Kros Voyeh Ch. 25

"What else is there?" Ror pulled up the top of the other box. "A different kind of candy?" The girl reached in and took one out. Her eyes lit up as she bit into it.

Kas took one her father was offering and began devouring it gleefully as well.

"Those should go to the kitchen so my girls don't find their way into Aunt Isonei's rooms to beg for candy." Rogath grinned broadly.

"There's a cookie inside!" Kas held up what was left of hers for him to see.

"Perhaps the cooks here can make something similar." Lislora went to the door, "Gharol?"

"Yes, my Lady?" The maid was there in an instant.

"Take these boxes of candies. The salted honey squares go to their Majesties-"

"Have them divided into a portion for each of them in the kitchens and delivered with the message that Prince Rogath said they would enjoy them and Duchess Isonei offered them." Rogath interrupted her. "Take the others to the kitchens for the Princesses and suggest they attempt to reproduce them."

"As your Highness pleases." Gharol curtsied before taking the boxes and hurrying away.

Stepping back inside, she was trying not to seethe about being interrupted, clasping her hands tightly in front of her.

"What else did Aunt Isonei's brother bring?" Ror moved to the chest to peer into it.

"I think most of the rest is the bath oils and soaps, and the book of sketches her sister drew."

The elder Princess looked up with interest but Kas huffed, "Where is Aunt Isonei?"

"She's still sleeping." Lislora opened the book on the table for Ror.

"I should wake her." Draeseth took a step toward the door and the youngest Princess charged ahead.

"I'll do it!" The girl grinned mischievously, "I'll wake her like I wake Ror!"

Rogath followed hurriedly, "You can't be rough with your Aunt! And no pinching!"

"What is this place?" Ror pulled her attention from the voices and laughter coming from the bedroom.

"The city of Eshho. Aunt Isonei went there with her father as a child. The water is as clear as glass and the city is famous for trade with Mun." She turned the page to the image of the crowded docks and forest of ship masts. "They bring glass, goods, and spices from far away and the Aran merchants sell their goods to be sent to Mun and to the North."

The girl was frowning, "It doesn't look like Phaethia."

"No, this is Ara." Lislora smiled at the way the child studied the pictures as she turned to the page to the next one. "Your Aunt would love to tell you all about these. In the back, her sister drew a picture of the house she and your Aunt Isonei grew up in."

"I want to see it."

Turning several pages at once, Lislora made certain she didn't accidentally let the girl see the picture of the nearly obscene fountain and stopped at the last page, the picture of the impressive palace.

"She said her bedroom was here." She pointed at the same place Isonei had, the top floor on the left.

Ror stared and traced one of the archways.

"Isonei said there's a picture of her father's house in the book you're looking at?" Rogath came out of the bedroom carrying Kas.

"Father... it's a palace!"

"The Torgan royal palace is the one place I've seen that comes close to this." Lislora stepped back letting him see the page. "She said the three doors are all this size and they stand open for parties. The guests walk along the paved area between the house and the arches. She said not all houses are as fine, but some, like King Tamnaeuth's palace, are grander. Marrying a man with a smaller house was nothing she ever intended to do."

Rogath breathed a laugh, "I see why she prefers it here."

"Is she a Princess?" Kas asked with a furrowed brow, "This is her father's house?"

"She's not a Princess, she was Lady Isonei when your Uncle married her." He hesitated, "Though, Burgath did say she outranked him in Leria."

"She's a Princess like Mother!" Kas insisted and Ror nodded solemnly.

"That's the only way she could outrank Uncle Burgath."

"Her Lerian title is Daughter of Liadith, but her father is Aran, Lord Eliorith. She was adopted and given the Lerian title that outranks Uncle Burgath's."

"Arans and Lerians don't make a distinction between a child they adopt and a child born to them," Lislora spoke up and earned incredulous looks. "It's true. Ask Draeseth."

"I know Arans don't, her brother said that to Hodrim. In Ara, he would be welcomed as her son without caveat. I wasn't aware it was the same with Lerians." He glanced speculatively to the bedroom door, "If it's true, the boy would be far more useful as a diplomat than a priest."

