Kros Voyeh Ch. 06

Notes: 1) If you see this anywhere but Literotica, it isn't supposed to be there!

*****

Lislora rubbed her head, grateful to be in the privacy of her own room. Dinner had been mostly delicious, except for those wretched onions Isonei and the Halloc had devoured, but watching Isonei warm over the course of the meal had been unexpectedly difficult. The Aran had begun the meal tepidly warm to Draeseth and ended it looking at him adoringly and letting him escort her out of the dining room with an almost dreamy look on her face.

By contrast, Lislora had begun the meal nervously hopeful and excited to have a proper meal, and ended it with a leaden feeling in her belly, paired with the beginnings of a headache. Deciding to have Krouth give her something for the headache that would help her sleep, she rang for a maid. After relaying her message she expected the man to be prompt, Draeseth wouldn't want him hovering while he bedded his wife.

After waiting for what felt like an inordinate amount of time she gave up, putting on her nightdress and climbing into bed to at least try to sleep. As she expected, it was impossible. Eventually, she heard a faint knock at her door.

"Enter." Lislora sat up reaching for her robe as the door opened and Krouth entered with a tincture bottle and spoon.

"Forgive me for not coming immediately, there was an argument after he gave the Duchess her father's wine. I was required."

"An argument?" Her eyes widened as she tied her robe. "I expected her to be overjoyed."

"So did his Highness. The taste of it brought the Duchess to her knees weeping with homesickness."

Lislora rubbed her temples. "I didn't think of that."

"Things did not go as well as he'd hoped after that. I was asked to pray with him as her Grace washed. I advised gentleness and patience before he joined her in the bedroom."

"She'll probably need consoling."

Krouth looked slightly doubtful for a moment. "You requested something for a headache and to help you sleep?"

"Yes. Since dinner, my head has been aching and I can't seem to fall asleep."

"Breaking the fast can sometimes have that effect. Some merciful breath will help."

Smiling bitterly, she nodded, "I think I'll blame the wretched onion I tried."

The man looked vaguely amused as he dispensed a large spoonful of the tincture, "Possibly, my Lady."

Falling asleep after he left was much easier, but she woke in the morning from a terrible dream of riding in her open carriage being pulled by a wild, angry bull and she had no control of where it took her. Being flung from the crashing carriage was what had woken her.

Realizing that she was too late to attend the early prayers and too early for breakfast, Lislora took her time getting dressed and considered walking the parapets before the meal. She'd grown accustomed to watching the sunrise with Draeseth after the prayers.

Going to the place they often watched it from, and standing alone in the cold to wait, felt somehow poetic and more maudlin than she had expected. As the sky began to lighten, Draeseth came to stand next to her.

"I expected to see you at the prayers," his low voice sounded vaguely accusing.

"I had a headache last night and by the time Krouth brought the merciful breath to let me sleep it was already late. I overslept." Keeping her eyes on the brightening sliver of horizon she added, "I expected you to be occupied this morning."

He made a soft annoyed sound and remained silent until the sun had illuminated the horizon with a golden glow but not quite appeared above it. "The wine was not as well received as I'd hoped."

"For the price you paid, I expected her to be ecstatic."

"As did I. When she began to weep I told Krouth to take the bottle away-"

"Wise." Lislora interrupted with a glance at him.

His smile seemed slightly bitter, "She threatened to break the glass and cut me if he did."

Her jaw dropped and his smile became more genuine and warm as she asked, "What could possess her to behave that way?"

"I gave it thought. I prefer flower wine partly because it's made here. It's a piece of the Kroscur."

"And her father's wine is a piece of her home. Taking it would have been-"

"-taking a piece of her home away from her. It did please me somewhat to see her temper flare. She's lacked fire since she came here. However, I may not buy her any more of her father's wine."

"I probably wouldn't."

The sky was becoming ever lighter and the ever-widening golden horizon seemed to be taking on a rosy hue. The silence between them felt comfortable and companionable. When the sun finally peeked over the edge of the distant mountains he offered her his arm.

"There is a great deal to do today." Draeseth sounded somewhat subdued as he began walking toward the house.

