“I didn’t dare look too closely for I was very afraid,” Dillon admitted. “I thought I might be dreaming, although something within me knew I wasn’t. Aye, they did have faces. Long, somber visages. And thin hands with long slender fingers that they waved over Mother as they floated over her. And then, my lord Kaliq, they were gone. Evaporated into the air, it would appear.
“I stared hard, for I was not even sure I had seen what my eyes were so certain they had seen,” Dillon said. “And then as I watched over my mother lest they return—and had they, I would have tried to repel them—my mother seemed to disappear into the very darkness that encompassed our bedchamber. I got up immediately and went to her bed. It was yet warm with the heat of her body, but she was gone.” He sighed. “I went back to bed, sure I was in a dreamlike state, but when I awoke in the morning she truly was gone. Dasras and I searched for her the day long. We could not find her. The Fiacre searched for her the following day. That second night I saw Anoush wearing Mother’s crystal star! Mother is never without Ethne. Anoush said she found it in the tangled coverlet of Mother’s bed. I realized then my dream had not been a dream, but when I tried to explain to Liam and the others they would not listen to me. So Dasras and I came to Terah.”
“You were wise to call me,” Kaliq said to Magnus Hauk.
“It was Dillon who asked me to do so. My mind seems not to be functioning,” the Dominus replied. “Who has taken her, Kaliq? And why have they taken her?”
“This is a mystery even to me,” the Shadow Prince replied. “I must speak with my brothers. After we have conferred I will return to you.” But he knew the creatures Dillon had seen were the Munin, although he did not say it.
“I must go to the New Outlands and reassure the clan families that I do not hold them responsible for my wife’s disappearance. And then I will return with Dillon, Anoush and Zagiri. I suspect the children are safer here in my castle than anywhere else.”
The Shadow Prince nodded. “Aye. I know for a fact that Lara placed a spell I taught her about the castle to repel evil and the darkness. Her children will be very safe with you. Wherever she is, I know that would please her.”
“Thank you, Kaliq, for your reassurances,” the Dominus said.
“Farewell, my lord. I will find you in the New Outlands. Go to the Gathering, for it will comfort the clan families. Together we will get to the bottom of this mystery.” Then the Shadow Prince disappeared into the umbra as easily as he had come from it.
“I cannot wait to study with him,” Dillon said admiringly.
“And you will one day,” the Dominus assured his stepson. “Has your mother not promised you that you would?”
“Will we find her, Magnus?” the boy asked.
“We will find her,” the Dominus assured his companion. “Now I think you must get some rest. If Dasras is up to it we will travel to the New Outlands later today. Come and sleep in my bed, lad. You look fair worn with your worry of these past few days.”
“If only they had listened to me,” Dillon said sadly.
“Even had they believed you, they could have done nothing. This business is magic and we will need magic to undo it. The Fiacre have no magic, Dillon. You did the right thing. You came to me and we called the Shadow Prince. He and your faerie grandmother will help us.” He helped the boy into his big bed and tucked a coverlet about him. “I will call you in a few hours,” he promised and then left Dillon to sleep.
Sitting back before the fire that Kaliq had started, Magnus Hauk stared into it. Where are you, my love, my beloved? he cried silently. But silence was his only answer. That she had left Ethne behind—or whoever stolen her had—was not a good omen. There was something wicked brewing. He had lived long enough with Lara to sense it.
He needed to speak with his brother-in-law, Corrado, who commanded Terah’s fleet. His vessel had just returned last night from a trading voyage. Corrado would have to manage Terah while he was in the New Outlands because the Great Creator only knew how long he would be away. Corrado and his wife, Sirvat, would have to move into the castle to look after the children while he was gone.
And there was the ambassador from Hetar to consider. Jonah had returned to Hetar with Lara away. There was no one who would tell him where she was, for Hetar had no idea that Lara and the Shadow Princes had removed the clan families from the Outlands and brought them to safety in Terah. If he were here now he would be sniffing about for gossip and information as he always was.
The Dominus almost felt sorry for Jonah. He was an intelligent man but he was every bit as evil as his master, Gaius Prospero. And Magnus Hauk knew he was in Terah for the sole purpose of finding a weakness in Terah that he might exploit to his own benefit or Hetar’s. Now and again he returned to The City to report to his master on the nothing he had been able to learn. And Lara had laughed, knowing how frustrating that must be to Gaius Prospero. It was better he was gone now, the Dominus thought.
The day went quickly and was coming to a close when Magnus Hauk woke his stepson. They ate a hearty meal and then, as Dasras had agreed he was up to returning to the New Outlands, they departed the castle. They reached New Camdene while it was yet night there and Liam, who had been awaiting them, came from his hall to meet them.
Kneeling before the Dominus he begged his forgiveness for Lara’s disappearance.
“It is not the fault of the Fiacre that my wife is gone,” Magnus Hauk said loudly, for all of New Camdene’s population were gathered around them despite the early hour. “This is dark and wicked magic. You could not have prevented what happened. I have spoken with Prince Kaliq and he will join us shortly. In the meantime, keep to your preparations for the Gathering. I will travel there with you.”
Liam arose and kissed the Dominus’s hands. “Thank you, my lord. Your words of reassurance are soothing to us. Now come into my hall and refresh yourself after your long ride. The new day will soon begin.”
“See to Dasras,” the Dominus murmured to his stepson, ruffling his hair.
In the hall, Magnus Hauk greeted Noss and admired Mildri. He sat with them before their fire, and told them that before the trek for the Gathering began he would be sending the children back to his castle. “Lara has a spell about it to protect it and its inhabitants. My sister will be there to see the children’s lives continue on uninterrupted. I am waiting for Kaliq, for he can transport them quickly. I may need Dasras.”
“You said dark magic,” Noss half whispered.
“Naught else could have taken Lara. Kaliq will explain it all to you when he arrives. Until then we must carry on as usual.”
“Papa! Papa!” Zagiri came running and climbed into his lap. “Mama is gone.”
The Dominus kissed his little daughter and then, reaching out, drew Anoush, who had been standing nearby, into the curve of his arm. “And how are my two girls?” he asked them. “Zagiri, you are as brown as a little nut! And Anoush, oh my, how lovely you are growing. Come and give me a kiss, too.”
Anoush bent and kissed his cheek. “I am so afraid, stepfather,” she said, shivers racking her slender little body.
Magnus Hauk drew his stepdaughter into his lap with her sister. “I am, too, Anoush,” he told the girl. “But we will find your mother, I promise you. We will find her, and we will bring her home to us.”
Anoush lay her head on his shoulder. “May I call you Papa, too?” she asked him shyly and softly.
The Dominus of Terah could feel a prickle behind his eyelids and he blinked hard. “It would please me so much if you did,” he said as he placed a kiss on her brow. “But only if you want to, Anoush.”