Torgan Wine Ch. 31

My thanks to Todger65 for helping edit and Nthusiastic for beta reading and asking good questions!

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Isonei attended the prayers with Hodrim at her side offering instruction in his incomprehensible language. The Sisters seemed both amused and pleased as she let him give her direction. The Sellac, however, noticed the frown on her face as she looked at the bare altar and inquired about it through Brother Odgar.

"You disapprove of their altar?"

"It's just that the altars I've seen are always so bare. In Ara they're covered in gifts for the Gods. I feel like a rude guest by not bringing anything and it makes me a little sad, as if he isn't loved."

Odgar sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he translated, and it sounded as if he were apologizing. Hodrim interrupted him. He sounded very solemn and as he looked to the Sellac with his large dark eyes she smiled. The Sellac's reply was warm and approving and Brother Odgar bowed to her before he spoke to Isonei again.

"Master Hodrim has reminded me that we do give gifts to Ganas. The gifts of time, charity, even gifts of song and recitations from the holy texts. You are welcome to give a gift if you wish, anyone is."

"I don't have the most beautiful voice but Brother Jannun was teaching me a song. Maybe the children could help me sing it?" Her words were relayed and there was an approving murmur from the children and the Sellac gave a gracious nod. "We should probably sing loudly, Ganas has so many people that pray to him he might not hear it otherwise." Isonei put on a very serious look and nodded to the children.

Brother Odgar sounded resigned as he translated and the children began to giggle. Hodrim very insistently said something to her and she glanced to the Sellac who was looking very pleased. The priest was smiling as well, "He says Ganas always hears you no matter how loud or how quiet you are."

"What a very wonderful God!" Isonei beamed at Hodrim before half turning to ask the other children, "Should we sing loudly or quietly?"

The priest translated and the children shouted. The clearest word was, "Kixtu!" Odgar barely had to translate it for her, "Loudly, they wish to sing loudly."

She began to sing the incomprehensible Torgan lyrics that went to the tune of The Merciful Men of Mun and the children joined her immediately, drowning out her mistakes. Sellac Gesosin had her eyes closed and a serene smile on her face as the song finished. After the sound died away she spoke to them at length before gesturing to Isonei and receiving a loud chorus of aings.

Tugged up from her feet, Isonei let the children take her back to the dining hall.

"You may tell your tale any time you wish, your Grace." Brother Odgar looked amused and found himself a seat at the end of one of the closer tables. "I will translate for you."

Smiling warmly, she moved to stand in front of the fireplace, looking over the curious and expectant faces in front of her, not all of them children. "Thank you! Tell me if you need me to stop or go more slowly, Brother Odgar.

"Once, a very long time ago when the world was still young and people had fewer stories to tell, there was a woman who ached to see more kindness in the world. So she made the choice to wander Ara, and maybe places beyond it, looking for kind people. Now, my loves, every fool knows the best way to find out if a man is kind or cruel is to show up at his door in need. This woman disguised herself as a wretched traveller, an old beggar woman, with tattered clothes and dirt on her face.

"She limped from place to place with her small ragged sack knocking on doors and doing what beggars do, asking for kindness with no way to repay it." Isonei mimed limping along before the fireplace.

"One of the first places she came to was a fine inn on the road from Eshho. The rains were sweeping in from the Sea of Glass, and you know how the wind drives the rains off of the Sea, my loves. It howls and thrashes as if it's trying to flee the gnashing teeth of Udnerath.

"In the biting wind and driving rain she knocked upon the door of the very full, very fine inn. The door was opened by one of the servants who felt tremendous pity for the woman and let her come stand in the kitchen by the blazing cooking fires for a moment, giving her a half full bowl one of the patrons had not finished and a crust of bread.

"It was perhaps not the warmest welcome but she was very glad to be out of the rain. Unfortunately the innkeeper bustled into his kitchens and saw her dripping by the fires and began to yell and curse. 'Who allowed a filthy beggar into my inn? Feeding beggars will only get you more beggars! Throw the hag out!'

"Now, the wretched traveler frowned at him. There were obviously kind people here but the innkeeper was not one of them. She tried to remind him, 'Charity is its own reward.'

