A Distant Tomorrow Page 14

  “You are an honorable beast,” the Dominus said. “I understand, Dasras. Sleep well, for we have a long ride tomorrow.” He gave the horse a friendly nod of his head, and then said to Lara, “Are you ready to come now?”

  Lara hugged her animal again, kissing his muzzle. “Rest,” she said. “I will see you on the morrow.” Then she took Magnus Hauk’s hand, and they departed the stables. “It is almost time for afterwards,” she murmured, and he chuckled.

  They returned to his private garden. It was a beautiful green place and walled with a small pool and waterfall. The hour had grown late, and above them the sky was blue and pink and gold with fragments of narrow clouds trailing lazily across the firmament. In the stone wall facing out there were several round openings through which one could look down into the fjord below. Across it the mountains climbed gently. And outside the castle, there was no sign of life that she could see.

  He stood behind her, and now his big hands clasped her two breasts. “You did not tell me you had two children,” he murmured in her ear. His hands fondled her. “Even I know faerie women give children only to those they love. Who was he?”

  “Vartan of the Fiacre, my husband,” Lara said. “I told you I was his widow, and Dasras greeted me as such. My husband desired children of me. He loved me deeply, and I cared for him in return. I gave him a son and a daughter, even though we both knew that one day I would leave them. What I did not expect was that he would not be there to care for our children.”

  “You do not say you loved him,” Magnus Hauk said.

  “I cared enough for him to let him seed me and bear him children,” Lara replied.

  “You will love me without reservation when you bear me a son,” the Dominus said in a suddenly hard voice. “I will accept nothing less of you.”

  “I cannot promise you I am capable of loving a man,” Lara told him.

  “You will love me!” he repeated. “If you cannot, you are no better than my Pleasure Women.”

  “Find husbands for Uma and the others, and dower them generously. Nay, very generously,” Lara told him. “It is unkind to keep them when you do not love them, my lord Dominus.”

  “How do you know I do not love them?” he demanded of her, his hands kneading her breasts, his fingers toying with her nipples beneath the fabric of her gown. His lips were nuzzling the back of her neck, and she could feel his heat.

  “Do you have children hidden somewhere in your castle, my lord Dominus?” she murmured. “I have seen none in the Women’s Quarters. I am certain if you desired children of these women you would have had them already.”

  “None of the women I take for my pleasure remain long,” he admitted. “I do not want children with them and so they are given an elixir each day under the watchful eye of my sister, Sirvat, which they take to prevent any mishaps,” the Dominus explained.

  “Since I have come you have not lain with any of the three,” Lara noted.

  “Will you give me a child if I send them away?” he asked her, nipping the nape of her slender soft neck. Her fragrance taunted him.

  “I will not give you a child if you do not send them away,” Lara replied. “But first, my lord Dominus, we have other issues to solve. I must try to lift the sorcerer’s curse from the men of Terah. I cannot do that if I am distracted by jealous women, or a child in my belly. The choice is yours to make.”

  “I will consider your suggestions,” he told her, releasing her breasts, turning her about and then pressing her back against the stone wall. He began to kiss her face while his hands yanked up the skirt of her gown. He loosened his own garment and then, cupping her buttocks, raised her up to impale her upon his manroot. He smiled, satisfied at her gasp as he entered her. The walls of her love sheath closed about him tightly, hot and wet and eager for him. “I told you the first day I saw you, Lara, that you belonged to me,” he growled in her ear as her arms encircled his neck, and she kissed his mouth.

  “And I told you that you would belong to me,” Lara said, her legs wrapping about his torso. “But you will never have that which you desire most from me while there are other women for you to share pleasures with in this house.” Then she kissed him again, fiercely, her tongue doing battle with his as he opened the doors to paradise for them.

  “I love your tightness,” he groaned against her mouth. Her strength excited him.

  “I love your bigness,” she admitted. Her head was spinning with pleasure.

  They rocked back and forth until the sweetness between them crested and drained away, leaving them both weak and satisfied. Her legs fell away from his body, but she clung to him tightly as her gown fell back to cover her.

