Torgan Wine Ch. 25

Releasing Lislora's hand she took Draeseth's arm. "That still baffles me, but I will respect your wishes. My rooms are beautiful."

He made a pleased sound in his throat. "I had wished to be with you when you arrived. What do you think of my Keep?"

"I haven't seen much of it yet. Yesterday I bathed and rested, today I rested some more and wrote a few letters."

"Letters?" Draeseth pulled her arm tight against his side.

"To my father and brothers, as well as to the Dagas, and one to Andnaeuth." Isonei offered him a half smile. "I had promised to write once a month but I think I've lost track of the time while I was ill."

"Will you let me read them?" He led her back toward her rooms.

"Of course. The letters to my family and to Andnaeuth are written in informal Aran if you want to practice reading it I can help you. The letters to the Dagas are in Lerian. I don't know why or how but after I was ill the language began to flow. It comes easily now."

Pushing open the door to her rooms, Draeseth led her inside and moved to the desk. "You were writing in pencil?"

"Yes, Krouth said the ink in your study had frozen, no one had heated it since you weren't home." She gave him a dubious look, "I think he was trying to discourage me from writing. I'd prefer he be more straightforward, but he's been so helpful I don't want to chide him."

Draeseth's eyes glittered with amusement. "I have no doubt he was trying to think of an inoffensive way to have you wait until I arrived home to begin composing letters. That you would have grown so fond of him after wanting him killed amuses your husband greatly."

"I can see that. Your beautiful eyes glitter when you're amused, husband." Isonei smiled up at him. "Only members of my family have looked after me as well as he has. Whatever you pay him you should consider raising it."

He looked past her and spoke quietly in Torgan. Krouth's reply made the Torgan Prince's lips twist wryly. "He says you are very generous, my Duchess, but I may wish to save the money and use it to heat your rooms. I will show you the winter garden tomorrow, I think you will find it comfortable and if you lounge there as you did in the gardens at your Daga's house, it might save some expense in wood."

Lislora made an inquiry in Torgan from the doorway and Isonei beckoned her in. "You understand Torgan." The woman looked relieved.

"No, I could tell you were asking a question." Isonei tried not to laugh as the Torgan woman's face soured.

"She asked if you were averse to sharing a bed, my Lady. It is often done here." Krouth very smoothly translated for her.

"I wouldn't mind at all. But you might find me trying to burrow into your side for warmth. I like to be close."

"I thought it was only me you burrowed into." Draeseth gave her a frown.

Shaking her head with amusement she answered, "Arissa tried to share the bed with me one night. She called me a clinging vine and sent me back to my own bed before dawn and you remember how she liked to cuddle when we lounged."

He barked a laugh. "You do cling. And you whine when your victim tries to get free." His dark eyes were glittering and he was clearly trying to tease.

"Victim?!" Isonei crossed her arms and put on an expression of mock offense. "I should demand an apology just for that!" His face flushed and she couldn't hold her offended expression, dissolving into laughter and wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm glad to see you again. Even if you were cold and didn't write to me, I missed you."

"As I missed you. I do not have your skill with words, my jewel. And I loathe correspondence. Even the letters I wrote to you in Ara were short."

"I enjoy writing letters." She pulled herself away realizing he wasn't returning her embrace. "I'm almost certain a scribe could make some suggestions if you had difficulty. One of the purposes of personal letters is to let someone know you're thinking of them. The words don't matter so much." The longing on his face made her smile and she continued, "Ivorith's mother hates writing letters but she writes them to my father, usually about the weather now. They used to be about Ivorith, and the things she wanted to do when she came home."

"You read your father's letters?" Draeseth's looked at her oddly.

"He always leaves them out!" Isonei laughed at the disapproving sound he made. "I promise you he would have chided me if he felt I needed it. I think he liked the sight of me sitting at his desk reading his letters."

"So did my father. He said it was charming." Lislora smiled faintly.

Isonei beamed at her, "I've been so looking forward to getting to know another member of my Draeseth's family!"

In the face of her enthusiasm, Lislora looked almost nervous. She made another inquiry to Draeseth in Torgan and he laughed in his throat.

"My Isonei is a very joyful and eager creature by nature."

"This is the first time Lady Isonei has been so cheerful since arriving in Torga." Krouth sounded almost amused.

"I've discovered I don't travel well anymore. And I hate to be cold and alone." Isonei made a face and leaned against Draeseth's side.

The large Torgan purred something in his language and stooped to kiss the top of her head.

"Anymore?" Lislora gestured toward the small sofa and perched on it almost uncomfortably.

"I used to travel with my father when my mothers weren't home." Isonei sat next to her smoothing her skirts as she tucked her feet under herself.

"Did they not alternate halves of the year?" Draeseth frowned moving to sit in a chair opposite them both.

"You recall my mother was his third? They never changed the Arrangements. He had a third of the year to himself." She smiled at his bafflement. "He loves my mothers but he does like his time away from them, I think."

