The Shadow Queen
Authors: Bertrice Small
Mourn me but briefly. Then find your destiny, Lara, my love, my life. Now let me go...
With those words, the spirit of Magnus Hauk, Dominus of Terah, departs his body—leaving the fate of his nation to his wife, the half faerie Lara.
While Lara’s son Prince Taj is well loved by the people of Terah, he is too young to rule, so Lara must obey Magnus’s dying command and govern in his stead. Yet some in Terah still believe that a female must never wear the crown...and Lara and her children will face old enemies who are not finished with their schemes for revenge. But one hope remains—Lara has a powerful ally in Prince Kaliq of the Shadows, though never was there a more seductive friend or foe....
Praise for the World of Hetar series and
New York Times
bestselling author
“Readers who enjoyed the first in [this] new series will devour Lara’s latest adventure.”
—
Booklist
on
A Distant Tomorrow
“Small’s newest novel is a sexily fantastical romp.”
—
Publishers Weekly
on
The Sorceress of Belmair
“Rich in colorful characters, brimming over with Small’s unique sense of erotic passion and a plot filled with mystery, the fourth title in the series is another masterpiece.”
—
RT Book Reviews
on
The Sorceress of Belmair,
Top Pick
“Small is not only a queen of erotic/adventure historicals, with the fifth book in the World of Hetar series, she is a grand mistress of erotic fantasy.… With this newest story, the author demonstrates that we can ‘have it all.’”
—
RT Book Reviews
on
The Shadow Queen,
Top Pick
“The final volume in the World of Hetar delivers a fantasy lover’s delight.”
—
RT Book Reviews
on
Crown of Destiny
Also available from
Bertrice Small
and Harlequin HQN
The Sorceress of Belmair
The Twilight Lord
A Distant Tomorrow
Lara
Watch for the final title in the World of Hetar series, coming soon!
Crown of Destiny
To Abby Zidle, who began the journey with me through the World of Hetar, and hooked me on
The Amazing Race;
and to Tara Parsons, who continued the adventure at my side. Wonderful editors, and friends!
PROLOGUE
M
AGNUS
H
AUK
, D
OMINUS
of Terah, lay dying upon the deck of his brother-in-law Corrado’s new ship, the
Splendor.
Captain Corrado lay grievously injured nearby. The main mast for the vessel had snapped as it was being installed, hitting both men when it fell. Corrado had been quicker to leap aside, sustaining a shattered right leg as well as several other broken bones, but he survived. The Dominus, however, had been crushed by the great spar. Still, he managed to hold tightly on to the life remaining to him.
“Lara!”
he managed to gasp.
“Get Lara!”
He did not have to ask. Seeing the disaster unfolding, the ship’s second mate had dashed down the gangway, and hurried to find the Domina. Yet before he had even reached the castle entry itself Lara came running forth past him, and headed directly for the scene of the accident. The second mate swore afterward that her feet never touched the ground as she moved swiftly up the gangway onto the deck of the ship.
As she knelt by her husband’s side one look told her that his grasp on life was tenuous at best. “Magnus, my love,” she said, brushing a lock of his thick, golden hair from his forehead. “I am here.” There it was again staring boldly at her.
Death.
Damned death! She did not want to lose this man, but even she had not the power to heal such injuries. Only the Celestial Actuary could give life to mortals.
The turquoise-blue eyes opened at the sound of her voice. “Get my mother. Our son, Taj. Kaliq.
Now,
” he rasped urgently. “I cannot remain much longer.”
“I will sustain you until you must go,” Lara told him. That much she could do. She wanted to rail at the heavens, which were again taking another husband from her.
It wasn’t fair! Wasn’t she supposed to leave him to seek her destiny one day? Or had her destiny come calling upon her at last?
“Lara!” Corrado called to her. “Let me be by his side.”
She shuddered at the sound of Corrado’s pain. Then she transported him painlessly by means of her magic next to where her husband lay. Pushing aside her own grief, Lara used her magic to bring her mother-in-law, Lady Persis; her sister-in-law, Sirvat, who was Corrado’s wife; and her son, Taj, to the deck of the vessel.