"'You'll find no charity here, hag. Pay for that food you're stealing and get out of my inn.' He sneered at her and rolled up his sleeves as if he intended to throw her out into the rain himself.

"She reached into her tiny bag and pulled out a copper coin, tossing it to him and scurrying out while trying to slurp down as much of the stew as she could.

"The innkeeper pocketed the coin but when he looked at it later that night he realized it was worthless. A fake coin that was curiously inscribed across both sides, 'You must give to receive.' "This innkeeper was a very wealthy man but he found suddenly that his coffers were emptying and not refilling. No matter how much food he sold or how full his inn was, somehow he was spending more than he made. Nothing seemed to go right for him anymore. Nowhere he turned would anyone cut him a deal or do him a kindness. He was a beggar himself before the year's end.

"With an empty belly, begging pitifully in front of the temple in Eshho, a woman tossed a coin to him and he was grateful. He immediately bought a small bun of what we call beggar's bread and took a bite but a pitifully thin child came to stand next to him gazing up at the bread hungrily. It moved him and he broke the bread in half giving the larger piece to the child. When he went back to begging he received two coins. The words and lesson of the wretched traveller rushed back to his thoughts. Charity is its own reward. You must give kindness if you wish to receive it.

"The lesson once learned served him well. He began to provide for others before himself. As a beggar he began to try to feed others like himself and suddenly wealth seemed to fall into his hands from every direction. He opened another inn and this one never turned anyone away. If it yet stands it's still a merry place." Isonei smiled at the Sellac's mildly annoyed expression.

"But we aren't here to hear about innkeepers!" She put her hands on her hips and the children giggled.

"The poor wretched traveler was sent out into the lashing rain and howling wind," rubbing her arms she did her best to look cold and dejected. "A voice called to her from the trees where she was thinking of seeking shelter. 'Mother, what are you doing in the rain?'

"A young soldier had set up a small tent nestled in the trees and he beckoned her over. Seeing how drenched she was, he cleared a space and did his best to build a fire with the wood he could find. It took some time but with a large, mostly dry log placed on top he built a roaring fire for her to warm herself by and let her sleep under the shelter of his little tent.

"In the morning she thanked him with a kiss to the pommel of his sword. A sword, he discovered over the next years of his long life, that no man could block the blows of as long as it was raised in the defense of others. He became a hero famed far and wide but... I don't think that's the tale I was telling. Hmm, what tale was I telling?" She gave them a baffled look and the children began to speak loudly to her in Torgan as Brother Odgar translated her question.

"The Wretched Traveler. They want you to continue and stop being silly."

"Stop being silly?" Isonei put on her best expression of indignation, dropping her jaw open and clasping her hands to her chest. "Did you know the wretched traveller once wore her dress inside out and wore sticks in her hair to make it look like she had on a pointed hat?" She steepled her fingers on top of her head and there was more giggling.

"That was the fashion once you know! And she wore her hat very proudly through town." Gathering her skirts she swished them side to side and strutted haughtily back and forth in front of the fire. "Sadly, not everyone thought she looked as fine as she did. The children in this town threw rocks at her!"

Isonei jumped and dodged as if she were evading rocks thrown from the children watching some of them laughed and some made very unhappy sounds. "But there was one child, one very serious little girl who could have been Master Hodrim's twin sister," she gave the boy a doting smile, "she said, 'This is not how you should be behaving!' And she took a broom and chased the rock throwers all away.

"After she had done that she came up to the wretched traveler with stern frown. 'Mother, what are you wearing? Let me help you so that they won't throw rocks anymore.' She took the traveler home to her mother and they let the old woman bathe and cleaned her dress, and while it was being dried the girl brushed the knots and the rest of the sticks out of the wretched traveler's hair and put it up prettily. They made certain her dress was mended and on right side out when they helped her back into it. The girl's mother even found shoes to replace the worn out things she was wearing, and an old, but still pretty hat for her.

"Before she left, clean and in her fine new hat, she reached in her little sack and gave the girl a very peculiar box. There was something rattling in it but no way to open it. The girl spent ages finding little secrets like hidden levers and buttons on the box until she got it open. Inside was a small stone with a piece of paper wrapped around it and a silly little riddle on the piece of paper.