  “I will have Sirvat arrange it while we are away,” Magnus Hauk said to Lara. “Will that please you, my faerie lover?”

  “I want only what is best for you, my lord Dominus,” Lara murmured with false meekness.

  He chuckled. “You are the most delicious witch. Were you not, I should throw you over this wall into the fjord below as soon as look at you.”

  “But like Dasras I might sprout wings and fly away from you,” she teased him. “Would you not miss me, my lord Dominus?” Lara purred. His robe was open, and she bent her head to lick at his nipples. “You taste salty,” she said. “I like salt!”

  “Faerie, cease your torment,” he responded, closing his robe. “You will shock my servants. Besides, I am now hungry for my supper. Come to the Great Hall with me.”

  “Not tonight,” she said. “I would rest before we begin our journey tomorrow. Besides the men in the hall always look slightly unnerved to hear my voice. I will return to my own chamber. With my lord Dominus’s permission, of course.” Her green eyes twinkled with mischief even as she spoke the words.

  He pressed against her, the palm of one hand against the wall by her head. His other hand played with her long golden hair. “Have you cast a spell on me, faerie witch, that my hours without you seem empty no matter how busy I am?” He lifted up a lock of her hair and kissed it. “That the elusive fragrance you wear follows me wherever I go?” His hand cupped her head. “That you unleash in me feelings of incredible power and weakness in equal measure?” His lips brushed hers very, very softly.

  Her eyes were closed as his smooth deep voice spoke to her. His words amazed and surprised Lara. But most of all they excited her, for she sensed in Magnus Hauk the man who was her equal. Her true equal. Could she fall in love with him? He was falling in love with her, she knew. Was she really capable of that kind of all-consuming love? Did she dare to be? Sometimes, Lara thought, she wished she was just a simple woman without a destiny. Without responsibilities. But that was not her fate.

  His mouth closed over hers, and just for a moment she gave him what he desired, but only for a moment. Then she was smiling into his turquoise eyes, her hand caressing his face tenderly. He smiled back at her. “You will break my heart,” he told her in a rare moment of candor.

  “Not you, Magnus,” Lara promised him softly. “Never.” Then she slipped from his embrace and hurried from the little garden.

  He watched her go. A tiny sigh escaped him. But catching himself, he called a servant, and sent him to his sister asking her to join him at first moon rising. He would keep his promise to Lara, and send Uma, Felda and Alcippe away. They had begun to bore him of late anyway. One woman was more than enough for him — provided that woman was Lara. He realized with sudden clarity that he had waited all his life for her.

  He repaired to his Great Hall for the evening meal. He would not tell even his closest associates that Lara was going to attempt to remove the sorcerer’s curse. If she failed to find the answers she needed, there could be hard feelings toward her, or even toward the Dominus himself.

  As the first silvery moon rose over the castle Sirvat joined her brother. She brought with her a dish of candied cherries she knew were his favorites. She sat down amid the pillows. They were in his garden, for the night was warm.

  “I want you to find husbands,
good husbands, for Uma, Alcippe and Felda,” he said immediately. “A well-to-do man for Uma, for her family is of that station, and she would accept no less. A learned man for Alcippe, for she would be bored with any other. And for little Felda, perhaps a rich farmer’s eldest son, but one with a good heart, for I can see Felda is a sweet girl. And see that the dower is very generous. Linens, down pillows and comforters, silver plate, a wardrobe to suit each bride, and a silk bag with fifty gold pieces each. And any jewels I have given them are theirs to keep. Is that generous enough, Sirvat?”

  His sister nodded her head vigorously.

  “Lara tells me that you speak, and it is the men’s ears that are stopped up to the sound of our women’s voices,” the Dominus said.

  Sirvat nodded, and smiled.

  “We are riding out tomorrow to the Temple of the Great Creator. Lara says if she can find the words to the original curse she may be able to undo it so we may hear you.”

  Sirvat nodded again.

