Torgan Wine Ch. 38

"I'm worried your brothers might be injured, but I did enjoy watching you. You move so gracefully... It makes me wish you would dance with me." Isonei gave him a teasing smile and pressed her face to his helmet as he stepped back slightly to lean down.

Queen Deventha snapped something in Torgan but Rogath spoke up sternly, "Let him enjoy his victory. If Burgath has his way you may find affectionate Aran wives the new fashion. Duchess Isonei has five sisters, he and Ougath both want to take one for themselves."

"My wife is forgiving and gentle." Draeseth straightened and his voice sounded proud. "Her affection is only part of why I made her my Duchess."

"If she were less so perhaps you would have allowed her to learn Torgan." The Queen gave him an icy look and gestured for Isonei to resume her seat.

"My wife has an openness and a peculiar innocence. Some Torgans might take advantage of that if I am not present. It spares me having to kill foolish men." The warning in his voice was clear and he put a heavy hand on top of hers as she tried to release his arm.

"And it keeps her close when your mood needs sweetening." Burgath came from behind him.

"It's hard to stroke him when he's wearing armor." Isonei lifted his hand and kissed it before moving back toward the Queen.

"If you wish to show him favor, a scarf is the traditional way. Kissing may be permissible in Ara, it is not here." Queen Deventha admonished coolly.

"I haven't seen many scarves, your Majesty." She glanced at Draeseth with amusement.

"We will be going into the market to look for them in the coming weeks-"

"My wife does not leave the palace without me."

The frigid glare the Queen gave him would have made Daga Gildith proud. Isonei tilted her chin down, trying to look as meek as possible.

"The King sees to my safety and the safety of my retinue when I leave the palace. She will be safe and looked after."

"Your Majesty." Draeseth sounded sour but he bowed. Isonei found it an impressive movement in his armor.

"Where are your brothers, Burgath? Duchess Isonei was concerned for them; perhaps pity would motivate them to strive harder."

"Adareth can hardly walk, mother, and Ougath is bleeding. They went to be seen to."

The Queen frowned, "They fought better last year."

Isonei blinked at her. "You're not worried about them? They're injured!"

Queen Deventha narrowed her eyes looking at Isonei and Draeseth began to laugh quietly, "My wife is unaccustomed to seeing bouts. Come with me, wife, I may have some bruises for you to fuss over."

"Your wife will make you soft." Rogath laughed and slammed his gauntleted fist into Draeseth's chest.

"Then you may have a chance to best me, brother." The glint of teeth could be seen through both men's faceplates.

"We should fetch our swords. I can give you some bruises worth being coddled over."

Draeseth laughed and they half turned back toward the ring but the Queen snapped something in Torgan and both Princes turned to face her again and bowed. "Edged weapons are not permitted outside of the tournament."

"Forgive me, mother. I thought a demonstration for the Duchess-"

"She will see the bouts. She may sit next to Kresh in the royal box if she wishes." Queen Deventha made a gesture and the rest of the women rose. Isonei followed suit having only just resumed her place. "We will adjourn to my rooms; your wife may coddle you after dinner."

Glancing to Draeseth, she saw him give a small gesture of encouragement that she should go with the Queen.

°°°°°°°°°°

The Queen's rooms were much more than a suite. Two lavish sitting rooms, one in shades of red and the other in white, a winter garden, and there were more that they didn't walk through to get to the comfortable chamber Queen Deventha wished to enjoy. The furnishings were very different from any Isonei was familiar with. The colorful geometric shapes and interlocking knots carved into and painted onto every piece baffled and amazed.

Her interest was noticed. "Phaethian design. They were wedding gifts for Kresh but she loathed them."

"They're exquisite, your Majesty. The shapes almost seem to move." She tilted her head from side to side and the other women tittered.

"You are almost childlike. Perhaps we should have a game to entertain the new Duchess?" Queen Deventha settled onto an almost throne-like chair with a slight smirk and everyone scattered to their customary spots leaving Isonei standing and glancing around for a place to sit.

She put on a bright smile as she approached a woman the Queen's age who was occupying more than half of a small backless sofa. The woman's eyes narrowed and Isonei could tell she was eager to make a cutting comment.

"Would you be kind enough to suggest a place for me to sit?"

"Another room."

