Torgan Wine Ch. 42

Many thanks to Todger65 for his help in editing and Nthusiastic for beta reading and asking good questions!

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Isonei woke to the unpleasant sound of Krouth arguing quietly with Burgath in her bedroom. Whining, she buried her head under the pillow. She whined again as Krouth began tapping on the hand she'd left on top.

"Your Grace, you have a guest."

Peeling back the pillow she glowered at Burgath. He snorted and took a seat on the edge of her bed. "Wake up, sour little Duchess. Or I can call for her Imperial Highness to wake you."

"Why are you being mean to me?" Isonei curled around her pillow keeping an eye on him.

His face cracked into a grin. "My mother would like to have you in her retinue today if you are feeling better."

Giving him a sullen pout, she huffed, "If I insulted you I promise I didn't mean to."

He laughed and smacked the bed near her bent leg. "Get up! Father wants you to start enjoying your time here. My mother will be charming. If you behave yourself I will take you to see Adareth on the way."

"It was very sweet of him to send you to look in on me last night."

"He adores you, Isonei. Of all of us, he will be the one to take mother to task the most sharply if she is unkind to you again." He glanced at the pale blue dress Krouth laid out. "That will do for today, but for dinner, Father would like you to wear something Aran. There will be a small gathering with the upper nobility, our cousins for the most part. Draeseth will be here before dinner. Father will be furious with him if he puts off his return. The letter he sent with yours was much less warm."

"He shouldn't be so harsh with him." Isonei sighed and began to climb out of bed on the other side.

"There is no Torgan man who would turn down an Aran wife once they see how gentle and forgiving you are." He rose from the edge of her bed and left the room under Krouth's palpably disapproving glare. "I will be waiting in the main room."

"I'll wash and join you shortly."

Krouth closed the door firmly. "Forgive me, your Grace. I could not keep him out."

"He doesn't mean any harm, Krouth. Would you make certain there is something he likes on the table for breakfast? Anything but the chicken livers or eggs." She shuddered.

"Of course, your Grace." His lip twitched as if he were amused for a moment. "Would you like anything prepared for his Highness' return?"

"I would, but you're going to frown at me." Isonei looked at him nervously.

"I expected you would ask to have Lady Lislora in the rooms with you and his Highness. The study is being made into a room for her."

Isonei took a breath and relaxed. "Thank you, Krouth. If you would have some of her favorite things on hand, and some of Draeseth's wine. They will both be unhappy and need something to brighten their moods. I want her to feel welcome and I want him to be able to relax and be comfortable."

"I will see to it, your Grace." He inclined his head and poured water in the small basin.

Washing quickly and dressing herself Isonei tried not to keep Burgath waiting for long. A maid came in as she was fastening her overdress and put her hair up in crossed braids, pinning the cloth in place deftly. It would be very nice to have Mes back, this woman was silent and kept her eyes on the floor when she'd finished.

Emerging from her bedroom she saw Burgath pacing around the full breakfast table. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long."

"You are surprisingly quick with dressing. I was only looking over the food. Father tries to feed you well."

"He does! If I could keep it down I would need my dresses let out again." She gave him a bright smile.

"You dislike the chicken livers?"

"The smell makes me feel ill. It's the same with eggs. Even thinking of them I start to feel queasy." Isonei looked at the table with dismay. "If the veorola didn't have such peculiar effects I would be glad to take it."

"Perhaps in much smaller doses, and with time for you to sleep off the worst of it before you are expected to join anyone for a meal?" He offered her a faint smile. "You were very pliable but then you came back to yourself without the veneer of pleasantness you usually wear. For a moment I could see you as a Queen."

She sighed coming to look at the plates on the table. "My face fell off. I learned from my mothers, I should make life easier for those I care for and not harder. Being pleasant and charming, keeping those around me smiling is the best way to do that. Torgans are a wonderful, infuriating people; I sometimes have difficulty knowing if you're bringing out the best in me or the worst."

Burgath's grin when she looked up was the broadest she'd seen it. "'Wonderful infuriating people.' For that, Duchess Isonei, I can forgive you for taking my favorite foods from the breakfast table."

"If I could bear them at all I would endure them for the pleasure of your company, dear Burgath."