"She told me yesterday you were taking her to Court. I hadn't gotten the opportunity to ask why you'd kept that from me. I could have helped you-"

A growling grunt cut her off. "I have no desire to take my wife to Court. Being forced to discuss it endlessly and make plans for it would be like entering Mezaldir's hells by choice."

"I can take some of the burden from you, cousin. Things need to be prepared and packed, the house needs to be closed, servants need to be given instructions for all of it and I can do those things for you."

"I've given Krouth those tasks."

Looking at him incredulously, it took a moment to find her tongue, "You put me in charge of the household; they're my tasks."

"Krouth suggested you should spend the time trying to teach my wife how to refuse men in the firm Torgan way, as well as some of the courtly manners and who to defer to."

"I could do both." She tried to keep the sourness out of her voice but he seemed to hear it, his face creasing in a frown as they entered the house.

He didn't offer his arm again after they removed their cloaks, leading the way to the dining room instead.

On the short walk, things she should have been thinking of began bubbling up in her mind. He hadn't mentioned bringing her with them to Court, would she be expected to remain behind at the Keep? Was she intended to return to her house? Had Taugh collected the rents? If not, how could she afford to return to her own home?

Once in the dining room he took his seat and gestured at hers brusquely, "Are you angry with me, cousin?"

"I'm trying to understand-"

"I do not have to explain myself to you. This household and where I take my wife are not truly your concern."

"No? I don't need to know if I have to return to my house or if I'm to remain here? I don't need to know-"

"So your concerns do not lie with my household?" He snapped and glowered at her.

"I run your household to the best of my ability and having my tasks taken from me without being consulted is hurtful! But if you say it's not my concern I have other things which certainly are." She glared back at him.

"I had considered bringing you with us but the priests insisted your jealousy and attempts to catch my eye would push my wife further from me."

Lislora's mouth opened and closed as her face flushed. Clenching her hands into fists she managed to hiss, "I have not been trying to catch your eye! If you feel that way I have clearly overstayed my welcome. And the priests have been warning me that your eye wanders the way your father's does. I have done nothing to encourage it, cousin!"

The hurt look on his face as the words flew out of her mouth was quickly replaced by fury and she dropped her eyes to her hands. The implication that he would be as unfaithful as his father to his own wife was one he'd heard often and had always stung. Throwing it at him was cruel and she regretted it immediately.

"I-"

"Silence."

She kept her eyes on her hands as she heard the door open.

Isonei came to sit at the table and startled her by trying to take hold of her hand. As she jerked away, the Aran woman's hand hit the table with a sharp smack, drawing a hiss from her. Lislora closed her eyes expecting to be spoken sharply to.

Instead, the woman asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Lady Lislora wishes to leave. She feels she has overstayed her welcome."

"Nonsense!" There was a pause. "Lislora? Come with me a moment?" Isonei stood from the table and beckoned back toward the door she had just entered.

Rising from her seat without looking at her cousin, Lislora dully offered, "As your Grace wishes."

"This should wait until after breakfast." Draeseth didn't sound pleased.

"No, I don't think it should, your Highness. Don't feel as though you need to hold it on our account. We may be a few moments." At Isonei's almost cheerful words Lislora lifted her eyes to the woman and her forcefully bright smile.

Draeseth made a loud angry sound and Lislora froze in place. "In my home, my wishes should be respected."

"I thought you said this was my home?" Isonei's smile grew unsettlingly sharp and her tone sounded somehow both frigid and sickly sweet, "If I misunderstood you, I'll take a seat immediately."

"We will discuss this after breakfast." He made a gesture that dismissed the subject.

To her surprise and stunned horror, the Aran woman took hold of Lislora's hand and strode purposefully out of the dining room.

"Lislora-"

"Are you mad?! You just defied a Prince of Torga!" Lislora hissed, truly wondering if the woman had lost her wits and was dragging her along like the nightmare of the bull drawn carriage.

"I'm more concerned about why you want to leave. Has someone made you feel unwelcome? You and Krouth are the only friends I have." Isonei's pale eyes were earnest.

"Isonei, you have a husband. He can be your friend; I cannot bear to watch..." That it was difficult to see them being affectionate was one thing, to stay and watch the priests pit them against one another would be worse.

