“I am fortunate to have such wise advisers as you, Verica and Andraste,” Lara told the great stallion.
“And the Dominus?” Dasras teased her.
“Villain!” Lara laughed. “My husband is a good man and a wonderful lover, but he does not understand humanity as well as he thinks he does. However, we shall not tell him that, shall we, Dasras?”
The horse shook his head, then began his descent to the lands below him, which were possessed by the Fiacre Clan. He preferred galloping the last few miles into the main village, New Camdene, rather than just descending into its midst. The cattle in his path scattered as his hooves touched the ground. There was no one this bright summer morning to see their arrival until they drew close to the dwellings. To Lara’s delight it was her son, Dillon, who first saw them coming and ran toward Dasras to welcome his mother. The horse came to a stop.
“Mother! Welcome!” Dillon said. “Have you brought Zagiri?” Standing on his toes he peeped into the basket. “Ahh, Zigi, wake up now,” he cooed.
The little girl slowly opened her eyes and, seeing Dillon, smiled and held out her arms to him. “D,” she said excitedly. “Uppy, D!”
Dillon lifted her from the basket and set her on her feet. Zagiri slipped her hand into his and together they began to walk. Lara slid down from her saddle to join them as Dasras followed. Lara smiled as she watched Zagiri toddle along beside Dillon on her fat little legs. Her son carefully matched his steps to his younger sibling.
“Where is Anoush?” Lara asked the boy.
He stopped and turned a serious face to her. “We must speak on Anoush, Mother,” he said quietly.
“Did you know I would come today?” she asked, nodding.
He smiled at her now. “Aye, I awoke and felt you drawing near. That is why I came out to meet you. I know Dasras’s habit of landing several miles outside the village and then taking a leisurely gallop. My instincts are growing stronger.”
“You will go to your grandmother and Prince Kaliq one day for training,” Lara said. “Not yet, but one day, my son.”
“When?” he asked eagerly.
“When you are twelve,” she answered.
“I should go sooner,” he protested. “That is almost three years away.”
“The fact that you cannot accept my decision in the matter but proves to me that you are not yet mature enough,” Lara told him.
“Ah, you are too clever, Mother,” he said with a chuckle.
“Aye, I am clever but I am also wise, Dillon. Anoush has no magic in her I can yet see and I cannot yet tell if Zagiri will have magic. But you, my son, from the beginning I could see the magic in you, but I said nothing and let you discover it for yourself. With the proper training you will be a great sorcerer one day. But you also need time to be the little boy you are now. You need long summer days feeling the sun on your back, picking berries and eating them until your tongue is blue, swimming in the lake, riding your horse and lying on a hillside at night looking up at the stars. Your summers must feel as if they would go on forever and ever. For now, you must be taken unawares by the summer’s end and your return to lessons,” Lara told him. “When you feel the summers going quickly, then I will know you are growing up and we will begin to discover how much magic is in you. Then and only then will you go to study with Prince Kaliq and your grandmother. You will be old for far more years than you are young, Dillon. Enjoy these years.”
“Mother, you are wise and I know your words are truth,” he told her.
Lara smiled. “Tell me of your sister now,” she said. They began to walk again.
“Our grandmother infects her with discontent,” Dillon said.
“And your cousin?”
“Cam is cunning and sly,” Dillon replied. “He panders to Anoush’s every whim, and he does it, I believe, to bind her close to him.”
Lara nodded. “That is unlikely to change even if I forbid them contact,” she said. “I have left you and your sister with the Fiacre because you are Vartan’s children, as well as mine. Perhaps it is now time for you both to come and live with me. You could come this year after the Gathering, and then return each summer staying until after the Gathering. This would allow you to remain close to the Fiacre, too. Once, I thought you would follow in your father’s footsteps, Dillon, and lead the clan one day. But I see now that your fate will not be among your father’s people. You have a different path to follow.”
“I am glad that you finally see that, Mother,” he said.
“You are so old for one so young,” Lara remarked as her attention was drawn to her little daughter. “No, Zagiri, do not eat that.” She pulled the flower from her daughter’s mouth and picked her up. “Noss will have a treat for you, I am certain.”
And Noss, Lara’s old friend, did indeed have a nibble for little Zagiri. She sat the child at a wooden table outside of her kitchen, beneath a pergola thick with grape vines, and gave her a cup of fresh-squeezed juice and a slice of newly baked bread with butter and honey. Then she hugged Lara, and brought them two cups of frine. They sat beneath the pergola sipping the fruit and wine mixture while Noss told Lara what had transpired with the Fiacre over the past months since they had seen each other.
Lara listened and then she asked after her elder daughter.
“She has probably gone to Bera’s house,” Noss said. “Of late she has been spending too much time there. With three rambunctious boys and another child in my belly, I sometimes lose track of her these days. She has become most disobedient, Lara, and I do not know what to do about it. Of late she does not call me Mama.”
“What does she call you?” Lara asked, curious.
“She calls me lady,” Noss said sadly. “I do not understand it or even who might tell her such a thing.”
Lara nodded. “I would not hurt you, dearest Noss, but with three sons and another child on the way, perhaps it is time that Anoush and Dillon came home with me to the Dominus’s castle. You and Liam have been so good to my children, but now I have a home and husband once again. Even if I must leave Magnus for a time, the children will be safe with him. Would you mind if I took Dillon and Anoush with me when I return?”
Noss sighed. “No,” she said candidly. “Dillon is no trouble at all. He is always willing to help me even without my asking and he is a wonderful influence on Tearlach, Alroy and Val. But Anoush has become difficult. I love her dearly, as you know. I have always thought of her as a daughter and we were close with one another. But suddenly she is secretive and rude. I am afraid for her and I don’t even know why,” Noss said. Then she lowered her voice. “I never believed I should have a daughter of my own, but Dillon says this child I carry is a female. Given how Anoush has behaved toward Zagiri, I am afraid now for this child I carry, Lara. I think Bera has told Anoush who you are. She will not have spoken favorably of you, I fear. Anoush needs to be with you now. She needs to know her mother and not take the slanders Bera spews as truth.”
Lara sipped her frine thoughtfully as Noss spoke. “Aye,” she said. “Anoush is six now, and very impressionable like all little girls her age. The only way I can expunge Bera’s venom is to take her back to the castle with Dillon.”
“How long will you be with us? Your rooms are ready, for Dillon told us this morning that you were coming,” Noss said with a smile.
“A few weeks,” Lara replied. “Magnus is now more concerned with the trading season than anything