ancient?”
“It was his grandfather who was lord then, Cinnia tells me. He was not even born then,” Dillon replied to her query.
“But he has grown up with a sense of persecution and isolation,” Kaliq mused. “And it would seem he has a great need to revenge himself upon Belmair for what he perceives as the wrongs done to his people. But Belmair is not totally at fault in this matter. For centuries the Yafir have been the outcasts of the magical realm, wandering from place to place to place until finally they disappeared. It has been believed that they became extinct. Why no one considered they might have gone into hiding is interesting.”
“Why have they been so despised among the magical folk?” Dillon asked.
“No one knows or can remember the reason,” Kaliq answered. “Throughout time there have been peoples in all the worlds shunned, scorned, reviled over the centuries. But when asked
“It makes little sense, Dillon,” Lara said to him. “But when I was growing up I was oft times shunned because I was believed to be half-faerie. My mortal grandmother worked very diligently to make a completely mortal girl of me. She was a loving woman, but she knew the peril of being different for she had eyes to see.”
“I wonder what she would think of you now,” Dillon said with a smile.
Lara laughed. “I am not so certain that she would be horrified at the life I have led, the heights I have attained and the magic I wield.”
“What do you want to do with the Yafir?” Kaliq asked, bringing them back to the problem at hand.
“The problem isn’t so much with them as it is with Ahura Mazda. Because he has been successful at snatching women away and building his little kingdom beneath the sea, he believes he is invincible, but he is not. We are aware that I could easily destroy him now that I know where he hides himself. Still I am no fool, and in the end I will probably have no other choice in the matter. But I would win over the Yafir before I must meet that challenge. I do not wish to alienate them and continue the cycle of distrust and hate. I wish to bring them back into our Belmairan society.”
“They call themselves Yafir, but the truth is that many of them are of such mixed blood now that they are as much Belmairan as Yafir,” Lara noted. “Perhaps all citizens of Belmair, no matter their heritage, should be simply Belmairan. Although this world has four provinces, it is referred to as Belmair, and its people as Belmairans. Should this not also apply to those who are of Yafir descent?”
“I am proud of my heritage, and of the world into which I was born,” Dillon said. “But I am now Belmair’s king, and consider myself Belmairan, not Hetarian or Terahn. If you live in a world, are part of that world, then you should call yourself by that world’s name no matter your heritage,” he concluded.
“It would appear that removing Ahura Mazda from his lordship will be a necessity,” Kaliq said. “But if you would remove a leader you had best have another waiting or you create a vacuum, which usually provides an opportunity for troublemakers, and it is certain that there will be several of those among the Yafir.”
“You should ask Cinnia what, if anything, she may have heard during her stay with the Yafir,” Lara suggested to them.
The young queen was called, and came to join them. They told her of their discussion, and asked if she knew anything that might help them reach out to the Yafir.
“Ahura Mazda’s first wife, Arlais, has several sons. I do not believe that they are embittered despite their father’s emotions. Arlais is a reasonable woman. If I wanted to reach out to the Yafir, I would speak with her before I spoke with anyone else. She will listen to you. She will be truthful. But she will never betray her lord husband. She loves him, you see,” Cinnia explained.
“We can reach out to her on the Dream Plain,” Dillon said. I can tell her that I genuinely seek peace, and offer her people a home above the waves once again.”
“No, my lord, ’tis I who should go,” Cinnia said quietly. “She knows me, and will not be afraid of coming to my call.”
“But then she will realize that Sapphira is not you,” Dillon said.
“Arlais will not tell Ahura Mazda that you outmagicked him in order to retrieve me,” Cinnia responded. “And besides if such a thing became publicly known the Yafir lord would be a laughingstock. She would not do that to him. Besides there is the chance that Sapphira carries a female child.”
“Would not a female child make Sapphira supreme to Arlais?” Lara asked.
“He would never put Sapphira or a daughter before Arlais’s devotion and loyalty,” Cinnia told them. “That is the paradox of this man. He loves his women despite his ambition and his bitterness.”
“Then I think Cinnia should be the one to approach Arlais,” Kaliq said.
“So be it,” Dillon said.
“When shall I do it, my lord?” Cinnia asked them.
“Will she be safe upon the Dream Plain?” Nidhug wanted to know. She had been silent for most of the meeting, listening, evaluating carefully all that was said.
“She will be more than safe for she carries the protection of the king of Belmair, a Shadow Prince and a great faerie woman,” Dillon said with a smile. “Do not fret, Nidhug. I swore when I regained my wife that never again would I allow anyone or anything to harm her. I will keep that vow.”
“We will wait until evening,” Kaliq said. “I think a first visit to the Dream Plain should begin in an ordinary manner, like any evening’s preparation for sleep.” He took Cinnia’s hand, and looked into her face. “You will not be afraid, my daughter, I promise you. About your neck you will wear a medallion of the tree of life. It will protect you in addition to all Dillon, Lara and I will do. Do you believe me, Cinnia?”
“I do!” Cinnia replied, quite surprised by the effect his words, and his beautiful penetrating eyes had upon her.
The discussion regarding the problem of the Yafir lord was now over. Dillon and Cinnia went to bid their many guests farewell as they departed to return to the four corners of Belmair. Cinnia was very relieved to see Duke Tullio and his sister, Margisia, depart. She couldn’t help but harbor a small guilty feeling for the deception that had been played upon them, and she was frankly uncomfortable in their presence although she masked those emotions well.
“You have made us, made Beldane proud,” Duke Tullio said as he bade farewell. He took her by her shoulders, and kissed both of her cheeks. “Be happy, my child,” he told her. Then he made a formal bow. “I salute you, queen of Belmair.”
“Thank you, my lord uncle,” Cinnia replied. “I am content to have pleased you, and brought honor to Beldane.”
Margisia enveloped Cinnia in a hug. “I am so proud of you, my darling,” she gushed. Then she lowered her voice. “I knew you could do it. Old Dreng is fit to be tied. He’s already gone,” she giggled. “Now, remember what I have taught you. Gather up as much wealth for yourself as possible. And when you want something special that your husband may not be of a mind to give you, withhold yourself from him while teasing him just enough so he believes you are not. But do not give him your body until you get your way, Sapphira. I hope you garnered a great deal when he forced you to change your name. I know you would have never done it otherwise,” she nattered on.
“And do not ruin your figure by bearing him more than one child. Son or daughter, it makes no mind. I would not give your father more than one. A woman’s body is destroyed with childbearing, and when it is you will find your husband runs off to a younger woman whose body has not been ravaged and stretched with new life. Men can be so cruel, my darling Sapphira. Remember that you are the only one who will look after you. Trust no other.” Then Margisia began to weep. “Oh, my darling daughter! To think I shall never see you again! Oh, I cannot bear it! I cannot!”
“Certainly you will come to visit, Sister,” the duke said impatiently. “Now let us take our leave. Our vessel awaits us.” Grasping Margisia’s upper arm he led her to her horse, and helped to boost her into the saddle.
“Goodbye,” Cinnia said. “Travel in safety.” She was more than relieved to have Sapphira’s mother gone. What a wretched woman. No wonder her daughter had turned out the way she had. Cinnia waved, and tried to look sad.
By late afternoon all the wedding guests were gone. Cinnia spent some time with Dillon’s three younger sisters, the oldest of whom was close to her own age. Anoush, daughter of Lara and Vartan of the Fiacre, was a beautiful
