Flower Wine Ch. 02

She felt Draeseth tensing under her hand and squeezed his arm. "We may have kept the King waiting long enough."

"I want to know why we're being summoned before we appear before him." The one in red snapped at her. "What did you do you black bastard?"

"My Draeseth hasn't done anything wrong that I'm aware of. Why my King wishes to see you I cannot guess." Isonei snapped back at him and the Torgan looked at her in surprise.

"Ougath can be hotheaded." A man in brown and green stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Lady Isonei? Of what house?"

"House Ernelis." Draeseth touched her hand as he answered for her. "I didn't know my Isonei could speak sharply."

"Yours?" Ougath looked at her in bafflement.

"For a year." The one in green and brown. "You weren't paying attention when they discussed what would happen if the woman did not leave at dawn, brother. But it seems Draeseth was." Burgath studied the pair thoughtfully. "King Tamnaeuth will want to make certain she hasn't been coerced, it's uncommon enough for a pair who knows each other well to choose this. For a pair that doesn't..."

Isonei took a breath and nodded before looking up at Draeseth with a smile. "My Draeseth is persuasive. I'm here because I choose to be." Draeseth looked down at her with his dark eyes glittering and she couldn't resist teasing. "Convincing him it's not a dream has taken up most of our morning."

"She does tease me." He brought her hand to his mouth and she felt his teeth as he kissed her fingers.

Grinning up at him she couldn't help herself, "I do, I love the way you respond. You're too much fun to play with." Draeseth bit more firmly and she felt her face flushing.

"Charming." The sighing voice spoke again. "The black bastard's found a whore to play with. Hopefully the King will send the little blue harlot back to her house with the shame she deserves."

There was silence as Isonei stared at the one in shades of brown and red who had spoken. She could feel her skin heating with fury, burning to find some sharp retort to put that Torgan with the woman's name in his place. But after a moment cold needles of realization prickled her skin, this was what she would be living with in Torga. There would be no warmth or pleasantness in that cold, prudish place. The realization that she had made a terrible mistake washed over her.

Draeseth growled venomously, "Your mother was more a whore than my Isonei, and if she is taken from me I swear to Ganas and Mezaldir that I will end your line."

He pulled her close and she didn't know if she wanted to curl against him for comfort or push him away. His grip tightened as if he could feel her doubt. Before she could make a decision he swept her off of her feet and took her into the bedroom, spilling her onto the bed and slamming the door. Isonei looked up at him in shock.

"You want to leave me." His dark eyes seemed to burn as he stood over her.

"I don't want to go to Torga. If I'd met them before I-I don't know if-" He knelt on the bed and kissed her desperately.

"You will stay by my side. I will protect you. No one will-" someone began pounding on the bedroom door. Draeseth pleaded, "My Isonei. Please."

Isonei shivered and buried her face in his neck, "My flower wine. I don't think that you can promise-"

The door was pushed open, "Draeseth, we need to appear before the King, leave your whore and..." Draeseth straightened and turned, his brother Ougath paled, stepping back. "Draeseth."

Pulling the door shut behind him, Draeseth followed his retreating brother into the other room. Isonei rubbed her face and took a deep breath, debating if she should wait while they saw the king or if she should go to her father. Whether she regretted it or not she was already bound and he would need to be told.

The sudden thud of something heavy hitting the door brought her out of her thoughts. She slipped off of the bed and tried to listen at the thick door for a moment. Something was happening on the other side but she couldn't make out what it was. Tentatively, she tried to open the door and it was pulled closed again immediately, but not before she had caught a glimpse of two of the Torgans trying to hold Draeseth's arms. Isonei tried again to open the door to find it was being held firmly this time.

Her mind filled with the memory of the scars on Draeseth's face and chest. He said they were cruel, and there were three against one. She pulled on the door, bracing her foot against the side of the frame. It didn't budge. What could she do if they were hurting him? They were easily twice her size. If she could get into the hall she could try to summon the guards. She pulled on the door again and then beat on it with the flat of her hand desperately. It didn't give and no one opened it.

Chewing on the inside of her lip she looked around the room desperately for anything that might help. The window! The window overlooked the currently empty gardens and it was too high for her to want to try to climb from. She opened it and leaned out looking for anyone she might call out to.

