Torgan Wine Ch. 60

"I haven't finished. You will stay until he arrives and Isonei will remain outside of the crypts with you during the day."

"And at night?" Her father's grip had tightened on her hand.

"She may sleep where she wishes, whether it be in the family rooms, the crypts, or with you and her brother. As per our agreement, she chooses when and where she goes without chiding or being pressed."

"I want to sleep in the crypts-"

"I would prefer you slept in a bed, either in the family rooms or with me and your brother."

Taking a breath she spoke carefully, "I will consider your wishes, father."

There was a long silence until Arissa made an annoyed sound, "I need to walk again. Sitting still starts to hurt for some reason. Isonei? Ximesra? Would the two of you like to walk with me?"

"Yes! Please!" Isonei started trying to wriggle out of the middle of the lounging embrace.

"Let me get up first, sister." Ivorith moved from behind her and helped her to her feet.

Arissa held out her hand and Isonei took it with a relieved smile, offering her other to Ximesra. As the three walked away from the still seated men, she heard the Daga say with quiet firmness, "If you don't hold to the agreement not to press her, I won't be the one pulling her away from you. She'll flee from you as she did with the Torgan."

°°°°°°°°°°

Isonei reluctantly emerged from the crypts early in the morning. The night had been spent dreaming of laughing and talking with the elder Dagas, as well as dancing while some of them played instruments resembling Lothlaerith's kanon. Even Iehmarthe had seemed to enjoy himself, teaching her a dance she'd never seen before. It had felt as if the night ended too soon, but instead of feeling tired afterward she felt very much awake.

The only people missing had been Boraethe and Arissa. Isonei assumed they'd been enjoying each other too much to attend or perhaps they might have decided to let her have an evening alone with the elder Dagas.

The family bath was empty, but as she readied the water and moved the washing seat into place a maid brought in a towel and a robe, taking her clothes. By the time she had washed and soaked for short while, Arissa had come to peer in curiously.

"Boraethe said you probably hadn't brought your clothes with you."

"No. I'll go back to my room to dress. The maid brought me a robe."

Arissa started to laugh, "I thought it was just our rooms you walked around in mostly naked!"

"No! In Ara, we barely bother with robes when we don't have guests." Isonei grinned impishly at the way the Lerian woman blushed and shook her head. "Speaking of guests, I didn't see you at the party last night."

"It didn't seem right to me. I know you invited everyone, but the house in your dream felt so... so intimate. I wasn't comfortable being there the first time with so many of the elder Dagas."

"The house needed to be put back in order. Last night was much better. The eldest helped me clean it thoroughly and he knew a peculiar trick to add rooms without altering the outside of the house. I have Aran rooms and Lerian rooms inside it now." She smiled as Arissa undressed and moved around the tub to wash. "Though he does get a little annoyed."

The Lerian woman's brow furrowed as she looked at Isonei curiously, "At you?"

"He feels the entrance to the crypts should be more properly placed. 'A sitting room is not an appropriate entrance, daughter of Liadith.'" She tried to put on and hold an expression of baffled innocence as Arissa began to giggle at her impression of the eldest. "I've tried to put it where he suggested but it keeps slipping back to the sitting room. It amuses father tremendously."

"He says that's why you keep moving it." Boraethe leaned in the doorway with his arms folded. "And the eldest has suggested Aran baths for the family rooms. I may consider it."

Isonei beamed at him, "You would enjoy them!"

"I would like to enjoy this bath with my Arissa." He gave her a pointed look. "Now."

"He is so prudish, Arissa! I don't know how you can bear it!" Isone gave the grinning Lerian woman a mischievous look, "I hope he at least takes his clothes off for sex."

Arissa broke into laughter, pointing as the Daga tossed her robe out of the room and picked up her towel.

"I like my privacy, Isonei, and your presence is keeping me from undressing and having sex."

Climbing from the bath she tried to put on a look of mock offense and took her towel with an exaggerated huff. "Is there something wrong with your bed, Daga Liadith?"

Boraethe struggled to keep a straight face and pushed her head to the side before giving her a playful shove out of the room and closing the door.

Giggling to herself, Isonei collected her robe and went to her bedroom to dry off. She was in her Lerian chemise and undergarments when a maid came in to help her into the summer dress that had been laid out for her. The brown and cream dress had scarlet dianthus stitched on the bodice and Isonei beamed into the mirror noticing a single bee perched on one of the flowers.

As the maid began to brush out her hair Isonei asked, "How are Xagorath and Ximesra? Are they still rising early?"

"I'm not Amay, Lady." The maid gave her a peculiar look.

"I'm aware. I thought perhaps you'd spoken to Amay or knew something of what happens in other parts of the house." Isonei couldn't help but miss Krouth just a little. The man always seemed to know everything.

"I-I didn't mean to disappoint you, Lady." The young woman looked miserable as she began to braid Isonei's hair.

Isonei felt a twinge and tried to give her a smile in the mirror, "What's your name?"

"Alyra, Lady."

"I'm not disappointed, Alyra. I've just grown accustomed to..." she hesitated and the maid met her eyes in the mirror. "It's a strange thing to have certain people with you every day and then to leave them behind. Prince Draeseth had a servant, Master Krouth, who always seemed to know everything that was happening no matter where we were and he always knew exactly what we needed sometimes before we did."

"Torgan servants are more attentive?" Alyra frowned slightly.

"It may have only been Master Krouth that was like that. The Torgan maids were completely silent and kept their eyes glued to the floor. It was unnerving."

"You were attended by a male servant?" The maid began to pin the Lerian braids in a bun, leaving out several stands.

