Kros Voyeh Ch. 04

As Lislora began to read from the beginning, the creation of the world from Ganas' own flesh and the first people from the clay of his creation, Isonei's eyes fluttered open. She smiled faintly and seemed to listen for a short time until they fluttered closed again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Lislora couldn't help but be relieved that Isonei seemed to be recovering well. The kitchens had never been cleaner and they had been searched for any remaining swine as if it were poison. Draeseth had even sent his brothers home with the rabbit jerky he enjoyed and kept for himself. Nothing was to be brought into the house that would make the Duchess ill.

Knocking on the door to her cousin's study, Lislora was surprised when it opened and the jester who had been lingering stepped out.

"Lady Lislora." The dark haired man offered a servant's bow.

"Jester." She gave him a disapproving look. The man had a Lerian accent that seemed almost exaggeratedly from the Dalcur, and she wasn't entirely certain that it wasn't feigned. He was peculiar.

Allowing him to slip past, she closed the door and gave her cousin a questioning look.

"My Isonei was delighted by the man when she met him and he lingers hoping to cheer her when she's well enough. I want him out of my house but if it would please my wife..." he looked sourly down at his desk.

"Krouth wanted me to tell you she's kept down her lunch and she seems well enough for you to visit. I think she might be gladder of your company than his." The words earned her a smile.

"Krouth mentioned to me she had been feeling ill before the entertainments but kept it to herself to avoid spoiling the party. Something else she learned from her mother, apparently." He grimaced.

"Isonei looked like a scolded child when he spoke sharply to her for it. I don't think she'll do it again." She settled into a chair across from the desk.

"He spoke sharply to her so that I wouldn't have to. She needs me to show my affection."

At the words, Lislora flushed and looked down at her hands remembering their conversation on the evening of the Duchess' collapse.

He seemed to realize it, making an apologetic sound in his throat. "I have not asked your forgiveness for my impropriety."

Taking a deep breath she looked up again, "It wasn't appropriate but it isn't what-what..." Getting the words out was impossible.

"It isn't what concerns you most?" Draeseth frowned and looked at her with concern.

"No. I keep-" she sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "Ganas help me. I keep trying to understand how..."

Her cousin began to laugh and when she looked at him his head was cradled in his hands and he was grinning.

"How she gave me my relief in the winter garden without anyone noticing?"

"Yes! How it could be done at all without-without removing clothes!"

He began to laugh harder and she scowled at him. His eyes were glittering as he finally composed himself enough to look at her. "If I explain it to you, you have to promise not to carry the tale."

"As you wish, cousin."

Draeseth rose from his seat and moved to sit on the backless sofa, instead of sitting properly he straddled it and gestured for her to sit on the other end. "My wife was given one of these in the winter garden. When we spoke we sat this way." He looked at her expectantly and she frowned at him in confusion.

"You weren't touching?"

The amused noise in his throat was accompanied by his face flushing. "I promised I would not lay a hand on her in the winter garden, nor would I allow her to lay a hand on me." The Prince looked almost smug, "My wife is Aran and they seek pleasure above all other things. Even her clothes," he cleared his throat, "she favors silk stockings. The feel of them on skin is," he flushed a little deeper, "decadent."

It felt as if he were speaking a different language. "I don't understand."

"She would take off her boots and I would," he cleared his throat again, "open my pants and lift my tunics for her put her silk covered-"

Lislora covered her mouth and stared at him, "You let her put filthy feet on-on your delicate parts?"

He began to bellow with laughter, rising to step away and compose himself. "No part of my wife is filthy. She washes morning and night, and more thoroughly than anyone I have ever seen. I think she fears dirt. You can keep the woman in one place by taking one of her shoes, she won't move for fear of getting her feet dirty." Draeseth returned to sit more appropriately, "And she objects to calling them my delicate parts, she prefers to call them fine instead. My wife insists there is no part of me that is delicate."

She couldn't keep the hot flush from her face.

"That my wife would speak sweetly to me of wanting my touch as she saw to my needs made the sensation of silk stroking my finer parts even more pleasurable. I needed to be able to give her the affection she longed for, Arans do it through pleasing one another."