“Prince Kaliq, heed my plea. Cease all else, and come to me!” she cried aloud, and he was immediately there by her side.
For a moment the others stood confused. Then Sirvat knelt by her husband’s side casting an anxious glance at Lara. Lady Persis cried out in despair recognizing death was about to claim her only son. Taj, the shock evident upon his young face, put a comforting arm about his grandmother, who was frail and elderly now.
“Hear me!” Magnus Hauk said. “Lara will rule for our son until she deems him ready to be Dominus of Terah.
Only Lara!
Her word is to be law in Terah.”
“She is female,” Lady Persis quavered. “Never has Terah been ruled by a female, Magnus, my son.”
“Only Lara!”
he repeated. “My dying words must be honored. Corrado, Kaliq, you are my witnesses. Swear you will uphold my last wishes.”
They swore.
“Taj, my son, come to me,” Magnus Hauk called, his voice discernibly weaker.
“I am here, my lord father,” the boy said as he came to kneel by his sire’s side.
“Swear to me you will obey and sustain my dying wishes. Your mother is to rule until she believes you are ready.
Swear!
” The Dominus grew even paler as he spoke.
Taj began to cry. “I am too young to be Dominus,” he wept. “I swear, my lord father. My mother will rule until I am able to take up my inheritance. I will not question your wishes. I will not!”
“Mother, Sirvat, swear!” he demanded weakly.
“I swear, brother!” Sirvat said.
“Mother!”
“I…swear,” Lady Persis said reluctantly. “But it goes against tradition,” she could not refrain from adding.
“Kaliq, protect them!” the Dominus said, his voice beginning to fade away.
“With my own life, Magnus,” the great Shadow Prince swore.
“You are immortal,” Magnus Hauk said with a feeble smile.
“Not entirely,” Kaliq responded. Then he, too, knelt by the Dominus’s side. “Are you ready, my lord?” he asked him softly.
Magnus Hauk looked to Lara, his turquoise gaze locking on to her faerie green eyes. With the last of his strength he said, “I have loved none but you. I have never been happier than when I was with you. Mourn me briefly. Then find your destiny, Lara, my love, my life. You are surely meant for greatness. Now I must leave you.”
Lara pressed her lips together to keep from crying out. She caressed his ashen cheek. Then, bending, she kissed him a final time letting loose her hold on him as she did. Magnus Hauk, Dominus of Terah, died softly, his last breath slipping from between his lips to be caught up by the south wind which bore it away.
Prince Kaliq, the great Shadow Prince, could see the Dominus’s spirit as it hovered above them all, reluctant to depart.
Go, my friend,
he told Magnus Hauk in the silent language of the magical folk.
You know I will keep my word to you.
Then he watched sadly as the spirit rose up and disappeared. He looked to Lara, for his greatest concern now was for her. Magnus Hauk had left her with a terrible responsibility. He wondered how the Terahns, a people of ancient tradition, would react to their Domina assuming power for her son.
Without a word Lara stood up, taking Taj’s small hand in hers as together they walked from the ship, returning to the castle to prepare for a funeral, and for the transition that was to follow. Kaliq shook his head. His fears were needless. Lara knew her duty, and the Shadow Princes had taught her well. He would be there for her, but he would not intrude. For all the faerie blood in his veins, her son had no magic about him. He was mortal, but Lara would teach him well.
CHAPTER ONE
L
ARA
HAD
BROUGHT
the convenience of faerie post to Terah many years before. Now she marshaled the tiny messengers, sending them throughout Terah announcing the unexpected death of the Dominus Magnus Hauk. The leaders of all the villages were instructed to gather at a central meeting place assigned to each of the seven fjords, at a specific time on the day of Magnus Hauk’s funeral. The headmen and -women of the New Outland families were also sent similar instructions. The mountain gnomes were also invited to participate. Her husband’s funeral would be a grand one.
