Crown of Destiny

by Bertrice Small

  Lust sprang into Palben’s eyes. “Aye, aye,” he replied enthusiastically, “I agree! The marriages will be celebrated together.”

  “Nyura is a proven virgin,” Grugyn said. “You know the fuss surrounding such a thing in the case of a bride, my lord. It will bring great notoriety to the House of Ahasferus. I would not want to overshadow your own nuptials. Perhaps you could wed the day before, and then my Lord Kolgrim the day after.”

  Palben considered his friend’s words. “Aye,” he finally said. “You are right. Nothing should overshadow the wedding of the Lord High Ruler. It is settled then! I will wed the day before him.”

  Grugyn bowed low. “I will inform my family of this double good fortune,” he said. He then turned to Kolgrim. “You will not see your bride until your wedding day, my lord. It is custom here in Hetar. I hope you will understand.”

  “Of course,” Kolgrim replied. “I have some other business to conduct before the marriage. I will take this time to do it.”

  Grugyn Ahasferus hurried home to tell his wife this latest news.

  CAMILLA THREW UP HER HANDS in frustration. “Two weddings in a week? It will require a miracle. Have you sent to our eldest son to tell him this good news? Divsha, the Lord High Ruler’s wife!”

  “Second wife,” Grugyn said. “She will have no title but Lady. She won’t like that, I fear. Nor will she be pleased to learn she is to become the Lord High Ruler’s property. Still in all she is a clever wench. She will find a way to make a success of this.”

  “It will cost us dearly to pacify her,” Camilla noted sourly. “It would have been better if we had just matched her with the son of another wealthy magnate.”

  “Divsha is a good Hetarian woman. She has been brought up properly and will do what she is told for the good of her family,” Grugyn replied.

  “She wanted the Twilight Lord, and will demand much of the family to go to the Lord High Ruler’s bed smiling,” Camilla insisted.

  “We will give her everything she wants then,” Grugyn said. “Do you know what these marriages mean, wife? We are not only about to become the richest family in Hetar, but our power base will be greater than I had ever imagined. I will no longer be just Palben’s friend. We will become blood kin by this marriage, and blood kin to the Twilight Lord, as well. The House of Ahasferus will be the most influential in our world. Could you have ever imagined such a thing, Camilla?”

  As the realization of his words hit her, she staggered with shock. “Grugyn! What have we done?” she half whispered. “You are the cleverest man in Hetar, my lord, to have engineered such a coup.”

  He accepted her praise, but the truth was, he had done nothing. The Twilight Lord had come to him. The Lord High Ruler had come to him. His only contribution was in having three beautiful sixteen-year-old granddaughters.

  “We must do something for Yamka,” Camilla said. “She will be devastated by her cousins’ good fortunes. Of course we can’t duplicate such magnificent matches for her, but we must find someone worthy.”

  “Go and speak with her then, and reassure her,” Grugyn Ahasferus said to his wife. “We cannot have our daughter’s child unhappy, and she certainly will be at this turn of events. But she must not remain unhappy long. I won’t have her sulking about on the wedding days, taking the attention from the bride.”

  “I will go and find her immediately,” Camilla said, and she hurried off.

  WORD SPREAD QUICKLY throughout The City of the two great marriages about to take place. In the residence that housed the members of the High Council, the Shadow Prince Nasim heard first. Going to his private apartments, he expeditiously transported himself to Shunnar and found Kaliq. “News, my brother! Bad news!” he greeted him.

  “What news?” Kaliq asked. “Lara, come quickly!”

  “What is it?” She was at once by his side.

  “Nasim brings news from The City,” Kaliq told her.

  “What has happened?” Lara asked Nasim.

  “Kolgrim came to The City. He had sent to Palben to request he be allowed to visit,” Nasim began. “It is the purpose of his visit that is most interesting.”

  “He came for his bride,” Lara said. “And he has found her, hasn’t he?”

  Nasim nodded. “Nyura, granddaughter of Grugyn Ahasferus, daughter of his younger son, Zenas, and his wife, Sabine. He had his choice of three of Ahasferus’s granddaughters, but he chose this one.”

