahasferus dismissed his progeny.
His three granddaughters arrived at exactly sunset. Each came with her serving woman and a trunk. Divsha and Yamka giggled together while Nyura smiled at the pair indulgently. She was not at all like them, and she knew it. She did not want to be like them, for together they had fewer brains than a cobblestone in the street. But she was fond of them, as they were of her. They understood each other, having grown up together.
Their grandmother saw they were given a sleeping draught almost immediately. She did not want them up laughing and talking all night. They must be well rested, and their beauty at its peak come morning.
The Lady Camilla instructing them, the serving women woke their charges just before dawn. The girls were bathed, their hair washed and subtly perfumed. Divsha’s scent was rose. Yamka favored honeysuckle. Nyura preferred the more sophisticated fragrance of the night-blooming lily. The girls were then garbed in identical simple sleeveless white silk robes with plain round necklines. Divsha’s gown was belted with gold. Yamka’s with copper. Nyura’s with silver. Their hair was dressed in the same way, long and unfettered, so their beauty would be equally displayed to the Twilight Lord.
He arrived at the appointed hour garbed in a black-and-silver robe. His eyes lit with pleasure at the sight of the three maidens who stood with their grandfather waiting to greet him. “My lord Grugyn,” he said, bowing politely.
“My lord Kolgrim, welcome to my home. And here are the three precious flowers of my house to greet you. This is Divsha. She is the oldest born in the first month of the Icy Season.” He drew the blonde girl forward, pleased to see she kept her eyes lowered as she should. “And this is Yamka, born in the last month of the Icy Season.” Yamka bounced forward, her eyes sparkling with excitement, but she quickly lowered them, seeing her grandfather’s slight frown of disapproval. “And here is Nyura, who has only just turned sixteen this month.” Nyura silently came forward and made her curtsy.
“Exquisite,” Kolgrim said, smiling at Grugyn Ahasferus as they moved into the house. “I will interview each separately, of course, my lord. Have you a chamber in which I may do this?”
“Will you make your decision so quickly then?” Grugyn Ahasferus asked, surpris
ed. “I thought a few days would be necessary.”
“I can learn what I need to know today, and then the marriage date must be set. In a few months the mating season frenzy will be upon me. It is then I must impregnate my wife if I am to have a son within the year.”
“Of course, of course,” his companion replied. “Would you prefer an inner chamber, or one opening into the gardens?” he inquired politely.
“An inner chamber,” Kolgrim replied. “And I shall speak with your granddaughters in order of their age.”
Divsha smiled smugly at her two cousins. She had no doubt she would be chosen to be the Twilight Lord’s wife and queen.
“Go to your grandmother, Yamka, Nyura,” Grugyn Ahasferus said. Then he led his eldest granddaughter and Kolgrim to a small interior guest chamber, ushering them inside. There was a roll-armed upholstered couch in the room, and a table with a decanter and four goblets. “The frine is blackberry,” he told Kolgrim, who nodded his thanks. “When shall I send the other girls to you, my lord?” he asked.
“When I have learned from Divsha what I need to learn, she will come to fetch Yamka next, and Yamka will fetch Nyura,” the Twilight Lord said quietly.
Grugyn Ahasferus bowed politely. “It shall be as you require, my lord,” he said, and then he backed from the chamber, hurrying off to join his wife.
When he had departed, Kolgrim walked to the door and turned the key in its lock. Then he turned back to Divsha, who smiled at him coyly.
“Would you like to see my breasts?” she asked him sweetly.
“Aye, I would,” Kolgrim said, and pointing a finger at her, removed her gown.
Divsha squealed with surprise.
“I want to see all of you,” he told her, seating himself on the couch. “Come here now, and sit upon my lap so I may inspect you more closely.”
Obedient, she complied immediately. “You are a wicked man,” she said to him.
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