Isonei glanced to the Queen who pointed to the doorway they'd come through and held her smile by force of will as she inclined her head. "It was lovely watching the sparring with you, your Majesty." Keeping her head up she swept proudly from the room.

She was nearly to the entrance to Queen Deventha's rooms where the cloaks had been hung when Countess Giserona rushed up behind her, hissing "Her Majesty did not dismiss you! You are to sit in the other room!"

"That isn't a game I'm willing to play." Isonei gave her a knifelike smile. "Pointing to the door is a dismissal."

"You are required to return." Giserona turned to walk back to the Queen, glancing over her shoulder almost nervously.

Taking a deep breath Isonei followed, as she reentered the room the Queen smirked and wordlessly pointed to the door again.

She offered her very best imitation of Andnaeuth's cheerfully vicious smile and kept her voice sweet, "I'm growing tired, your Majesty. Since there are not enough seats and I would be chided for returning your disrespect to you, I will retire."

"How dare you!" The woman on the backless sofa came to her feet and Isonei let the mask of pleasantry fall. Under her furious gaze, the woman resumed her seat.

"Perhaps the fault is mine, I allow you all to call me by my lesser title and I have striven to be pleasant and cheerful despite the fact that I'm bleeding, exhausted, and starved. I will not remain and be treated disrespectfully." She turned her gaze on the Queen, "If this is how you treated her Imperial Highness, small wonder she believes Torgans incapable and undeserving of respect."

Smoothing her skirts before she turned to walk out again, she avoided looking directly at any of the other Ladies. That at least two had their mouths hanging open told her she may have been too disrespectful. It made her mind race and her stomach twist with dread but she kept her face schooled to icy pride.

No one followed to stop her as she fetched her cloak and left. The hallways beyond Queen Deventha's rooms, however, were completely unknown to her and she looked around nervously as she tried to put distance between herself and the Queen. Encountering Kresh's servant was a relief.

"You serve her Imperial Highness?" The woman looked baffled as if she didn't speak Aran but Isonei tried again, "Could you take me back to my room?"

Tentatively, the woman gestured and led her down other halls to an unfamiliar door. She slipped inside and returned a moment later looking relieved and beckoning Isonei in.

"You came to see me?" Kresh was lounging on a sofa in the sunlight wearing a peculiar loose blue garment.

"I had intended to go back to my rooms but I got lost after leaving her Majesty. That woman made me so angry!" Isonei took a breath and Kresh grinned viciously.

"Come sit with me, Nei. Tell me."

"I lost my temper, Kresh. Things seemed to be going well until we went to her rooms from the garden." Isonei let the servant take her cloak and came to sit on the sofa with Kresh curling close. She blinked as Kresh made a strangled sound. "You said to sit with you."

"On... On another seat, Nei." Kresh was slightly flushed. "This is too familiar."

"My apologies, Kresh." Isonei rose and settled onto a chair, tucking her feet under her and slumping over the arm.

"I think I understand why Draeseth keeps you locked away. Arans must be a warm people."

"We are, but that's a Lerian habit I've picked up. When you lounge you tend to cuddle. If a Lerian says, 'sit with me,' you're meant to sit on the same sofa." She offered Kresh a rueful smile, "When I'm unhappy I like to be close and I wasn't thinking."

Kresh smiled faintly and flushed again. "What did she do to upset you?"

"Apparently she wanted to play a game where I was meant to sit in another room by myself-"

"And they would sit and say horrible things about you. She did that with me, I lost my temper as well." Kresh glared into the middle distance.

"I didn't get that far, Kresh. She pointed at the door and I left as if I had been dismissed. A Countess, Giserona, fetched me back and she did it again. I tried to be polite but firm but I'm tired, I'm bleeding, and I haven't kept anything but some tea down all day. One of the older women stood up and said, 'How dare you?' and my face just... fell off."

Kresh tilted her head with a smile. "Fell off?"

"My polite, cheerful," she put on a bright smile and then let it drop, "face."

The Phaethian woman laughed delightedly. "I wish I had been there. What did you say?"

"I said perhaps it was my fault, I let them call me by my lesser title and I was trying so hard to be pleasant and cheerful despite the fact that I'm bleeding, exhausted, and starved." Isonei sighed as Kresh leaned forward enjoying herself. "I told them I would not remain and be treated disrespectfully. And that if this is how she treated you, small wonder you believe Torgans are incapable and undeserving of respect."