He laughed and gestured at the table, "We should eat and go to my mother before she sends someone to fetch you."

"Do you think she'll have introductions made this time?" Isonei asked putting on an innocent smile.

"I will make them myself, dear Isonei." His grin became wolfish, "I can see the pleasant mask very clearly now that I have seen your true face."

"Draeseth usually sees through it too. He gives me this look." She imitated his warning glance and set Burgath laughing again.

"I have never seen anyone with your skill in making faces, Isonei." He took the seat Krouth had come to offer, and Isonei did the same.

"My brothers didn't enjoy it very much; I imitated them relentlessly when we were children. My mothers were always telling me to stop."

"And your father?" He put several of the sweet batter cakes on his plate.

"He enjoyed it as long as I wasn't imitating him or my mothers. Respectfulness was something he worked very hard to instill."

"It did not extend to your brothers?" He smiled as he took some cold chicken and fruit as well.

"In House Ernelis it's a family tradition for the daughters to annoy the sons. He told them once, 'If you can endure your sister, you can find patience with anyone.'" Her head snapped around as she heard Krouth cough as if he were covering a laugh. "I told you, you would get along well with my father, Master Krouth."

"He raised a very fine daughter, your Grace. I am certain I would."

"Father intends to invite him to visit. If your father sees how well we treat you he may stop petitioning King Tamnaeuth to bring you back. There are rumors he offered to help pay for the army it would require to fetch you home." Burgath's amused tone made her insides twist.

Krouth spoke firmly to the Prince in Torgan as she looked down at her plate, no longer feeling hungry for the two sweet batter cakes and fruit she'd put on it.

"I did not mean to upset you." Burgath reached out and took hold of her hand. "I wanted to give you something to look forward to."

"His pain is amusing to you," Isonei spoke softly looking at him through the slight haze of tears forming. "If it were your daughter taken from you and held in a place with people you didn't trust, a place you couldn't reach her? Would you do less?"

The Torgan Prince swallowed and looked helplessly to Krouth for a moment before answering, "I would not. I would do everything I could. I was not thinking from a father's point of view."

She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes, nodding.

"You look pitiful now, Duchess. I can understand why my brother would do everything possible to keep you contented. If he saw me upset you this way he might give me a beating the way he did Shoban."

That drew a half-hearted laugh from her. "I was so worried when I couldn't get the door open. I thought the three of you were hurting him, I was going to run fetch the guard."

Burgath straightened with a sly grin. "You chose the most capable fighter in Torga to make your own. Rogath said you looked in awe of him when he approached in his armor."

"Draeseth is magnificent. He looked so intimidating and confident in his armor. I was wretchedly disappointed when your mother said I couldn't go with him."

"He smells when he comes out of the armor." Burgath relaxed and began eating again. "She was being kind to you."

"I would've been happy to scrub him first." Isonei smiled wistfully and took a bite of the fruit. "He squirms so adorably when I wash between his toes."

Burgath choked on his food, rising from the table to cough. "Aran wives would bring Torga to a standstill. We would all be in the baths or the bedroom. How does he pull himself away?"

"Force of will, I've never met anyone as stubborn. He sets his mind to something and he doesn't give an inch! It's so..." She took a small bite of the batter cake as she hunted for the word.

"Infuriating?" Burgath sat in his seat again, his eyes glittering like his brother's.

"Yes! But I can't help but admire it at the same time. It's very attractive."

"Is it a trait he shares with your father?" His tone was teasing, but he looked as though he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

"It is. But my father has learned to give in on occasion; though, he makes certain it's on his terms."

"If you cannot say no, say yes with a caveat."

"Exactly. That was why he made me promise not to marry Draeseth in this year and to come home for the Festival no matter what. He knows I can be impulsive, and he saw that your brother enchanted me," she smiled when Burgath barked a laugh, "he worried I might rush into something ill-advised if he wasn't here to look after me."

"Krouth looks after you now." The Prince looked slightly bemused. "That is why you would obey him instead of me."

"If it's any consolation, I would obey you before I would obey her Imperial Highness."

His wolfish grin returned, "You still have not forgiven her."