"It amused her and she began to seek out other riddles and other little puzzles. And as she grew, she became known as the cleverest girl in several days' ride. Word of her cleverness eventually reached the King and she was sent for.

"Now, the King of Ara at that time was a very clever man, and he always liked to sharpen his wits so he told her that for every riddle she gave him that stumped him she could have a hefty purse of gold but if she couldn't think of a single one he'd never heard before she would be killed. And our kind and clever girl agreed, she was, after all, fond of riddles.

"First she tried to be very clever, 'They have not flesh, nor feathers, nor scales, nor bone. Yet they have fingers and thumbs of their own. What are they?'

"The King snorted, 'I've heard that more times than I can count. Gloves.'

"She thought for a moment, 'I am as light as a feather but no man can hold me for long. What am I?'

"He sighed, 'Breath.'

"My loves, our clever girl took a different approach as the memory of the wretched traveler wandered through her mind. 'There is an ancient invention still used in some parts of the wide world today that allows people to see through walls. What is it?'

"It's silly isn't it? I think some of you already know the answer." Isonei looked at the children expectantly as her words were translated. They looked perplexed. Hodrim spoke up and Odgar translated, "There is no such thing. You cannot see through walls."

"You, Master Hodrim, are as clever as an Aran King. But like him, you're wrong." She grinned and looked at the baffled faces.

Sellac Gesosin said something in Torgan with some amusement and Odgar translated, "She says the answer is a window."

"Yes! Aing!" Isonei beamed at the Sellac, "A window. The King was embarrassed to have stumbled on such a silly little riddle. It hurt his pride, but a deal was a deal and an Aran does not go back on his word. She was given a hefty purse of gold and the King offered two for another that would stump him, the cost of failure would be losing the purse she had won. Being a clever girl, she declined and left the palace as quickly as she could.

"With her money she built a smithy and a very nice house and brought a sensible smith out to her village. They soon had an Arrangement and her mother lived with them in their fine house with many happy, kind, and clever grandchildren underfoot."

The Sellac asked a bemused sounding question with a faint smile, letting Odgar relay it, "How many of these tales do you have?"

"There are hundreds, The Wretched Traveler is a tale made up of hundreds of small tales."

Her answer was given and another question posed, "And they are all like these? The rewards of kindness and charity?"

"Yes, as a child I could sit and listen to the tales for hours. My father encouraged it. When I was sitting and listening to them I wasn't getting into any mischief." Isonei widened her eyes donning an exaggerated expression of innocence that had the children giggling before her words were translated.

The older woman sounded approving as she spoke to Brother Odgar for a few moments. "Your Grace, she admires your way with children and wishes to encourage you to write these tales down. She had not expected such wholesome stories to come from Ara. I told her that all who come to know you marvel at your kind and gentle nature, but your playfulness must sometimes be discouraged."

She let her amusement fall from her face giving him a genuine look of disappointment mixed with sadness. "Is there no room for playfulness in Torga? Can I tell you the tale of the wretched traveler and the jester?"

He looked speculative and relayed the question to the Sellac. Her answer was drowned out by the children who clearly wished to hear it. Sellac Gesosin had to raise her voice to be heard and the children looked only barely pacified but allowed themselves to be ushered out of the dining hall.

"She says perhaps after dinner, they have chores to attend to."

She inclined her head with a rueful smile, "Of course. What can I do while I'm here?"

After a brief conversation Odgar turned back to her, "They have a hive of bees that was given to them and they're uncertain if they survived the winter. Perhaps you would like to look at them? I explained that your father keeps hives."

Isonei beamed, "I would love to! Where are your things? They can be a little unhappy when they start stirring in the early spring."

°°°°°°°°°°

Before dinner Isonei was shown to a room. She was almost certain she was expected to return to Draeseth's Keep for the night but for the first time since she'd come to Torga she felt like she was in a place she could be content and she didn't protest. It wasn't home by any means, but it wasn't miserable. Entertaining the children, being of use with the hive, it was comfortable.