Offering him more explanation she continued, "Ivorith's mother comes in the autumn, in the month of Semuth, always when we had returned from Leria and the hives had been winterized. She liked that the house was in the countryside and quiet. Coming home to us was restful because my father rarely threw parties unless the fields were in bloom. Ialath's mother comes in the month of Iemith and stays through all the spring blooms, she loves to dance."

"Arans make things far too complicated." The way he leaned back in his chair she wished she could climb into his lap.

"I find Torgans as baffling as you find Arans, my flower wine."

"What did he offer them to have three wives?" Lislora looked at her with a furrowed brow and a look that said she was already regretting her curiosity.

"Not wives, lovers." Isonei corrected her gently. "Aran Arrangements are different from marriages. And he offers them the benefit of his House and standing, his wealth, and his affection."

Lislora looked at her dubiously, "But three..."

"When I came of age he told me a man should have three lovers, one to further his ambitions, one for her shrewdness, and one that makes his heart melt each time he sees her. He should love all of them well because he needs them all, but a woman needs to bear in mind which one she is."

"You wish to be the third." Draeseth murmured looking at her with a faint smile.

"My mother was."

"As was mine." His dark eyes moved over her. "I only require one wife. One who loves me and shows me joyfully. I have no ambitions that require furthering, and a shrewd woman would not find that appealing."

"As if what a woman finds appealing is taken into consideration." Lislora looked at him with an expression of vexation.

"It should be!" Isonei frowned reaching out to take her hand. "When you marry you don't expect to find your husband appealing?"

"I was married, Lady Isonei, and I did not find him appealing. He was older than my father, and thankfully already had an heir." The Torgan woman looked at her as if she were a naif.

"Burgath said it's the women who press for marriage. Why would you-"

Draeseth began to mutter in Torgan and Lislora looked at him incredulously. The two conversed briefly before he explained, "Her father pressed for it. He was ill and she had no brothers. Dying and leaving a daughter unmarried is a shameful thing. It leaves her unprotected. She was married to the best of what was available to him."

Isonei felt her face flushing with anger. "Aren't you her cousin? If she needed protecting why wouldn't you do it?" The Torgans blinked at her sudden change of mood. "Why would you let her be forced into a marriage against her will? How is that protection?"

"As a widow I have more freedom and less need to be protected. I no longer have suitors, and I would refuse them if I did." Lislora patted her hand. "There is nothing a man has to offer worth enduring that a second time."

"If you had a suitor you loved and who loved you, it would be different." Draeseth's words were pointed and the look he leveled at his cousin was one of warning.

"He's been trying to persuade me that marriage isn't truly as terrifying as it seems to me. I'm slowly realizing there is a great deal more to fear than I had expected." Isonei gave her a wan smile feeling deflated and rose from the sofa. As she crossed the room to peer out of the window she heard Draeseth's teeth grinding and what might have been Lislora's hushed Torgan apologies.

Gazing out she tried to think of what month it should be... The month of Semuth should be starting or had already started maybe. Perhaps seven months more? For a moment she had been overjoyed to see Draeseth, she had thought things could be warm and pleasant again. The sky looked heavy and leaden, well suited to her mood.

Krouth's voice prodded her from her thoughts, "Lady Isonei, You should come away from the window, you will catch a chill. Perhaps you would like to see the winter garden. I can have hot tea brought to you there."

"I'd like to finish my letters."

"I will have some furniture brought for your use." Draeseth rose from his chair and gathered her letters. "Everything she requires to lounge and write will be brought to the winter garden, see to it." He offered his arm with a scowl, "Walk with me, wife."

Obediently she moved to his side and took his offered arm, letting him lead her out of the room and down to a door. With a barked order his cloak was fetched and he pulled it over her leading her out into the courtyard. "I might better see your home if I had my own cloak."

He gave a growling grunt. "Our home, my Duchess. I want you close. I cannot have you as I wish; I cannot kiss you from your sour mood or allow you to kiss me from mine. Keeping you confined to the space beneath my cloak is one of the few pleasures I can be allowed."

"Why aren't we allowed to be intimate? Don't they know how we met?" Her arm was pulled tighter against his side.

"They know. I have been chastised for participating in the religious rituals of your people. I was told that I should not have been permitted to have you as I did." Draeseth led her through what seemed to be a garden, the glimpses she caught were mostly brown and dead looking for the winter. "They were prepared to denounce you... Upon meeting you and finding you to be a gentle, loving soul instead of a demonic seductress, Halloc Aurim has spoken on your behalf and you are to be treated as an unwed Torgan Lady, under the protection of Ganas' priests."

"I don't want their protection, the only protection I need is yours."

The pleased sound he made prompted her to press her cheek against his arm. "Wife, the moment you wed me I will show you how much that pleases me. I will be between your fine legs where I belong."

"Do we truly have to wait?" Isonei sighed rubbing her cheek against his arm as he came to a stop in front of a door.

"Yes, it may give you a reason to consider the marriage, if you cannot have me as you please." His low voice almost sounded teasing.

"Seducing me by refusing to take me to bed, you are such a wicked man." She teased back.

