Kros Voyeh

Notes: 1) My thanks to Roz for beta reading! 2) This arc begins roughly where we met Lislora so don't be shocked by the time jump! 3) If you see this anywhere but Literotica, it isn't supposed to be there!

*****

Lislora read over the missive a second time. The invitation to attend her royal cousin's new wife was very nearly a demand. She suspected his servant had written it. Draeseth was usually more considerate where she was concerned.

The question of why he hadn't written it himself nagged at the back of her mind but the timing was ideal. Heating the house and paying the servants through the winter was more of an expense than she could afford this year.

Folding the missive, Lislora jotted down a brief reply for the messenger before ringing for her maid. "Take this to the servant returning to Prince Draeseth. Afterward, have my best dresses and jewelry readied to travel to the Keep of Kroscur and begin closing up the house." She began preparing the boxes of papers that would need to be kept locked away, things her father had always dealt with.

During her brief marriage to her late husband, Vargan, his son had dealt with the papers and headaches of both estates. If the illness that had taken his father hadn't taken him as well, she would have received nothing for the year she spent tending to the old man except a small house and a smaller stipend. A bitter part of her was amused that the younger Lord Vargath had been so adamant about finding a better wife that he'd died without one, or an heir. The thought that she might have been a young mother instead of only a young widow made her glad he'd thought so little of her.

Smiling ruefully to herself she let her thoughts turn back to her cousin, it had been his suggestion to strip the second house of everything of value and sell what she didn't need. Draeseth had seen to it she was given fair prices and when he purchased the cattle from her he'd paid more than they were worth. But without her father or a husband to conduct business that money hadn't lasted as long as she'd hoped.

Giving her late husband's empty house and some of his land to the priesthood had been as much practical as it was religious. For the gift, Lislora was guaranteed a place in the convent if she ever required it, though she prayed she wouldn't. Visiting the place always made her feel depressed. So many children with such bleak futures and the Sisters had either been raised in a place like it or had been sent for being unmarriageable.

It reeked of hopelessness. Attending her cousin's new wife would be better, even if she'd hoped he'd look to her as a wife when he decided he wished to have one. They'd always gotten along so well... She pushed those thoughts to the side and took a deep breath.

"My Lady?" The maid returned sounding nervous.

"Yes?"

"Prince Draeseth has just arrived, should we still close the house?"

"Has he brought his new wife?"

"No, my Lady. He arrived alone on horseback."

"Continue closing the house, but keep the two best bedrooms for last."

"Yes, my Lady."

Glancing in the mirror, Lislora brushed some dust from her dress and frowned at her plainly braided hair. She always tried to look nicer when her cousin visited but it couldn't be helped. Moving quickly to greet him, she was surprised to see him already mounting the stairs.

"Draeseth, it's always a pleasure."

"Lislora." His faint smile faltered, "I wished to speak to you."

"It couldn't have waited until I arrived at your Keep? I received the missive insisting I attend your new wife today."

He made an unpleasant sound in his throat, "Krouth. I had wished to ask you if you would come and help her learn her duties. I have been told by the priests that she must be reclaimed and we must be married before I can have the life with her I desire. With her Aran upbringing, I don't think she'll understand and having a virtuous friend there to help direct her would be a help to me."

"I don't know anything about her, cousin. Won't she be displeased to have another Lady in the house trying to direct her?"

Draeseth began to smile again, shaking his head, "She's the most gentle creature I have ever met. My wife will welcome you. What she will not understand is being separate from me. She is as one of the children of Krugorim."

Lislora arched an eyebrow.

"She doesn't understand that unconcealed affection and her open manner may expose her to ridicule or provoke desire in other men. I hesitate to teach her Torgan until she better learns propriety. You'll understand when you meet her."

"I told the servants to close up my house for the winter, you're certain she won't mind me intruding?"

"I am. She'll appreciate your company. There will be few who can speak Aran to her and the woman enjoys talking."

"You chose a wife who enjoys talking?" Lislora gave him an amused look and he grunted.

"She has her faults, but so do I. When did you intend to leave for my Keep?"