Isonei spun as she heard the door opening and ran to Draeseth as he entered and closed it again behind him. Words gushed out of her in relief, "Are you hurt? What happened? Something hit the door and when I tried to open it I saw two of them trying to hold your arms." She pulled him to the bed and climbed into his lap as she ran her hands over his face looking for signs he'd been struck.

The soft laugh that came from deep in his chest made her stop and notice the pleased curve of his lips. "They were trying to keep me from killing Shoban. They have the worst of it, my Isonei. When they've tended their wounds, they will apologize. I will prove to you I can protect you, no one will dare insult you." He raised a hand to touch her face and she noticed how bloodied and battered it was.

She slid from his lap and pulled both of his hands in front of her to look at. "You-your hands." Raising her eyes to his face again he looked as if he didn't know whether to be amused or insulted at her horror.

"Not all of the blood is mine."

"You have a tooth in your hand!" She gaped at him as he turned his hand to look at it and gave the same self-satisfied look as he had the night before in bed.

The look changed as he looked back into her face, "Are you afraid?"

"I was terrified you were being hurt, and now I..." She shook her head looking at his hands.

"Are you afraid of me?" His question as quiet and demanded an answer.

"No." Isonei gave him the sternest frown she could muster. "Are you planning to beat manners into everyone in Torga?"

Draeseth's mouth split in a vicious grin, "If I need to. But most have better sense than to insult the Beast of Kroscur." He put his hand under her ear and gripped her by the back of her neck and the base of her skull pulling her closer.

"You will get blood on her dress, your Highness." Krouth snapped as he came into the bedroom with a basin and rags. "The King has already sent men to inquire after the Lady's health, sending her in a bloodied gown would be foolish."

Isonei bit the inner corner of her lip. That was where she'd heard his name. Her brothers had been laughing about the epithet. Draeseth, the Beast of Kroscur. Krouth busied himself with cleaning Draeseth's hands, and she watched carefully. The Torgan didn't flinch, and it looked painful the way his battered hands being washed and scrubbed at. The tooth was pulled free and the basin was filled with dark blue-green water, indistinguishable from blood to Isonei, by the time Krouth had finished and begun to wrap Draeseth's hands in linen bandages.

"Isonei?" Draeseth reached for her as Krouth rose to take away the basin. "Come to me."

She took a deep breath and came closer, letting him pull her back into his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she buried her face in his doublet. If he were a beast, for the next year he was her beast.

"You have nothing to fear from me, my perfect jewel." He spoke the words softly into her hair. "I will never harm you. Please, tell me you still wish to stay."

"I'm afraid, my flower wine, but not of you." She sighed into his doublet. "You are the only bright spot in all of this. My father will chide me for making such an immense decision in haste, but I wanted and still want to spend the year with you. I do think that, perhaps, we should have spent more time talking before I chose." Draeseth kissed her hair.

"If we had you might have chosen differently, and I would be alone. Lying in my bed and aching for you."

She couldn't help but smile, "And I would be in mine trying to rest and thinking of you, wishing the night had been longer."

Draeseth relaxed and she tried to press herself closer. His arms tightened around her. "My Isonei, my silver Aran jewel."

Tilting her face up, she began to kiss the base of his neck.

Krouth cleared his throat pointedly. "There is an escort outside the door, anxiously waiting to take you to the King."

The sound Draeseth made was something between a grunt and a snarl and Isonei began to laugh. "The sounds you make, my flower wine." She reluctantly stood from his lap and watched him rise stiffly.

She wrapped her arm around his as he had done earlier at the door, and they met the escort in the hall. Isonei couldn't help but notice that the guards looked nervous and the walk through the palace to the audience chambers was silent.

Princess Daeira was leaving the chambers as they approached the door and she smiled warmly at Isonei. "Isonei! It's been too long, how is your brother, Ialath?"

"He's well, your Highness." Isonei returned her smile, Ialath had spent more than a year trying to charm his way into Daeira's good graces. He'd be overjoyed to know she'd asked after him.

"Daeira, please!" She looked at the Torgan at her side and her smile faltered for the briefest moment. "Walk with me Isonei? We'll let them talk while we have lunch in the garden." Isonei recognized immediately that the suggestion was a command. Daeira wanted to speak with her alone.

