replied.
“You have changed from the girl you once were though you look exactly the same as you did when we first met. I envy you that,” Sholeh told Lara with a grimace.
“Because I am young in my own race’s time I have never had to watch the friends of my early years age,” Lara said. “I have to admit that I do not like it. That drop of mortal blood that runs through my veins has made me sensitive to the passage of the years. My mother says if I did not have that bit of mortal blood in me that I should not notice time at all.”
“I suppose there are disadvantages to every race,” Sholeh said.
The High Council met on the last day of The Gathering. Lara took her seat among the clan families’ representatives. She brought Taj with her, and introduced the young Dominus formally to all the lords of the New Outlands clans. Taj promised to honor all of the promises his late father had made to the people of the clan families. They in return swore their fealty to Taj, and paid their yearly tribute. The clan leaders were impressed with young Taj’s manner and air of assurance. And comforted that Lara was his mother.
“He will be a fine man one day,” Rendor of the Felan, the council head, said to Lara. “Magnus would be proud of him.”
“He was,” Lara answered him.
“How long will
“At least five more years,” Lara told him. “I have appointed Taj’s uncles as his little council, which satisfies the Terahns, and allows them to believe that Taj is truly their Dominus. Marzina calls me a Shadow Queen.” She smiled at her old friend.
“We missed Marzina and her tricks this year,” Rendor said with a smile.
“She is with Ilona, and very happy. It is safer for her in my mother’s forest right now,” Lara told him. “Especially after what Zagiri did.”
“There is one thing I have learned from Prince Kaliq,” Rendor said. “Everything happens for a purpose, Lara. You may not comprehend that purpose, but it is there. The Celestial Actuary, or Great Creator as the Terahns call him, does not make mistakes.”
“You know how I dislike the
Rendor laughed. “I know,” he said. “You would see everything immediately, and understand it all, but life even for a faerie woman does not work that way.”
Lara nodded, and she bid her old friend farewell. Then she went with her son to each of the clan lords and said their goodbyes. After, her magic returned them all home quickly as it did each year. Coming to The Gathering usually took several days.
Back in Liam’s village of Camdene the Dominus had a request of his parent. “Mother,” Taj said, “could Gare and Sinon come back to the castle with me? They have some learning, but would have more. And I would like to have my two friends to study with me this year. With my sisters gone now the castle is lonely.”
“If their parents will allow it I see no reason for them not to come,” Lara told him.
“Let us find them now, then,” Taj said excitedly.
The parents of both Gare and Sinon were at first reluctant to allow their sons to go, but the enthusiasm of the three boys convinced them that this would be a great advantage for their sons.
And Liam, Lord of the Fiacre, spoke in favor of such an arrangement. “Retaining the friendship of the young Dominus is a good thing,” he said. “It is to the clan families’ advantage for a new generation to be part of Terah. It is not like the old days when we were content to remain isolated in the Outlands. These are the New Outlands, and our survival requires a new tactic. Send your sons with the Dominus. You may be certain that Lara will watch over them herself. They will be safe.”
The permissions granted, Lara sought out Dasras, and told her stallion that she would ride home alone. “I have told the boys I will send for them in two days.”
“It will be like the old days, mistress,” Dasras said as she mounted him. Then he began to race down the long meadow, his snowy-white wings unfolding as he ran. They ascended upward into the blue skies heading across the fertile plains beneath and toward the Emerald Mountains. Lara could see as they traveled over the hills that the autumn was coming. Here and there she spied spots of red and gold as the trees began to color. Briefly she was overcome with sadness. She and Magnus had returned home together at this same time last year. Dasras had carried them both, and they had all laughed and talked, recalling their summer idyll. The stallion always had wonderful stories to relate as most people overlooked the fact that the magical beast was intelligent and so they ignored him, speaking freely.
“What did you do when Roan asked you to leave his meadows?” Lara asked the great horse as he flew.
“Why, I went to another meadow, mistress, taking a dozen delightful mares including my own beloved Sakira with me. Roan’s young stallion blustered and bristled. I spoke with him and offered to fight him, but I warned him if I did I should win because I have magic. I would overcome him, and then I would geld him myself. Oddly he did not annoy me after that. He is a beautiful creature, mistress, but a complete fraud. He gallops about the meadow tossing his head, flinging his mane back and flaring his nostrils as he snorts. And as he basked beneath the light of the full moon, admiring himself in the meadow pond, I jumped the hedge separating us, and spent the next several hours impregnating every mare I could catch and mount. Roan will have a bumper crop of colts next spring I can guarantee, and most of them will be silver-white.” Dasras chuckled wickedly.
Lara laughed heartily at her stallion’s recital. “Roan, of course, will know what you have done,” she said.
“That youngster he’s pinning his hopes on would be better off gelded,” Dasras replied dryly. “He will only produce ordinary offspring, but Roan is no fool. He will see that sooner than later. Now, mistress, tell me what troubles you, for I can see you are disturbed. Is it that you will miss your Aghy lover?”
“Nay, I kept him for pleasures just a short while. I am sad because for the first time I have noticed those I love growing older,” Lara said. “And when they are gone with whom will I share my history? With whom will I talk?”
“We will share our history, and we will talk, mistress,” Dasras said.
“But your time is certainly limited, too, Dasras,” Lara replied.
“I was created to live as long as my mistress,” the horse told her. “I will be with you as long as you exist in this world.”
“Oh, I am glad!” Lara said. “When Magnus died so suddenly and unexpectedly last spring I began to realize the true frailty of mortals, Dasras. It saddens me.”
“Do not waste your time bemoaning that which you cannot change,” Dasras advised Lara. “Enjoy what you have, and the time you have with those who give you happiness, mistress. It is true you will outlive three of your children, but the other two will be here for you. You will get to see a grandson, a great-grandson and other descendants rule Terah after your son. And Anoush and her descendants will keep you connected with the clan families even after Liam, Rendor, Roan and the others are gone.”
Lara’s sadness evaporated, and she leaned forward to pat Dasras’s neck. “Thank you,” she told him. “I had begun to wallow in self-pity. My mortals still have many years ahead of them. Oh, Dasras! What would I do without you?”
“You would do very well, mistress. Not as well as you do with me, of course,” Dasras told her drolly.
Lara laughed, feeling lighter now that she had gotten her foolish fears off of her chest. “Look!” she said, pointing below. “It is Sapphire Lake. We are halfway home.”
Dasras galloped on through the blue sky. They finally crossed the Emerald range of mountains. Below she could see the small villages and farms of Terah. Eventually the coastline came into sight, the Sea of Sagitta beyond. From her vantage point Lara could see at least four of the fjords, and then she saw the castle of the Dominus looming up from the green cliffs. She had always thought it beautiful with its towers and turrets, with its terraced gardens that hung out over the fjord.
Dasras began to decrease his altitude. He cleared the far cliff and sailed out over the waters of the dark blue fjord. Then, circling, he dropped down into his stable yard, coming to a gentle landing. It was always more difficult for him to land than it was for him to take off. Jason, his personal attendant, came racing from the stables to greet him.
Lara slid from the saddle. “Thank you, Dasras,” she said, and, rubbing his muzzle affectionately, she hurried into the castle.
“We didn’t know you were coming home today, mistress,” her servant, Mila, said as she came forward to