"Hodrim has been accepted into Kamrus Rimathe's-"

"I'm aware, but if he can open doors for us in Leria as his adoptive mother did that would be worth far more to Torga than yet another priest reciting prayers."

"The child doesn't even speak the language, how could he be a diplomat? The Duchess-"

The bedroom door opened and Isonei came out on Draeseth's arm

"The matter will be discussed another time." Rogath inclined his head to the Aran woman, "Your father's house is a palace, Isonei. My daughters are insisting you must be a princess like their mother."

A doting smile spread across the pale woman's face as they came closer to the table, "I always thought my Daga's house was more opulent. Of my titles, daughter of Liadith is much closer to Princess than Isonei of House Ernelis."

"A Daga's son is regarded as a Prince." Draeseth leaned to look at the picture. "Your father's house is more impressive to me, Isonei. Your Daga's sprawled and the family rooms were luxurious, but this looks like a home even my father would enjoy."

"You saw the royal palace-"

Their husband cut her off by making an amused sound in his throat, "I thought it gaudy. This house is elegant."

Straightening proudly, Isonei sounded almost teasing, "My father would like you better if he could hear you say things like that."

He and Rogath laughed, exchanging an amused look. "If you have her show it to father he may have something like it built. Mother would enjoy it."

"Father? Did she say... I think she said her father doesn't like Uncle? But he's a Prince."

Snorting, Rogath shook his head and gestured toward Isonei and Draeseth, "Your Uncle had to steal her from Ara and smuggle her out of Leria in a barrel! Her father didn't want to let her go at all!"

Little Kas looked incensed, drawing herself up as tall as she could, "Uncle! You don't steal Princesses! That is not how things are done!" Her little face pinched like her mother's as the Princes broke into laughter, and she stomped her foot imperiously, "You're rude! You're a horrible insufferable prick!"

It was nearly impossible to keep a straight face and Lislora nearly broke into laughter as Isonei looked at her with bafflement.

"What did she say?"

"She," Lislora cleared her throat as she composed herself, "she said, 'you do not steal Princesses, it is not how things are done,' and called him rude." She wasn't going to translate the rest of the insult no matter how amusing it was to hear such things come out of a child's mouth.

The Aran beamed, crouching down and opening her arms, "My father would dote on you, Kas. You're just like I was as a child, and your sister Ror is just like my father always wished I would be. He would be so happy to know you both."

Grinning, Rogath translated, "She says her father would love you, Kas. You're just like she was as a child and Ror is like he wished she would have been. He would love you both."

"Would he be happier if she married you?" Ror asked thoughtfully.

"No. Aunt Isonei is already married to your Uncle, it would be wrong."

"But she loves us! You said you'd choose a woman who loves us, Father!" Kas wrapped her arms around Isonei's neck.

"She asked if you could marry Rogath instead of being my Duchess." Draeseth tried to pull the tiny woman off of the floor but she refused to let go of the Princess. "Kas wants to keep you."

"Oh, my little loves. Your father is a very handsome man, but I'm fonder of your Uncle Draeseth. And I think, my dearest Kas, you might understand how a princess could get stolen. Sometimes we're so nice people want to keep us!"

The Crown Prince laughed again before relaying that, "She loves you both and while she thinks I'm a handsome man, she loves Uncle Draeseth. It should help you understand Kas, how a Princess could be stolen, sometimes you're so nice people want to keep you."

"Kas doesn't have to worry. She isn't nice like Aunt Isonei." Ror's sly smile made her look like her grandfather for a brief moment.

"I hate you!" The younger Princess wriggled out of Isonei's arms muttering furiously only to be scooped up by her father.

"You don't hate your sister. She's just teasing you. Learn to tease her back."

Draeseth leaned to murmur into the pale woman's ear, "Ror says Kas will never have to worry about being stolen. She is not nice like you."

"You could tell them I'm not always nice. I did throw a hairbrush at you."

He barked a laugh and pulled her against his side, giving Lislora a twinge of jealousy. "My brother does not need our interference. And Kas does not need to be advised to throw things."

The door opened and Hodrim entered followed by Ximesra. "I brought him back from the Temple a little early, your Grace. There was talk that-" The Munian woman blinked at the sour looks from the Torgan Princes and lapsed into Torgan, "I was sent to fetch Hodrim from the Temple and to talk to him so that her Grace wouldn't be upset needlessly. I wouldn't leave her alone. Gharol and the Lady were here."