"If you can't," Lislora swallowed, "can't take her to bed you can't make her happy. She thinks she isn't loved."

"Yes. She doesn't understand there are other ways to show affection. My wife needs to be touched and she needs to be able to touch me."

"I pity her." Shaking her head Lislora gave him a searching look, "if you allowed her to learn Torgan, the priests could help her immensely. She could receive so much benefit from-"

"They will have to attempt it in Aran. I do not trust other men not to take advantage of my wife's ignorance and Aran trust." Draeseth made a displeased sound, "You must have noticed, her heart is as open as the arms of Ganas. Even when you had been cruel she forgave you in an instant and found things to praise you for."

"I have noticed. She greets me so warmly and seems so content when I read to her I feel wretched about keeping my roll in her poisoning secret. But I'm fond of her and you need me..." Lislora frowned, it would also be true to say she didn't want to leave for several other reasons as well.

"I enjoy having you here, cousin. You have been a solace and a help to me."

The words made her feel warm and reminded her of what Brother Odgar had said, Draeseth was looking to her as a man looks to a wife. Suddenly she wanted that very much.

He rose and offered her his hand to help stand. "I should go visit my wife before the Halloc arrives. He wishes to see her health for himself."

"A Halloc is coming?" The topic at least would allow her to conceal the sinking of her heart. Her question was met by a sour grunt. "Why?"

"Halloc Aurim has received word of our Arrangement and my wife's illness. He disapproves and the priesthood believes I will allow them to interfere further with my wife's keeping. They nearly cost me my wife. I will not allow them to keep her from me again."

"Be respectful, cousin." Lislora frowned at him sternly.

He snorted allowing his face to soften, "You sound like my wife. She was encouraging me to be more myself, more respectful and frugal."

"The way she spent money on the party, I didn't know she knew how to be." Lislora smoothed her skirt and he barked a laugh. "Go see Isonei, I'm sure she'd enjoy that. I'll see to it the kitchen has something warm prepared for the Halloc when he arrives. They usually travel with a handful of priests."

She'd barely had time to get the cooks started on an appropriate meal when word of the Halloc's arrival reached her.

Hurriedly, she headed up to Isonei's rooms to tell her cousin. He would want to know and be able to greet them whether he was looking forward to their visit or not.

The Prince was pacing in the hall and looked upset as she approached. "The Halloc has arrived?"

"Yes, what-?"

"Lislora, I need you to speak to my wife. Isonei asked about Ailzem and returning to Ara for the Festival. I had to tell her she wouldn't be returning. She was trying to pretend she was asleep so that she wouldn't have to speak to me when I left." He dragged his hand through his hair and scowled at the door. "And now the wretched Halloc has arrived to speak with her. She'll beg him to take her away from here."

"I'll speak with her, cousin, I doubt she would beg to be taken away, your wife loves you dearly, but," Lislora hesitated.

"But?"

"But you know I disapprove of the truth being kept from her for so long. You should have already told her she couldn't return, and she should know what you told her family."

"If you tell her she will beg to be anywhere but here, Lislora." His grim face made her want to argue but she knew better than to do it too strenuously.

"You should consider why that is, cousin. I won't defy you and tell her, but she should know."

"I will keep the Halloc with me in my study for as long as I can. Comfort her."

With an inward sigh as he stalked off, Lislora opened the door to the Duchess' rooms. She didn't bother knocking. Krouth had already been making preparations and he would already be seeing to the Halloc.

The sound of quiet voices speaking Aran was almost startling.

"Are you certain you wouldn't get bored?" Isonei's voice was soft but sadly hopeful, "It must be so much more exciting to wander and share your jests."

Lislora stepped into the doorway to see the woman lying on her side and looking toward the man who was playfully tilting his head back and forth as if he were considering her words, and making an exaggeratedly thoughtful face. "Sleeping in barns without the farmer's permission and capering while rocks are being thrown can be exciting."

"Who could be cruel to a jester? You bring so much joy," Isonei sounded on the verge of tears.

