Free The Twilight Lord by Bertrice Small Page B

Then she fell asleep again.
    Kol’s head lay between her breasts and he could hear her beating heart. She was incredible, his beautiful faerie woman. He would never let her go. No other man would ever possess Lara again. She was his and his alone. How had he lived without her?
    He allowed himself the luxury of sleep in her bed for a short while, and then he arose and went to his own apartments. There he found Alfrigg awaiting him.
    “Have you seeded her, my lord?” his chancellor wanted to know.
    “Not yet.”
    “You have spent all this time with the woman and have not yet rodded her? My lord, that is not like you.”
    “She has been well rodded,” Kol said, “but I am not yet ready to seed her. She is a pleasurable mount, Alfrigg, and I think after waiting a year I am entitled to take a bit of enjoyment for myself before I fill her belly with my son.” Then he told Alfrigg the tale he had woven for Lara. “I will gain her trust more easily if I take my time with her. And I will need to call the Munin lord from the Penumbras. Lara needs practical matters restored to her memory. She is like an infant newborn and I cannot be forever explaining what this is and what that is.”
    “As long as you keep the memories of her faerie nature, her magic and her past life from her,” Alfrigg said.
    “She still has her magic,” Kol replied. “The Munin could only take her memories of her magic, but they could not take the magic itself. They have not the power and neither do I, which is why I must gain her complete trust, Alfrigg. When I stole her from her bed in the New Outlands, I left behind the spirit guardian her mother gave her when she was a child. She cannot hear its voice here. She can hear only mine.”
    “My lord,” Alfrigg cried, “you should have taken it with you! If anyone should find her amulet then they will know she has been stolen and not simply wandered away or gone off by herself as is her wont.”
    “It is too late now,” Kol replied. He waved a hand at Alfrigg. “Leave me now. I must bathe and then speak with the Munin lord.”
    Alfrigg bowed but his expression was disapproving and dour as he backed from his master’s chamber.
    Kol clapped his hands and a servant hurried forward. “Tell the bath master that I am coming,” he said. “Then bring me fresh garments. When you see me being dressed, ring the black iron bell in my receiving chamber to summon the Munin lord to me.” Kol set off for his bath, his servants scurrying quickly ahead to announce his arrival.
    The black marble bath was steamy and scented with sandalwood. It was not necessary for Kol to speak with the servants there. They knew what was required of them and performed their functions thoroughly and silently. He was bathed and massaged with sweet oils. Stepping into a small dressing chamber he found fresh garments and footwear awaiting him. Kol stood as his servants dressed him and then without so much as a word he left them and hurried to his receiving chamber where he found the Munin lord awaiting him.
    The wraithlike creature bowed. “How may I serve you, my lord?” he asked.
    “I need some of Lara’s memories restored to her. She knows nothing and it is like dealing with a child. It was amusing when she woke up earlier but I have no further patience for it. Practical knowledge, everyday information, is what I want returned to her,” Kol said. “But nothing of her personal history, her magical abilities or her life prior to awakening in my arms may be returned to her. Do you understand?”
    “Perfectly, my lord,” the Munin said. He flitted over to the great alabaster jar where Lara’s memories were stored. He opened it and peering down into the tall vessel he appeared to rummage within, then he drew long golden threads from its depths with his bony fingers and transferred them to his other hand. “I think these are exactly what you desire, my lord Kol,” the Munin said in his reedy voice.
    “Follow me then,” the