Kros Voyeh Ch. 26

"Salve first before anything else." Gently running her hand over his face, she leaned and kissed the bruises, murmuring, "Adareth should have been chided for striking you in the face. Your poor split lip, my joy. I'm certain you shouldn't be considering giving me an Aran kiss until it's healed."

His face flushed and he made a soft amused sound, "Is that why my Kros Voyeh would prefer I not fight?"

Lislora couldn't help but laugh as she began to dab the salve on, "I didn't like you fighting before I knew about those but it does give me an extra reason to dislike it."

Draeseth looked pleased, tilting his face up for her ministrations and reaching out to rub her thighs, pushing her chemise up as he did. "I want to show you how much your words please me, my flower."

Before she could summon a response a yawn wrenched itself out of her and he made a soft sound of amusement. "I will rub you to sleep as you have done for me, my Duchess, and in the morning we will have our pleasure."

°°°°°°°°°°

Warm and relaxed, Lislora woke to a dark room, still stretched out on her belly. To have a husband with hands like... Her brow furrowed as she heard a murmur of conversation and on turning her head she realized that her bedroom door stood open.

Quietly climbing from the bed, she realized it was still sometime in the night and that Draeseth wasn't in bed with her. She found her robe where she'd left it and moved to the doorway to listen, opening the door a little wider and peeking out.

"-how things should be. Their needs come first."

"She said she needed me to release her. She helped Lislora word the Arrangement the way she did because she hoped I would relent."

"But she didn't ask to be returned to Ara?" Krouth sounded speculative.

"No. She wants me to send her back to the Kroscur."

"The convent would welcome her but her health is still too delicate. I still think you should remember what Kamrus Giullaugrim said, some women withdraw after the loss of a child and Kamrus Rimathe said she might need a great deal of patience." The sour servant stepped back and saw her peering out at them. "Duchess Lislora!"

"I shouldn't eavesdrop but I woke alone." She stepped out to see Draeseth sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands. "Husband?"

"I went to see Isonei. Knowing Father's displeasure, I wanted to be certain she was safe."

"She asked you to release her from the Arrangement?"

"She said..." He roughly rubbed at his eyes as he cleared his throat, "If I loved her I would give her what she needs but if I would do something kind I should send her back to the Kroscur. She doesn't want me to make you unhappy by keeping her close. I think she wants to get away from," he cleared his throat again, "my father as well."

Coming to sit beside him, Lislora draped an arm across his broad shoulders as best she could and leaned against him. Keeping her tone gentle, she began, "At the convent, she said you didn't love her as she needed to be loved-"

"I love her! I've done all I can!" Draeseth stood abruptly and paced away from the sofa.

"And so has she. You can't say the woman hasn't done her best to give you everything you need."

He stopped and looked at her tearfully.

"She said what she needed was a man who would put her needs ahead of his wants. You haven't done that for her, Draeseth. Not once. You brought her here knowing she was deeply attached to her family and needed to go back to them, and kept her because you didn't want to part with her. You've prevented her from learning our language because you want to keep her to yourself.

"That woman has been kinder to me than I've deserved, if she needs to be released you should consider it. Not because it might make me more content to have a Torgan marriage, but because it's what she needs.

"If you need two wives, I'll speak with her and try to reassure her. I'll do anything you need because I love you. I hate it, but I'll endure it. If I have to share you with anyone she's the best possible choice. But at least let the woman go back to the Keep. She needs some peace and to be away from your father's anger."

Draeseth came to kneel in front of her, burying his face in her thigh and wrapping his arms around her hips. Stroking his head soothingly, she looked to Krouth.

"I can have preparations made for her Grace to return to the Kroscur. It should be done quietly."

"If she starts talking about the convent, have her sent to my house instead. Let her arrange furniture and have the orphans visit until she's well enough to endure a few days there. She wanted to be near the children but I have concerns that life there would be too harsh for her."

"There is some precedent, wealthy widows sometimes foster children without joining the convent." Krouth inclined his head with a thoughtful expression. "But she would need to be supported."

"We will do so," Draeseth sighed and squeezed her. "What I earn in the bouts can go toward her keeping. Begin making the travel arrangements as soon as possible, Krouth."