  “She has Ulla’s power then. The question remains, does she know how to use those powers? Few of Ulla’s descendants ever did. Villia tried, but all she accomplished was attracting the Darkling Ciarda. What is known of this girl?”

  “Little,” Nasim said, “other than she is a virgin. She is fair to look upon, Lara, but her two cousins are actually more spectacular, and they have been enjoying lovers since they reached fourteen. But not this girl, which is why little is known of her.”

  “Something more must be known of her,” Lara said.

  “Of Divsha and Yamka I can tell you much,” Nasim said. “But this girl has kept to herself. I, myself, only saw her recently because of the fuss that was made when the three girls were brought to their grandparents’ house to be inspected by Kolgrim. They came through the streets of the Golden District in separate litters proceeded by musicians and dancers. I was there visiting a friend, and we watched the procession. She found the whole thing most amusing, given the reputation for enjoying pleasures that two of the maidens have. The third girl, however, she knew nothing about. I caught a good glimpse of her as her litter went by. Slender, fair, red-gold hair, a serene beautiful face. My friend named each of them as their conveyances passed us by. This is all I can tell you.”

  “So he has found the girl,” Lara said thoughtfully. “The marriage must be stopped. I wonder if this girl realizes she has powers. She might not want to share them with a husband, and especially not a powerful husband. If she is a true Hetarian, she would want to keep those powers for herself even if she didn’t know how to use them.”

  “She is a Hetarian girl, Lara. She has been taught total obedience to the men in her life,” Kaliq reminded her quietly.

  “You can argue this until the end of time,” Prince Nasim said. “You have no other choice than to go to Hetar and deal with the girl directly.”

  “Nay,” Lara told him. “I do not want to go to Hetar, for Kolgrim is there now. He always senses when I am near him. He would seek me out and make it appear as if I were involved in this marriage of his and approved it. Nay! We will bring the girl to us on the Dream Plain tonight and learn what she knows of her gift. Then we will deal with it.”

  7

  NYURA! NYURA! COME TO ME, CHILD, LARA CALLED. She stood among the swirling mists of the Dream Plain. The girl should be asleep in her own bed now, and she would be alone. Lara hoped Kolgrim had not set some spell about her to keep her safe from other magic. Certainly they had not aroused his suspicions yet. Nyura! Lara called again. Nyura, come to me. Then to her relief she heard the girl’s voice.

  Who calls me? a young voice asked. Where are you?

  Come forward, Nyura, Lara said. Let us speak face-to-face.

  The mists grew thinner as Nyura walked barefoot in her simple white night garment, and then she saw the woman before her. She was a beautiful, slender creature with golden hair, pale green eyes and a sweet smile. Who are you? Nyura asked.

  I am called Lara. I am Faerie, and I wish to speak with you.

  You are my lord Kolgrim’s mother! Nyura said excitedly.

  I am, though I am not proud of it, Lara responded. I am told you are to be his bride, Nyura. Why do you wish to ally yourself with the darkness, child?

  It is my fate, Nyura said quietly. When I was very young the shade of my ancestress Ulla came to me. She told me I possessed certain powers that had once been hers. She told me I must not take lovers when I turned fourteen for I was meant to be a virgin bride for my husband one day. She said he would be the Twilight Lord. She said my purity and my power
s would help him to conquer our worlds. She said that I would stand by his side and rule with him. She said I would give him a son who would be all-powerful. Should I have eschewed such a fate, my lady?

  The Twilight Lord seeks to bring the darkness to our worlds, Lara said.

  Nyura shrugged. It matters not to me, lady. I shall rule by my husband’s side.

  Nay, you will not, Lara told her. The Twilight Lords do not share their thrones with anyone, let alone a female. Kolgrim imprisoned his twin brother rather than share. In the Dark Lands females are considered lowly creatures. Their only uses are pleasures and childbearing. And there are few females, for Nature has consigned more male offspring to the ordinary among them. The Twilight Lords, however, can only sire a single son, though I gave Kol two in order to create chaos and hold the darkness at bay.

