Kros Voyeh Ch. 13

"I have, little Duchess. I understand now why you fell in love with the child." King Orgath patted the boy's shoulder. "He is very much like Draeseth was at this age, very earnest and very devout. A few years at Court will fix that; he may grow up to have two wives as well." He turned a sly smile on his largest son.

"Hodrim is perfect the way he is, your Majesty. He doesn't need fixing," Isonei protested cheerfully and held out her hand to the boy. "And I would imagine there will be some sort of caveat such as, at least one wife has to be Aran to have more than one. If only to protect Torgan traditions."

"That would set some minds at ease, little Duchess." His Majesty smiled as Hodrim went to her, watching dotingly as the boy took her hand and allowed her to kiss the top of his head. "I have received several inquiries and opinions on the matter already. Most are favorable, but those who disapprove are in positions of power that cannot be ignored."

Draeseth grunted sourly, "Kamrus Gillaugrim?"

With a solemn frown, the King gave a slight inclination of his head, "Yes. He has sent word to the other eight Kamruses as well. There will be a council held at the Temple no matter what I decide. The little Duchess will be the subject of it." He gave his bastard son a pointed look, "I advise you to gather anyone willing to speak on her behalf and prepare yourself for a difficult battle."

"I understand, father." The grim Prince turned his glower toward the door as if he wished to go thrash the entire council.

Isonei looked up at him nervously, "Draeseth..."

His face softened immediately, "I allowed them to dictate how I treated you before, Isonei. I will not allow it again. You need not fear that."

Lislora thought the woman looked uncertain but the King spoke before Isonei could say anything further.

"Good. Perhaps now we can enjoy the breakfast that has been laid."

The thought of food seemed to cheer the woman, and Lislora looked over the table as well. It was full of food, but not what she'd most been looking forward to.

"Why are there no eggs?" She couldn't conceal her disappointment.

"Don't even speak of them." Burgath gave her a cautioning look, "She gets queasy at the thought of them."

Rogath made a face in agreement as King Orgath rose and gestured for Isonei to approach the table with him.

"But what about lamb kidneys or-"

"She can't stand the smell. My wife was the same." Prince Rogath nodded toward Princess Kresh.

"Aran foods seem to do best and they do have meat and cheese with breakfast. There's a spreadable sausage, manirel, that the cook has improved for the Torgan palate.

"If you try it, make sure you take the right one, the Aran manirel is wretched. It burns the mouth." Draeseth offered with a frown.

"The sprouted bread is excellent." Ougath piped up.

"It is." Burgath gave his younger brother an amused look. "It hardly burns at all."

"If we didn't share a mother I'd use our bastard brother's curse." He made a rude gesture.

"You're so proud of that bread." Rogath grinned at Ougath, "You're as bad as Burgath with his bruise blossoms." He rose from his seat and beckoned to Draeseth as King Orgath and Isonei took seats with their plates.

Princess Kresh preceded them to the food.

"Everyone enjoys eggs and lamb kidneys," Ougath shrugged, "but going without for a morning isn't a hardship. It's much more pleasant when Isonei isn't being ill." He and Burgath rose and followed their brothers.

Hodrim looked to her and she gestured him over, murmuring quietly to the boy, "We'll wait until they get their food."

Once the Princes had finished browsing the table she took Hodrim and helped him fill his plate as she put food on her own. The sprouted bread and butter, some of the other thin slices of bread, a few pieces of sliced meat and cheese, and what she hoped was the Torgan manirel. The plate was full but it still seemed like a pitiful breakfast.

Krouth ushered the boy to a seat slightly out of the way as Lislora returned to hers near Princess Kresh. The Phaethian woman didn't seem to notice her as she ate, staring intently at Isonei who was eating with a great deal of enjoyment.

Picking at her food, Lislora couldn't help but feel annoyed and disappointed. She'd been expecting much better.

"Is something wrong, Lislora?" Isonei's curious question roused her from her sour thoughts.

"What I most wanted is not on the table," Lislora tried not to sound reproachful but as the words came out she knew she was failing, "Despite it being a favorite of others here as well."

The Duchess looked surprised and slightly hurt. "If it is something that will make me sick to look at or smell, and everyone else wants some I can leave the room-"

"You will do no such thing, little Duchess." King Orgath's tone was cordial but his look to Lislora was biting. "If my son's second Duchess cannot behave herself and give you the consideration you require in your more delicate condition, Draeseth may have upset the Kamruses for nothing. I would be willing to allow you to adopt the child officially and make it an equal to your own if you wish."