Draeseth placed his hand on top of hers and held her in place. "My Isonei stays by my side."

Daeira's smile faded, "I asked Isonei. You have business with my father."

"My flower wine?" Draeseth looked down at her with his face still set in an intimidating scowl. "Do you remember when I said you had misunderstood Aran manners?" His face softened slightly. "Her invitation was not a request. Though, to your ears, it may have sounded like one." Isonei gave him a wry smile. "I know you don't want me to leave your sight until you're certain I won't vanish into thin air but I need you to trust that I am not going to run away from you. I will be waiting when you're finished." She brought his hand to her lips and kissed the backs of his fingers where the linen wraps ended.

The Torgan turned slightly to touch her face and bent to kiss her as fervently as if he would never see her again, leaving her breathless when he broke the kiss. "Do not leave." He spoke softly before pulling back and drawing himself up into an intimidating stance. "You may take her to the gardens, she may not leave the palace." His command was sharp and Isonei bit her lip and winced. Daeira would not take that kind of rudeness well.

The Princess held out her hand imperiously for Isonei, her icy violet glare fixed on the Torgan. Isonei immediately stepped forward and took her hand and let herself be led away glancing back to see Draeseth watching with his scowl firmly in place.

As they stepped out into the gardens Isonei offered tentatively, "I apologize for his manner, he can be a bit coarse."

"A bit coarse. I might have called him savage or beastly. You have no need to apologize, Isonei. Your brother is worried sick that you might have been brutalized, and from the bruises on your neck and that lout's manner toward you, I now share his concerns." Daeira looked her over solicitously. "Though I met you only once, you're reputed to be a mischief maker, vivacious and charming, the girl I see before me is subdued and timid."

Knowing better than to argue, Isonei tried to seize on something else to lighten the mood. "I'm reputed?" She gave the Princess a deliberately mischievous smile.

"There she is." Daeira smiled and squeezed her hand as they walked. "Tell me about what happened. Did he prevent you from leaving?"

"No, your-" Isonei stopped as Daeira squeezed her hand again and gave her a gentle smile.

"Daeira, please, Isonei."

"No, Daeira. He was sweet, if a bit rough, all night. And he asked me to stay, he's persuasive when he wants to be." Isonei smiled shaking her head. "It might have been an ill-advised choice but he left it to me to make."

Daeira raised her eyebrows and wrapped her arm around Isonei's waist encouraging her to keep walking. "You can't be bound to a Torgan against your will. Do you really want to spend a year with that brute?"

Taking a deep breath, Isonei had to think, the way Daeira kept insulting Draeseth bothered her but she was being offered a way out of going to Torga. That Draeseth would be hurt by it... It shouldn't matter as much as it did, she knew that, but the thought of him slumped with his head in his hands still tugged at her heartstrings. "I wish..." she sighed and paused. "I wish I could spend a year with him without having to go to Torga. The thought of it is..." The smell of food suddenly made her realize how hungry she was and derailed her train of thought entirely.

Rounding the hedge, an alcove had a well laid table and two men sitting at it talking quietly. Her brother stood immediately. "Isonei!" He looked at her with relief, almost stumbling as he rounded the table. "I've been worried, Feyrith said you ran away from him and were clinging to a Torgan."

She accepted Ialath's embrace gratefully. "Feyrith wouldn't take no for an answer. If it hadn't been for Draeseth and the jester king, I don't know how the evening would have gone."

"Feyrith won't be invited back to the masquerades here." The other man looked over his shoulder at her with a tentative smile. His hair was more steel grey than silver and his darker blue-grey skin was no longer covered in a fine white powder, but she recognized the jester king's kind violet eyes immediately. Her eyes widened in pleased surprise and his smile widened. "You recognize me."

"Your eyes, but since you're not in your bells and crown I can't call you your majesty."

He looked to Daeira with a grin. "I told you."

Ialath pulled her toward the table and her attention turned toward the food roasted chicken in what looked like a cream sauce, slices of tongue rolled, filled, and artfully arranged on a tray with tiny stuffed mushrooms, salad and fruit, as well as breads and soft cheeses. Sitting across from the jester king she let Ialath start putting food on her plate, as she looked at him curiously. He must have been terribly worried, Ialath was never this thoughtful.