Lara thought back to the time she had managed the funeral of her first husband, Vartan, Lord of the Fiacre. She had been a young girl with two small children then, one a baby. Now her eldest son, Dillon, was a man grown with his own wife. Her eldest daughter, Anoush, was also grown. The three children she had borne Magnus Hauk were still fledglings. Well, perhaps not the eldest, Zagiri. At seventeen Zagiri was fully grown, wasn’t she? Lara sighed sadly. She was finally beginning to understand the curse of being faerie with mortal offspring. Her children were aging. But she was not.
“Mother?” Anoush had come to stand by her side.
“Yes, my darling,” Lara answered the daughter she had borne Vartan of the Fiacre twenty-one years ago.
“I have a crystal that will ease the pain,” Anoush volunteered.
“Nay,” Lara said softly. “Magnus Hauk’s memory is more than worthy of my pain, but thank you.” Reaching out, she patted Anoush’s small, pale, blue-veined hand. This first daughter of hers was so fragile while the other two were healthy. Zagiri might even be called sturdy. How different they all were. There wasn’t a magical bone in Zagiri’s body despite her bloodline while Anoush had
the Sight
and was an instinctive healer of mind, body and soul. Her
gift
was both a joy and a sorrow to her, for she was so intuitive and sensitive herself she suffered along with those who sought her help.
As for her youngest daughter, Marzina, she was, like Dillon, extremely magical and had proven so at an early age. Born a twin to her brother, Taj, Marzina had not been sired by Magnus Hauk although it was generally believed she had been. The seed from which Marzina had blossomed was that of Kol, the Twilight Lord, who had forced himself upon Lara on the Dream Plain. For this crime Kol was now imprisoned, his kingdom in chaos. No one had ever questioned Marzina’s paternity but for Lara’s mother, who had been present at the twins’ birth and declared she looked like a Nix relation.
Lara felt a tear slip down her cheek. She rarely wept, but now suddenly the tears flowed for Magnus Hauk, who had been so good to all of her children. Anoush wrapped her mother in her embrace, and, sobbing, Lara accepted her daughter’s comfort as the girl’s hand stroked her mother’s pale golden head. “It isn’t fair!” She voiced aloud her frustration and her despair over her husband’s sudden demise.
“I know,” Anoush agreed, “but when has life ever been fair, Mother? Was it fair when my uncle killed my father, Vartan?”
Lara drew away from her eldest daughter. “Nay, it was not fair then, nor is it fair now, Anoush. I shall not wed again. The men I marry seem to meet with untimely ends.”
“You do not need to marry,” Anoush replied, and suddenly her blue eyes glazed over. “You are loved without the bonds of marriage. And you have your destiny to consider. It draws closer, but you are still not ready to receive it. There is time yet.” Then Anoush slumped against Lara. “Mother?” she whispered a moment later.
“It’s all right, my darling,” Lara comforted her. “It was one of your visions.”
“Was it important?” Anoush wanted to know, for she never recalled these moments when she saw into the future.
Before Lara might answer Anoush her two younger daughters burst into her dayroom shrieking with terrible distress.
Zagiri threw herself into her mother’s arms. “Is it true?” she sobbed. “No! No! It cannot be true! Tell me our father isn’t dead?”
Lara’s sorrow evaporated as her anger arose. “It is true, Zagiri,” she said. “Now who has usurped my right to bring you this awful news?”
“Grandmother Persis,” Marzina quickly replied, for Zagiri was incapable of answering, so great was her grief. She had been Magnus Hauk’s firstborn, and he had without meaning to tended to favor her.
“The old bitch!” Lara hissed softly. “Where is Taj?”
“With her,”
Marzina answered her mother. “She is most distraught.”
“Not so distraught that she couldn’t send your sister into hysterics,” Lara said angrily. She turned to the weeping Zagiri, and gathered the girl into her arms. There was nothing she could say that would comfort this daughter of Magnus Hauk, but she cradled and rocked the girl until Zagiri’s sobs subsided.
“How did Father die?” Marzina asked sanguinely, her eyes filled with tears.
Zagiri’s woebegone face looked up at Lara now.
“The main mast of your uncle Corrado’s new ship was being set into place. It shattered, broke and fell onto your father and uncle. Your uncle will survive. Your father’s injuries were mortal. He called for me, for Kaliq, your grandmother and Taj so his last wishes might be heard, and swore us to uphold them.”