"Come back to bed, husband. You're tired and you need some sleep." Lislora smiled down at him and brushed his hair back from his forehead, "Isonei will chide me if I don't take good care of you."

He made an amused sound in his throat. "She chides too gently to be intimidating but she may give you a disappointed look."

"That's worse!" She tried not to laugh as he buried his face in her thigh again and laughed in his throat. "If I could master her disappointed look no one would be unkind to either of us ever again."

Lifting his head and rising from the floor with a grin, he pulled her up into a kiss. "Come back to bed, woman."

Going back into the bedroom she hesitated to take off her robe. "How long were you-were you with her?"

"My visit was short. I have spent far more time discussing the matter with Krouth." He removed his robe and she frowned upon seeing he was wearing nothing under it. "She asked if we'd quarreled and when I told her we hadn't she asked if I wished to quarrel with you. Leaving a woman after sex may be a sin in her eyes."

"You didn't tell her we were both too tired?" After the words left her mouth she realized that he'd apparently not been too tired, he'd left the room and gone to visit Isonei and then spent Ganas only knew how long talking with Krouth.

"I told her your wedding night left you in a blissful sleep."

He'd lied to Isonei... her mood soured as she realized he might be lying to her. The thought of him naked in bed with the Aran on their wedding night was now all she could think of.

"My Kros Voyeh?" Draeseth rounded the bed.

"You lied to her about our wedding night, are you lying to me? Did you go to bed with her-" she stopped abruptly as he pulled her close and looked down at her with a scowl.

"I did not lie. You were sleeping blissfully because I'd rubbed you to sleep, woman, and I am not lying to you. I lay down next to her to let her curl against me as she does and we spoke for a few moments. I rose from the bed when she began asking me to send her away."

"You prefer her-" Her eyes closed as he cut off her words with a rough kiss.

"I enjoy both of my wives. Isonei is experienced and I've come to see the value in her experience, but I enjoy teaching you and knowing that my touch is the only one you will ever think of."

He lifted a hand to brush her hair back and smiled grimly, "I understand why it pains you to think of me with her, but I promise you my flower, I did not bed her or even kiss her on our wedding night."

"I would rather you not be experienced than to think of you with her or that you might be thinking of the things you do with her in bed with me." She looked up at him miserably and his face softened.

"I do not think of her in bed with you, my Duchess. I think of your magnificent curves," Draeseth began kissing her neck and moving his hands over her hips and back as his kisses became more forceful, letting her feel his teeth. "I want to kiss every inch of your skin and revel in the curves of your body, as breathtaking as the mountains of the Kroscur.

"I think of the sounds you make and the way you feel and taste. I get lost in the pleasure you give me, my flower."

His words were heady and she ran her hands over his chest not answering with words but with urgent kisses, trying to pull him back to the bed.

He laughed in his throat, "My flower let me block the door."

"No." Lislora stopped and looked up at him with a determined frown and the words came out in a rush, "I don't want an Aran kiss and I don't want to do anything she taught me how to do even if you say I do it better. I want my wedding night with you to be the two of us, I want it to be-to be Torgan and not Aran. I want all of you, just for tonight, I want you to be mine and only mine."

Draeseth's face broke in a broad grin, "I will give my wife all she desires. Get on the bed, woman."

She felt her face flushing and untied her robe, letting him pull it away as she turned to climb onto the bed. The way he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her back with a groaning growl in his throat made her belly flutter.

"Or perhaps I want my wife at the edge of it, bent and willing."

One of his hands began to rub between her thighs and when she was helplessly making soft noises of pleasure he began to rub the head of his cock against her opening, "My Kros Voyeh, the dew of your petals is mine alone to savor."

His hands gripped her hips as he pushed inside. The words and sensation made her thighs tremble and her back arch as she gripped the bed covers.

Reaching to press his hand firmly in the most perfect place, he commanded, "Mine alone. Say it."

"Yes! Yes my-" Her voice broke and the words turned into a wail as the painful pleasure washed over her, it felt as if every muscle in her body contracted and then released tingling and heating, perfect, delicious sensations as he thrust again and again. "My joy! I-yes! Yours! No one! No one else! I-" The words tried to spill out and she wailed again. The way it felt to be contracting around him was glorious, he felt unbearably deep as if he were splitting her in two but she needed more.