"No. That will take time. I liked her, Burgath. But what she said... it went deeper than the disrespect to the Dagas. It made it impossible for me to ignore the monstrous things her Empire still does." Isonei chewed another piece of fruit thoughtfully. "Things I shouldn't have tried to ignore."

"I understand. There are many who feel that way, those who would see Torga free of the Empire's influence."

"Then why did Rogath fight so hard to marry her?"

"It needed to be done to keep the Empire from turning on us. It was thought our loyalty was wavering."

"You need alliances with Ara and Leria as well as the Sons of Mun and the Northern Isles before you can defy them."

"Arans are not strong enough to help, even if they could be persuaded to send soldiers to our aid, and the Lerians... whatever ground we gained we lost it when we took you. That they did not venture out of their gate to save you tells me they would be unwilling to send soldiers for any reason."

"They would need a very good one. Something more than one lost daughter."

"Such as?" Burgath poured her a cup of juice.

"You would have to speak to the Dagas. It would require a mediator to vouch for you as I did in Leria and complete honesty on your part. A single lie or half-truth would destroy any chance you had."

"They have a strong alliance with Ara because your people are honest." Burgath inclined his head.

"Not all Arans are, some can dance around the truth in ways that would make your head spin, but most of us strive to be. Our Gods ask it of us and there are consequences for lying and breaking your word."

Taking a sip of the juice she immediately felt ill and rushed to the washing room bringing up the few bites of breakfast she had managed to eat. Once her stomach had stopped heaving and she had washed her face she rejoined Burgath. "I had promised to take my silphium every day. Every time my stomach turns I wonder if I could have insisted more strenuously to Draeseth that he let me keep my word."

"Your Gods cannot fault you. He had it sold to help pay for your keeping." Burgath offered his arm but she turned to give Krouth an icy look. It was something she'd heard the night before but had forgotten about.

The slim servant bowed in apology. "Should I refrain from bringing him his wine when he returns?"

"No, but pour a glass over his head for me, please." Isonei folded her arms and Burgath barked a laugh.

"I will give him a solid blow for it, Duchess. Master Krouth is too loyal to deliver a message like that."

"He might hit you back." She gave him a doubtful look. "I would prefer you didn't get a beating. Master Krouth could make a spill look like an accident."

The Torgan Prince in front of her grinned wickedly offering his arm again, "Draeseth would miss the point of his punishment. We prefer directness."

"Her Grace will require a cloak if the Queen will be outside. She chills quickly." He moved with speed to fetch it down for her and fastened it securely. "Your gloves are still in the pouch, your Grace."

"Thank you, Krouth."

°°°°°°°°°°

Isonei had been interested as Burgath pointed out the paintings and tapestries along the hall and spoke of the things they depicted. The victors of battles inside and outside of Torga, saints, and family members were oddly fascinating. But when he took her into another hall to see the three massive tapestries hung there, she marveled.

The battle scene showed a small group of Aran soldiers fighting bravely against an immense flood of Torgans. They looked delicate and the tapestry makers had used silver thread for their hair and a blue almost as pale as her own skin for theirs. She followed it along the wall studying the jumble of colors and images as they were depicted in chains with their shining heads low, walking behind the Torgan horses. The King and Queen were gesturing to a cage and in the next tapestry, they were inside it.

"They were strange looking to us. They were put on display in the square you rode through with us, just outside the walls." He pointed to the bowls ringing the cage. "People tried to feed them. At first, it was believed they would eat if they grew hungry enough. Food was always there in front of them. They were offered swine, hare, chicken, lamb, even fish, but they refused. When they were asked, they said it was because they could not tell what food was clean and what was not."

"Torgans cook clean meats in the fat of the unclean." Isonei nodded feeling her heart ache for them even though she didn't know them and they were long dead.

"Queen Olitheilla visited them often. As they wasted away she pleaded with them to eat. There is a tale that says one of the soldiers bowed to her and said, 'The beauty of the Torgan Queen is the only thing that will sustain us until we return home.' The stories say they were never impolite. And that women began swooning of broken hearts when they began to die. The war ended not long after the last fell."

Burgath moved to the next tapestry. "They had been given a Torgan burial in the Temple sepulchre on the Queen's command. Their caskets were brought out and carried with great honor back to the border."