“Couldn’t you have saved him, Mother?” Zagiri asked Lara now, pulling away from her mother’s embrace. “You are faerie! What good are all your powers if you could not save the life of the man you love?” she asked angrily, irrationally.
“Aye, I am faerie, but sustaining mortal life is beyond my powers. His wounds were fatal. It was all I could do to help him live long enough to make his last wishes known, Zagiri,” Lara told her daughter. “I am sorry you had to learn of your father’s death in this fashion. It was not up to your grandmother to tell you, and I can see that she did it badly. But we will survive, my darlings. We are together, and your father would want us to honor his memory by living our lives as he would want us to do.”
Zagiri sniffed.
“You are so selfish,” Marzina told Zagiri. “All you think about is yourself. How do you think our mother feels having to have watched our father die, and not be able to help him? Is her grief nothing to you, Zagiri? He was her husband. Her mate.”
“Where is our mother’s grief?” Zagiri said bitterly. “I do not see it.”
“I have seen it,” Anoush told her younger sister. “Before you entered this chamber I held our mother while she wept for Magnus Hauk. And she will continue to grieve in private I know. But now she must take up the duties of the Dominus if Terah is to survive. When word of our father’s death reaches across the sea to Hetar do you think they will remain peaceful knowing my brother, the new Dominus, is yet a boy? Our mother has much to do if Terah is to remain strong. Her sorrow must be private, Zagiri. She needs her strength to save us all.”
Zagiri was suddenly remorseful. “Oh, Mother, I did not realize…” Then she gasped. “A woman ruling Terah? What will the people say?”
“To all intents and purposes Taj will rule Terah,” Lara answered Zagiri. “I will guide him as the Shadow Princes once guided me. When your brother is capable I will step aside, and he will rule without me.”
“You will be a Shadow Queen then,” Marzina said with just the hint of a smile.
Lara smiled. “Aye, I shall remain in the shadows so that the customs of Terah not be offended or disturbed. I promised your father that, and I will honor my promise.”
“Grandmother Persis will not like it,” Zagiri murmured.
“But she will accept it,” Lara responded. “She gave your father her sacred word as he lay dying. So did Kaliq, your uncle and aunt. The last wishes of Magnus Hauk will be honored, my daughters. Now leave me. I have already sent faerie posts to the elders, and the New Outlands, but I must inform the High Priest Arik at the Temple of the Great Creator, and Kemina, High Priestess at the Temple of the Daughters of the Great Creator, of the Dominus’s death. They will conduct your father’s funeral service. Tell your brother to come to me, and see that your grandmother stays out of mischief.”
“Dillon should be told,” Anoush reminded her mother.
Lara nodded as her daughters left her presence. There was so much to do, she thought. And so little time in which to accomplish all that needed doing. By Terahn law Magnus Hauk’s Farewell Ceremony had to be completed within three days. She had already decided that the burning vessel that carried his body out to the sea would be that very one that had been responsible for his death. She knew that Captain Corrado would agree, for no Terahn would ever sail upon the ship that had caused the demise of Magnus Hauk. Lara sighed. How much time had passed since her husband’s death? An hour? Two? She was both numb and aching at the same time.
“Mother?”
She looked up to see her son Taj. His face was full of sorrow. “Come in, my lord Dominus,” she replied to him. “Sit down. We must talk.”
“It is too soon,” the boy said tearfully.
Lara shook her head. “Nay,” she told him. “You are your father’s heir. There is no time for self-indulgence, Taj. You are Magnus Hauk’s son, and you will be,
must
be, strong in the face of this tragedy. Once it is known that your father is gone, and you rule in Terah, our enemies will gather and plot, and seek to gain an advantage over us. You cannot let that happen. And I will help you with the aid of the High Priest Arik, and others, Taj. But never will I appear by your side. I will stand in the shadows behind your throne until you are old enough and wise enough to rule without me. Terah will see you, accept you as their Dominus from this terrible day forward.”
