sparkling gemstones.
“I greet you, my lords,” he said, the deep booming tones of his voice as impressive as his appearance. His bow encompassed them all.
Rendor stepped forward, and knelt before Magnus Hauk. “In the name of the clan families, I welcome our Dominus to the Gathering. With your permission we would present the yearly tribute agreed upon.”
“And then I hope you will invite me to partake in your festivities,” the Dominus said graciously. “Rise, Rendor of the Felan, and let the other Outlands lords come forward so I may personally greet each one as well.”
Rendor stood, bowed and then signaled the others forward. Torin of the Gitta came first, bringing with him a large flat basket of decorated breads, each shaped differently, and made from the first grains grown by his clan family in the new Outlands.
“How beautifully fashioned your loaves are, Lord Torin. I thank you.” The Dominus nodded his head.
Floren of the Blathma stepped before the Dominus. He, too, carried a basket but in it, nestled among a bed of moss, were several large tubers. At Magnus Hauk’s questioning look he said, “Planted in your gardens, my lord Dominus, these will grow into the finest lilies you have ever seen. Their scent is exquisite.”
“I am particularly fond of lilies,” was the reply.
Vanko, representing the Piaras, stepped up, and offered Magnus Hauk a beautifully fashioned small black box. He opened it to display a large gold nugget. “The first we mined, my lord Dominus,” he explained.
“Magnificent!” Magnus Hauk said enthusiastically. “I have never seen better.”
“So said our gnome partners,” Vanko said. Then he moved aside to allow Imre of the Tormod his turn.
The clan lord of the Tormod spilled a small bag of multicolored gemstones into the Dominus’s hand. “They are called Transmutes, my lord. Once set within gold or silver they change color with the wearer’s mood. We discovered them this summer, and Fulcrum, who is the chieftain of the Jewel gnomes, said he had heard once of stones such as these, but never before had they been mined in the Emerald Mountains.”
“Thank you,” Magnus Hauk said. “It would seem that in bringing you all to Terah I have done us both a favor.”
“Your Transmutes will cause a sensation in Hetar,” Lara said with a smile.
Liam of the Fiacre now came, bringing with him two pairs of beautiful leather boots, and vests. He bowed. “I have had these made for you, my lord, and for Lara.”
Together the Dominus and Domina examined the leather goods.
Lara looked up at Liam. “They are wonderful, my lord,” she told him.
“Yes,” Magnus Hauk agreed. “Your leathersmiths do fine work, my lord.”
Accius of the Devyn bards now came forward. “We are the clan family whose treasure is always with us, my lord Dominus. We are the poets and singers. Tonight around the great fire we will sing for you the song we have composed in your honor. It tells of your great generosity in giving us this new land, and of our journey here.”
Accius bowed low.
“I shall look forward to hearing your saga, my lord,” the Dominus said.
Roan of the Aghy was next to present himself to Magnus Hauk. “In the spring,” he said, “you shall have three foals sired by the great Dasras,” he told him. “And you will, I hope, my lord Dominus, come to choose them yourself.”
“I do not have to, my lord,” Magnus Hauk said, “for I trust you to do it. And the following spring when they are yearlings, I shall take them into my stables.”
Roan of the Aghy nodded. “I had heard it said, my lord, that you were wise,” he murmured. “The truth has exceeded my expectations.” He bowed low, and turning moved away from where Lara and her husband stood.
“Well done, my lord,” Lara told Magnus Hauk softly.
And finally Rendor stepped up to present the Dominus with several fine sheepskin rugs. “’Tis small thanks for your overwhelming kindness to us, my lord,” he said bowing to their new overlord.
“The land was here as if waiting for you and your clan families,” Magnus Hauk replied with a small smile. Gently dismissed, Rendor stepped back, and the Dominus’s glance swept the stone circle. “And now, my lords, are we ready to celebrate?”
They shouted their approval as he led them back into the great encampment of the Gathering.
“You have put them very much at their ease,” Lara told her husband. “Thank you.” She kissed his cheek.
“I want to meet your son,” he told her.
Knowing that Dillon was nearby Lara looked for him, and waved the boy over to join them. “This is the Dominus of Terah, Dillon,” she said. “My lord, this is the son I gave Vartan of the Fiacre.”
Dillon held out his small hand, and taking it Magnus Hauk was surprised by the strength he found in the boy’s grasp. “I greet you, my lord Dominus.”
“I greet you, Dillon, son of Vartan,” the Dominus said. And then he smiled down at the boy. “Aye, I can see it in your eyes, lad. We will be friends.”
“Indeed we will, my lord, for we love the same woman,” Dillon responded.
The Dominus laughed heartily at the boy’s words. “You are clever like your mother,” he told Dillon. “One day if your people do not need you I will find a place for you myself in Terah.”
“And I will come when you call,” was the strangely adult reply.
Deep blue eyes met turquoise ones, and Magnus Hauk had the oddest sensation that one day Dillon, son of Vartan, would indeed be of help to him.
Chapter 18
THEY REMAINED in the new Outlands until the Gathering had concluded. Magnus Hauk realized over the next few days, as he grew to know the clan families, that he had been right to heed his wife’s plea and bring them to Terah. In time, of course, the clan families and those Terahn born on the other side of the Emerald Mountains would come to know one another. If their coming together were carefully managed there should be no difficulty.
But Lara cautioned patience. “First we must see what Hetar does,” she said.
“Why will they do anything?” the Dominus said. “They are across the sea.”
“Gaius Prospero is already wondering where Terah is. He has forced that information from Arcas, who betrayed his own people to save his miserable life. Arcas has always been a bully and a coward. And once the emperor learns that it is not the people of the Coastal Kingdom who produce the luxury goods Hetar loves so dearly, we are in danger, Magnus. Even King Archeron will not be able to stem the tide of Gaius Prospero’s greed and ambition. I was foolish to take you to Hetar.”
“From what I saw of this emperor he is a careful man, Lara,” Magnus said. “By emptying the old Outlands of everything, and sealing up the mines, all he thought to gain is gone. There were no easy pickings for Hetar. No new supply of slaves. Gaius Prospero will have to spend some of his own ill-gotten gains to keep the peace and resettle the old Outlands. He will be too busy maintaining his own position to be bothered with us.”
“Perhaps in the short term, but not the long,” Lara answered. “Terah must begin to build an army so that when the time comes we can protect ourselves, and our lands.”
“An army?” he exclaimed. “We have never had an army. We have never needed one. If I tell our people we need one now I will frighten them.”
“Better they be frightened now when we are safe, and can overcome that fear while we raise a force to protect us in the future from any foreign incursion into Terah,” Lara responded. “Magnus, it is not just Hetar. The day I came to the new Outlands Dasras and I went for a ride. He wanted me to see the sea creatures in the Obscura, and I did. But I saw something else as well. The desert of the Shadow Princes lies across the sea, and curves around the water to the south. But to the north is yet another land. It is neither Terah nor Hetar. As Hetar knew nothing of us, there is a land of which neither of us has any knowledge. We are vulnerable from at least two sides.
“Because Terah has never been approached by foreigners does not mean we will not be in the future. The land I saw looked dark, Magnus. The sorcerer Usi represented true evil, my husband. From where did he learn that evil? Indeed, from where did Usi originate? The magic that grows within me can only protect Terah to a small extent.