"What were their names?" Isonei peered at the line of the wooden caskets on the tapestry.

"Written here, Duchess, on the caskets in Torgan." He pointed to peculiar lines on each of them. "I can read them aloud to you, if you wish."

"Please. Torgan writing is more baffling than the spoken language. Nothing curves, how can you tell the lines apart?"

He laughed softly. "I could say the same of Aran writing. Why do you have formal and informal scripts?"

"It would be too strange to write an affectionate letter to my father in the same script I would use to thank someone formally."

Muttering in Torgan for a moment, he seemed amused, and then he began to point and read the names. "Messelis, Alethris, Ravaris, Krisnelis, Urivaris, Neriris, Gremis, Ralotris, Iarmaris. Some of those are kin to you?"

"Yes." She reached out to touch the tapestry tentatively. "My father's mother was of House Messelis; my mother was of house Neriris, my brothers... Ivorith's mother is House Ravaris and her other children are of House Iarmaris. Ialath's other siblings are of House Urivaris."

"Perhaps at least one of them was as pale as they are depicted. You are pale for an Aran."

"Not so pale. I take after my father's mother; there are quite a few in House Messelis that are paler than I am. Their hair is nearly white and their eyes are a lovely shade of soft white silver."

"I will have my brother read you the poetry written about them. I believe you would enjoy it."

She offered him a wan smile. "I might." Taking his arm again they walked in silence for a moment before she tried to rekindle some pleasant conversation. "What was the Queen's name?"

"Olitheilla. After the death of the Arans, she was one who pressed for an end to the war. She busied herself with making peace and making certain the widows and orphans left here were well cared for. She became a saint. If you venture into the Temple you will see a painting of her surrounded by children and adoring women."

"That's a beautiful name. Would it be offensive if I borrowed it for a future daughter or encouraged Lislora to use it?"

"Not at all." He turned a warm smile on her. "My father would be very pleased." Burgath led her to a bench in front of a large gold tinted window overlooking the garden and gestured for her to sit. "I needed to speak with you alone. Your servant was insistent that I not be given that chance."

"He started to say something about a rumor but never finished. I choose to trust you until you give me a reason not to, Burgath."

He snorted and sat leaning forward with his elbows on his knees for a moment. "I have traded many letters with your father, your Daga, and with Andnaeuth. There are rumors that I intend to offer you the choice to marry me in exchange for returning home or that I will steal you from my brother and return you to see trade restored. Trade with Leria and Ara enriches the Dalcur." Straightening he looked at her with a frown, "I would do neither. Father has made it clear you are to stay and be Draeseth's wife."

Isonei nodded slowly, "But you need to speak to me privately?"

"Of Adareth. I went to look in on him early in the day yesterday and found him writing in a passion that I have rarely seen. He had written pages of poetry about you, lamenting that you see him as a brother. One was some forty verses about a silver hair you left on his bed when you sat next to him."

"Krouth told me not to visit him by myself and chided me for being overly familiar with him." She sighed and looked at her hands. "I treated him as a younger brother, perhaps I was too affectionate."

"I will find something to distract him. Like Andnaeuth and my father, he has rarely heard the word 'no' from a woman, they find it appealing." Burgath gently placed his hand over hers. "Are you truly intending to welcome Lady Lislora?"

"I am. I'm fond of her." Lifting her head she tried to give him a smile but it didn't feel as though her face wanted to cooperate. "She isn't a whore, Burgath. She's a very sweet woman and she's very religious. This must be terrible for her."

Smiling faintly he nodded, "I know of her. Father was amused that Draeseth took after him in making a postulant his mistress. Why he would feel the need for one with a wife so eager to see to his needs is what baffled me."

"He and I are poorly suited outside of the bedroom; the two of them are a better match. Draeseth might have put me aside for her and let me return home if she had been more experienced and joyful in bed, or he had been able to summon more patience."

Burgath blinked in surprise. "I sometimes forget how open you can be, Isonei. He cares for her that much?"

"He loves us both." She took a breath and studied his face, "I intend to ask your father to recognize an Aran Arrangement as a marriage and I will be insisting to the two of them that the Arrangement be altered to include her. As much as I hate the thought of disappointing your father, I will not be giving Draeseth a Torgan marriage."