  “Do you like her, Sister?” he asked.

  Sirvat nodded, and pointed to him questioningly, smiling slyly.

  “Aye,” was all he would say.

  Sirvat threw back her head, and her mouth opened wide, but her laughter was silent to him. Still, he could see she was laughing. What did her laughter sound like? What did her voice sound like? Suddenly he very much wanted to know.

  “I long to hear your voice, Sister,” he told her.

  Sirvat pointed to him, and then back to herself again.

  “You sound like me?” he replied.

  Sirvat made a gesture with her thumb and finger.

  He understood. “A little?” he said, and she nodded, smiling.

  “Are you ready for a husband, Sister?” he asked her.

  Sirvat shook her head vigorously in the negative.

  Magnus Hauk chuckled. “If I know you as well as I believe I do,” he said, “that means you would choose your own husband, eh, Sister?”

  Sirvat nodded in agreement.

  “Who is he?” he teased her. “Who has stolen your heart, Sirvat?”

  The young woman smiled a mysterious smile at him, and then blushing turned her head away from his gaze.

  “If Lara can lift the curse, will you tell me?” he asked her gently.

  Sirvat nodded her assent, and passed him the bowl of candied cherries. The Dominus took a handful of the sticky fruit, and began to eat them one by one. Sirvat arose, and blew her brother a kiss as she prepared to leave him in his moonlit garden.

  “A moment,” Magnus Hauk said. “Send Uma, Alcippe and Felda to me, Sister.”

  Sirvat bowed to her brother, and hurried away. If only Lara could lift the curse. Then she would tell her brother that it was Corrado she loved and wanted for a husband. She had known him all of her life. They were distant kin. And she knew he wanted her by the looks he sent her when he thought no one else was watching him. But Sirvat also knew that Corrado was a modest man, and he would not aspire to the Dominus’s younger sister for a mate. Still, he had not yet taken a wife.

  Entering the women’s quarters she found her brother’s three Pleasure Women in their own garden enjoying the soft night air. She could scarcely wait to tell them of the Dominus’s plans for them. “I have news,” she said to them. “Where is Lara?”

  “In her chamber,” Felda said.

  “Fetch her, for she must hear this, too,” Sirvat said.

  Felda arose and ran off, returning a few minutes later with Lara.

  “What is it?” Lara asked.

  “Sit down with the others,” Sirvat said. She might be only sixteen, but she was in charge of her brother’s house, and had been for almost two years now. “I have news that concerns you all. Uma, Alcippe and Felda, the Dominus has decided to find husbands for you, and he will also dower you quite generously.”

  “No!” It was Uma who spoke. “I wish no man but the Dominus.”

  “Be silent!” Sirvat said severely. “You will do what you are told, Uma. For you it will be a man of high caste, for you came from a high caste. For Alcippe a man of intellect and wit, for she has both. And for little Felda, a land owner’s heir, for she is worthy of a fine young man who will appreciate her sweetness and good nature. Your dower portions will include silver plate and gold coins, among other things. You may keep any jewelry the Dominus gifted you with, and you will each have a horse of good breeding. It is a very generous benevolence my brother shows you.”

  “I am more than content,” Alcippe said.

  “And I certainly am,” practical Felda agreed.

  “I am not!” Uma snapped. “And what of Lara? What plans has the Dominus for her? Who is her husband to be?”

  “Lara remains here,” Sirvat said sweetly. “It would seem my brother favors her above all other women. He does not feel he needs three woman to attend him any longer, Uma. But I will not argue with you. I am but the messenger. My brother will now speak with the three of you in his gardens. Go!”

  Uma rushed from the chamber, followed at a more sedate pace by Alcippe and Felda, who chattered with each other as they went.

  “Why did you need me here?” Lara asked Sirvat.

  “I hoped by telling them the news with you in attendance they would not hold you responsible for the Dominus’s decision. Did you know of it?” Sirvat asked curious.

  “I did not know what he would do,” Lara answered carefully. “I did suggest to him that these women might be better off with husbands.”

