Torgan Wine Ch. 17

For the first time, Isonei saw a resemblance between the brothers. The expression of ecstasy on Burgath's face was so like Draeseth's she had to marvel at it.

"Hot-blooded. She'd be wasted on some scrawny Lerian."

"Skwanny?" Isonei straightened indignantly.

"Not even you can deny they are a slender people, my Isonei." Draeseth pulled her closer again.

She tried to mutter 'Lithe' under her breath but it came out indistinctly.

"Did your wife just call you a liar, brother?" Burgath looked surprised.

Draeseth made a displeased sound in his throat, "I believe she did."

Huffing she tried to enunciate, "Live."

"You should speak to her about respectfulness." Burgath seemed stern but Isonei knew what to look for on Draeseth's face and Burgath's glittering eyes gave him away.

"I will do more than speak to her." Draeseth sounded sour but Isonei suspected that was an affectation to tease her with. She tried to poke at him with annoyance. The Torgan captured her hands as if he expected it, "What have I told you-" he began to curse in Torgan as she bent and nipped his hand less than gently.

"Live."

"I believe they understood that you meant lithe, Lady Isonei." Krouth rubbed his temples with a sigh.

"You are welcome to ride with the rest of the servants if our company doesn't suit you." Burgath's tone made it clear the invitation was a command to leave.

"He is helping tend to my wife." Draeseth interceded smoothly.

"And yet I'm sharing a seat with a sullen servant who doesn't know when to keep his mouth closed."

The discussion was abruptly ended by the stopping of the carriage. The inn was nearly bursting at the seams with travelers for the autumn gatherings, but word had reached the innkeeper that the daughter of Liadith would be travelling and he had kept his best room available. The prospect of sharing the room wasn't ideal, but Isonei thanked the man profusely. Unfortunately, there wasn't room for the handful of servants and guards they were travelling with. There was a dry place for the horses and carriages and they would be allowed to stay there.

The innkeeper ushered them to the room solicitously and, speaking Aran, offered to have food brought to them. Isonei wanted to eat in the common room to spare him the trouble with so many other guests to see to, but both Princes overruled her. As they waited for Krouth to bring in a few necessities and for the food to be brought, Burgath and Draeseth looked around the room with dismay.

A narrow servant's bed and a bed that looked meant for two Lerians and not a large Torgan and anyone else, were the furnishings that they were most concerned with. Burgath bridled at the thought of being asked to sleep in a servant's bed, but Draeseth wasn't going to entertain the notion of sleeping next to his brother instead of his wife even if they would both manage to fit.

The meal that was brought was relatively simple but brought on what were clearly the best platters he owned, with delicate painted flowers along the edges. When Isonei admired them he said he'd pass the compliments along to his wife. She would have come up with him but she had been cutting and roasting onions and didn't want to offend the nose of the daughter of Liadith.

On hearing of the onions, Isonei excitedly asked if they were stuffed with goat cheese, mentioning that she had loved to eat them with the elder Daga. A very short while later the innkeeper's wife returned to bring a small plate of roasted, stuffed onions. She beamed as Isonei gushed over them and complimented her platters.

After the meal, Isonei was given some privacy to dress for bed and another poultice to put in her mouth over night. She slipped into bed and curled to watch Draeseth undress with delight. The naked Torgan was grinning wickedly as he approached.

"Woman, you look giddy to see me bare before you."

She pulled the poultice from her mouth and tried to conceal it in her hand, "You are magnificent, my Draeseth. I've missed sleeping next to you."

He gave a growling grunt and pulled back the covers she was under. "I want to see you; I want you as naked as I am, wife."

"Your brother is going to come back any moment now; we have to behave until we have more privacy..."

The low Torgan growl that came from him was one she understood. A command to undress or he would do it for her.

Isonei shivered and came onto her knees murmuring, "I've missed that, but we're sharing a room with your brother. Even if we could sleep naked next to each other and manage to refrain from-"

Draeseth put a knee on the bed and gripped her night dress, with a jerk the back of it tore and he repeated himself.

A soft moan escaped her and she felt her skin beginning to flush. "We'll be too loud."