He laughed in his throat and pushed open the door. "I am your Beast, woman." The Torgan drew her into a small stone room and closed the door, removing his cloak. "I have wanted to show you my flowers." Pushing open another door she was greeted by rush of warm air and the sight and smell of a garden in bloom.

The stone building had large windows and the roof was entirely made of metal and glass but she was barely paying attention to the building. Flowers were displayed on tiered tables and in large pots, the riotous colors and sweet scents filled the space. She gravitated to the table of scarlet blossoms covered with wicked thorns.

"Do not touch. The Phaethians call it Soldier's Wife. There is no part except the petals that won't cut you."

"It's beautiful!" Tearing her eyes away from it she saw him grinning. "Show me your favorites!"

Turning, he led her deeper into the garden, "These are the jewels of my garden. My favorites." Draeseth reached out his hand and lightly touched a delicate almost ruffled looking black blossom from the mass growing in a long broad trough. "Kros Voyeh."

"Black Maidens." The translation from behind her made her jump. Brother Jannun looked a little sheepish as she turned to look at him. "Kros is black."

"I will teach her Torgan myself." Draeseth's face hardened as he looked at the priest.

"These are lovely, my Draeseth, we have something similar to them but they're smaller and bloom in the spring."

"Yes. These bloom twice. There are many colors, but the black are rare."

"Ahh and white." Jannun glanced around as if seeking something.

Coldly Draeseth responded to the man's unwelcome interruption, "I have no white flowers in my winter garden. Oxt Voyeh grow in the spring gardens."

"Oxt is white?" Isonei smiled at him and saw his face soften.

"Yes."

Servants with furniture began making their way in and Draeseth stepped away to give them direction in Torgan and help find a place for the small desk and chair as well as the small backless sofa. He had them arranged near the Soldier's Wife she'd admired and laid the letters he'd been carrying on the desk.

Jannun approached her with a slight frown, "Alone is not good."

"We're in a building made mostly of glass; if you have concerns you can easily look in on us." She returned his frown, "I've missed him and I would very much like to spend some time with him."

The priest walked toward Draeseth and spoke quietly with him before hesitantly leaving. Isonei settled onto the small sofa with a smile.

"I promised not to put my hands on you, nor to allow you to put your hands on me." Draeseth looked sour handing her two of the letters. "Perhaps you can read your letters aloud to me?"

"If you want me to." It took a great deal of effort not to grin at him as an idea occurred to her. "Come sit with me? I won't put a hand on you."

He moved to sit on the sofa and she shook her head unable to hide her amusement. With a mischievous smile she asked, "Spread your legs? One on each side of the sofa seat?"

"What wickedness are you planning woman?" The large Torgan flushed, sitting as she asked and leaning his back against the arm of the sofa.

"I seem to recall you liked my silk covered toes..." She took off the stiff boots and stretched her legs toward him resting them on his thighs.

"You want me to spend every waking moment begging you to let me make you my wife properly." His dark eyes were burning with desire and she hadn't even slipped her feet beneath his tunics. "Otherwise you would not tempt me this way."

"I want to give you a reason to be warm to me my Draeseth; you have been so cold and not written to me. I've missed you and you haven't let me know you miss me."

"Woman, I ache for you. I have spent weeks afraid that you would die and I would have lost my perfect silver jewel. To see you well and know that you long to have me in your arms..." Draeseth adjusted his tunics to be able to put his hand beneath them. "I should take you inside where I can show you how eager I am."

Isonei moved her feet slowly up and down his thighs until he lifted his tunics slightly inviting her beneath them. The groan as her stocking covered feet converged on his large Torgan cock made her flush with pleasure. "I can feel how eager you are my flower wine. How much does it please you to have me in your garden? Safe in your Keep?"

She began to explore his already throbbing cock with her toes as she pressed it against his body beneath his tunics. He panted and growled a command in Torgan. Pressing more firmly Isonei began to rub him from base to tip with the bottoms of her feet. "You haven't taught me those words yet."

"Woman, stop teasing." He groaned again pressing himself against her silk covered feet. "Your husband needs."

"Tell me how you want to lay me down in your garden, tell me, my Draeseth." Her own needs were at the forefront of her mind and she wished she had the privacy to mount his magnificent cock. Each movement she made rubbing him with her feet she tried to convey the urgency of her desire.

"Woman." Draeseth tilted his face up closing his eyes.

"Look at me, my flower wine, I want you to. I want to gaze on your beautiful face as you..."

He groaned helplessly, lifting his head as his seed began to wet her silk stockings. "I am yours, woman, and you are mine. I will not part with you."

"The words aren't as stirring when they aren't accompanied by your biting kisses, my Draeseth." Isonei teased him with a smile. "If I rested my feet on your shoulders do you think I could have one or two?"

"Mezaldir would defer to you on matters of temptation, woman. If you put your feet upon my shoulders I will be hilt deep in you before you can draw another breath to tease me with."

Laughing, she pulled her feet back and curled them under herself. "I'm not sure if that was meant to be a warning or a suggestion."

His response was a growling grunt as he reached under his tunics to adjust himself again.

"Which letter should I read to you first?"