Torgan Wine Ch. 36

King Orgath laughed and began choosing meat from the other platter. It reminded her that Draeseth needed to eat as well. Looking up at the stone-faced Prince she offered him a bite as well. "In Leria you thought it could be worse."

Draeseth's face softened, "You will still share something you love? I broke my word to you."

"You did and I will." She gave him a small, wry smile. "Even when I'm angry with you, you're still better company than the Kamrus."

He took a bite and handed it back, his lips curving into a pleased smile. "Allow me to rescue you from the carriage, ride with me."

"Please!" Isonei could feel him relax under her. "Should I get off of your lap so that you can eat?"

"I would prefer you stay, but you have never been good at feeding me." He blushed slightly glancing at his father.

"Do you sit in his lap often during meals, little Duchess?" Orgath smirked.

"Not often, but when I do he usually goes hungry. Either I start talking and forget to feed him or he gets distracted."

Draeseth muttered something in Torgan and carefully set her to the side.

"I find her openness refreshing." King Orgath's eyes sparkled.

"I have concerns she will be mocked at Court for it." The Torgan Prince stroked her arm before reaching to roll slices of meat as his father had.

"I don't enjoy doing it, but I'm perfectly capable of mocking them back." She gave him an amused look as he eyed her doubtfully. "I chided Andnaeuth for his mean-spirited jests but I also paid attention. I can find the sharp side of my tongue if I need to."

"I have all faith that you can, little Duchess." He and Draeseth lapsed into a comfortable sounding Torgan conversation as they ate.

Isonei surprised herself by finishing both of the delicious lamb filled pockets and even taking half an apple when Draeseth cleaned his hands and broke one for her. She was still nibbling on it as the blankets and leftover foods were packed away.

She gave what she couldn't quite finish to the immense horse that was brought for Draeseth and stood next to him as he prepared to mount it. Before he placed her on the front of the saddle, Halloc Urroth approached with a carefully neutral expression.

"Kamrus Gillaugrim would like to invite you both to join us in the carriage. There are things that should be discussed. Perhaps heads have cooled enough to speak more reasonably."

Draeseth lifted her into place with a stern frown, "No. My temper has not cooled and I wish to spend time with my wife." He swung himself up behind her and adjusted her position, pulling her back against him.

The Halloc looked at her expectantly, and she tilted her head, "I don't have a quarrel with you, Halloc Urroth, but I have no desire to speak further with the Kamrus. Nor do I intend to intervene on his behalf with my husband again."

"You will not admonish me to be polite and to remember that he is dear to me?" Draeseth kissed the back of her head and she could hear the amusement in his voice.

"No. I think he may respect your temper more than he does anything else."

He made an amused sound in his throat. "He should respect yours. Your anger fades quickly but it does burn hot, my gentle wife."

"House Ernelis is known to be a little hotheaded on occasion. My mothers say we're very passionate and it isn't entirely a bad trait." Isonei turned her head to look up at him proudly, bridling at his amusement.

The large Torgan's face broke into a wicked grin, "That explains why my temper never frightened you. Your mothers told you it was a sign of a passionate man."

"They weren't wrong!" She found herself trying not to laugh as he straightened with an exultant smile.

"Your anger with me is fading, my Duchess." He began kissing her face.

"You're too beautiful to stay angry with, it isn't fair." As she leaned back against him she realized the Halloc had slipped away unnoticed.

Laughing in his throat he guided his horse to the front and put a short distance between them and the following riders, who remained closer to the carriage and carts. "My father said you skillfully punished me but you began to soften immediately."

"My disappointment with you when you break your word doesn't seem to give you a moment's pause. My father used to do that to me, make his point hurtfully." Isonei glanced up at him feeling more apologetic and saw him smiling. "You're amused?"

"Relieved. He said you wanted to include Ganas in your worship, and if you were given dispensation to visit the convent and adopt you wouldn't insist on a room dedicated to your Gods."

"I hadn't asked before because I thought it would be rude and I knew you would be unhappy with it. But if he's going to take everything else away from me I will push back and demand something for myself."

"You will get your dispensation, my Duchess. My father is very fond of you." Draeseth paused, "But he will ask something of you in return."

"He said he wanted me to consider something but he never said what it was."