"He's in a sour mood this morning because he didn't get the relief he was looking for." The Aran came to stand close to her.

"You refused him?"

"I might have considered bedding him if he hadn't spoken your name instead of mine."

Lislora could feel her face flushing, "He..." Part of her was perversely pleased, but if he'd said her name instead of his wife's the barb about his eye wandering would have hit him even harder than she realized.

"We had a discussion rather than sex. I insisted to him he should marry you instead. But you know how well that man listens." Isonei sighed and frowned, gazing out of the window for a moment before looking back up at Lislora.

"You would give up..." The only thing she could do was stare at the woman in bafflement. After having been recognized as Draeseth's wife and then put aside so he could marry another, Isonei would be pitied or even mocked.

"A beautiful man who loves us both? Yes. He doesn't understand the difference between wants and needs. He wants me, but needs you. You would make him much happier and I want that for him." Her hand came to rest on Lislora's arm. "I want that for you both."

"If he marries me I'll name my first daughter after you." Lislora smiled wryly, taking some of the mockery onto herself would be small thanks.

Isonei lit up at the suggestion. "Oh! Kothesei! After Krouth too, I insist. He's family and he should feel like it."

A soft sound made them both turn. The Duchess' words seemed to have left him baffled. "Koth..."

"Kothesei." Isonei beamed at him.

"I was thinking more like Draesonei." Naming her child after a servant was not something she intended to do, especially when the servant was as sour as Krouth

The man almost looked disappointed as his face slipped back into a more appropriately neutral expression.

The Aran, however, looked offended. Her eyes narrowed slightly and her tone was nearly as cold as the one she'd used with Draeseth as she spoke pointedly, "If you need a reason, other than the fact that the name is lovely, he will probably have as much to do with you marrying Draeseth as I would. Possibly more."

Lislora inclined her head wordlessly. Draeseth obviously wasn't the only one in a sour mood this morning.

"Prince Draeseth does not wish to take his breakfast alone. When you are done speaking..." The servant's interruption was welcome.

"I think we are." Lislora smiled faintly. "Will you give me a moment to apologize, Isonei?"

"Of course."

Going back into the dining room, Draeseth was glowering at the far wall. She began to speak immediately as she approached his chair, "I'm sorry, cousin. I wanted to apologize for what I said as soon as it came out of my mouth but when Isonei said she'd been trying to convince you-"

He held up his hand letting his face soften. "You rarely apologize, cousin."

"Father told me never to." Lislora gave him a hopeful smile. "But sometimes I think it may be warranted."

Inclining his head, he beckoned her closer. "I should apologize as well. I asked you to take on these duties and taking them from you without a word was thoughtless. You have been doing them well. Even Krouth has praised you for it."

As she came to stand next to his chair he took hold of her hand gently and looked up into her eyes as if searching for something.

"You were right, Draeseth, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I-" She nearly stopped breathing as he gave her one of the biting kisses Isonei had tried to show her, on the soft part of her hand.

The mischievous way he began to smile as her face flushed made something in her belly flutter. "We spend a great deal of time together and I have spoken of nearly everything with you, Lislora. You were right to be unhappy that I kept the matter from you. It was my intent to either bring you with us or allow you to stay in the Keep, but without discussing it with you, I understand why you might worry."

"Thank you." The words came out softly and his smile widened.

"Does Isonei intend to join us?"

"I asked her to give me a moment. I'll fetch her."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Are you certain, Draeseth?" Lislora asked him again and he began to laugh.

"I'm certain. I want you to come with us. Isonei will need your example and your advice, and I will enjoy your company. Are you worried?" He leaned back in his chair and gave her a speculative look.

"My best dresses have never been good enough for Court and I think I hate going as much as you do."

His lips curved in a wry smile, "We are better suited in some ways. I think Isonei would drag me there if she could."

"Krouth said he suspects her mothers tried to teach her how to be a courtesan, they were, apparently, ambitious women and expected her to be as well."

"Deceit and guile are needed to be a courtesan, she has neither. She avoided the Aran Court." He made an annoyed sound, "But when she met Prince Andnaeuth she charmed him and the Dagas all fussed over her."

