The Twilight Lord. Бертрис Смолл

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СКАЧАТЬ Lara is indescribable, Alfrigg. But then if I were mated to your Eitri I should seek other pursuits.”

       “In her youth Eitri was considered most handsome for a woman,” Alfrigg defended his mate. “But when you are over five hundred years old, the first blush of beauty fades, I fear.”

       “I know you have my best interests and those of my kingdom at heart, Alfrigg,” the Twilight Lord said. “I will impregnate Lara soon, I promise you.”

       “The darkness she carries within her is impressive, my lord. I have watched as you have drawn it forth from her,” Alfrigg replied admiringly.

       Kol nodded. “Aye, she will teach my son well,” he said. And then he felt the mating lust within him, burning him, demanding of him that he do his duty. Alfrigg was right. As much as he regretted it, it had to be tonight. And it would be a night Lara would remember for the rest of her life. There would be pain in this particular mating, but she was more than ready to accept that pain. Kol smiled and licked his lips in anticipation. “Good night, Alfrigg,” he said to his chancellor.

       The dwarf raised a questioning eyebrow to his master and Kol nodded. Alfrigg smiled. “Good night, my lord. I will pray to Krell for your success tonight.” And then the chancellor withdrew, bowing as he went.

       The Twilight Lord sat for several minutes watching as a great storm began to roll in from the surrounding mountains, over his castle. This was another sign that his son and heir would be conceived tonight. The lightning crackled and the thunder boomed, but there was no rain. None at all. Kol walked between the columns onto the portico. He leaned against the cold marble balustrade and looked out over his kingdom. Within the mountains there lived a race of fierce giants and another of wily dwarfs; the forests covering the mountains were inhabited by the Wolfyn, a race of creatures who had the head of a wolf and the body of a man. They all owed him their allegiance. And now he had the Munin secure within the Penumbras. Everything was proceeding as the Book of Rule foretold.

       He had captured the faerie woman ordained to be his mate. He had her memories, save those few she needed, safe in the great alabaster jar in his receiving chamber. After two months asleep and another two in his arms, she was his alone. She trusted him and tonight he would cajole her into admitting love for him. Then he would mate her, planting his seed deep in her womb. Lara would give him his son. And when she had he would restore her knowledge of the magic she possessed. She would rule by his side and use her magic to help him take first Hetar and then Terah. All the worlds would be his with her help. Kol smiled. How good it felt when everything was going well, he thought.

       He turned back into the chamber and called to a servant, who immediately hurried into the room and bowed slavishly.

       “How may I serve you, my lord?”

       “Go and tell my bath master that I shall come shortly. Then go to the lady Lara’s apartments and tell her servants that I shall join my mate tonight. I wish her prepared to receive me when I come.”

       The servant bowed again and then he said, “My lord, may I be so bold as to ask a question? I have not the right but we are so anxious for your happiness, my lord.”

       Kol nodded. His mood was good.

       “My lord…is tonight…” He hesitated, looking nervous.

       Kol smiled broadly. He knew what the man was asking. “Aye, it is,” he said. “Now go and do as I have bid you.”

       The servant scuttled out, then hurried to the bath master. “The lord is coming shortly for his ablutions. He has said that it will be tonight!”

       The bath master nodded and began shouting orders to the other slaves in his charge. “You are certain?” he demanded of the serving man.

       “He said it!” came the reply. Then the servant ran from the baths and hurried to Lara’s apartments. He knocked and was admitted by Macia. “Prepare your mistress,” the servant said. “The master will come. He has said tonight is the night your mistress will be seeded.”

       “Indeed,” Macia replied. “And how came you by this intimate knowledge?”

       “His mood was good, so I dared to ask,” the serving man replied. “He said aye.”

       “About time,” Macia said. “Well, go along now. You have delivered your message. The rest is up to them.” She shut the door on the serving man and called to Anka. When her companion came Macia told her what the servant had said.

       “She is just waking,” Anka replied.

       “Then let us feed her and then she must go to the baths before she is ready for him,” Macia said. She went into Lara’s beautiful bedchamber and bowed. “The lord has sent word that tonight is to be a special night for you, my lady,” she told Lara. “You must be fed and then bathed. He will come soon.”

       They brought her raw oysters and juicy capon, asparagus, and berries in sweet cream. Lara’s appetite was a good one; she ate it all. Then they led her to her bath where the bath mistress, already alerted as to the importance of this particular night, was relentless in seeing that her mistress was brought to her full beauty. Lara’s long golden hair was washed, perfumed and dried, then some of it was braided with bits of glittering silver thread. Finally a gossamer silk gown in deepest midnight-black was dropped over her head. The contrast of the dark silk against her golden hair and pale skin was meant to entice Kol all the more. Then they led her back to her chamber to await him.

       And when he came to her, a length of black silk wrapped around his loins, his pale skin glistening with a light coat of oil, her heart began to hammer with excitement. His eyes were a silver-gray tonight. His short ebony hair smelled faintly of sandalwood. Lara reached up and took his handsome face between her two small hands, smiling into his eyes. Then standing on her toes she kissed his mouth sweetly.

       “Do you love me?” he asked her low.

       “I love you,” she replied. “How could I not when you are so good to me?”

       “Will you give me my son, Lara?” he questioned. “Will you willingly accept our mating tonight? It cannot be done unless you wish it, my precious,” he told her.

       “Oh yes, my lord Kol,” she breathed with a sigh. “I will gladly bear you your son. I want to give you a son! I adore you, my dear lord! There is none other but you for me.”

       “There is pain in creation, my precious,” he warned her. “Pain in the seeding, and pain in the birth. But from that pain will come the next Twilight Lord. If you love me enough you will accept the suffering. Do you, my precious?” His gray eyes scanned her small heart-shaped face. “Do you love me enough, Lara?”

       “Aye, I do!” she declared. “But tell me one thing, my lord Kol. What is pain?”

       She did not remember! Krell! She could not recall pain. He had not considered that. But her loss of the memory of pain would make their mating even better. The shock of it when it first happened. The fear she would feel as it continued would breed up a cruel strong heir for him. Kol took Lara in his arms. “It is naught for you to fret about, my precious,” he told her gently and he caressed her hair with his big hands.

       She looked up at him with shining eyes. “Then let me be the mother of your son, my lord Kol. Let me give you this gift of my love!”

       He bent and kissed her mouth, tenderly at first СКАЧАТЬ