good we could accomplish here in Belmair.”
“The young king is wise,” Cronan said.
“Shall we send for Cirillo and Nidhug to join us?” Cinnia asked them.
“Aye,” Dillon said. “We will need their help as well. Cirillo’s magic can also help to sustain each bubble as we work to integrate the Yafir. Nidhug will aid Cinnia.”
“Britto,” Cinnia called to her steward. “Send for Prince Cirillo and the dragon. They will join us for our evening meal. Tell cook to prepare for Nidhug’s appetite.”
“At once, my queen,” Britto said, and hurried off.
As the day finally came to an end, the faerie prince and his lover, the dragon, joined them in the family hall. There they learned all that had transpired this day.
“You have everything well in hand,” Cirillo said.
“But we need you and Nidhug, as well,” Cinnia told him.
“Nidhug will, of course, help me while I transfer the stars to each Yafir. You must help to sustain the bubble until all are protected.”
“Gladly,” Cirillo said. “And then I shall make each village appear to be newly constructed with painted shutters and doors, as well as dooryard gardens. The villages’ beauty should match the province’s beauty.”
“Oh, thank you!” Cinnia exclaimed. “I want the Yafir to feel welcomed.”
The meal was a trifle late in coming, for learning that the dragon would be joining them, the cook had had to roast a lamb over the hearth spit, and stuck a dozen more capons into the oven. She took a pan of artichokes from her pantry, brushed them with oil and set them to baking. Then, knowing Nidhug’s sweet tooth, she sent to Sarabeth at the dragon’s castle for the desserts. Finally the meal was served up, and well appreciated by the guests. The dragon ate daintily, Cirillo popping whole capons into her wide mouth and wiping the juices from her jaw.
Kaliq watched, fascinated by the pair. He was a man for whom love was all, and he could not help but wonder what the attraction between a faerie and a dragon was like. Finally the meal was concluded. Servants brought basins of scented water, and small linen towels so the diners might wash their hands and faces free of any traces of the meal.
The clock on the hall’s hearth mantel chimed twenty-two, and the young king arose from his place at the high board. “It is time,” he said. “Are you all ready?”
And as one the other heads in the hall nodded.
“We are ready,” Cinnia said, “to begin a new chapter in Belmair’s history.”
18
AHURA MAZDA walked back and forth in the circular common room of his wives. In his arms he cradled his week-old daughter, Gemma. “Is she not perfect?” he asked for what was surely the fiftieth time. “She is pure Yafir, are you not, my darling?” he cooed at the baby. “Look at that hair! Silver! Do you know how rare it is nowadays for a Yafir female to have silver hair? And her eyes are already the clearest aquamarine.” He turned to Gemma’s mother. “Thank you, my precious Cinnia.”
“I am not Cinnia, and I am tired of being called by her name,” Sapphira said loudly. “I want my daughter to know who I am, and the true heritage she has on my side.” She was tired of being ignored, and Ahura Mazda had not been nearly as generous with her as she had hoped he would be. She wanted her own apartments in which to raise her daughter. She wanted to keep nursing the child, and not turn her over to a wet nurse. She did not want to sit about with these other women waiting for the Yafir lord to pay her a visit. Sapphira was not happy at all right now, and her behavior became foolishly rash.
The other women looked up, surprised, all but Arlais who waited for the explosion to come. Sapphira was a truly stupid creature. Did she not understand that her value was in her ability to give their husband a daughter, which she had, but also in being Cinnia, daughter of Fflergant, and queen of Belmair? Sapphira had only one value. Her daughter, and there were five other women who could raise that child.
“What do you mean you are not Cinnia?” Ahura Mazda demanded.
“I look like her, don’t I?” Sapphira said with a giggle. “I certainly fooled you, didn’t I? You never realized that King Dillon retrieved his wife months ago, putting me in her place. I am Sapphira of Beldane, who was his mistress. I meant to be queen of Belmair, but instead woke up to find myself in your household, and believed to be Cinnia. Since there was nothing I could do about it I decided to be Cinnia, especially since you are such a vigorous lover to me.”
Ahura Mazda handed his daughter to Arlais. He walked across the chamber and looked into Sapphira’s face. “You are not Cinnia?” he said in a hard voice.
“No, I am Sapphira, niece of Duke Tullio,” she replied.
“Who else knows this?” he demanded of her. His eyes were cold.
“Arlais guessed,” Sapphira said.
Ahura Mazda turned to look at Arlais angrily.
“Aye, I knew,” Arlais said, “but I would not hurt you, my lord, by telling you, for I love you. And, too, my lord, you have been happy with this woman. She is your equal in passion, and she has given you your precious daughter. It is likely she will give you more daughters if you want them.”
“The king of Belmair bested me, and you did not tell me,” Ahura Mazda said.
“Of course he bested you,” Sapphira said. “He is a very powerful man with a faerie mother and a Shadow Prince father. You are only a Yafir.”
Ahura Mazda whirled back to face Sapphira. His hand reached out to grasp her long black hair. Yanking her to him he forced her to her knees and slapped her face hard. “Belmairan whore, be silent! You yet live only because of your child.”
And finally Sapphira realized the extent of her own foolishness. Her strong instinct for her own survival was awakened. She wrapped her arms about his legs, and began to weep. “Do not hate me because I wanted you to love me, and not her!” she whimpered piteously. “You are my beloved, and I but sought to hear my name upon your lips when you made love to me, and not hers. Forgive me the deception I have played upon you, but remember I did say I was Sapphira in the beginning, but none would listen to me. And then after I had lain in your arms the thought of being sent away was too terrible to even contemplate, my lord. Forgive me, I beg of you!”
“I should have you taken to the castle square, bound and spread wide. I should invite any man who wants to to take pleasures with you to do so. You should be left there to be publicly used for a week and a day,” Ahura Mazda growled.
The women in the room paled at his words.
“My lord, I beg you, pardon Sapphira’s errors in judgment,” Arlais said.
“Instead,” Ahura Mazda continued, ignoring his first wife, “I will beat you myself as punishment for your lies. And you shall not have my company for pleasures for three, no, for six months. But each night you shall watch for one hour while I take pleasures with my other wives. And when the six months are up you will service my lusts for seven days after which time you had best find yourself with child again. I will require another daughter from you before you are completely forgiven, Sapphira, my precious. Now, kiss my feet, and thank me for my kindness to you.”
She did not hesitate, lowering herself to kiss the velvet slippers he wore. “Thank you, my lord, thank you!” she half sobbed. Then gasped as he yanked her up by her long hair, and seeing the anger still upon his face she trembled.
“Fetch the Chastizer, Arlais,” the Yafir lord commanded, and Arlais hurried to obey him, returning with a slender, flexible rod.
“Ready her,” he said in a cold voice.
Arlais handed the baby she had been holding to Volupia. Then she and Minau tore the back of Sapphira’s gown open, pulled her forward into a bent position, and held her firmly between them. The room was soon filled with