"He will," he snorted softly, "when he has softened you with lavish gifts and affection."

"Ialath does that. The sweeter he is, the larger the favor he wants." Being close was far more comforting than it should be and the gentle swaying walk of the large horse was pleasant. Draeseth settled his hand on her belly as she relaxed and she caressed it idly as she looked at the woods around them. "When will the trees be budding?"

"It will be weeks yet. The weather is unseasonably mild and it may get colder again before Ailzem begins in earnest."

"This must be beautiful to ride through when the trees are green."

"They will be on our journey home. You wish to ride home?"

"This is much nicer than the carriage." As she turned her head again to look up at him he kissed her face.

"I enjoy riding. My father used to take us hunting and we rode here often. These woods were his favorite."

"My father used to take me out to the fields with him. We would ride out and then walk in them, he said he was inspecting things but I think he just enjoyed it. I would tie my dress up and wear an old pair of my brother's boots. When we rode home I would be barefooted with them tied behind father's saddle because I didn't want to get my dress dirty. He always teased me and when I was smaller he would try to tickle my feet."

Draeseth laughed and pressed his face against the back of her head. "You always rode on his horse?"

"Of course. I've never liked being alone on a horse, what if it decides it wants to go somewhere else?"

He laughed again and kissed her neck above the edge of her gown. "I never rode on my father's horse. I had my own from the first moment I was able to sit alone on my mother's."

"Why? Weren't they worried you might fall or-" She clung to his arm as his laughter jostled her.

"I wanted my own horse, woman! You will coddle our children to uselessness."

Isonei tried to lean away from him, wanting enough distance to give him a scathing look but he laughed harder and kept her pulled tightly against him. She settled for crossing her arms and huffing, "I will not!"

"If the Duchess is in better spirits perhaps we can ride with you?" Prince Ougath brought his horse alongside theirs. "The time for a jester is after a meal."

She beamed at him, "I'm not that skilled but the jester that visited us called me the Duchess of frolics. I took it as high praise."

Ougath's brows arched and he opened his mouth to speak but Draeseth snapped at him first, "I will beat you if you call her that."

"Now who is coddling whom?" Isonei shrugged and turned to flutter her lashes up at Draeseth. "If he teases me I can tease him back."

"I prefer to be the one you tease, wife."

"I wouldn't be teasing him quite the same way, and he won't get kisses if he pouts prettily."

Draeseth blushed and tried to scowl at her. "Woman..."

"You ask me to tease you and then you scowl at me?" She widened her eyes and twisted to sit sideways, looking up at him with the most pitiful expression she could manage sending Ougath into howling laughter.

King Orgath and Prince Burgath joined them promptly. "How did my solemn, proud son decide a woman his opposite was an ideal wife?" The King gave her a sly smile.

"I'm very proud!" Isonei gave him an impish grin and added cheerfully, "Of the way I can make him blush, your Majesty."

"You will be better behaved when I can turn you over my knees again." Draeseth gave her a sour look, but his eyes glittered.

"Before or after you spend a considerable amount of time apologizing?" She donned an expression of exaggerated innocence and his face flushed deeply sending peals of Torgan laughter echoing through the leafless trees.

"Apologizing has another meaning to your wife, it seems." The King eyed the blushing Prince with delight and Isonei shrugged demurely.

Burgath composed himself and made certain he was out of his brother's reach. "Having spent the most time with them, I think it may be their private way of saying," he coughed and struggled to keep from laughing, "an Aran kiss."

She joined their laughter as Draeseth made a loudly displeased sound and tensed. "You are either too clever or we've spent too much time tormenting you with our flirtations, my poor dear Burgath." Draeseth still didn't laugh as his father and brothers did but she felt him relax slightly.

"I find it educational, Duchess." Burgath grinned at her.

"Has he given you advice on how to do it properly as he did my Daga?" She kept her bright smile on her face, "Your hot-tempered brother has had to apologize so often he's perfected the art."

Draeseth's face was still flushed but he was no longer attempting to look sour. His smugness fueled their amusement.

"You should be careful, little Duchess, he may insist you apologize to him." King Orgath's teasing comment seemed to startle his sons but Isonei responded playfully as if there were no offense to be given.

