The Twilight Lord Read Online Free

“May I go back to Grandmother’s now?” she said.
    “Nay,” Lara told her daughter. “I will not allow you to ever enter Bera’s house again, Anoush. You must be freed from her poisonous ravings.”
    Anoush’s eyes grew dark with her annoyance, but then she said, “What am I to do if I must remain here?”
    “Perhaps you might go to Noss, and give her your apologies for being so unkind to her these past weeks. She really does love you and she has taken such great care of you and your brother when I could not,” Lara said.
    “Will I get to play with Cam again?” she asked.
    “I don’t think so,” Lara responded. “He is not a good influence on you, Anoush. He has embroidered on his grandmother’s fantasies, I suspect, which was very cruel. Do you understand what they were doing? Bera and Cam were trying to lure you from those who love you. Why would they do that?”
    Anoush swung her legs back and forth as she thought. “I don’t know,” she finally said.
    “Nor do I,” Lara replied. “But it was wicked nonetheless, Anoush.” Of course she knew, Lara thought. While Adon had killed his brother and somewhere deep in her mind Bera knew it, she could nevertheless forgive him. But she could never forgive Lara for slaying her surviving son. Elin had meant naught to her, but Adon had been her baby and Lara had killed him. Deep within, Bera sought to have her revenge—what better way than to destroy Lara’s daughter who was young and impressionable? Dillon was safe from his grandmother for Bera could not reach into his heart and soul and twist them as she had twisted Anoush’s trusting little heart. If she knew the power I have gained these last years, the old woman would be truly afraid, Lara thought.
    “May I go now and tell Noss that I am sorry, Mother?” Anoush said.
    “Give me a kiss first, my daughter,” Lara said, wrapping her arms about the child and hugging her. “I will try not to leave you again, Anoush, but know wherever I am that I love you with all of my heart.” She kissed her daughter’s cheek as Anoush rose from her seat and then, giving her a little push, sent her off to find Noss.
    Dillon appeared from out of the afternoon shadows and came to sit at Lara’s feet.
    “How much did you hear?” Lara asked her son.
    “Only the end,” he said. “Do not be lulled by her acquiescence, Mother. Anoush is a very willful girl. It is not Grandmother you need worry about—it is Cam. He will not like it that she is no longer available to him. When I found them today, they were in the grass and my cousin had his hand on my sister’s in a most proprietary manner.”
    “I think Cam must be sent to our Sholeh in New Rivalen,” Lara answered her son calmly. “He is old enough to work in the fields until it is time for the Gathering. I had intended to remain in the New Outlands until after it concluded, but I think now I must take you both home sooner. Bera may protest the loss of Cam at first but then she will be silent. I shall ask this of Liam when he comes home today. You will tell him what you saw and he will do this for me. Where is Zagiri?”
    “She fell asleep and so Noss laid her down for a nap,” the boy answered.
    “Have you released Dasras into the meadows?”
    “Aye, and he immediately found Sakiri and their latest foal,” Dillon said.
    “After he has sated himself with her company he will fly off to the Aghy,” Lara chuckled. “He is of a mind to visit Roan’s new young mares.”
    “His offspring have increased the stamina and beauty of the Horse Lord’s herds,” Dillon remarked. “Will I like Terah, Mother?”
    “It will be different for you,” Lara said, “but aye, I believe you will like it. And there is so much that you can learn. You will need to know everything that you can absorb, Dillon, before you go Prince Kaliq to study the magical arts. I am frankly surprised by your talents, my son, for you are but a quarter faerie.”
    “I don’t know if what I