He gripped her hips with both hands again and pushed her forward as he put his knee on the bed, driving forward with more force. Suddenly he was still, pressed so deep she could feel the throbbing as he released and she flushed as a wanton moan escaped her lips.

"It pleases you to be bent, my Kros Voyeh?" His voice was wicked.

"For my husband," she panted and tried to turn her head enough to look at him, "You're all I want, all I could ever need, my Prince. I love you and I want no other."

The way his face flushed and his boyish smile graced his features as he massaged her hips made her ache to kiss him.

Draeseth pulled back and turned her, coming to rest on top of her and kissing her urgently. Lislora took the opportunity to wrap her legs around him and run her hands over every part of him she could reach, returning his kisses breathlessly. Her toes curled and she tilted her head baring her neck as he began leaving biting kisses down the side of her neck and working his way down to her breasts.

"Yes! My Prince! My joy!" Burying her hands in his hair as he began to nip and suckle, her face flushed as his free hand began to rub her.

The firm knock at the bedroom door was like cold water being poured over her and Lislora couldn't keep herself from snapping at the door, "May the seven hells open and Mezaldir drag you in himself!"

Grinning, Draeseth loomed over her and covered her face in kisses. "Woman..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Dressing hurriedly, Lislora gestured to the maid to leave the door partly open. Draeseth had gone out without his tunics and a sour scowl on his face and she wanted to hear what was said.

"Your Highness may take a moment to dress," Kamrus Olauth's disapproving tone made Lislora want to laugh though she wasn't certain why.

"Either the matter is urgent enough to pull me from my bed and end my wedding night or it isn't," her husband's low tone was more dangerous. "Speak."

"His Majesty allowed me to visit the Duchess-"

"You dragged my silver Duchess from her bed? The woman is in mourning!"

"She was awake and reading the Book of Truths, your Highness." A more familiar voice answered. "Master Krouth was unable to read the prayers for her this morning?"

"He had other tasks."

"Someone should have been sent for-"

Draeseth made a loud sound and Gharol flinched nearly jabbing her with a hairpin. "She needs to rest to regain some strength for travel. I expected her to sleep."

"Travel to Gogmenos is what I came to speak to you of." Olauth sounded almost smug. "The woman has some sort of demonic influence clinging to her as I suspected-"

"It didn't seem demonic," a softer voice interrupted him. "I've never-"

"You are too young to understand such things. If it is not of Ganas it is demonic. There are varieties of demons that the touched learn to recognize. That it is faint suggests the cleansing was nearly completed. She should have been-"

"I will not have my delicate Duchess taken to Gogmenos. If it is faint the matter can be dealt with gently at home in the Kroscur."

Her hair finished, Lislora murmured for Gharol to go find Krouth before leaving the bedroom and moving to stand next to Draeseth.

"You are not a priest who may-" the Kamrus stopped and looked sour as Draeseth rolled his shoulders back and fixed the man with a look that could have cracked a wall.

"I am a Prince of Torga and her husband. The choice is mine to make."

Gharol opened the door in the moment of silence that followed and Ximesra's concerned voice could be heard in the hall, "Krouth, I beg you to help me keep her from being..."

The Karisian maid looked nervously at Lislora.

"Send them in." Draeseth looked no less displeased as Krouth and the Munian filed in silently.

"Your Mistress sent you to make certain she was not sent to Gogmenos?" Olauth looked almost pleased.

"No, she sent me to find out what Master Krouth thinks of Gogmenos and..." the pale woman glanced over at Krouth for a moment, "To ask why he missed the prayers. She said to remind him she has lavendela oil if he has a headache."

The slim servant smiled faintly, "Her Grace is always thoughtful. A woman who rises on her own for the prayers and seeks them out is not a woman in dire need of purification."

"If that were true-"

"It is." the young man with the softer voice spoke up again. "Neither is lying."

Olauth fixed him with a sharp look and the man looked down. "Why then is she begging that the Duchess not be taken to Gogmenos?"

"I was taken there when I was first brought to Torga." Ximesra's eyes were pinned to the floor. "It was a horrible place. When the Phaethians beat us it was usually for a purpose. I didn't know why the Torgans did that to us, cut us and beat us with bundles of sticks, until I had learned the language and someone explained it to me. I would never subject her Grace to such a-a cruel place."