"I'm offended you think I don't! It's rude not to return an apology when you've been given one. Sometimes we apologize at the same time!" Isonei tilted her face up to flutter her lashes at Draeseth as his father bellowed out his laughter.

He smiled down at her grimly, "I will beat the life out of any other man you jest with that way, woman."

"I'm almost certain your father and brothers are the only ones brave enough to trade scandalous jests with us, and even then, did you see how poor Burgath moved out of reach before he did?" Draeseth grinned wickedly as she made a pitying face, "Doesn't your father chide you for thrashing your brothers?"

Draeseth and King Orgath began to laugh, but Burgath and Ougath gave her annoyed, incredulous looks.

"Have you told her of the Ailzem bouts? Will I have to command you to participate this year or will you be impressing your wife with your prowess?" Orgath smiled like a man who already knew the answer.

"I will be fighting without complaint this year, father. My Duchess fawns over me after a bout."

"I offered you gold and praised your skills, but your Duchess persuades you?" The King looked at her with a wry smile.

"Did you kiss his neck and call him your champion, father?" Burgath snorted, sending her into a fit of laughter as Draeseth's proud smirk faded to an annoyed flush.

°°°°°°°°°°

Keeping them laughing until their arrival at the city walls was more exhausting than Isonei expected. It wasn't as skilled a jester's performance as Andnaeuth could have given but she felt rather proud of herself that all four of the Torgans were relaxed and smiling as they arrived at the city gate. They had enjoyed themselves and building a closer relationship between them could only serve her well.

The high stone walls were impressive, and, like the other Keeps she'd stayed in, they were clearly for defense purposes. Behind them was a city, much larger than the town hugging the Keep of Kroscur. The streets were bustling with people, horses, and carts, but the smell was what took her aback. The air was close, and thick with the smell of unwashed people, manure and what smelled suspiciously like chamber pots emptied too close to the streets, or possibly into them.

Trying to keep her stomach from revolting she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, partly covering her nose.

"Andnaeuth did the same on his first visit," Draeseth murmured into her ear, "and then he asked about ash carts."

"Aran cities don't smell this way. The ash carts come through to collect everything, even manure."

"And who pays for that?" King Orgath gave her a look of annoyance.

"If you live in the city you pay taxes, the money comes from those. It's also why a night at an inn inside a city costs considerably more. The innkeeper outside it has his own ash pile."

"Ash pile. I would enjoy hearing an Aran say shit just once." Ougath scoffed shaking his head and she made a face at him.

"Behave yourself, little Duchess." The King's smile was cool but his eyes sparkled. "We are now in public."

"Yes, your Majesty, when they tease like my brothers I forget that I can't always respond as if they are." She offered him an apologetic smile. "Ialath and Ivorith, when I was very small, used to teach me swear words. They thought it was hilarious to hear terrible words coming out of my mouth. My father was always very strict about saying certain words; he didn't find it funny at all."

"You were the favorite, they were jealous." His smile warmed.

"My Duchess is the favorite everywhere she goes. Daga Liadith's son was convinced his father favored her over him."

"'The favored daughter of Liadith' was what he called her." Burgath seconded. "Even adopted she outranked me in Leria. That point was made more than once."

"There isn't a distinction!" Isonei tried to turn to look at Burgath but Draeseth held her in place. "A daughter is a daughter, not because of who she's born to but because of who she is."

"Daga Lothlaerith said her soul belonged to Liadith. That it had from the moment she was born." The displeasure in Draeseth's voice was clear. "That is part of why I would have my wife reclaimed. The words unsettled me. I cannot bear the thought of her soul being claimed by demons."

"The Lerians are peculiar, but I would hesitate to call them demons as the priests do now." Burgath sounded annoyed. "There are those in Phaethia who swear they commune with the dead-"

"There is a difference!" Draeseth snapped. "In Phaethia they are charlatans. I spoke to one out of curiosity, she said my mother was proud of both her sons. My mother had only one. In Leria they knew things they should not. The crypts are impressive. As well kept and lavish as the family rooms because the Dagas linger, as my wife said. If the Dagas themselves are not demons, the keepers of the crypts are."

Isonei found herself sitting stiffly and trying not to grit her teeth as he continued. "The sargs are covered in demonic symbols. No rituals are needed to speak with the dead because the dead are bound to wakefulness."