"The missive I sent just before you arrived told them to expect me tomorrow."

Draeseth looked sour for a moment, "I had wished to be there when she arrived. Isonei wrote to me of feeling lonely without me. The praise she had for Burgath's hospitality made me wish to have things better prepared. I want her praise for myself."

"I've always adored your mother's rooms, she won't be able to find fault with them." Lislora offered him a reassuring smile. "If she enjoys flowers perhaps you can show her the winter garden? I've always found it lovely. And the sacellum is beautiful."

°°°°°°°°°°

Lislora gave the servants the last of their pay, regretting that she had to leave before all of the work had been finished. Her cousin's restlessness was making them all uneasy. He'd hitched his horse to her small, open carriage. His cursing had been heard from the house as he'd had to drag it out of the unused stable, himself.

As she let him help her onto it with her things, she cast another worried glance back to the house.

"I will send someone to make certain the house is closed properly and locked, cousin." The old carriage creaked unhappily as he climbed onto the driver's seat. "I will have someone repair this as well."

"I can't afford a horse anymore, cousin. I would have sold this as well but no one wants such an old thing. The newer carriages are more comfortable."

Draeseth made a thoughtful noise, "Are the peasants renting your land paying you?"

"They can't pay me what they don't have."

He fixed her with a black look, "This is why women should not hold land. I will see to it your rents are paid fully, cousin. You should tell me when they try to avoid paying you what they owe."

"This year has been a hard one, Draeseth." She met his glower without flinching.

"Then they should find other ways to pay you, if not in coin then in firewood and food. I will send my man, Taugh, to find the truth of the matter and have you given your fair payment, Lislora. You should at least be able to keep a horse and a decent carriage."

"I will defer to you, cousin." She smiled at the pleased look that crossed his face.

They passed a long while in pleasant silence before he asked, "How long has it been since you practiced your Aran?"

"It's been some time, but I always did well with it."

"Perhaps we should practice. My wife doesn't speak as our tutors spoke. Like that wretched Prince of theirs, she speaks with the peculiar rounding of the words."

"I'm glad I never met him. The things you've said about him... why did his Majesty allow him to linger at Court?"

"He's the Crown Prince of Ara. He may be a vulgar, despicable jester with no dignity or regard for his own laws and customs, a thief, and Mezaldir's spawn," Draeseth growled the words and gripped the reins tightly, "but he is the Crown Prince. It burns me that my wife is fond of him. Father, at least, only suffered him for political reasons."

"Are you certain she's fond of him? Perhaps it's merely ambition."

Draeseth barked a laugh and gave her a rueful look, "The woman has no ambition and no skill in concealing her feelings. She's with me because she loves me, but in Ara, they are permitted to love more than one man at a time. That wretched Prince has spent the time he stole from me trying to find a way into her bed."

"You're certain..." Lislora hesitated to finish the sentence and he smiled bitterly.

"I am. Isonei is many things, honest among them. You'll find her too honest at times. She lacks the restraint and guile needed to lie."

"But she's... worldly." Lislora looked at him in bafflement.

He began to laugh in his throat, "The thought that a woman should be for one man alone bewilders her. Arans seek pleasure above all other things, but there is an innocence to her that I find appealing." His pleased expression began to darken, "Krouth thinks her to be utterly unsuited to me. He could not persuade me, and has begun trying to persuade her."

Carefully, Lislora offered, "Ganas puts us all on the right paths as long as we allow him to."

The growling grunt he gave in return didn't seem pleased.

"I'll do my best to help you. Once she's reclaimed and taught how to behave things should be better."

"I thank you, cousin. I cannot lose her."

Silence descended again and she tried to quiet the disappointed voice that suggested if she had been more innocent and guileless perhaps he would have chosen to find a wife closer to home.

When they arrived, Lislora let her cousin help her down and followed him into the main house of the Keep, letting him stay a few steps ahead. Her eyes widened as she saw a pale, delicate young woman bound forward toward him.

"Draeseth!" The silver-haired woman wrapped her arms around Draeseth's waist in a display of unrestrained affection.