“I do not know how to be Dominus,” Taj responded.
Lara smiled. “Of course you don’t,” she told him. “It was never expected that you be Dominus so young. Your father and I wanted our children to have a happy childhood without the cares that accompany adulthood.”
“Teach me,” Taj said. “What must I do first?”
It pleased her that he had pushed his grief aside, and begun asking questions. “You will call the chief scribe, Ampyx, to you. Then you will dictate an official announcement of your father’s death, and your right of inheritance. You will then order that it be sent by faerie post to be published throughout all of Terah. I have already notified the elders of the seven fjords, the religious, and the New Outlanders in your name. It was necessary, for by custom the Farewell must be done on the third day. I will bring them all here with my magic,” Lara said.
“What will I tell Ampyx?” Taj asked her. “Will you be with me when I speak to him, Mother?”
“I will not be with you,” Lara replied. “Remember it must appear from the start that you are in total charge, my son. Here is what you must dictate to Ampyx. You will say that it is with great sorrow you must bring the news of your father’s death to his beloved people. That as his only natural-born son you have taken the right of inheritance. Then have Ampyx sign this document in the name of Taj Hauk, Dominus of Terah.”
“I will go to the throne room now,” Taj told Lara.
“Aye,” she agreed. Then they both stood, and Lara embraced her young son. “Go,” she said to him.
The boy strode bravely from his mother’s apartments, and hurried through the castle to the official chamber where his father had formally received guests and dignitaries from other worlds. He climbed the dais to the throne of Terah, and, standing before it, called out, “Send for the chief scribe, Ampyx!” To his own surprise his voice did not tremble. And while the chamber appeared empty Taj knew there was always a servant discreetly in attendance there day and night.
“At once, my lord!” a voice called.
Taj sat heavily upon his father’s throne. He wondered how long it would take for him to think of it as
his
throne. Then he composed himself, and considered the words he would utter to Ampyx. His mother had laid out the boundaries for him, but she knew he was an intelligent boy, and would want to speak from his own heart. Taj smiled. His mother was a very clever woman, and there was much he could learn from her. His grandmother had told him he should not listen to any woman, but rule in his own right. But Taj Hauk knew he needed his mother’s counsel now. His father had with his dying breath put them all in Lara’s charge. Magnus Hauk would not have done such a thing if he had not felt it was the right thing to do.
“My lord?”
Taj raised his head from his thoughts and stood up. “Chief Scribe, I would dictate to you,” he said.
Ampyx immediately sat down cross-legged upon the marble floor and drew out his writing board, parchment, pen and a small stone bottle of ink. “I am ready, my lord.”
“It is with deep sorrow that I announce the sudden death… No. Write, the sudden and accidental death of Dominus Magnus Hauk, this tenth day in the first month of the planting season. His Farewell Ceremony will be held as custom dictates on the third day following his demise. All of his beloved people who can attend are welcome at the castle.” Taj stopped, and considered carefully his next words as the head scribe looked up at him. Then Taj continued. “As Magnus Hauk’s only son I now formally claim the right of inheritance.” He looked to the chief scribe. “Read my words back to me, Ampyx.”
The tiniest of smiles touched the head scribe’s lips, and then he read back the words that had just been dictated to him.
When he had finished the boy added, “Sign it Taj Hauk, Dominus of Terah.” Then considering again he asked ingenuously, “Have I forgotten anything, Ampyx?”
“Nay, my lord. Your words are just as they should be.” He arose from the floor and bowed to the boy. “May I offer you my own condolences, my lord Dominus, on the death of your great father?”
“You may,” Taj replied formally. “I thank you.” Then, remembering, he said, “See my words are published this day throughout the kingdom from the Sea of Sagitta to the Obscura in the New Outlands.”
“It will be as you wish, my lord Dominus.” And, bowing, the chief scribe backed out of the throne room.
“It was nicely done,” Lara said, stepping from behind the tall throne where she had been hidden listening. “And now Ampyx will gossip among the other scribes about the strength of the young Dominus. And they will gossip to their friends and families. It is a good start, Taj.” She held out her arms to him, and he immediately went into them.