Isonei looked almost as she had when Lislora had brought her the fruit on top of the unclean meat. "If she chooses not to make an Arrangement with us, then yes, I would ask you to do that. It means a great deal to Draeseth and I would consider the child the equal of my own even without an adoption."

"Your wife will let you have a second Duchess, choose one who dotes on her, Draeseth," Rogath spoke quietly between bites of his breakfast. "The woman wants your happiness, see to hers."

Lislora could feel her face flushing at the displeased looks being given to her from around the room. Only Kresh was looking at her speculatively and not angrily, even Hodrim wore a frown.

"She isn't arranging herself to me, Rogath. We just need to agree on rules, the time of year, and how often we will be in the same house with all of the children together. What's most important is that she and Draeseth get along well, and they do." Isonei gave the Crown Prince one of her wan smiles and rose to give Mes her plate.

"You should eat more, little Duchess." The King's words were a firm command and Mes pushed the plate back into her hands at his gesture.

"I can't your Majesty. If I try everything will come back up," the woman sounded pitiful.

"Come here, my Isonei." Draeseth held out his plate and Krouth took it immediately. "Sit with me."

Lislora's eyes widened as the tiny woman settled into his lap like a child.

"Krouth has said that unhappiness knots your stomach, and I know that when you are unhappy you need to be close."

That seemed to amuse her and she leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Both are true."

"I noticed she began having difficulty eating when I spoke to her of her father at the breakfast table." Burgath spoke with a frown. "Your servant tried to caution me, brother."

"What topics are best avoided?" King Orgath looked to Krouth with a frown.

"Any heavy conversation knots her stomach, your Majesty. From the beginning of my time waiting on her I've noticed she eats poorly when she's unhappy. She starves herself without realizing it." Krouth smoothed his tunic. "Even in Leria they lingered over meals and kept conversation light to encourage her to eat. I suspect this is a difficulty she's always had."

"She had to be commanded at times to clean her plate," Draeseth added.

"She seems content in your lap." Rogath eyed the woman with amusement as she kept her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I enjoy having her there. It was my hope that having her close and letting her listen to my voice might help her regain her appetite."

"She enjoys the sound of Torgan being spoken." Burgath smiled and inclined his head as the Duchess took a tiny bite of her food. "We just need to keep you talking."

Draeseth made a softly amused sound. "Krouth, did you show my father the wreath?"

"He tried." King Orgath took a bite with a smile. "I was more interested in seeing who you'd gone to bed with."

"Seeing you asleep with your silver Duchess clamped beneath your arm like a doll will be something I cherish, always." Burgath grinned. "You never slept so deeply when we were children."

"I rarely stayed awake so late into the night when we were children." He smiled faintly. "My wife missed me, she wanted to talk and be close to me."

"I thought it was you who insisted on keeping her within arms reach." Ougath offered a sly grin, "She's just as bad."

"She is." Draeseth broke into a grin, "My wife enjoys being close enough to touch me. She'd stay in bed more willingly if I stayed with her but I might go mad from her constant rubbing."

King Orgath laughed, "I saw how she rubbed her face against you in her sleep."

"It isn't just in her sleep, father. I traveled with them." Burgath gave his brother a teasing look. "You would think he wore velvet tunics."

"Her appetite is returning." Rogath nodded toward the Duchess now finishing her chicken. "The sweet batter cakes are good. I think I'll have them served to my girls. They like Phaethian food and Aran isn't so far from it despite the distance between them."

"I would like them better if they were less sweet but it's something that can be served at home without difficulty. I intend to have a pond dug near my Keep in Penst so that I can have fish for her."

"It will take time to stock a pond." The King inclined his head. "She should stay at least until your son is born, and perhaps for a time after to put some meat on her tiny bones."

"She enjoys being at Court." Draeseth glanced at Kresh, "She hasn't spoken of why she seems to be sour with her Imperial Highness at the moment, but my wife is incapable of remaining angry."

"That's why she's ideal for you," Ougath snorted. "You're the most infuriating man I've ever met and that includes jesters."

Draeseth inclined his head, "Thank you for not saying his name. I dislike the way she speaks of him."

Burgath began speaking speculatively, "You might consider-"

"That's enough." King Orgath spoke with firm cheerfulness. "If you upset her husband the little Duchess will notice."

Lislora glanced at the serenely smiling woman now half drowsing in Draeseth's lap.

"I doubt she'd notice anything as long as he doesn't stand abruptly," Ougath teased with a grin.

"She melts at the sound of my voice, she says it rumbles in my chest." Draeseth began to grin as well.

"The woman adores you." Burgath shook his head.

"It's a shame she doesn't let you eat." Rogath gestured to the nearly empty plate he was holding.

"Krouth..."

