Lara

“Send servants into the village to escort the giant, Og, to the palace. See they pack up all his and the lady Lara’s possessions.”

“At once, my lord,” the servant said, bowing, and he hurried off.

“How do you know?” she demanded.

He laughed. “I just do. Now come, I will show you where you will live.” He brought her to a suite of beautiful rooms that all opened out into a cool, green garden. “My apartment is across the garden,” he told her. “We will always be near one another, Lara. How many servants would you like?”

“I am capable of taking care of myself,” she told him.

“You are my chosen,” he replied. “You must be served.”

“Og will serve me,” Lara said.

“No. I want Og to work with my horses. Forest giants are extraordinarily good with animals. You must have a serving girl, and I think I have someone who would do well. I bought her off the last Taubyl Trader who came through several months back. She is young, and was very frightened, but she has learned well, my head serving man tells me. She will be as much a companion to you as a servant. Her name is Noss.”

“Noss!” Lara cried. “That is the girl the Foresters would not have! Yes, she will suit me admirably, my lord Kaliq.”

“Then I will send her to you,” he said. “For now, explore your quarters. They were conceived with you in mind.” He turned, and was quickly gone in a swirl of his white robes.

Alone, Lara reached down and raised the crystal to her gaze. Am I safe with him?

The flame flickered. That is a question to which you already know the answer, Ethne said. Ask what it is that you really desire to know from me.

Is Maeve, queen of the Forest Faeries, my grandmother?

Yes.

And her daughter, Ilona, the faerie woman who bore me?

Yes.

Why did you not tell me before, Lara demanded?

You did not ask, and it was not time for you to know until you did, Ethne replied.

Why?

Ethne gave a watery chuckle. Because it is, she responded.

Do not be smug, Lara said, irritated. It ill becomes you. I do not know if I like all this mystery and magic that seems to surround me these days. Why did my life have to become so damned complicated? I liked living in the City. I liked being nothing more than my father’s daughter. Now I am not certain what or who I am.

Be patient, Lara, Ethne’s gentle voice soothed. You have a destiny, and it must be played out. But for now you are safe with the Shadow Prince. He is one of the wisest of them, and will impart much knowledge to you. Learn from him.

“Lara!”

She turned, and then held out her arms to Noss. “Noss! How glad I am that you are now safe. Rolf Fairplay kept his promise to me.” She hugged the young girl.

“I am to be your servant and companion, the prince has told me,” Noss said. “How did you get here, Lara? I cried so hard when I saw you being taken away by the Forest Lords. My eyes got all swollen with the salt of my tears.”

“I escaped the Forest at Winterfest,” Lara said, and then she explained all to Noss. “Og will be here shortly. You will like him. I could have never done it without him. He is the kindest and gentlest fellow I have ever known. Now, tell me how you have fared since we were last together.”

“There is little to tell,” Noss replied. “We crossed the Desert for several days, and when we reached this palace the trader brought forth all manner of goods. The headman here told Rolf Fairplay that he need a young serving woman. Rolf explained he had but one slave, very young, and inexperienced. The headman said he wished to see me, and when he had he asked me if I could be content as a servant to his prince. He said I would be taught what I needed to know-that the prince did not beat his servants, and I should not be a slave, but free. Rolf protested that I was a slave, but the headman smiled, and said while he would buy a slave, he would free the slave once it became the prince’s property. It was their custom. Shunnar is a pleasant place, Lara. I have been treated well. But until today I have done little. When I have spoken to the headman he has simply said that my time had not arrived. Now I know why. It is as if they were waiting for you to come here,” Noss finished.

“Perhaps they were,” Lara agreed.

“Are you the prince’s lover?” Noss asked ingenuously.

“Yes, it would seem I am now,” Lara admitted aloud.

“He is so handsome,” Noss sighed. Then she grew serious. “What of the others? What happened to them? Were the Forest Lords cruel?”

“The other five are all with child by their masters,” Lara said. “Truda by the Head Forester himself. His name is Durga. He and his younger brother, Enda, were my masters. They sought to get me with child, but faerie women, even half faerie women as myself, will not give children to men they do not love. I did not know that, but when Og told me I knew I must flee or be slain for my failures.”

“How horrible!” Noss exclaimed.

“If I can remain free for a year and a day the Forest Lords will have no claim on me. Prince Kaliq wishes me to stay with him. He says he will keep me safe.”

Noss sighed. “He is so romantic,” she said. “Sometimes I wish I were old enough and beautiful enough to attract the attention of a man like that.”

“You are a very pretty girl, Noss,” Lara told her. “But I think if you believe in love you must let it come to you. One day it will.”

“If I believe in love?” Noss cried. “Everyone believes in love, Lara.”

“I don’t,” was the answer, “but we must not get into a discussion over it. Come and help me explore these beautiful rooms that the prince has said are mine. They seem even finer than my father’s new house in the Garden District.”

Together mistress and servant walked throughout the magnificent apartment. There was the antechamber where they had greeted one another and a small dining room that opened out on the garden and was off a dayroom. There was a little bedchamber, and a large bedchamber. There was even a private tiled bath with its own small bathing pool. The marble floors were covered with beautiful woolen rugs in jeweled tones of ruby, sapphire, amethyst and emerald. Sheer pale gold draperies blew in the soft Desert air from the windows. The furniture was of ebony accented with gold, some of a design Lara had never seen. It was some type of seating, and was plush with cushions and pillows. The bed in her bedroom was set upon a dais, and hanging from a large brass ring in the ceiling were the same pale gold gossamer silks as at the windows. The room itself had walls of pale wood painted with flowers and Desert animals.

“I have never seen anything so beautiful,” Noss breathed slowly.

“Neither have I,” Lara agreed.

“There is a door on my room,” the younger girl told Lara excitedly. “Will you permit me to close it?”

“Of course,” Lara said. “Remember that you are a free servant.”

“And I have a real bed, not a pallet! I have never had a real bed,” Noss told Lara. Then she walked over to a tall wardrobe, and opened its doors. Inside were all manner of gowns and sandals. “Look!” Noss said to Lara excitedly. “Have you ever seen such lovely things? It is as if he were expecting you, Lara.”

“He was,” Lara answered her. But how had he known unless he knew what her destiny was to be? “Who else lives in this palace, Noss?” Lara asked the girl.

“Only the prince and his servants. I have seen others like him, though. They come in the evening, and sometimes dine with him,” Noss said.

“No other women?” She was curious. How could she not be curious?

“Sometimes. They come and they go, but usually when the others are here. In the time I have been here there has been no woman living in this palace, unless she was a servant as I am.”