She clapped and howled with laughter, falling back on the sofa. "Nei, oh, Nei. Your face fell off and shattered."

"I loathe cruelty, Kresh. If I won't tolerate it directed at my servants, why would I tolerate it directed at myself?" Isonei huffed, putting her chin on her arms. "Draeseth is going to shout at me for it. He respects her Majesty far more than she respects him."

"But you wanted to go back to your rooms?" Kresh was still smiling.

"Krouth will have helpful suggestions. He sometimes acts like I should be put in a barrel and sent back to Leria but he's so clever he's indispensable."

"Tell me, you watched the sparring? How did my husband fare?"

"He and Draeseth were both impressive. They looked like they were trying to kill each other until Draeseth broke his shield, and then the two of them took on their three brothers and Adareth's opponent. They were the only two left standing. They were terrifying." Isonei tilted her head, "And surprisingly graceful."

"You fought well." Kresh looked past her with a slight smirk.

"I usually do." Rogath dragged another of the chairs closer to Kresh and turned it so that he could look at them both. "I thought Isonei was spending the day with my mother."

"She was until your mother did the same thing to her that she did to me and Nei lost her temper. She must have a few drops of Phaethian blood; I enjoy her company too much for her to be lacking it."

"Have your servant summon my brother." Rogath folded his arms and eyed Isonei with a faint smile. "I can make certain he does not shout at you. I did speak to my mother about the way she treated Kresh, I will do it again."

"Draeseth said he wanted me to be more strident." Isonei made a face. "I very rarely lost my temper before I met him. The longer I'm with him the more it happens."

"He brings that out in people." Rogath's smile widened.

Kresh spoke in a peculiar melodic language to the nervously waiting servant who dropped a low curtsy and darted out.

"Was that Phaethian?"

"It was. I use my mother tongue as much as possible. All of the servants are required to speak it."

"It sounds pretty, more fluid than Torgan somehow."

The Phaethian woman smiled smugly and murmured something to Rogath that Isonei didn't catch.

"Do you only speak Aran?" Kresh toyed with the folds of her garment. "My father had us taught every language in the Empire, I learned Aran when I came here."

"Have you learned Lerian? I used to trip over it constantly, but it flows now. It's a lovely language." Isonei smiled warmly.

"Some. The language is difficult."

"Yes. It tricks the tongue."

"My brother says you have a clever one." Rogath's sly smile looked much like his father's.

"Draeseth did? How much was he blushing?" Isonei sat up in surprise.

"Burgath did. He said in addition to being charming the things you do with your mouth for our brother would make a demon blush." He grinned and blushed ever so slightly.

"It baffles me that Torgan women don't use their mouths! It's just another way of enjoying your lover!" She settled over the arm of the chair again with a mock pout. "Your brother certainly knows what to do with his. I can't imagine someone enjoying that and not returning the favor."

"Some of us find it degrading." Kresh looked at her with a scowl that suggested she took the words as a personal insult.

"How so? Why would it be degrading for a woman and not a man?" Isonei tilted her head deliberately widening her eyes in bafflement.

"Kissing a man's sword blade in Phaethia means you are beaten and you submit to his will. The word for cock and the word for sword are the same." Rogath leaned back in his chair and his eyes glittered like Draeseth's.

Isonei tilted her head from side to side. "If you look at it that way it might be. In Ara, pleasing your lover is as important as being pleased yourself. Hands and mouths are wonderful tools for doing that." She smiled at Kresh in a way she hoped was appeasing, "I enjoy the sounds he makes, and I can't imagine accepting pleasure without returning it."

"You return it so well he was ready to invade Ara to have you at his side." Kresh relaxed and smirked at her. "Perhaps you could give a demonstration?"

"If Draeseth is willing..." She shrugged without lifting her head from her arms. "I've been telling him he should educate his brothers, it would be wrong of me to refuse to give you a lesson or two if you needed it."

The indignant look on Kresh's face sent Isonei into a fit of laughter. When she composed herself she grinned impishly at the almost snarling Phaethian woman. "You can't tell me you would respond any differently if someone asked you to give a demonstration."

Kresh eyed her, letting her fury fade to annoyance. "I would have suggested my husband fling you from the parapets."