The maid looked back to the baffled Duchess and switched back, "Your brother had many questions about your treatment, your Grace. I assured him you seemed content before you were poisoned. When I returned you were already asleep. I spoke with another maid in the halls and decided to fetch Master Hodrim for any festivities tonight."

"Thank you, Ximesra." Isonei inclined her head, taking the woman's words for truth.

"The festivities will be tomorrow." Rogath adjusted Kas in his arms. "Tonight the Arrangements will be dictated and signed. Yornaith and the Kamruses will be attending to be certain no one is being forced to accept the terms."

"Only one Arrangement will be dictated tonight, the one currently in place will be amended." The Aran corrected him gently.

"My father would have ours redone." Draeseth stroked the delicate woman's back.

"The old one would need to be dissolved first, and I'm not willing to make a new one at the moment." Isonei looked almost uncharacteristically serious once more. "I need time to grieve and recover from my loss before I consider it. Amend the old one and-"

Rogath, as if imitating his brother, cut her off with a displeased sound, "My father will insist."

The Aran woman's eyes widened incredulously. "Would he force me while I'm in mourning?"

"You will not be forced." Their husband stepped away from the tiny woman with a sour expression on his face. "It can be amended tonight and renewed when you are no longer in mourning."

"Thank you."

Lislora caught the look the Princes exchanged and it seemed the maid did as well.

"Did you fix your hair, your Grace, or did you simply cover it?"

Blinking at her for a moment, Isonei tilted her head as if in confusion. "I covered it. No one can see it, it doesn't matter that it's a little unruly."

"We should fix it properly before dinner." The Munian woman escorted her back into the bedroom.

"Hodrim, take the Princesses into your room to see your puzzle box." Draeseth made a gesture with a glance to the bedroom door as the children hurried toward the servant's chamber the boy was sharing with Ximesra. "I don't want them alone together until Krouth has spoken with her. I don't know what Isonei's brother told the woman."

"I'll go." She heard the men begin to discuss their father's command to have the Arrangement redone as she entered the bedroom and closed the door.

The Munian maid was brushing Isonei's hair in silence as she entered and took a seat on the bed. She was hunting for something to say when the Aran asked quietly, "Is he upset that I'm only willing to amend the Arrangement?"

"I think he may be disappointed. I know..." She couldn't keep herself from fidgeting and trying to adjust her seat on the bed. This felt as awkward as she'd expected the earlier discussion to be. "I know you were pressed to make the first Arrangement. I think he wants to have one that you enter willingly."

"I can't give him what he needs, Lislora. I can't even give him what he wants right now." The woman's shoulders slumped slightly as she spoke. "He mentioned that you asked him for money to buy the gift for Hodrim?"

"He said he does not have enough for me to spend so frivolously." She tried to keep her head up but her disappointment came out in her voice.

"Would you have enough if you sold my Torgan jewelry? The handpieces he gave me no longer fit and they're too small for you. Selling them for a worthy cause would be something I-"

Draeseth gave a growling grunt as he entered the bedroom cutting off the Aran and rousing Lislora from the shock of the woman's offer. "I will not allow you to sell your jewelry to buy gifts for the orphan."

"Are they mine or are you taking them back?" Isonei turned her head and fixed him with an impressively frigid look. "If they are mine, I will do what I please with them. Lislora wishes to give him a gift equal to the gifts I gave. If they fit her I would give them to her to wear, but since they no longer fit either of us I will have them sold so that your second Duchess may have the funds she requires. In return, all I would ask of her is to offer kindness to others."

Before she could stop herself she murmured, "She does sound like a Sellac when she speaks that way."

Their husband grunted and studied Isonei's face with a displeased expression. "They are yours. But if you do not know the value you will not get a fair price."

"I was going to allow Lislora to sell them."

"I will do it, Isonei. Men argue less with me."

His displeasure seemed to amuse her and Isonei offered him an impish smile, "Unfortunately, your wives tend to do it recreationally."

"One more than the other." Draeseth moved toward her closet. "I will fetch them. I would not have you get impatient."