The poultice was pushed back into her mouth before he tore the gown away. "Woman, I need. I may be robbed of your kiss but this rag will serve a purpose."

Glancing to the door nervously, Isonei wasn't only worried about Burgath walking in, her father had always said the walls in inns were thin and you should never treat them like your own home. He turned her face back to him with what was clearly a command given in his tongue. The fervent desire in his eyes and the commanding set of his mouth made her breath catch and her belly flutter. Curling her fingers in the dark hair covering his chest, she leaned to press enthusiastic kisses into the base of his throat, earning a low laugh and murmur of something playful sounding in his language.

His hand slipped between her thighs, gently rubbing and seeking to stir her desire. Finding her already wet and eager, a growling groan escaped him and his fingers moved with more surety. Isonei tilted her head baring her neck for him as he began to kiss her jaw to her ear. She moaned giddily at the first biting kiss on her neck and his breath against her skin grew ragged.

"Woman."

Draeseth moved his hands to her thighs and pulled her legs out from under her without warning. She looked up at him incredulously as he grinned and dragged her hips to the edge of the bed. The only word she understood as he turned her, putting her feet on the floor was Kroscur. An evening with the Beast of Kroscur, the thrill shot through her and she moaned as he pushed in impatiently from behind.

Bracing her arms on the bed as he purred and growled behind her, Isonei reveled in the way he felt, opening her and sinking deeper with each confident thrust. The delicious largeness of him that had taken getting used to, felt so perfect. She put her knee on the bed wanting to open her hips wider and his explosive response in Torgan startled her as much as the powerful thrust that pushed her forward onto her elbows.

Half-moaning half-whimpering as he pulled her hips back against his forcefully, she could feel him throbbing and she tightened around him deliberately, bearing down to push him over the edge. The stinging slap to her ass coupled with the surly growl to give him what he needed made her flush and grin wickedly over her shoulder at him.

He growled something that sounded almost vicious as he held her hip with one hand and moved his other to tease at her most sensitive spot. The Torgan was relentless in his insistence. Each time she bore down on him he pulled his hand way to land a stinging slap to her ass and growled. Each time he pulled his hand away as she was so close, it drew out the divine torment, putting her release just out of reach until the last slap was all that was required to push her over the edge. Her release felt as stinging sharp and painfully delicious as his hand had striking her, her wail was barely muffled by the sachet of wine soaked silphium in her mouth.

Keeping her on her feet and her hips pressed back against his, he massaged her hips. "You enjoy the feeling of my hand striking that perfect blue ass of yours wife, or you wouldn't tease me the way you do."

Pulling the poultice out for a moment she looked at him with a mischievous smile, breathlessly answering, "Did you doubt it, my magnificent beast?"

A furious rapping on the door startled her. Draeseth muttered angrily in Torgan releasing her hips and holding the covers open for her to get under them before barking, "Enter."

"The walls are thin brother, and some of these peasants understand Torgan." Burgath stormed in almost shaking. "You have a large number of angry Lerians below us thinking you've taken the daughter of Liadith against her will with all your talk of 'welcome your conqueror' and 'I will take what I require.' Your voice carries and except for those whimpers and wails hers does not. Men have gone for weapons on hearing that you struck her."

Isonei covered her face for a moment and then started to push the covers back, "I need to dress and go speak to them."

"No. You will remain in bed, wife. Your husband can deal with any-"

"Do you have any idea why they gather in the autumn?" She snapped at him. "They celebrate taking back their homes and driving the Desecrators out of Leria. You know I don't speak your language, how dare you say such things to me in it? And to say them here! At this time! If you wish to return me to my Daga promptly you don't need to get yourself killed to do so." Isonei grabbed the torn nightdress and wrapped it around the poultice, wiping her hand thoroughly.

Burgath fetched her dress and tossed it onto the bed. "I advise you to hurry, Lady Isonei. What possessed you to allow him-"

She fixed him with a furious look and put all the ice into her voice she could manage, "I do not require your permission or approval to go to bed with him, with that said I attempted to discourage him, something I don't often do. That's probably why he was so insistent that I submit to his desires."