The words made Lislora's breath catch. Even understanding why and willingly submitting herself to it the purification and penance she'd endured had been difficult. The thought of having it done to her without explanation...

"Her Grace underwent a similar purification in the Dalcur," Krouth spoke carefully. "I explained it to her and she was not-"

"She was grateful." Halloc Aurim interrupted him. "Her fear dissolved once she understood why it had been done. You should be eager for your Mistress to be freed from demonic influence. It will only help her health and recovery."

The Munian remained silent with her eyes pinned to the floor but it was clear his argument wasn't one that convinced her.

"The priests at Gogmenos can be..." Draeseth made a thoughtful sound, "overzealous. If my silver Duchess were a Torgan woman, or more robust, I would have fewer concerns. I would have the matter dealt with at home in the Kroscur in a gentle manner. That she has been staying in the Temple here contentedly, and that she seeks out the prayers, this influence is not strong. If she must stay at the convent for a time-"

"His Majesty mentioned the gifts that were brought? It may be possible that one or more of the gifts are responsible for this." Olauth's thin smile made her feel unsettled. "Perhaps it is faint because it is now taking root. Allow me to view them and perhaps my opinion, or yours, will change."

Lislora saw him hesitate, but he inclined his head. "I will dress and escort you. I would not have her feel she is being punished or treated disrespectfully."

She followed him into the bedroom with a frown, "Cousin..."

"If he sees that the gifts are harmless, Isonei will face less difficulty in returning to the Kroscur. Sellac Gesosin will look after her if she has to spend time there after she recovers from the journey and ends her mourning." He hurriedly put on the tunics Gharol was laying on the bed.

Only Halloc Aurim waited with Ximesra as they came back out of the bedroom.

"His Excellency has-"

Draeseth stalked toward the door dragging her with him as he muttered under his breath in a language she didn't understand. The Munian woman hurried ahead with a look that said she did and that she approved.

Krouth was delaying the Kamrus at the Duchess' door. Once Halloc Aurim had joined him and his Highness had given a curt nod, the servant reached to open the door. Kamrus Olauth pushed past and did it himself, however.

Isonei was seated at the table nibbling on a small breakfast in the Aran style, all of it cold as far as Lislora could tell, and she rose looking confused at the interruption.

"Your servant expressed concerns and I returned to have them allayed." Kamrus Olauth then commanded the servants as if they were his. "Lay out all of her things where they can be inspected."

Lislora stared at the Kamrus in shock for a moment, a command like that should be given in Aran so that the Duchess could understand! She opened her mouth to scold him but Draeseth squeezed her arm against him.

"You need something from my room?" The Aran's frown might have been stern if she didn't still look baffled.

"Your gifts. I would look at them and make certain they are safe to take with us. Prince Draeseth has allowed-"

"I have not," their husband spoke in a low tone of warning as he beckoned for Isonei to take his other arm. "I have agreed to consider it, she asked to return to the Kroscur and if she does not wish to go to Gogmenos I will not force her."

The Kamrus' smile was somehow deeply unsettling and she was certain a priest shouldn't be smiling that way, "Has allowed us the opportunity to show him why the journey should be made."

Isonei approached and took their husband's other arm and the soft-spoken young priest watched her with an interest that made Lislora want to usher the poor woman from the room.

"Why are you frightened, Duchess Isonei?" As he spoke Lislora gave him her best scowl.

"I don't know. The Kamrus seems..." The Aran woman's voice was soft and seemed uncharacteristically nervous.

"I am often told I frighten children." Kamrus Olauth smirked as he spoke and she suspected the fact made him proud. "I was warned that in some ways you are much like a child."

She wanted to scold them for being needlessly cruel to a woman in mourning. Duchess Isonei was always thoughtful and kind, she'd done nothing to deserve being treated this way. But the sudden realization that all of this had been not only permitted but probably arranged by his Majesty stopped her tongue. This was the cost of defying the King.

There was silence until Krouth came to the door of the bedroom and gestured for them to enter. Laid out on the bed seemed to be everything the Aran woman owned, from her jewelry and books to the nearly empty bottles of bath oils and soaps.