Crown of Destiny by Bertrice Small

into your heart, Lara. She needs you."
    "Then let her come and apologize to me for lying. I will let the rest pass for she has always been impulsive in her nature, but I cannot forgive the lie she spoke unless she asks, Mother. You know that you would not forgive it. What if Marzina had attempted to seduce Thanos, and then told you it was the other way around."
    "Seduce Thanos?" Ilona's tinkling laugher bubbled up. "I would never believe such a thing, Lara."
    "Nor did I believe that Kaliq had attempted to seduce Marzina," Lara countered. "Would not the lie have angered you, Mother?"
    Ilona's laughter died away, and she said, "Aye, it would. To disparage Thanos, who has been so good to Marzina, would be quite dreadful, Lara, even as her charge against Kaliq was quite wrong. I understand your anger, but you must forgive your daughter. If the darkness is once again on the move, Lara, then we do not want Marzina tempted into it. And given who her real father was, it could happen. We have done our best to make Marzina strong and good, but she still has a broad streak of recklessness that she needs to learn how to control."
    Suddenly Kaliq reached out his arm seemingly into the air. The fingers of his hand closed partly, and with a sharp pull he brought Marzina into their midst. "We have an eavesdropper, it would seem," he said. His look was one of deep concern. "How long have you been listening, Marzina?"
    Marzina's pale face was drained of its little color. She looked to her grandmother. "What did you mean given who her real father is, Grandmother?" Her young voice was shaking, and her violet eyes were wide with her fear.
    Lara reached out to grasp Kaliq's arm. Her fingers dug hard into the muscle. Ilona made a small sound, not quite a whimper, not quite a moan. Her eyes desperately sought Lara's.
    "Magnus Hauk was my father, wasn't he?" Marzina's young voice was pained.
    Lara drew a very deep breath then let it out with a sigh. Letting go of Kaliq's arm, she reached for her youngest daughter, drawing Marzina into a gentle embrace. "Do you know how much I love you, impossible child?" she said, and she stroked the dark head. "Even when you do foolish things, and lie boldly to me, I still love you."
    Marzina looked up at her mother. The warm arms about her were comforting, and she felt safer than she had in decades. "Oh, Mama, I am sorry," she said. "Kaliq did not approach me. I approached him, and when he rebuffed me I was angry. I did not mean to lie, but I have admired him my whole life."
    "I know," Lara said softly. "You are forgiven your lapse, my darling." She kissed the top of Marzina's head.
    "But what did grandmother mean, Mama? Magnus Hauk was my father, wasn't he?" Marzina's eyes questioned Lara anxiously.
    There was no way she could escape telling Marzina the secret she had kept for so many years. "You and Taj were born from my womb on the same day," Lara began. "You were believed to be fraternal twins. And Magnus Hauk believed that you were his child as was your brother. But you were not his child, Marzina. Newly pregnant with Taj, I was violated upon the Dream Plain by Kol, the Twilight Lord. You are his daughter," Lara told her youngest child.
    "No!" Marzina cried out, and she looked to both Ilona and Kaliq to tell her it was not so, but they did not speak.
    "There is more," Lara said, "and you must know it. Long ago as I summered in the New Outlands with the clan families, Kol, the Twilight Lord, kidnapped me and robbed me of my memories. He believed I was his chosen mate, and I believed I was his wife. He impregnated me with his son. Twilight Lords can only sire a single male heir although they can have many daughters. Kaliq helped restore my memories and told me that it was planned that I bear a son for Kol who would cause chaos within the Dark Lands. By means of my magic, now restored to me, I divided the child into two children. And indeed the birth of Kolgrim and Kolbein did cause eventual anarchy in the Dark