"Ohhhh, the Duchess of frolics shouldn't weep. I'd heard rumors you had a heart made of ice! It must be true; it melts and runs at the slightest provocation." After his too familiar address, he made a wide-eyed face at her that resembled one the Duchess herself often used and drew a laugh out of the Aran woman.

Enough was enough. "Duchess of frolics?" Lislora's disapproving voice made the man wilt slightly. "I was told you spoke poor Aran."

"He was jesting. If you watch someone's eyes you can tell." Isonei rolled onto her back and sat up slowly; her delicate, wan face looked as though she'd had a very short bout of weeping.

"That's a skill, her Grace! So few can tell when a jester jests!" The jester's grin seemed to prompt the Aran woman to tease him back.

She widened her eyes with mock earnestness much as the jester had done, "I'm very good at it! Sometimes I even know when they're being serious." As Isonei fluttered her lashes at him he collapsed howling with laughter that made the woman giggle like a child.

Lislora was unamused. "I am glad to see you feeling better. Prince Draeseth was concerned for your state of mind, that was why he sent me. He will be pleased to hear of you laughing again so soon."

"I am grateful for your care, Lislora." Isonei fixed her with a surprisingly frosty look. "And I am grateful that the dear jester may be allowed to stay, but do not mistake a moment's lightening of my mood as a sign that all is right or that my unhappiness has been feigned. Did you know Draeseth had no intention of keeping his word when he gave it to my King?"

That made her blink and she opened and closed her mouth for a moment, averting her eyes before giving an answer. "I believe he intended to keep it until the unfortunate circumstances in Leria, your Grace."

There was silence and when Lislora looked up the fury on the tiny woman's face was truly startling. She took a step back and pinned her eyes to the floor.

The jester broke the silence, "My mother always said, 'The wasp will sting you more but the gentle honey bee's sting is worse.'" The man scandalously rolled across the corner of the Duchess' bed instead of walking around it, that much Lislora could tell without lifting her eyes. "Her Grace."

"I hope you can stay, and if not, I hope you come back, dear jester." Isonei sounded earnest and grateful. "You scatter joy like wind flowers scatter seeds."

The jester dropped into something that might have been a curtsy as he stood next to Lislora. "High praise from the Duchess of frolics!"

Draeseth should be told about the man and his over-familiar behavior. That he spoke Aran with the same rounding of the words as Isonei was concerning, but her cousin would be distraught if she didn't try to speak to his wife before she left the woman's side. "Do you wish me to stay, your Grace?" She kept her eyes on the floor and chose to take a more careful tone.

"Please. I'm not angry with you, Lislora. You and Krouth have been very kind and I appreciate you reading to me even if I don't know what you're reading about. Please sit. And call me Isonei?" The conciliatory tone was reassuring.

Nodding hesitantly, Lislora crossed to the other side to take her seat picking up the book laid next to it, "I have been reading from the-the Book of Truths is what Arans would call it. It always soothes me."

"It has a soothing sound to it." It was a relief that the Duchess was beginning to look and sound much more like her usual self. "I haven't spoken to you of the party. It looked as if it were going well up until the point I was ill. Did everyone enjoy the meal and the entertainment?"

"For the most part, your-" Lislora caught herself, "Isonei. There was some consternation when you made the Princes laugh so loudly and Prince Draeseth was so openly affectionate with you. Most people think of you as well below the Princes' rank. Your boldness was..." She turned the book over in her hands and chose not to chide as she remembered the evening. "He looked happy. I have never seen him so happy."

"He and I make each other incredibly happy or incredibly miserable. There is very little middle ground with us. That middle ground is what you need to sustain yourself in an Arrangement, my mothers both insisted."

"And they truly share your father's affections?" For a brief moment, the idea of having half a year with Draeseth seemed appealing.

"Yes." Isonei tried to smile but she was looking as though she needed to rest again. "Love isn't like a loaf of bread, it isn't consumed and gone. The more of it you give the more of it you have. They love my father and their other lovers, and they love each other like sisters."

