The Twilight Lord

“Terah has no quarrel with Hetar,” Lara answered her. “Nor would I use my magic for a dark purpose, lady. The problem lies, as I think you know, with those who govern Hetar. Hetar is not meant to be an empire. It has always been a benevolent republic. The High Council ruled fairly by majority agreement, not through the will of one man alone. But now self-interest rules Hetar and he who calls himself your emperor is about to lead you into another war, lady. Does no one in Hetar remember the Winter War? The toll it took on Hetar was small compared to what will happen if Hetar attempts to wage war on Terah.”

“Do you threaten me?” Gillian demanded to know. Her look was severe.

“Nay, lady, I do not threaten you. I simply ask you why the women of Hetar choose to remain silent in the face of looming tragedy.”

Lady Gillian looked startled at the question, so Lara continued.

“Why is it that women have no voice in the governance of Hetar, lady? Women have certainly shown that they are capable of rule. Women manage the Pleasure Houses in Hetar. There are women who keep shops and several who qualify as merchants and do successful business despite the fact that the Merchants’ Guild will not allow them to become members. Women are healers and teachers of our young, and even the simplest women in the quarter keep their hovels and families in good order. Yet there is not one woman on the High Council from any of the provinces.

“You stand silent while the emperor and the magnates drive up the price of bare necessities. As headmistress of the Pleasure Guild I know you are aware that the Pleasure Houses are proving less and less profitable, because the cubits needed for an evening’s entertainment these days must be used to feed a family. You have seen the quality offered in the shops and markets of late. These goods are not nearly as fine as they once were, lady. But you remain silent.”

“The shoddy goods in the markets now are your fault,” Lady Gillian said. “Ever since we learned that the Coastal Kings were merchant traders, not the craftsmen we believed them to be, you have sent us items of poor quality.”

“Nay,” Lara told her. “The trade between our nations has grown smaller. Gaius Prospero has confiscated much of the open lands belonging to the Coastal Kings. He and the magnates have set up factories in an attempt to reproduce what Terah has been sending to Hetar for centuries. But you have no craftsmen nor artisans to do this work, lady, and the goods they manage to finish are awful. As for the little trade between our lands now, those goods are retained for only a few in favor with Gaius Prospero.”

Lady Gillian’s look was one of outrage at Lara’s words. “But the Pleasure Houses should be given the best of everything,” she said. “And in return we offer the men who come to us the best of everything. We sing and we dance, and we hold intelligent discourse with our patrons. We have always been treated well, but if the truth be known, Domina of Terah, we have not been treated as well in the last few years.”

“And you have said nothing,” Lara remarked quietly. “Why?”

“Why?” Lady Gillian looked puzzled and then she answered, “I don’t know why. The life of a Pleasure Woman, a Pleasure Mistress, has always been circumscribed by its rules. You certainly know that, Domina.”

“Rules can be broken, lady. Especially when the enforcer of those rules is not keeping up his end of the bargain. It is up to the owners of the Pleasure Houses to see that the women who manage the houses and the women who inhabit them are kept comfortable. But I will wager that you have of late had many complaints from the Pleasure Mistresses in that regard,” Lara said.

“How can you know that?” Gillian demanded.

But the look on her face told Lara that she had guessed correctly. The hard times in Hetar were hitting at higher levels.

“I know,” Lara said quietly, “because if the cubits are finding their way into fewer hands, lady, then everyone will suffer. And now your emperor proposes a war. To what purpose? He promised Hetar’s citizens land and slaves when the Outlands were taken. But there was naught in the Outlands but emptiness, and now the choicest parcels of that territory belong not to the people, but to the emperor, his friends and the magnates.

“Now Gaius Prospero once more promises the citizens of Hetar great wealth if he can gain Terah. How truthful are his words, lady? You know he lies again, and but seeks profit for himself. Hetar cannot survive under such conditions. But the women of Hetar say naught. They sit while their world is crumbling about them, while their men are either worked to death or sent off to war to die, while their children cry from hunger.

“Are the carefully circumscribed rules of Hetarian society so ingrained into the women of Hetar that they will remain silent and die rather than speak up? They must demand change!”

Lady Gillian was silent for several long moments while the mists of the Dream Plain swirled about the two women. Finally the older woman spoke up. “I cannot disagree with much of what you say,” she began, “but how can the women of Hetar be united to speak with a single voice? There is so little time in which to act. Spring will break but three months after Winterfest, Domina of Terah.”

“I know that the time is short,” Lara agreed. “Already a thick fog lies off the Terahn coast. It will be difficult, if not impossible for Hetar’s fleet to penetrate it. But eventually they may and then the men of Hetar will die upon the narrow sands bordering Terah. And those who manage to escape the beaches will be slain by the Terahn armies. But we do not want this. We want peace, as I know Hetar’s women do.”

“You are asking me to raise my voice against Gaius Prospero,” Gillian said. “Perhaps I could but then shortly my power and authority would be given to someone else. And speaking out against this emperor may prove to be an exercise in futility.”

“Why?” Lara wanted to know.

“The truth?” Gillian smiled as Lara nodded. “Lord Jonah is planning to overthrow Gaius Prospero. The emperor is one of the few not to have divined that fact. Of course none of us would voice such thoughts. But already the magnates secretly align themselves with Jonah. It is his mother, Lady Farah, who will soon sit in my seat. He will then have unspoken control of the Pleasure Guild.”

“The majority of whom are women,” Lara reminded her.

“Jonah wants a war,” Gillian said. “He knows it will be a disaster and when it is, Gaius Prospero will once more be blamed and easier to remove from his throne.”

“I cannot believe that Gaius Prospero does not see what is going on beneath his nose. He was always extremely clever,” Lara remarked.

“The emperor is besotted with his young empress,” Gillian said. “He sees nothing but Shifra. And now there is a rumor that she might be with child. Gaius Prospero envisions creating a dynasty that will rule forever.”

“What of Aubin?” Lara wanted to know.

“Aubin renounced any claim to his father’s throne when the emperor divorced Vilia. He is a member of the Merchants’ Guild,” Lady Gillian said. “Vilia is very duplicitous, Domina. And dangerous, as well. I believe, though I have no proof of it, that she seduced Lord Jonah long before her divorce. She is extremely ambitious for her new husband and the truth is that he is a better prospect for her ambitions, for his own ambition is equal to hers. They make a dangerous pair, I fear.”

“Are there those among your Pleasure Mistresses or other women whom you can trust with your life?” Lara asked the headmistress of the Pleasure Guild.

“Aye,” she answered slowly, her blue eyes wary.

“Meet with them. Discuss with them the possibility of joining with other Hetarian women to speak up with a single voice to make the emperor cease in his plans for another war. I will create a spell that I will weave about you to protect you so that no one can overhear the dangerous words you will speak to others,” Lara said.

“And are these women to be the only voice decrying this proposed war of Gaius Prospero’s?” Gillian asked Lara.

Lara smiled, certain now that she had won the headmistress to her side. “Nay, there will be others who will speak up after you do, but you must lead the way, for you are deeply respected among the women of Hetar. And that knowledge will also save you in the early days of your rebellion from any retribution, for the emperor, Jonah and the magnates will be very surprised by what is happening. They will have to decide if they dare to silence you,” Lara told her.

“And will they?” Gillian wanted to know.

“I cannot answer that,” Lara replied candidly.

“You do not lie,” Gillian responded, an amused smile touching her lips.