  A single son is all that is needed, the girl replied simply. Does my betrothed have many daughters by his Pleasure Women?

  He had many daughters, but he murdered them, and their mothers decades ago. He wanted no daughter of his to spring up and challenge her brother for the throne the way his half sister did to him, Lara told the girl. How can you pledge yourself to a creature who would slay his own blood? The law of the Twilight Lords forbids spilling the blood of kin, and yet Kolgrim did so.

  With good reason, my lady, Nyura replied. You have told me the tale yourself of how his sister tried to usurp his rights. I am glad he did it, for now I shall not have to worry about such a thing happening to my son. Besides, those women were not his blood kin, and their offspring were just females, Nyura said.

  Lara was horrified. This girl had no heart. She was beautiful but cruel beyond imagining. This was going to require stronger measures than they had thought.

  I would go now, Nyura said. I am tired.

  Will you tell Kolgrim we have spoken? Lara said.

  Nyura smiled. Nay, lady, for then he would prevent us from speaking again, and I think we may want to speak again. Farewell for now! The mists quickly surrounded her, and she was gone from Lara’s sight.

  Lara forced herself awake, sitting up with a gasp. “The girl is evil personified,” she said to the Shadow Princes who surrounded her bed, awaiting her awakening. “She has the face of an innocent, but her heart is dark.” Then she went on to explain her conversation with Nyura, concluding, “We must kidnap this girl, and put her where Kolgrim cannot find her. If the Book of Rule says she is the chosen mate, then he cannot sire a son on another. It must be done now. We cannot trust her not to tell him, though she has said she would not. I could see she was already in love with him.”

  “Taking her will cause difficulties in Hetar,” Kaliq said.

  “Hetar sought to make an alliance with Kolgrim by giving him a daughter of a premier house of the land in marriage. Let them see the consequences of their actions in doing so,” Lara told her companions.

  “But where can we hide the girl that Kolgrim will not find her?” Lothair asked.

  “We must not bring this darkness into Shunnar,” Kaliq said quietly.

  “We will hide her right under their noses,” Lara replied. “Be assured they will not find this hiding place, and if they get close we can easily move her to another location.”

  “Where?” Prince Nasim asked.

  “Only Kaliq and I will know that,” Lara told him. “You must return to Hetar as you are a member of the High Council. Rest assured that when it is discovered the girl is gone you will be questioned, my lord. You will be able to say truthfully that you do not know where she has been taken. Return now to the Council Quarter.” And before Prince Nasim could speak Lara sent him back herself. This was not a time for debate, and Nasim did love an argument.

  The other Shadow Princes chuckled softly at her actions. Wrapping their cloaks about themselves they vanished, leaving Lara and Kaliq to speak alone.

  “Where?” he asked her, reaching out to take her hand and kiss it.

  “In the Outlands there is a place known as the Crystalline Falls. If the Hetarians have left the falls as they once were then we can hide her in the tiny cave behind the waters,” Lara told him. “Let us go and see.”

  He wrapped his white cloak about her, and they were transported to their destination. Lara was relieved to see that the great waterfall still flowed, and was as pristine and beautiful as ever. The great soaring trees of the ancient forest around the falls had once been cut down in Hetar’s greed for wood, but the Forest Faeries led by the queen’s husband, Thanos, had replanted the trees. Then Thanos had put a spell upon them, which made it impossible for the hand of any mortal to fell a tree within those woods. The forest had regrown, and remained untouched for the last eighty years.

  The pool below the falls was as clear and beautiful as ever, surrounded by its moss-covered rocks. Lara led Kaliq down a narrow path invisible to mortal eyes and stopped the flow of the water briefly to allow them to slip through a small opening and walk along a narrow ledge that led them to a cave. The waters flowed again as they stepped inside. Dark and cool, the cave was little. Its roof was no more than eight feet in height. It was nine feet in depth and ten feet in width. The chamber was a perfect rectangle with a stone shelf that ran across its rear wall.

  “We will enclose her in a glass box,” Lara said.