His face softened as he returned her embrace for a short moment, "My Duchess. How are you feeling? Was your journey difficult?" Disentangling himself, he smiled down at the creature who seemed even smaller next to him.

Lislora barely paid attention to their conversation as she studied the woman. If this was what he wanted in a wife there was no way she ever could have attracted his attention. He'd often called the Aran a jewel and she did look like one, with her pale blue skin and light silvery eyes that seemed to sparkle as if they were lit from within.

At a glance, Lislora could see that this woman was everything she wasn't and could never be. Isonei was pale where she was dark, small and delicate where she was tall and what her father had always called 'robust.' There had never been a time when she felt more ungainly or inelegant. Plastering a smile on her face, she disturbed their conversation with a careful cough as the Aran woman gave Draeseth a mildly annoyed look.

As the Aran woman turned a curious look on her, Draeseth began making the introductions, "My cousin, Lislora, traveled with me. I stopped to speak with her on our way and found she had been summoned."

"Krouth has noticed that I'm desperately lonely and he thought she would be good company for me."

"I am home now, my sweet wife. You will be less lonely." The doting smile her cousin gave the woman was so unlike him as to be unsettling. "Lislora, this is my Isonei."

Lislora tried to hold her smile as the Aran woman looked her over again, this time more thoroughly. To her surprise, the woman gave her a warm and genuine smile.

"You must get your beauty from your mother's side, my Draeseth. Your cousin is lovely." Isonei stepped forward extending her hand. "Do you speak Aran, Lady Lislora?"

"I-I do, Lady Isonei." Hesitantly, Lislora reached out to take the Aran woman's hand, feeling slightly baffled as it was clasped warmly.

"Wonderful! Someone hasn't taught me much Torgan yet." Isonei turned a mischievous smile on Draeseth. "I'm told it's easier than Lerian but for now, Aran will have to do."

Her cousin smiled in a way she'd seldom seen and offered Isonei his arm, "I wish to teach you myself, my Duchess. I had considered another teacher, but my time with you is being limited by propriety."

Falling back to walk behind them, Lislora had difficulty keeping up with the way the woman spoke. It sounded as if she pressed the almost butter soft words together. The language sounded intimate when she spoke it, and Draeseth seemed like a much different man than the one who had fetched her.

Draeseth's sour servant slipped past her as she lingered in the doorway of the Duchess' rooms. Her cousin had never looked... happier. As soon as she had the thought he lifted his gaze from the Aran woman and spoke to Krouth.

"She has only praise for you now, an impressive change."

"The Lady doesn't stay angry and she appreciates thoughtfulness. But she's too generous, you'll need to save your coin to spend on her keeping. She takes a chill very easily, her rooms must stay warm."

On seeing Isonei's curious look Draeseth offered her a rough translation, "He says you are very generous, my Duchess, but I may wish to save the money and use it to heat your rooms. I will show you the winter garden tomorrow, I think you will find it comfortable and if you lounge there as you did in the gardens at your Daga's house, it might save some expense in wood."

"Perhaps I could help? Sharing a bed isn't uncommon in the winter months," Lislora offered from the doorway, forgetting for a moment to speak Aran.

Isonei beckoned her in with a smile.

With relief, she realized she'd been understood. "You understand Torgan."

"No, I could tell you were asking a question." The Aran's amusement at her error made her struggle to keep the displeased look from her face.

"She asked if you were averse to sharing a bed, my Lady. It is often done here," Krouth very smoothly translated for her.

"I wouldn't mind at all. But you might find me trying to burrow into your side for warmth. I like to be close." The way the woman managed to look cheerful and apologetic at once made Lislora blink.

"I thought it was only me you burrowed into." Draeseth frowned and Lislora could feel her face flushing at the open way he'd admitted to sleeping with the woman.

The Aran seemed equally amused at his error as she had Lislora's, "Arissa tried to share the bed with me one night. She called me a clinging vine and sent me back to my own bed before dawn and you remember how she liked to cuddle when we lounged."

He barked a laugh. "You do cling. And you whine when your victim tries to get free." The scandalous way he was jesting was inappropriate. It would be difficult to show the woman what proper behavior looked like if he behaved this way.