As hungry as she was, Isonei almost started to eat before she realized no one else had filled a plate. She put her fork back down and looked at Ialath, to ask why when the jester king reassured her teasingly, "Eat, eat! We have already. You were rather late to lunch, my poor bruised fruit."

She tried not to laugh but he fluttered his lashes and sent her into a fit of giggles. "Why do I think someone should be sewing bells on everything you own?"

"Because my brother is a jester at heart." Daeira smiled fondly at him, "Andnaeuth enjoys being the jester more than he does pursuing anyone at the masquerades."

Prince Andnaeuth. Isonei's smile faded, and she looked down at her plate nervously. Her brothers were eager to socialize with royalty but she'd never intended to. It was too nerve-wracking to scrutinize every word every moment, even if they were being friendly the wrong word would have consequences. But it explained her brother's thoughtfulness. He would be trying to impress them with his brotherly kindness.

"Who's been saying such horrible things about me that the smile fades from your face at the mention of my name, my merry maid?" Andnaeuth was teasing her again and she gave him a halfhearted smile.

"No one, your Highness."

"I much preferred 'your majesty.'" He was trying to make her laugh again leaning his head on his hands at a tilt.

"Let the girl eat, Andnaeuth." Daeira gently chided him. "I imagine there are more bruises under her dress and she looks half starved and exhausted."

Isonei tried not to wince, sighing under her breath, "I didn't think I looked that terrible." She took a bite of her roasted chicken covered in a delicate cream sauce and glanced up at Andnaeuth who looked as though he were struggling not to say something.

"You don't look like your usual self, Isonei." Ialath looked at her with what she was almost certain was more concern than he felt.

"You look like the Beast of Kroscur tried to eat you, my poor bruised fruit. Trapped in a room with a hungry Torgan is a terrible fate." Andnaeuth's tone was light but when she looked up at him she could tell he was prying.

She touched her neck without thinking and remembered how the bruises looked in the mirror. At least one of the marks did look as if he had been trying to eat her. "I wasn't trapped, and it wasn't terrible." She smiled wryly. "And if Draeseth had wanted to eat me I doubt there would be much left."

"If I'd had a cup you'd have come to bed with me last night." Andnaeuth needled her. "It might have been better than not terrible."

"If you'd had a cup you'd have had to work harder for a kiss." She shot back without thinking and watched his face split into a grin.

Holding up a cup from the table Andnaeuth waggled his eyebrows at her, "How hard do I need to work, my poor bruised fruit?"

It felt as though she'd been doused with cold water. She chewed on the inside of her lip before she spoke, carefully watching his face, "It would have to be something to occupy you for at least a year. Draeseth is very persuasive when he wants to be and he asked me to stay." Isonei enunciated her next words clearly so that it didn't seem as if she were placing blame on Dreaseth for her choice. "I chose to stay." She paused hating to admit the truth, "Part of me is already regretting it, having met his brothers and realized what Torga will be like, but he's done nothing to deserve being deserted."

"The bruises he's left on you don't give you pause?" Daeira asked pointedly.

"I was aware that he can be rough with his affections when I chose. I hadn't realized he'd bruised me but that doesn't change my decision." Isonei took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Have you lost your mind?" Ialath hissed at her. "If you're already regretting the choice you must know it isn't going to get better. He's called a beast for a reason, Isonei."

She put her face in her hands and leaned on the table, almost putting her elbow on her plate. "He's not." Keeping her eyes closed, "He's not a brute and he's not a beast, he's sweet." There was the sharp sound of fingers snapping and Ialath stood from the table.

"If he weren't sweet you wouldn't have accepted a drink, much less chosen to stay." Andnaeuth wasn't teasing anymore, and Isonei looked up at him gratefully. "You met him in the garden?" He poured honey wine into a cup next to her plate and she realized both Ialath and Daeira had left the table.

"Yes." Isonei took a breath, and then reached for the cup and took a sip, "He saw me trying to find a place to hide and offered to take me under his cloak to keep me warm and safe. He said he saw me looking delicate and lost," she smiled remembering the way he'd said it, "The way my hair and skin looked in the moonlight changed his mind about drinking with someone. He hadn't intended to."