"But this dance is so much fun!" Isonei gave her an exaggerated pout and watched as Kresh suppressed a smile.

"What does your husband do when you act this way?" The Phaethian woman stretched and curled on her side.

"He threatens to put me over his knees. It's more fun to make him threaten it than it is for him to actually do it." She made a face and Kresh grinned.

"You must enjoy being over my knees, woman, you provoke me so often." Draeseth purred, leaning over the chair behind her making her twitch in surprise.

"I told you from the start I enjoy your reactions." Isonei laughed as he scooped her out of the chair and sat in it himself, arranging her on his lap.

Rogath began to speak to him and he stiffened slightly before Kresh added her own indecipherable opinion in Torgan. She let the three of them converse listening to the rumble of his voice in his chest and feeling a little guilty again for planning to leave. Being so close to him melted her resolve. Pressing her head closer to his chest, she rubbed her cheek just slightly against his tunic.

Draeseth pressed her head firmly against his chest and his tone was amused as he continued speaking.

Kresh switched back into Aran to tease, "Is it true that his voice arouses you, Nei?"

Isonei laughed and rubbed her face against this tunic again. "Not exactly. But I love the way it rumbles in his chest, it melts me."

"If I press your head to my chest when I scold you, would it melt you into listening?" He massaged the base of her skull and she glowered at the empty air in front of her making Kresh and Rogath laugh.

"Nei's face is so expressive."

Tilting her face up, Draeseth kissed her head. "Isonei is an elegant name, your Imperial Highness, I would ask you to use it."

"I told her she could shorten it, my sister Gyszel did the same-"

"I would have her use your name properly." He frowned down at her.

"I told her-"

"Do not argue with me."

"It's my name!" Isonei pushed away and stood. "If I allow her to shorten it, she's permitted."

"She complained of being tired, and hungry." Kresh sounded deeply amused. "If she had not mentioned bleeding I would be pressing the offer of a demonstration."

"Bleeding?" Draeseth rose and ran his hands down her arms, his scowl turning to concern. "When did it start?"

"After sex this morning, but it had mostly stopped before I was summoned. I spent most of the day resting and writing letters, but I haven't been able to eat. The only thing I've kept down has been tea."

"You should have stayed in bed. Her Majesty would have waited to have you join her retinue."

"Halloc Urroth said it wasn't anything to be worried about and-"

"The midwives were of a different opinion, wife, or they would not have cautioned me so strongly." He swept her up and cradled her as if she were too ill to be allowed to walk. "Thank you for looking after my wife, your Imperial Highness. We will leave you both to your plans."

"I enjoy her company, Prince Draeseth. If she does not wish to be alone tomorrow, she may join me again."

"I would like that very much, Kresh, thank you." She placed her hand over her heart with a smile.

Draeseth attempted a bow without setting her down and carried her out quickly. Once in the hall he exhaled and chided quietly, "Her Imperial Highness. Calling her by name without permission is disrespectful."

"I have her permission."

"Not even my father has her permission." He looked down at her with a baffled frown.

"Can she call him by name?" Isonei tilted her head lacing her fingers behind his neck.

"No, that would be disrespectful." His lip twitched with amusement as she gave him a pointed look, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head. "If it is disrespectful to him it would be disrespectful to her."

"Exactly. I have a great deal of respect for her. She's made a life in an unfriendly place far from home. Anyone who can do that is impressive and more than worthy of my respect." She smiled as his face softened. "And I like being called Nei; it reminds me of my sister Gyszel."

"I will allow her to call you that without complaint," Draeseth paused, "but your name is too lovely to shorten. No one else should be permitted that familiarity."

Unlacing her fingers, she stroked his jaw, "I still say it's my name, but I'll take your wishes into account. There aren't many people here I would allow to be that familiar."

He made an annoyed sound in his throat. "Not allowing it also protects you."

"I understand." Laying her head against his shoulder again, she rubbed his neck before re-entwining her fingers. The thought of reminding him how seldom he used her name crossed her mind but it would undoubtedly cause an argument.

Draeseth adjusted his hold. "Having you to myself before dinner would be more pleasant if I had waited to bed you."

"The next time you spar with your brothers you might wait until you're finished and let me see you in your armor again first." She beamed at the way he lifted his head, blushing slightly, but smiling with smug pride.