"Victim?!" Isonei crossed her arms and donned what seemed like an expression of mock offense. "I should demand an apology just for that!" As Draeseth's face flushed she broke into childlike laughter and embraced him again. "I'm glad to see you again. Even if you were cold and didn't write to me, I missed you."

"As I missed you." Draeseth glanced up and caught Lislora's look of disapproval. He opened his arms slightly instead of embracing the woman. "I do not have your skill with words, my jewel. And I loathe correspondence. Even the letters I wrote to you in Ara were short."

"I enjoy writing letters." The Aran released him after a moment and didn't seem bothered that he hadn't returned her affectionate embrace. "I'm almost certain a scribe could make some suggestions if you had difficulty. One of the purposes of personal letters is to let someone know you're thinking of them. The words don't matter so much." Isonei smiled up at him adoringly, "Ivorith's mother hates writing letters but she writes them to my father, usually about the weather now. They used to be about Ivorith and the things she wanted to do when she came home."

"You read your father's letters?" Draeseth's eyes narrowed slightly.

"He always leaves them out!" Isonei laughed at the disapproving sound he made. "I promise you he would have chided me if he felt I needed it. I think he liked the sight of me sitting at his desk reading his letters."

"So did my father. He said it was charming." Lislora couldn't keep a small smile from her face at the fond memory.

Isonei turned a bright, open smile on her, "I've been so looking forward to getting to know another member of my Draeseth's family!"

There was no sign of guile or distrust on that joyful, delicate face; it was unnerving. "Is she-is she always like this?"

Her cousin laughed in his throat, "My Isonei is a very joyful and eager creature by nature."

"This is the first time Lady Isonei has been so cheerful since arriving in Torga." Krouth sounded almost amused.

"I've discovered I don't travel well anymore. And I hate to be cold and alone." Isonei made a face and leaned against Draeseth's side.

"You no longer need to travel, my silver jewel. I will keep you safe and warm here in my Keep, always by my side." He'd lapsed into Torgan as he stooped to kiss the top of her head and Lislora chose to try separating them with furniture.

"Anymore?" She gestured toward the small sofa and perched on it, half expecting the Aran woman to wait until Draeseth sat.

"I used to travel with my father when my mothers weren't home." Instead, Isonei sat almost uncomfortably close next to her and tucked her feet under herself like a child.

"Did they not alternate halves of the year?" Draeseth frowned, moving to sit in a chair opposite them both.

"You recall my mother was his third? They never changed the Arrangements. He had a third of the year to himself. He loves my mothers but he does like his time away from them, I think."

The way the woman seemed unrelentingly cheerful was almost as baffling as the words that came out of her mouth.

Isonei began to attempt an explanation, "Ivorith's mother comes in the autumn, in the month of Semuth, always when we had returned from Leria and the hives had been winterized. She liked that the house was in the countryside and quiet. Coming home to us was restful because my father rarely threw parties unless the fields were in bloom. Ialath's mother comes in the month of Iemith and stays through all the spring blooms, she loves to dance."

Lislora tried to decipher the words enough to rejoin the conversation.

"Arans make things far too complicated." Draeseth leaned back in his chair, his posture making him look distinctly out of place in his mother's more refined furnishings.

"I find Torgans as baffling as you find Arans, my flower wine."

The Aran woman's adoring gaze and affectionate speech made Lislora blurt out the first question that came to mind, "What did he offer them to have three wives?" She regretted not finding a more tasteful question immediately.

"Not wives, lovers," Isonei corrected her gently. "Aran Arrangements are different from marriages. And he offers them the benefit of his House and standing, his wealth, and his affection."

Looking at her dubiously, Lislora protested, "But three..."

"When I came of age he told me a man should have three lovers, one to further his ambitions, one for her shrewdness, and one that makes his heart melt each time he sees her. He should love all of them well because he needs them all, but a woman needs to bear in mind which one she is."

"You wish to be the third," Draeseth murmured looking at the Aran with a faint smile.

"My mother was."