"Those symbols are not demonic, Draeseth. It's the old language; I think the Dagas are the only ones who use it now." She tried to keep her voice from being too sharp.

He made an annoyed sound in his throat. "When you die your soul will be welcomed by Ganas and your body will lie next to my mother's in the Kroscur."

"Upsetting your Duchess as we ride through the throngs of Nemauros is unwise. Rumors of her misery will be spreading before we reach the palace gate." The King's voice was icy. "She spent a great deal of effort to amuse us on our journey; you will spend the same to keep her smiling until we pass under the palace gate."

"I enjoyed laughing and jesting with you, with all of you. Lightening people's moods is always an effort well spent." Isonei gave the King a faintly rueful smile.

"In time, my Duchess, you will want to stay with me even in death." Draeseth pulled her more tightly against him and kissed her covered hair. "I cannot bear the thought of being parted from you in the afterlife."

"You can't bear the thought of being parted from me for breakfast." Teasing him gently seemed a better idea than arguing and it drew chuckles from his father and brothers as he pressed his face to the back of her head.

"How long will it take to have the midwife fetched, father? I am eager to hear what she says."

"I gave orders for the midwives to be sent for once we arrived. Servants should have gone to fetch them as soon as we entered the gate. They will be going ahead as well to draw a hot bath and find a suitable maid. Someone pleasant and trustworthy to look after the little Duchess."

Placing her hand over her heart Isonei gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you, your Majesty. It's easy to see where your sons get their warmth and generosity."

"Having an Aran Lady at court is such a delight." King Orgath beamed. "Prince Andnaeuth was never this pleasant."

"He can be when he wants to be. Even Draeseth was smiling after we had breakfast with him."

The large Torgan flushed, "Because of your charms, wife, not his. He was being pleasant; you were trying to make peace."

"If he hadn't been trying to make peace he wouldn't have insisted on breakfast." She leaned back and tilted her head to look up at him.

"He insisted on breakfast in an attempt to persuade me to share you. But you are mine." Bowing his head he gave her a brief but hungry kiss. "Mine alone."

The shocked gasps and Torgan chatter reminded her that they were riding on a busy street. King Orgath spoke gelidly in their tongue and Draeseth's reply was apologetic, his arm tightening around her. Soothingly, she stroked it beneath his cloak.

As they rode through a stone arch the street opened into a square. Across it, directly in front of them, was another massive gate but it looked as ornate as it did imposing. Gilded, grinning beasts looked out from the closed carved doors.

"I told them to keep them closed for our approach. I enjoy looking at them." They came to a halt to admire them.

After taking them in for a moment Isonei glanced at the King, "They are impressive and lovely, your Majesty. What kind of beasts are those?"

"The Phaethians call them Mephri, guardians. Every gate and door of my palace has them but this is the Guardian's Gate." The look he gave her was as proud and smug as any she'd seen on Draeseth's face. "The legends say the Mephri protect their masters and deliver their souls to a paradise beyond imagining."

"False idols should never have been permitted into Torga. Ganas protects us and will give us our rewards in the afterlife." The Kamrus' sour voice made Isonei tense, she had forgotten they had been following in the carriage and must have been asked to disembark from it before it followed them into the gate.

To her surprise, Draeseth began to rub her comfortingly. "It is only a story, Kamrus Gillaugrim, mothers tell them to their children." He paused before speaking pointedly, "When they are deprived of all else."

"The matter will be discussed further. For the moment, I wish to invite you to pray with me in the Temple."

"My Duchess is tired, perhaps tomorrow." Draeseth sounded regretful and Isonei turned slightly in his grip.

"If you want to pray, go, I can bathe and rest."

"I will walk into the Temple with my Duchess at my side, or not at all." He frowned at her, "I enjoy it when you kneel by my side."

"I know you do, but he made it very clear that I'm not welcome. If you want to pray in the Temple, you'll have to do it without me."

"That was not my intent," the Kamrus hesitated slightly before using her title, "Duchess."

The words she wanted to say were on the tip of her tongue, sharp and disrespectful, but Burgath interceded. "The Duchess has a temper when she tires. Any further discussions of your intentions in forbidding her to visit the convent or to adopt Torgan children would be best postponed to another day."