"She has a way with people. Courtiers and courtesans, however, would tear her to pieces. She never expects anyone to lie and she's so open and trusting. I wonder if this is how my father felt the first time he had to take me to Court."

Draeseth laughed in his throat, "You always had good sense. There were times I think you could tell when they were being insincere more easily than I could."

"After the first day, I just assumed that when anyone in the Thoncur opened their mouths they were being-"

The knock at the study door interrupted her but didn't take the broad grin from Draeseth's face. "Enter."

"Your Highness," the maid dropped into a curtsy, "I was sent by Master Krouth to fetch Duchess Isonei's cloak. The Halloc wishes to leave early."

"Did Krouth say where they were going?" He rose to fetch the grey cloak, tying the small purse holding Isonei's monthly allowance, as Lislora had suggested, into it securely.

"No. Should I inquire?"

"Have Krouth offer the Halloc an escort if he goes farther than the cowsheds in Javos."

"As your Highness pleases." She took the cloak and hurried out.

"She's going to be bored in the first hour." Lislora gave him a rueful look.

"I hope it will take her longer than an hour to spend a month's allowance." Draeseth gave her another grin. "The men posted on the door should know to allow her back up if she tires. When my w-Isonei loses her temper she often tries to be very sweet afterward. There will probably be a gift for me along with a few pretty things for herself in her packages."

Lislora flushed when she heard him correct himself. "Until you dissolve the Arrangement with her I think she's still your wife."

He made a peculiar sound. "In Ara, I would be encouraged to have at least two." Draeseth was flushed and grinning as she tried to give him a scathing look. "She wants me to marry you and I am coming to see what she sees, but I wish to be certain." He took his seat again before he continued. "We will have time. I will still need to present her as my wife at Court. To do otherwise would be foolish and open me to mockery as well as my father's ire."

"I understand. How..." She tried to think of a way to phrase it that didn't sound as if she were being indecent.

"How will I know?"

"Yes." Lislora gave him an embarrassed smile, "I've known I wanted to marry you since you kissed me. Out of respect for Isonei, I've kept it to myself. It's impossible not to like the woman."

"Without being inappropriate, it will be difficult to discuss. Perhaps we should wait until Isonei returns after lunch? She can address it with you."

"Why?" Lislora watched his face flush.

"She knows what I need and she has... explained such matters to her Daga's new wife."

Covering her face and closing her eyes she breathed, "We're well-suited outside of the bedroom and she's well-suited to you inside of it. You can't ask her to do that, she loves you."

"She offered." Draeseth adjusted the papers on his desk.

"I don't want to have to hear her talk about things the two of you have done any more than I want you to be thinking of her..." Lislora looked toward the door. "She and I are nothing alike, Draeseth. She's a tiny jewel who would be glad to share you, I'm-I'm..."

"You're a Torgan woman." He spoke softly and when she looked back at him he was smiling. "You are Kros Voyeh, one of the beautiful black maidens that the Kroscur is known for. Isonei has often accused me of trying to make her more Torgan and insisted that what I require is a Torgan wife."

The room was beginning to feel too warm and she couldn't keep from returning his smile. "Perhaps we could have an early lunch? And then you should probably choose which tunics you wish to take..." She flushed as his face split in a wicked grin.

"A very reasonable suggestion." Draeseth rose from behind his desk and offered her his arm as he came around it. "I'd appreciate your assistance."

"The priests may not approve." Lislora took his arm, still blushing.

"I can send them to take something to the Sisters. Sellac Gesosin is always appreciative of gifts of food or coin."

Krouth came toward them eying her flushed face with a slight frown. "I was coming to see when you wished to take lunch."

"We'd like to have it now. The priests may eat at their leisure." Draeseth gave the man a warning look.

"There are none left, except for Brother Odgar. He's gone into Evenos for the moment."

The sound Draeseth made was unpleasant. "They all went with the Halloc and my wife?"

"Yes, your Highness. There is apparently a great deal to do and with the Duchess underfoot they thought it would be wise to have extra hands." The sour servant tilted his head still frowning, "The Halloc didn't say where they were going, only that they would be back for dinner. He also declined the escort. I assumed that means he isn't going farther than the cowsheds."