“How many servants?” Lara probed.
“There is the headman, some who cook, some who clean, some who do the laundry. Most are older women. They have all been kind to me, more so than my own family,” Noss revealed.
“Then the prince is a solitary man,” Lara noted.
“But for his brother princes, yes,” Noss said.
“La-a-a-ra!”
“Gracious, what is that noise?” Noss cried.
“’Tis Og, my giant companion,” Lara replied. “Come quickly before he shouts the palace down.” She hurried through the apartment and out into the public corridor where she found Og standing.
“This is a fine palace, and the prince has asked me to help with his mares,” Og said. He bent down, looking at Noss. “And who is this wee creature?”
“This is Noss,” Lara answered him.
“The one Durga would not have, eh?” Og remarked.
“The very same. Please do not frighten her, Og. She is not used to you as I am,” Lara said. “The prince has set her to wait upon me.”
“Aye, you need another female to be with,” Og agreed. “Now, is it all right with you if I help tend to the prince’s horses? When I was not in the bathhouse at Durga’s village I kept his horses for him. I am good with animals.”
“You are not my slave, Og, you are my friend. You are free to do what you choose, and if the horses please you, then yes, look after them.”
Noss had finally found her voice again. “I never saw anyone as big as you before,” she said.
“I am told I am small for a giant, but six cubits high. There are others far larger than I, little girl,” Og responded with a grin. “Well, I’ll tell the prince we are agreed, Lara. When you decide to leave this place, if you do, I will come with you. We are companions, eh?” He chuckled, and then turning was gone.
“How did you ever meet him?” Noss wanted to know. “I have heard little good about giants, Lara.”
“He was held prisoner in Durga’s village,” Lara said. Og’s history was too complicated a story for the simple Noss. “We decided to escape together, and I could not have done it without him. He is a kind and gentle fellow, Noss. And a good friend to me in my time of trial. One day I will tell you why the Forest Lords wanted me, and it is not a happy story. You have no idea the trap you escaped, little one. One day I shall tell all of Hetar the story of the Forest Lords and their duplicity. But for now, I need to bathe and to rest.” She reentered her apartments.
The little bath was wonderful. Pinning up her long hair, she washed herself standing in a marble hollow, rinsed, and then went to soak in the warm scented water. She invited Noss to share her bath, but the girl was still too shy, and Lara thought how fortunate Noss had been to avoid the brief life of a concubine in the Forest. Coming from the pool, she wrapped herself in a large drying cloth and went into her bedroom, where she found the prince sprawled upon her bed awaiting her.
“You look delicious,” he told her, his blue eyes dancing.
“I have only just washed your wicked lust from my body, my lord,” she said.
“As tempting as I find you, Lara, I but came to ask you to join me at supper. Noss knows where, and she knows the time.” He arose from the bed, and drew her slowly into his strong arms looking down into her face. “Og found you?”
“Yes.” Did she sound breathless?
“You are content with his arrangements?” His lips were practically touching hers.
“He will be treated well? And housed comfortably? And fed enough? His appetite is very large, for he is a big man,” Lara said, her voice now a whisper.
“You have my word on it, Lara.” His mouth closed over hers, and as she kissed him back she realized that were he not holding her in his arms she could not stand, for her legs felt very weak. “You taste delicious too, my love,” he said softly, raising his head to look into her green eyes.
“Ethne says you were right,” Lara murmured. “Maeve is my grandmother, and her daughter, Ilona, my mother.”
“I will arrange for you to meet your grandmother, for as I have said she is very, very old, and will soon fade away entirely,” the prince said. Then he kissed her lips lightly one more time, and released his hold on her. “I will see you at the twilight, Lara.”
Fortunately the bed was behind her, and as her legs gave way she felt the mattress beneath her buttocks. Kaliq had the most amazing effect upon her. Pulling herself all the way onto the bed she fell asleep. It had been a day like no other she had ever experienced, and there was more to come.
The prince found Noss in the dayroom. “You will take good care of her,” he said. It was neither a question, nor a request.
“Yes, my lord,” Noss answered him. “She is my friend.”
“More than you realize, Noss. Do you know what your fate would have been had you remained in the Forest?”
Noss shook her head. Her innocent eyes were wide with her curiosity.
He had been going to tell her the truth, but instead he said, “They would have worked you until you dropped. You would have been cold and hungry most of the time. You would have remained a slave, and not been made a free girl.” He patted her cheek. “You are much better off in my household, Noss, than in the Forest.”
“Oh, yes, my lord!” Noss said blushing.
“Bring Lara to the dining hall at the twilight. See she is garbed beautifully, and her hair dressed to show it to its best advantage. My brothers will be dining with us tonight. We are celebrating my stallion’s success today in the mating.” Then the prince swept from the chamber as Noss stared admiringly after him.
Lara slept for several hours, wrapped in her drying cloth. When she awoke to the sound of young Noss singing happily she realized it must be near sunset. She called out, and Noss immediately came into the bedchamber smiling, and bearing a goblet that she handed to Lara. She drank, and it was delicious. “What is it?”
“It is called Frine,” Noss said. “It is a mixture of wine and fruit juice or juices. The headman explained it to me when I first tasted it. It tastes different to everyone who drinks it. I thought you might be thirsty, and there is a jug of it on the table in the dayroom,” Noss said. “We have not much time. You are expected in the dining hall for the banquet at the twilight. Some of the prince’s brothers will be there. I’m sure they will bring their women. The prince says you will be celebrating the success of his stallion today with the mares.”
Lara felt her cheeks grow warm with her hidden thoughts. The stallion had indeed had his success. “I must choose a gown then,” she said.
“I chose one for you,” Noss said shyly. “You don’t have to wear it, of course, but I thought it would look beautiful on you.”
“Let me see?” Lara said.
Noss hurried off to return a moment later with the gown. It was the pale pink of a rose, and the gossamer fabric, which was shot through with silver threads, looked as if it had been woven by spiders. It was sleeveless, and the neckline fell in a graceful drape just beneath her collarbone. Dropping her drying cloth she let Noss slip the gown on over her head. It fell in simple, elegant folds.
Noss led her over to the wardrobe, and tapping one of the doors with a finger said, “Illuminate!”
Lara gasped as her reflection appeared in the door. “What magic is this?” she asked Noss.
Noss shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted, “but all the wardrobes do it if you tap their doors, and say ‘illuminate.’ Do you like the gown?”
“Yes,” Lara admitted. “Are they all like this?” Her body was quite visible through the silky fabric.
Noss nodded. “Some even have cut-outs, but I thought you would prefer something more modest tonight.”
Lara laughed. She would have hardly used the word modest in relation to this gown, she thought.
“I must do your hair now,” Noss said. She sat Lara down upon a bench, and taking down her hair, she began to brush it out. Then she braided several strands with delicate jeweled chains and looped them up around Lara’s face. She brushed the remaining long swath of gilt hair very lightly with oil of night lilies, and dusted with gold. Then she looked with a critical eye at her handiwork. She held up a round mirror in a polished silver-and-gold frame to Lara. “What do you think?” she asked anxiously. “Do you like it?”
“It’s wonderful!” Lara told her. “How did you ever learn to do this?”
Noss shrugged. “My mother had beautiful hair. I used to play with it, and learned that way, I guess.” She grew