  “In a dreamless sleep,” Kaliq added, nodding.

  “It is close to dawn in The City,” Lara pointed out. “Let us do this thing now before she awakens. Kolgrim cannot see her again.”

  “Weave your spell, Faerie Woman,” the Shadow Prince told her.

  Bring the Dark Lord’s bride to me,

  Nyura will my captive be.

  A dreamless sleep is now your fate,

  You will not be Kolgrim’s mate.

  Sleep surrounded by the light,

  Hetar be safe from Kolgrim’s might.

  This spell cannot, will not be broken.

  Faerie Lara has now spoken!

  As her words echoed about the cave and then died away, a beautifully carved glass container decorated with gold, a dark green velvet mattress within, appeared upon the stone ledge. The box pulsed gently with light. Within it Nyura in her simple white robe lay sleeping.

  “The light will not extend beyond the box and cannot be seen from the outside even at night,” Lara explained to Kaliq. “To be safe I will ask you to set a spell that will close the opening to the cave so it cannot be found accidentally, my lord.”

  Kaliq walked across the floor to peer into the glass box. “She is lovely,” he noted.

  “How tragic that she was born to advance the cause of evil.”

  “But we have stopped the evil once again,” Lara said triumphantly.

  “Nay, my love,” Kaliq said quietly. “Kolgrim will not let this pass. If the Book of Rule says this girl is his mate, and will produce his son, he will move the heavens above to find her. We have but slowed his progress.”

  “Why do you insist on believing Cronan’s prediction,” Lara demanded angrily.

  “It is not Cronan’s alone. It was written in the stars aeons ago, Lara, my love,” Kaliq said, and wrapping them in his cloak, he returned them to Shunnar. “Remember the tale that Master Bashkar told you when you studied with him. He told you how Hetar began as a world of fog and clouds. How we Shadow Princes came from those mists, how the Forest Lords descended from the tree spirits, the Midland folk from the earth spirits as did the Outland Clan families, and the Coastal Kings from the sea. The Terahns descend from a combination of earth and hill spirits. And when the mists cleared the world was revealed to be beautiful beyond any other. But its beauty eventually attracted evil spirits. They came to claim the part of Hetar that is now called the Dark Lands, but they have always wanted it all.

  “It was then that the battle between light and dark began. The light has always had the advantage for it had most of this world before the evil discovered it. But as the mortals grew more intelligent, less simple and pure of heart, evil began to exert its influence. Wealth is no
t a bad thing if it is shared with the less fortunate. Greed, however, is evil in its purest form. Some mortals are more fortunate than others. But those who are, cannot count themselves any better than their less fortunate brothers and sisters. Are all Hetarians equal? Only in the eyes of the Celestial Actuary is that so. Those who work harder and succeed are entitled to greater stature, provided they do not abuse those who are not as lucky,” Kaliq said. Then he continued.

  “In the beginning Hetar’s neat division of its citizens was good. The people were never hindered from advancement based on the caste into which they were born. But then Hetar became fixed in its own system, using wealth for power, holding back men who might advance its world. Evil grew stronger. We Shadow Princes, and the Faerie Races sought to give Hetar a final chance. You were born to save them, but when it became evident you could not, then your destiny was turned to another direction. Cronan has not condemned Hetar. They have done it themselves.”

  “What will happen to Hetar then?” Lara asked.

  “Before a year has passed the Magic Races who have protected this world will be gone from it,” Kaliq said.

  “But I have stopped Kolgrim,” Lara protested once again.

  “You have delayed him,” Kaliq repeated. “That is all, my love.”

  “I cannot believe there is no hope for Hetar,” Lara said. “I will remain until I know it for certain.”

  “And I will be by your side,” he promised her. “Our fates have now been joined.”

  “If we cannot remain in Hetar where will we go, Kaliq?” she asked him.

  He shrugged. “I do not yet know,” he told her.

  “If you do not know, then perhaps it is not meant we leave,” Lara said hopefully. Her faerie green eyes were filled with unshed tears. “I am so ashamed to have failed Hetar.” The tears overflowed and slid down her cheeks.