"Part of me wishes I could do that, be a second wife. But I cannot... I cannot bear the thought. I would want him to myself." Lislora pushed the thought aside. Draeseth loved his tiny, delicate, Aran wife and he would never see her in the same light even if she could find a way to stomach it. Somehow it made her heart ache. "If you make him happy I will endure the sight of his affection for you." The turn of phrase was meant to be a jest, but it didn't sound like one even to her own ears.

"The two of you are better suited, Lislora. He will see it eventually."

They sat in silence for a time until a knock came at the partly closed bedroom door and Lislora remembered that there had been things she was meant to discuss. "Oh! I had forgotten. Halloc Aurim has come to see you. Draeseth wished to speak to him first."

"Come in?" Isonei called toward the door, pulling the covers up modestly to cover more of her nightdress.

Brothers Jannun and Brenough entered followed by Brother Odgar. Odgar was twisting his hands, looking to them almost timidly while the two priests looked around the Duchess' bedroom as if her rooms had not met their standards.

"Brother Jannun! Brother Brenough! It's so good to see you!" The Aran woman seemed genuinely glad. "Have you met Lady Lislora? She's a very dear woman."

The younger priest smiled, "Does she teach you?"

Isonei smiled wryly and looked thoughtful for a moment before attempting to speak Torgan, "Bone. Draeseth said he would do it himself and he hasn't found the time."

Lislora blinked as the priest began to laugh and wave his hands, "No. O-eest. 'Oirst' is bone."

"This is how I spent years learning Lerian. I would listen and then speak, and they would laugh." The Aran cast a hopeful glance to Lislora who was trying not to show too much amusement at the woman's expense. "Would he let you teach me?"

"No." Lislora's faint smile faded after she answered in Torgan, "I asked."

"You feel she should be taught?" The young priest asked with a slight frown.

"I do. My cousin believes she needs to be taught appropriateness first. He doesn't want anyone to take advantage of her sweet-nature or openness."

"And how appropriate has he been with her?"

"Not... not as appropriate as he should be. He confided in me that he was finding ways to have moments of-of intimacy with her even before the Arrangement they entered into. Because she was willing to do what he suggested he doesn't trust her around other men."

"She was raised with depravities all around her, her father had three wives."

"I was told."

"If he doesn't show her what proper behavior is she can't learn it. That she has such a sweet and gentle nature despite her upbringing is a marvel of Ganas' will."

The older priest pulled Brother Odgar aside, "Why did you allow them to be alone together? The importance was impressed upon you."

"His Highness is a Prince of Torga. There was little I could do when he asked for just a few moments alone with her on occasion."

The older priest turned back to the younger who spoke agitatedly, "I knew we should have stayed, Brenough. After hearing the rumors of his behavior toward her we should have come back and fetched her immediately. She is under our protection."

"Peace, Jannun. Rumors are not truth and the Prince may yet deserve the benefit of the doubt. The decision is for the Halloc to make. It's his protection she's under."

The Aran woman looked baffled, turning to Lislora she whispered, "Is something wrong?"

"They have heard things about your stay here, you were under their protection and they are concerned."

"They were kind, but if Krouth hadn't been with me I might have frozen to death on the way here."

Brother Jannun gave a soft snort as he refuted her, "Your room is too warm."

"I'm Aran, it's much warmer there. You should go and see for yourself!"

"If it's as warm there as she likes her rooms we would melt like ice in the sun."

The older man nodded and then put a hand on his shoulder, "It might explain why she's been so ill if the climate is so different. We still need to examine her."

Jannun didn't look pleased to be reminded, "We ahh..." He switched back to Torgan uncomfortably, "We need to examine her thoroughly, not only for her health after her illness but to discover if she's with child. It would alter the circumstances."

"They need to..." Lislora wasn't certain if she'd actually learned the words for what she needed to convey or if she'd simply forgotten them out of nervousness. "They need to see if Draeseth has..." She placed her hand on her belly hoping Isonei would understand.

The Aran nodded solemnly, "They need to examine me because he wished to have me carrying his child before the next Festival."

"Yes." Jannun gestured for the woman to lie back and gently pulled the covers away.

Isonei looked nervous and uncomfortable, clearly trying not to wriggle away from the prodding fingers of the two men examining her. Lislora reached out and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly and the woman gave her a grateful look.