A basin was brought as well as one of the grey dresses the Sisters were wearing and Isonei rinsed, changing for dinner. Before she was ready to leave her room the door opened and a Sister timidly ushered in Lislora. The Torgan Lady looked as though she'd been weeping; her dark eyes were swollen and dull.

Instinctively, before Lislora could even speak, Isonei stepped toward her and wrapped her arms around the woman.

"Your... your Grace, why are you..." Lislora took a juddering breath and leaned into the embrace. "Are you asking to become a postulant? His Highness made it clear he chooses you."

"He gave you his desire while bedding me, Lislora. He thinks he can have things both ways, that I would tolerate being used." Stepping back slightly, she looked up at her, "He's wrong. I've actually been happier today after choosing to leave his Keep and being here than I have been since I arrived in Torga." She gave Lislora a rueful smile and reached up to touch her face, "I like it here. I hope they'll let me stay. Are you staying here too?"

"Yes. I spoke with the Sellac and once I atone for my-my sins I will be permitted to become a postulant." Her brow furrowed, "He let you leave?"

"Krouth did. I spoke with him and he sent me here. I tried to convince him to come too."

Lislora stared at her. "Draeseth will kill him. To allow you out of his Keep without his permission..."

"He won't, not if he has any sense of decency. Krouth has been loyal, he-"

"His loyalties have been shifting, Isonei. He was put in your service and the servants all think he dotes on you."

"Krouth's loyalties lie with Draeseth. He wants what's best for his Highness, he always has."

"He wants what's best for you as well or he would not have sent you here. Ganas may reward him but Draeseth will not." The Torgan woman moved past her to the bed and sat covering her face for a moment. "I told her."

"Told who, what?" Isonei came and sat next to her.

"Sellac Gesosin. I told her what I saw, what I heard him say to you last night." Lislora looked flushed and slightly sick. "I should not have listened but I wanted to know what it was you did that-that... You will be allowed to stay, I am sure of it."

Isonei bit back the urge to ask what exactly Draeseth had said. Whatever it was had brought the woman from listening in the other room to standing in the doorway as he'd been eagerly thrusting into her mouth. Instead she asked, "You came looking for him?"

"No, I wanted to speak to you. You... you are the only one I could talk to about what I did."

"He said neither of you enjoyed it." From the wounded look on her face Isonei guessed that it was Draeseth who hadn't been satisfied. Lislora had been learning about pleasure, his disappointment would have been crushing. Isonei leaned against her wrapping an arm around the woman and resting her head on her arm. "You need someone patient who can teach you what it's meant to feel like, the joy of it. He would have to change a great deal to be that man."

"You," Lislora hesitated, "You learned from someone who was not... joyful."

"I did. It taught me the difference between pleasure and ecstasy. If someone knows what they're doing sex will feel good. From Gariath I learned to know what feels good and how to give that to someone else. I also learned that it isn't enough. There's so much more that needs to be there."

"You speak as if-as if you have no shame."

"What would I be ashamed of?" Isonei looked at her curiously.

"Draeseth told me that was why he does not want you to learn Torgan; you are like one of the children of Krugorim who were ignorant of their nakedness. You have to be protected from your shamefulness." She softened her words with a faint smile. "I do not mean to insult you. My first task here is to gain your forgiveness. We are to share this room."

"I know that you have," Isonei pulled her arm back slowly and put her hands in her lap studying them, "have said some cruel things about me. For those I forgive you. You were angry and hurt, I understand it. But I don't blame you for taking Draeseth to bed, you don't need my forgiveness for that, you need your own."

"I-It wasn't just words... I told them there was no harm in cooking your food in the-the..." Lislora's grey-green skin paled, her shoulders hunched and her chin tucked to her chest as Isonei looked up in shock.

"You?"

The Torgan woman closed her eyes and nodded.

"You hate me so much?" She stood and took several steps away from the bed wrapping her arms tightly around her roiling stomach.

"No! I... I was being practical. I thought that you were being foolish and it would not hurt you. Draeseth told me not to tell you, that you would send me away. I did not want to leave."

"He knew?" Isonei turned and stared, trying to comprehend. He'd said Lislora had stopped him from beating someone over it; that the cooks had not understood... She had made certain Lislora understood.