Isonei's plate was taken away and Draeseth's was returned to his hand. Carefully, he tried to adjust her in his lap to be able to feed himself. That seemed to rouse her and she smiled adoringly at him as she began to break his food into small bites and put them into his mouth. Lislora gave them both a stern look but neither seemed to notice.

"That is why we need peace with Ara," Burgath spoke with clear amusement, "I need at least one Aran wife, father."

"I think our brother is doing it the right way." Ougath teased, "One to coddle him and drive him mad with desire and jealousy and a Torgan wife to give him sharp looks and remind him he is not a god among men."

Lislora flushed and looked down at her own picked at plate as the men laughed.

"I like to reward him when he's being so sweet."

The Aran sounded as if she'd donned one of her mock pouts and her cousin joined their laughter as it swelled again.

"Little Duchess, how could he be anything else?" King Orgath sounded delighted but she didn't bother to look up. "Not even Kings can expect to be so lovingly tended by their Queens in Torga."

"My Emperor enjoys such treatment." Kresh sounded slightly sullen, "But he would not ask it of his wife, that is slaves' work." When Lislora glanced up at her the Phaethian woman looked mildly envious.

Frostily, Isonei retorted, "It isn't work, it's affection, and he didn't ask."

Draeseth made a pleased sound in his throat. "My wife's affectionate nature is the greatest joy I have ever known. If it were not tempered with mischief she would have been far too perfect a creature for me to ever hope to approach."

Isonei must have made one of her faces because they began to laugh again. Lislora risked another glance as she heard the men beginning to stand.

"Would you still have me wear my armor for you after I have finished sparring?"

"Yes please!" The Aran rose on her toes and put her hands on his chest in a display of eagerness that made Lislora's eyes widen and the Princes laugh.

"You don't want to bring your armor here, it stinks," the King warned him in Torgan.

"How can I refuse my Duchess when she looks at me so adoringly?" Draeseth pressed his face to his wife's affectionately. "I will be wearing my armor on my return."

"You look so proud and formidable in your armor. I like it when you're proud."

The words prompted him to kiss her indecently, without regard to the King standing close by. Lislora's mouth dropped open.

When he broke the kiss he lifted his head with a broad grin, "I would wade into the Melee of Bir Vrahk for a second time to know you were eagerly awaiting my return."

Kresh hissed something under her breath in Phaethian and stormed out as the King spoke, "My Queen will be taking her retinue to find scarves soon. I will see to it she takes the little Duchess." King Orgath stepped forward and clapped his largest son on the shoulder. "We are growing accustomed to the way you kiss your wife; at the bouts they might think you to be forcing yourself on the delicate little Duchess."

Draeseth gave a growling grunt, looking displeased by the thought. "Go rest, wife. I will send a servant ahead to allow you to have the bath drawn."

The Aran wrapped her arms around his waist looking delighted. "Would you like the water to be warm or cold?"

"I prefer cold water after a bout but if I want you to join me in the water it must be warm." He smiled down at her.

"I'll ask them to make it on the cool side of warm."

"You have to let him go if you want him to come back in his armor." Rogath teased them gently.

"That's the least fun part." Isonei put on a mock pout again as she released him.

"Agreed." Draeseth wrapped his hand around the back of her head and pulled her into another brief kiss before Rogath grabbed his arm and dragged him out.

Lislora rubbed her temples with one hand. At least the disastrous breakfast had ended and she could retreat to her room and not hear or think about the Aran woman for a short while.

"Your Grace is in a pleasant mood this morning."

Krouth sounded as if he were gently prying and Lislora didn't have the patience to endure it. She rose from her seat.

"I woke up and didn't feel sick this morning," Isonei cast a wistful glance at the door, "and Draeseth was being sweet. It's so nice when he's in a good mood."

"You put them all in a good mood," Lislora muttered mostly to herself as she handed Krouth her plate. Without waiting for any kind of response she went to her room for some solitude.

Taking a seat on her bed she put her head in her hands. If this was going to be her life, everything revolving around Isonei, it would be utterly unbearable. She took a deep breath trying to push the fear and worry down.

As she lifted her head, a book caught her eye, the Book of Truths, but this one was incredibly expensive looking and in Aran. It was probably the gift from Kamrus Gillaugrim. She hesitated for a moment and then rose to fetch it. Laying it on the bed, she admired the beauty of it as she opened it.

It had opened to one of the first few pages and words leapt out at her, "No child of Ganas has need to fear. Worry does not make the path more even. Trust in Ganas and he will put your feet on the right path; those you meet will aid you, their paths have also been guided."

Taking another breath, she offered a quiet prayer of thanks.