His juices exploded with such violence that Magnus Hauk thought Lara would be rendered asunder. Surely there would be nothing left after this lustful bout. Blood thundered in his ears as her scream of delight reached him. His heart was pounding wildly, and for the briefest moment he thought he was going to die from the sweetness that consumed him. With the last of his strength he pulled away from her, rolling onto his back. When he could see clearly again and his heart was beating at a more normal rate he said to her, “I have never known pleasures like that.”
“Nor I,” Lara admitted softly.
“Why did you refuse the Coastal King?” he asked her.
“He is not my fate,” Lara replied. “Why would I waste pleasures on him? I am not some Pleasure Woman who is paid for her services. Nor am I your slave, my lord Dominus.”
“Nay,” Magnus Hauk admitted. “You are not my slave, Lara, but then what are you to be to me?”
“Your guest?” Lara teased him gently.
He roared with laughter, sitting up, and turning to look down at her. “Aye, you are my guest,” he agreed humorously. “And you are my lover.”
She sat up, nodding. “It is fair,” she said. “But what if I wish to take pleasures with another, my lord Dominus?”
“I will kill you,” he replied. “You are mine!”
“Nay,” she said. “You are mine!”
“A man cannot be ruled by a woman, Lara,” he told her seriously.
“And I cannot be ruled by any other, man or woman,” Lara responded, looking him directly in the eye.
The Dominus paused, surprised by her words. “I see,” he said, “that we already have differences between us. We will have to negotiate them, will we not?” The blue eyes twinkled at her.
What an interesting man, Lara thought. He is strong, and he is arrogant, but he has a sense of humor. “I am said to be very good at the art of negotiation, my lord Dominus.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked her.
“Ravenous!” she told him.
He arose and pulled her to her feet. “Let us get dressed, and then we will eat before this fire where we have already temporarily satisfied our other appetites. Then I intend making love to you again. All night. And after I shall take you to the women’s quarters in the castle where you will meet my sister, Sirvat. She is in charge of the women here.”
“You have no wife or mate?” Lara asked him.
“No,” he said shortly, pulling on his dark robe again. “Just women.”
Lara picked up her gown from where it had dropped. She slipped it on, and finding her sandals slid her feet into them again. It had been a most interesting day, and already the sun was sinking toward the horizon. Toward Hetar.
The Dominus called for food. When it arrived Lara was pleased by the variety offered. There was roasted meat, rare as she liked it, and as the Dominus obviously liked it. There was a fat, stuffed capon that sat upon a platter amid a sauce of stewed plums and apricots. There were long thin yellow bean stalks that had been steamed tender. A salad of mixed lettuces, some purple and orange leaves as she had never before seen mixed with the greens. The salad had been tossed with a tangy dressing the ingredients of which she could not easily identify. There were two cheeses, one soft with a delicate creamy flavor, and the other hard, very sharp, and golden in color. Yet there was only one small loaf of bread. It was fresh and warm, however, but its flavor was unfamiliar to her.
They both ate heartily, and drank an intoxicating wine Lara suspected had been well laced with herbs to encourage their evening’s activity. And true to his word, Magnus Hauk spent the hours that followed making slow sweet love with Lara. When morning came, however, he escorted her through the castle and placed her in the care of his young sister, Sirvat.
The rooms in which she had spent the night with the Dominus were elegant, but spare in furnishings. His chamber held only a large bed and a plain wooden chest. The corridors through which she now traveled were also simple. The walls were a smooth stone of a neutral color, lit by crystal globes filled with what appeared to be fire- flies. The floors were dark slate. Lara was therefore surprised when the Dominus opened the doors at the end of a long hallway and ushered her inside.
The Women’s Quarters of the castle were more luxurious than anything Lara had ever seen. The rooms were spacious, yet not overlarge. The walls were painted a warm golden yellow, and hung with exquisite tapestries woven in clear reds, blues, greens, purples and creams. The tapestries told stories, probably of Terah’s history, Lara thought as she admired them. The furnishings were feminine – low couches upholstered in soft fabrics of various hues, plump silk and velvet pillows decorated with gold and silver threads, with tasseled edges. There were delicate tables of inlaid woods and mother-of-pearl. Little velvet stools. Hanging lamps of amethyst glass. There were heavy soft rugs covering parts of the floors.
As they entered, a lovely girl with golden-brown hair came forward, smiling. She bowed to Magnus Hauk, taking his two hands in hers and pressing them to her heart in a pretty gesture of welcome. Then her curious turquoise glance went to Lara.
“This is Lara, my Hetarian guest,” Magnus Hauk said to his sister. “Will you see she is well cared for, Sister?”
The young woman nodded, and turned her smile on Lara.
“My youngest sister, Sirvat,” the Dominus said to Lara. “Like all our women she hears, but is unable to speak.” He turned to his sibling. “Sirvat, do not be afraid, but the women of Hetar have voices with which they speak and both Corrado and I have heard.”
Sirvat raised a curious eyebrow, but nodded to her brother.
“I will leave you now,” the Dominus said to Lara. “You will be safe here.”
“When will I see you again?” Lara asked him.
“When you do,” he replied with a grin.
Lara smiled back mischievously. “You will lust for me soon enough, my lord Dominus. And if it pleases me I will come to you.”
Magnus Hauk laughed aloud. Then turning, he left her.
Lara felt a tug on her sleeve.
“Come along, woman of Hetar,” a soft voice said to her.
Lara spun about. Were her ears deceiving her? “You speak!” she exclaimed. “Why does the Dominus think you do not?” Were her ears deceiving her.
“Come,” Sirvat said, “and I will tell you.” She led her guest into a lovely large room with arched windows opening out into a walled green garden, and a tiled marble fountain in its center. Taking Lara’s hand Sirvat brought her to a pillowed bench. “It’s that wretched curse that was placed upon us several hundred years ago,” she began. “A powerful sorcerer who called himself Usi had come from the North, seeking to control Terah. And he did for several years. But he was cruel, taking women for his pleasure, which more times than not was for the purposes of torture and not passion. He hoarded wealth, impoverishing the people. No one knew what to do to stop him. He was, it was said, a ruthless being.
“Finally a woman called Geltruda decided that something must be done if our people were to be saved. She went out of her way to catch the eye of Usi. They say she was the most beautiful woman in all of Terah. The sorcerer lusted after her, but she kept him at arm’s length until he could no longer bear his desire, and she agreed to come to his bed willingly. Before she did she covered her body with poison so that no matter where Usi might kiss her, his lips would absorb it. By the time he realized what she had done it was too late, and Geltruda herself already lay dead of the poison.
“She had told her brothers of her plans, and now they burst into the chamber where their dead sister and the dying sorcerer lay. They sat watching his agony. He cursed them with his last breath; because they had accepted her counsel and allowed her to kill him, the men of the Dominion would no longer hear the voices of their women. And so it happened as Usi said. But as the men of the Terahn Dominion could still hear everything else, they decided that it was the women who could no longer speak, and so they believe to this day. No one has ever been able to lift the curse.”
“Has anyone tried?” Lara asked Sirvat.
“Oh yes. But the magic of Terah is not strong enough. I wish it were. There are so many things we would say