"Outside of your Daga's house you should be more respect-"

"Hold your godsforsaken tongue. Whether I am in my Daga's house or not I am the daughter of Liadith. You get from me the respect you earn. What possessed you to allow him to continue speaking to me that way?" She deliberately echoed his disrespectful question.

"Did you speak to your brother this way before he slapped you?" Burgath didn't have time to turn his head after his snide question to see Draeseth driving a powerful punch into his side. The smaller Prince collapsed the same way Shoban had, looking as if he couldn't breathe for pain.

"You make it difficult to be angry with you, my Draeseth." She tried not to smile as he rolled his shoulders back and grunted. The man looked truly impressive when he drew himself up, and naked, with every rippling muscle on display under that grey-green skin...

"If you keep looking at me that way wife, you won't be dressing." His smug smile made her laugh quietly.

"You are too beautiful. Most men need to at least apologize to get back into their lovers' good graces; it isn't fair that all you have to do is roll your shoulders back and smile." Isonei teased as she dressed hurriedly.

He stopped her before she could leave the room. "Forgive me, my Isonei. I should not have said those things. I know that you enjoy making me feel powerful and I did not think."

"I forgive you. But I think I urgently need to learn Torgan since you speak it to me so much and so intimately. Perhaps you should start teaching me? And begin with the things you say in bed so I know just how wicked you're being?" She nearly laughed at his dismayed expression. "Please put your clothes on and come down to join me?"

As he gave a curt nod she stood on her toes to steal a kiss. "I hope you aren't angry with me for chiding you?"

"I enjoy the sharp side of your tongue, woman. I want to encourage it not make you soften it for me."

A timid knocking stopped her from kissing him again. Draeseth stepped back with a rueful smile and she turned to the door, opening it and peering out at the innkeeper's wife and two men with what looked like heirloom swords.

"Lady Isonei? Are you..." the woman tried to peer past her, "If you're being coerced..."

"I'm not, and I thank you for your concern." Isonei offered a smile to the two armed men. "Those look well kept." The innkeeper's wife translated for her and she resolved to at least try to speak some Lerian.

"Thank you, Lady. We serve Gildith but in the Desecration our families fought under Liadith. These were given by the Daga Liadith." He looked at her meaningfully. "We will raise them in service-"

"I thank you, but please no." She stepped out of the room, smiling, to put her hand on his. "That is genuinely and profoundly appreciated. But unnecessary, I assure you. I'm with him by choice."

"Daughter of Liadith, did you-did you understand what he was saying to you?" The man looked at her searchingly.

"No, I do not speak Torgan." She switched back to Aran again. "His brother came in and chided him-"

"We heard his brother, Lady." The other man spoke, stepping closer. "He wasn't chiding him for speaking to you that way. He was chiding him for saying it where we could hear."

"Did you hear me?" Isonei let her smile fade.

The man nodded hesitantly, "How dare he." He looked as though he wanted to ask a very uncomfortable question but was afraid to.

"You want to know why I allowed him to apply his hand to my bottom that way?" He averted his eyes and looked as if he would rather be anywhere else at all.

"Yes, Lady." The innkeeper's wife quietly answered. "That you would allow yourself to be struck by a Torgan, by anyone... You're the daughter of Liadith."

"He does it playfully, not punishingly. He doesn't allow anyone to harm me, or to insult me. His brother will be feeling the blow he earned for at least a day, I think." Isonei let her smile return.

The man who understood Aran reached up to let his fingers graze her face. "Then who struck you?"

With a sigh she suggested, "Perhaps we could speak in the common room?"

°°°°°°°°°°

After telling the wretched tale of her family troubles and how it had been handled, and reassuring people as best she could that Draeseth really wasn't a disrespectful beast stealing her from her Daga, parts of it had to be translated by the innkeeper and his wife. Isonei would have been happy to go to bed with Draeseth, who had been pulled away by a sullen Burgath. However, hosting the daughter of Liadith was a rare occurrence and the men, women, and even children staying wanted to celebrate it.

Stories and songs from the battles and hardships surrounding the Desecration, as the Phaethian invasion was commonly called, filled the common room. They stirred the blood of some and put most of the children to sleep. After the songs the musicians played dancing tunes and she danced until someone suggested she try some of the wines being passed around.