"It's not as if I can stroll into the market to find someone to sell them to." The Aran turned to look back into the mirror allowing Ximesra to braid her hair.

"No, but you might..." He came out holding a box. "When did the clasp break?"

"The clasp?"

Lislora watched the woman carefully, there was something strange about the woman's face as if she were putting on a very subtle look of confusion instead of one of her humorous ones.

"The longer of the carcanets I gave you, the one you kept."

"I haven't worn it since... since we were in the Strecur," the tone was more neutral and bland than any Lislora had ever heard the woman use, but Draeseth didn't seem to notice.

His frown deepened and he looked at the piece with concern. "There are superstitions about the knives and the carcanets. They say when one breaks so does the other. I would have this repaired as soon as possible."

"Of course." Isonei lifted her head as if she were trying to look into the box before she asked, "Is the knife being repaired? Were you able to find a jewel to replace the old one?"

"I sent it to the jeweler. I will have Krouth take this to him as well."

Their husband went back into the closet to find the other box and Lislora kept watching the Aran. She looked as if she were holding herself deliberately calm and casual. The maid, however, looked nervous. Something was almost certainly not right.

°°°°°°°°°°

Lislora was a little envious of the way Hodrim embraced the Aran woman and looked regretful as he was told to go sit with Kamrus Rimathe. She tried to tell herself that there shouldn't be a competition for such things but everyone seemed to prefer the Aran woman to her and it stung.

The argument began almost as soon as they were all in their seats. Rogath whispered something in his father's ear prompting the King to send a peeved look toward the Aran. "She insists on amending the first Arrangement?"

"King Tamnaeuth of Ara would be heard on the matter of this Arrangement." Yornaith stood up. "My sister was forced to accept the terms given by Prince Draeseth or a man would have been mutilated in front of her. He held a knife in his hand and grabbed her by the throat-"

"You were not there!" Draeseth rose with a black scowl.

"Are any of those words less than true?" Kamrus Gillaugrim asked coolly. "Did you not force the woman to consummate the agreement in front of the slave you threatened to mutilate? She confessed your poor behavior to me in front of my Hallocs."

Draeseth gritted his teeth took his seat again without disputing it and the room erupted with murmurs. Lislora felt her heart drop. She hadn't been told all of that. Her cousin had behaved monstrously and... and she'd sent the Aran back to the Keep with him when she had wanted to remain at the convent. How Isonei could have forgiven him for that baffled her. Why had the woman gone back?

"Because of all of this, the Arrangement has been annulled in Ara. She cannot be held to her word when it was drawn from her with violence."

"And when she makes another here today?" The King narrowed his eyes, "Will he have that one annulled? I refuse to acknowledge his rulings over my own and the woman clearly loves my son if he were so cruel to her she would be desperate to escape him. He's a loving husband and she's a devoted wife."

"She is to be returned, as it was agreed, at the Festival of Maeralya." The Aran man spoke firmly.

"A man cannot be forced to give up his wife," Burgath spoke up with a frown.

"Neither her family nor her King recognizes his claim that she is his wife. Isonei of House Ernelis is to be returned to Ara-"

"She has asked to become a Sister. She should be permitted to remain in Torga and devote her life to Ganas." Kamrus Rimathe interrupted the man.

"If she wishes to do so she will be permitted to return, but she must first be returned to Ara." Yornaith turned to give the Kamrus a cool look.

"The Lerians won't permit her to pass under the gate again. She holds a title there as well." Rogath glanced at Draeseth, "My brother is the only reason she's here now. If you wish to keep her here and allow her to worship Ganas away from the Dagas you should-"

"I will not allow a perversion that will endanger more men to save one woman!" Kamrus Olauth scowled in the Prince's direction. "She can choose to remain."

"That she is my son's wife is the only reason I'm willing to risk this disruption of trade continuing. The Arans don't have the stomach for war and the Lerians lack the strength."

The Aran man's chin came up slightly and his mouth set in a hard line, "My sister is not his wife. Allow her to return home with me and your difficulties-"

"You are a guest and here at my pleasure, Lord Yornaith. Contradict me again and your stay will be short and far less pleasant than it has been." King Orgath's frigid tone brought Draeseth to his feet again.