throats. It has become obvious that Ciarda is behind the Hierarch. We will observe and then destroy him. Now, I have not told you of Anoush.” And Lara went on to explain to her mother how she had put her daughter into a deep sleep to protect her from Cam because of his association with the Darkling.”
“Why would Ciarda be bothered with someone like Cam?” Ilona said. “He is a common Fiacre cattle herder. Of course, these rough brutes all seem to have large and talented manhoods. The Darkling would appreciate that. Or is it something else?”
“What else could it be?” Lara said, and then her hand went to her mouth to stifle the cry of sudden realization. “Cam! She has made Cam the Hierarch! He is a perfect cat’s paw for her to use. And if indeed she has chosen Cam she has made a fatal mistake by doing so, Mother! She is so eager for power, foolish Darkling!”
“What mistake?” Ilona wanted to know.
“You know how the Hetarians have always despised the Outlanders? They consider them savages and barbarians. Do you believe that Hetar can accept a Hierarch who is Outlander born and raised? I do not think they can. If they learn that their savior is one of the despised they will reject him.”
“And what then?” Ilona said. “It is true we must keep Hetar from being swallowed by the darkness, but will not exposing their Hierarch send them tumbling into the void even faster? Their Hierarch has brought them hope.”
“He is turning them back to what they were. Overproud and greedy. A Hetar where men rule, and women are little more than objects for pleasure, bearing children or hard work. I helped the women of Hetar to find their voice, Mother. I cannot allow that voice to be stilled.”
“It does not have to be, Lara. What if we, the faerie kingdoms, and the Shadow Princes help the Hierarch to see the Darkling’s evil? What if we make Cam believe that he really is the Hierarch? We will give him powers greater than Ciarda’s. Temporary, of course, but enough to convince him, and possibly to convince her. We can keep her from bringing the darkness to Hetar by making her cat’s paw ours. We will help him to reinterpret Hetar’s old laws and traditions for the better not the worse. We will see that he gives the women of Hetar even greater autonomy.”
“Mother, it is a brilliant plan!” Lara cried. “And if I can manipulate Kol’s sons a tiny bit more we can close the Dark Lands to her, as well.”
“You are both extremely clever,” Prince Kaliq said, stepping from the shadows of Ilona’s privy chamber where the two women were sitting.
“We cannot let Hetar retreat into its past,” Lara said. “But the misery there now is terrible. If the population of The City should rise up against those who live in the Golden District, innocents could suffer.”
“You think of Zagiri,” Ilona said.
“Aye, I do,” Lara admitted. “Zagiri is Terahn. She should not have to suffer because she has been foolish enough to marry a Hetarian against my will.”
“We have not been able to get close enough to the Darkling,” Kaliq said, “but we know her basic plan. I will send my brothers among the people of Hetar to learn more about the Hierarch.”
“And I will approach Cam, for he is an ambitious man, and when he learns my powers are stronger than the Darkling’s powers I will be able to win him over,” Lara said.
“Will you keep Anoush sleeping for the interim?” Ilona asked.
Lara nodded. “I will. In matters like this she is an innocent. And I do not want Cam to have any advantage over me, or believe he has an advantage.”
“I will speak with the King of the Mountain Faeries, the Empress of the Meadow Faeries and the King of the Water Faeries to see if they will help,” Ilona said.
“And if they will not?” Kaliq asked her.
“If they choose not to aid us they will at least keep silent,” Lara said.
“Agreed!” Ilona replied. “Know, my daughter, that each of these monarchs owes me a favor. I will not force their compliance, but their silence is another matter.”
The trio dispersed. The Shadow Prince to Shunnar to speak with his brothers and bring them up to date. Lothair and Coilin joined them to tell them how things were progressing in Hetar
“There is talk,” Lothair, the elder of the two, said, “of taking ownership of the Pleasure Houses back from the Pleasure Mistresses, and putting them once again into the hands of male owners.”
“And of closing the new male Pleasures Houses that have been opened for women clients,” Coilin added.
“That will not bring prosperity back to Hetar,” Kaliq said. “The Pleasure Houses have flourished twice as well since the females took them over. And opening houses with male Pleasure Slaves for the women was a brilliant idea.”
“I know,” Coilin agreed. “Many young women are now celebrating their fourteenth birthday by taking pleasures for the first time in them. There is even one that caters to such birthdays. It has an excellent group of male sex slaves who specialize in the uninitiated. It is considered quite fashionable to say that you first took pleasures with one of these sex slaves.”
“We must work with those who are reasonable, and would modernize Hetar’s traditions without scorning them,” Kaliq said, and his brothers nodded in agreement.
“What is Queen Ilona doing to help in this matter?” Prince Eskil asked.
“See for yourself,” Kaliq said, offering Eskil a round crystal ball.
Taking it up, Eskil gazed into the sphere.
Ilona had chosen to visit Gwener, Empress of the Meadow Faeries, first. Every bit as beautiful as Ilona, Gwener had long red hair and dark green eyes. She had a smaller kingdom than the other faerie rulers, and had a tendency to be overproud and difficult. Ilona had sent ahead requesting an audience with Gwener, saying it was a most urgent matter. The empress sent back a message that she knew Ilona was involving herself in non-faerie matters, and that she was not interested in speaking with the Queen of the Forest Faeries. Ilona, however, persisted. She invited Gwener to visit her, saying that Annan of the Water Faeries and Laszlo of the Mountain Faeries would be there. Not wishing to be left out, Gwener came.
Ilona explained the situation to her fellow monarchs, concluding, “We must help these foolish mortals straighten out the chaos they have made of their lives, and protect them from the darkness.”
“You are certain the darkness threatens?” Laszlo of the Mountain Faeries asked.
“This Hierarch is currently being controlled by a Darkling called Ciarda,” Ilona answered. “She is one of Kol’s daughters, and she wishes to complete what he could not. She has already seduced one of her half brothers, and her very existence threatens the other one who, though it pains me to say it, is the better half.”
“They are your daughter’s children, are they not?” Gwener said cruelly.
“Not by choice!” Ilona snapped. “The Twilight Lord stole Lara from her family, gave her memories to the Munin to keep and impregnated her. You know well it was planned for this to happen. Lara’s memories restored, she turned the one child into two to cause chaos in the Dark Lands as we wanted. But now the darkness threatens to rise again, and all of us are needed to help stop it. How dare you criticize Lara!”
Gwener shrugged. “I was only refreshing the memories of our two fellow rulers,” she murmured.
“Nay, you were being a bitch, Gwener,” King Annan of the Water Faeries said. “You have always been jealous of Ilona, but this is not the time for your pettiness. Ilona is right. We have a serious problem.”
“Agreed,” King Laszlo said. “How can we help, Ilona?”
“We must all be vigilant and we must work together to enclose each of our kingdoms in a protective spell that will keep the darkness from us. Because it is our practice not to consort with mortals except now and again for pleasures, we are considered vulnerable. The darkness will attack us first, for we surround the mortal worlds. But if our own kingdoms are protected from the darkness it will give Lara and the Shadow Princes more time to turn the Hierarch from his Darkling mistress. If we foil her then she will return to her own lands. Let her brothers have to fight with her.”
The two kings nodded their heads in agreement.
“I must be protected first if you expect me to help you,” Gwener said.
“Of course,” Ilona answered her. “Your beautiful meadows would die if they were sunk in the darkness. Would you not agree, my lords?”
“Indeed,” King Annan replied.
“Yes, of course,” King Laszlo responded.
“Let us not delay, then,” Ilona said.
Prince Eskil set the crystal globe aside. “Ilona has gathered her fellow monarchs, and they are doing what they