Traditional Lerian wines, made at home from root vegetables, weren't something she'd had much occasion to sample. Asking which was best began an impromptu contest, Isonei got to taste them all. Her choice was one of the orange varieties with a surprisingly rich taste and an impressive kick. The cheering and shouting from the winner and his friends had brought Draeseth down to make certain everything was in order.

The sky outside was beginning to lighten by the time the celebration began to die down. The innkeeper's wife brought out rolls filled with fruit jam, and some with a boiled egg stuffed inside on her good platters. When Isonei admired them again she was asked why she'd be so taken with what must be simple dishes to the daughter of Liadith. Her answer that she was fond of flowers, because where you have flowers you have bees made several of the men grin.

She was lingering over breakfast, still talking with some of those who hadn't fallen asleep sitting up, when the Torgans outside came in for breakfast. Krouth gave her an almost scandalized look and stalked upstairs. The pleasant conversation she was having grew quiet as the Torgans ate hastily and made it clear they were ready to leave.

The winner of the wine contest, one of the men who had come armed to rescue her from Draeseth, almost sheepishly tried to give her a spare bottle of his homemade wine before she left.

"Take it to my Daga. He will enjoy it as I did." Isonei beamed at him, lapsing back into Aran, "You can tell him you won the wine tasting with it."

The man blushed and smiled shyly, "If I tell him I won he'll ask what my prize is. Telling him I won your praise will make him laugh at me."

Isonei nodded and tried to compose her face. "What is your name?"

"Tarlethe, Lady."

"May I have your sword, Tarlethe?"

The man was jabbed in the belly with the hilt as his friend tried to hand it to him hurriedly. "Lady?" He passed her the sword.

"Your prize, Tarlethe, a kiss from the daughter of Liadith." Isonei kissed the pommel with a smile as the man blinked in surprise.

He took it back staring at it in bemusement. She lifted her hand to her heart to take her leave of the innkeeper and his wife and allowed herself to be put into the carriage.

Inside, Draeseth sat sullenly next to her and Burgath was glowering out of the opposite window as it pulled away. Riding in the uncomfortable silence her eyes started to drift closed.

"You won't speak?" Draeseth muttered unhappily, leaning forward and then back in his seat. "You spend the night dancing and carousing instead of in bed with your husband and you don't-"

"She was doing what was expected of her, brother. I can't count the times I've been the guest of honor at an evening's entertainment and been required to hold court all night. Your wife does it graciously, too graciously for a woman who never aspired to her newly risen position." Burgath snapped, not turning away from the window.

Sighing she leaned her head back against the seat. "Thank you. Not for calling me ambitious but for explaining and for calling me gracious. There may be some sort of misunderstanding-"

"I understood you perfectly, daughter of Liadith." The Torgan's tone was unpleasant and she lifted her head to look at him tiredly.

"Did you? In my Daga's house I outrank you, outside of it we are equals. You seem to think otherwise. I will continue to return your disrespect to you, Prince Burgath."

She watched the smaller Prince swallow his fury and compose his face. "You were raised to your position, I was born to mine. I outrank you."

"As far as the Dagas are concerned there is no difference. I am a daughter of Liadith, my home is with Liadith." Isonei frowned at him. "If you attempt to treat me as if there is a difference you will find I am not the only one challenging your disrespect. They heard the way you spoke to me, and if Draeseth had not punished you for it, they would have."

Burgath looked at her speculatively. "There were perhaps two dozen peasants and only a few of them armed. They wouldn't have been able to harm me," after a moment he grudgingly conceded, "but the fight may have caused problems."

"You underestimate them. Lerians are lithe and fast."

"You speak with the pride I would expect if you were a Lerian yourself." Burgath adjusted himself on the seat to face her a bit more.

"I speak with the pride of a daughter of Liadith. Those armed men are descended from those who fought under my Daga. The weapons were given by my Daga. The songs, the stories, the travel for these gatherings." She gestured imperiously, "All of these are worthy of my pride."

He inclined his head and said something in Torgan to Draeseth with a tone that reminded her strongly of Ialath. Her brother could be likable, but kindness and thoughtfulness were usually affectations, only good for getting him something he wanted.