  Sirvat laughed. “You are very devious,” she said.

  “Nay,” Lara told her, “but if your brother wishes to share pleasures with me, he cannot share them with others. Surely the men of Terah do not keep several women for pleasure in their households.”

  “There are no laws against it,” Sirvat said. “Some do, but most cannot afford more than one wife. The few who can prefer to keep several Pleasure Women for their own private amusement. We have more women than men in Terah. Those who cannot find husbands have little choice. Some sell themselves publicly for pleasures. Other join the Daughters of the Great Creator, a religious community of women. Sometimes I think it must be a great relief to be in a family of only women.”

  “Will you marry one day?” Lara asked Sirvat.

  The younger woman smiled. “If I may have my heart’s desire, yes,” she said.

  “Who is he?” Lara was curious.

  “You know him,” Sirvat said with a small smile. “It is Captain Corrado.”

  Lara smiled. “You have chosen well. He is a good man, and was most kind to me. Does your brother know?”

  “Nay, but when he is able to hear me tell him in my own voice, I will,” Sirvat said. “Sometimes I write things to him that I cannot communicate otherwise, but not this.”

  “It is not a certainty that I can lift the sorcerer’s curse from the men of Terah,” Lara said. What if she could not?

  “You will find a way. I know you will,” Sirvat insisted.

  Alcippe and Felda returned.

  “The Dominus has been most thoughtful of us,” Alcippe said. “And our dowers are much more than generous. They will assure us all fine husbands.”

  “Where is Uma?” Sirvat wanted to know.

  “Trying to seduce the Dominus into changing his mind. Perhaps, Lara, you should go to him,” Felda said softly.

  “Did he request my presence?” Lara asked them.

  “No, but she is being so aggressive,” Felda fretted.

  “If he has not asked for me, I shall not go. Magnus Hauk can well take care of himself,” Lara replied as Uma angrily burst into the gardens.

  “I will not be parceled off like some heifer cow,” she shrieked. “I will sell pleasures in the streets first! I will pledge myself to the Daughters of the Great Creator, and never offer my body to a man again!”

  “If you choose such a fate rather than accept a husband, then that is your decision, isn’t it? And a very poor decision, too, I think,” Lara said quietly.

  “You
!” Uma turned her anger directly toward Lara. “This is all your fault, faerie woman! Until you came the Dominus was content with us. Now suddenly we must be sent away from the castle.” Her eyes narrowed, and suddenly she flung herself at Lara.

  Lara raised a single hand, her palm up, and facing Uma. “Come no farther!” she warned the angry woman.

  Uma stopped, confused.

  “Do you want me to call the Punishment Mistress?” Sirvat said.

  Alcippe and Felda grew pale at her words.

  Uma whirled now to face Sirvat. “My lord Dominus would not permit such a thing,” she sneered.

  “In this part of the castle,” Sirvat said, “my word is law, Uma. Never forget that. Now I will ask you again. Do you want me to call the Punishment Mistress?”

  “Go ahead!” Uma challenged Sirvat.

  The Dominus’s sister did not hesitate a moment. Clapping her hands she called a female servant to her. “Bring the Punishment Mistress here at once.”

  Wide-eyed, the servant bowed and hurried off. The garden became deathly silent as they waited. And then suddenly the Dominus appeared.

  “Sirvat has called for the Punishment Mistress?” he said to Lara.

  “It is Uma. She is angry and defies your sister’s authority, my lord Dominus.”

  “I cannot have that,” he said quietly. “I will handle this myself.”

  The Punishment Mistress arrived. She was a large, tall woman accompanied by two great dogs. Seeing the Dominus she bowed servilely. “I was told it was the Lady Sirvat who called for me,” she said.

  “I did,” Sirvat said. “But my brother wishes to manage the situation. Please remain, however. He will need your aid.”

  The Punishment Mistress bowed. “Yes, my lady Sirvat. You have but to instruct me, and I obey.”

  Uma threw herself at the Dominus’s feet and looked piteously up at him.