"For most things, yes. They pressed Lady Ximesra into my service as a maid while I was at the Torgan palace. She was much more of a friend and companion to me than a maid but it was such a relief to be able to speak to someone while they pinned up my hair." Isonei gave the young woman a bright smile and was rewarded with one in return.

Isonei sat patiently as the strands of hair were curled and covered in thin cloth before they were pressed with the hot iron. The ringlets around her face and down her neck looked very Lerian.

"You've done a lovely job, thank you, Alyra."

"You're very welcome, Lady." Alyra was smiling as she bustled out.

After admiring the dress in the mirror for a moment and giving a little twirl, Isonei decided to go back down to the crypts to show it to Iehmarthe. Before she could reach the stairs that led down into them, one of the older servants with a worried expression caught her eye as he moved deeper into the family rooms. Changing her direction and looking at him curiously the man's expression changed to relief as he noticed her.

"Lady Isonei. A messenger has come from Ara, he must have ridden through the night to arrive so early. He insisted that he be permitted to speak to Lord Eliorith and to you. I was going to inform Daga Liadith and inquire if you were able to speak to him."

"If he and Arissa are still bathing you might give them a little more time before informing him. I'll join my father and meet with the messenger. Where are they speaking?"

"In Lord Eliorith's chambers."

"Could you have someone bring some hot tea and perhaps something for the messenger to eat?"

The servant smiled faintly, "At once, Lady Isonei."

Showing the dress to Iehmarthe would have to wait. Isonei made her way to the rooms that had been given to her father and brother quickly. Why a messenger would ride through the night to speak to them both was puzzling.

Pausing at the door, she knocked and then opened it a crack, "Father?"

"Isonei! Come in!"

He sounded delighted and she pushed open the door to find him standing in his robe next to her disheveled looking brother and a grinning Andnaeuth.

"Andnaeuth?!" She laughed as the Aran Prince crowed and rushed forward to embrace her. Letting him spin her and trying to keep up with him as he almost capered into a few turns of the Seivenis Jara without music, Isonei wasn't prepared when he leaned in for a kiss. She turned her head to break it and stepped back, giving him a stern look, "Cousin."

"Don't call me that, Isonei. I wanted to strangle Oberath when he told me he'd insisted on being considered family. I want more than that and we aren't close enough for it to be frowned on." Andnaeuth dragged her back into an embrace. "Let me beg your forgiveness for not coming to bring you home myself. I wanted to."

As she tried to find a gentle way to refuse, Ivorith stepped forward to put his hand on her arm. "She still has to remain exclusive until the next festival, your Highness."

"I remember you gave your word to Draeseth not to drink and dance at the next Festival," Andnaeuth released her reluctantly, "I'll come visit you and keep you company while you're watching others revel."

Ivorith put his arm around her as she moved away from the Aran Prince. "My sister is looking forward to spending time with family. After she's rested and recovered at home she was considering a visit to our sister in Eshho and-"

"Grandfather will insist she stay with them if she comes so close to House Neriris." Andnaeuth offered her an impish smile. "I have things to attend to in the north of Leria, coming back to the south of Ara will be a delight. In the meantime, little songbird, I want you to write to me. I've missed you."

"Songbird?" Eliorith asked curiously and Isonei covered her face.

"It's a private jest, Lord Eliorith." Andnaeuth's violet eyes were sparkling as Isonei looked up. "I look forward to persuading her to sing for me again."

She couldn't help but tease back, "You are horrible, your majesty! I-"

"Isonei!" Her father's sharp tone made her bite her tongue.

"Lord Eliorith, do not snap at Isonei in my presence." Andnaeuth's voice was so cool it made her shiver, "I have been robbed of her jests for long enough."

"Calling your Highness by the wrong title is not an acceptable jest." Her father sounded equally displeased.

Carefully, Isonei tried to mediate, "He's the jester king, father. It isn't meant-"

"It's not acceptable, Isonei."

"Yes, father."

"House Neriris will be a much warmer host for the Festival, my Queen of fools. They won't chide you for calling the jester king of Ara by his preferred title, and they may even call you 'your majesty,' as well." His tone was cordial but the biting look he was giving her father somehow reminded her of King Orgath.

"How long did you spend in Torga, my dear Andnaeuth?" Isonei squeezed her brother's arm and put on a coolly sweet tone as she moved away from him, stepping between their father and Andnaeuth.

"More time than I wanted to." The Aran Prince's face contorted in a grimace. "I'm tired and possibly being sent back there after I endure that ice-blooded Daga Lothlaerith."

"He isn't ice-blooded. He's-"

"For you, I expect he's unbearably charming, my little songbird. You have that effect on a certain kind of man." Andnaeuth paused as servant's bustled in with hot tea and a tray of breakfast rolls.

"I asked them to send tea and something for the messenger to eat." Isonei gestured at the table. "Would you like to bathe first?"

"No. I wanted to speak to you of Torga before the Daga arrived if possible." He moved toward the table.

Isonei glanced to her father and Ivorith and they frowned slightly. She gestured that they should go to dress.

"There is nothing I would say to you that I wouldn't say in front of my Daga."

"Nothing?" Andnaeuth gave her an innocent smile and fluttered his lashes.

"Nothing."

"No secrets?" He took a seat at the table and patted his thigh as if inviting her to sit or to lay across his lap.

"There is only one secret I would ever keep from my Daga and it isn't one I would share with you, your Highness."

Andnaeuth's playfulness faded, "But you'd keep secrets from your father? You know I dislike it when you call me that."

"My father and brother should dress before my Daga arrives. If they wish to know what we discuss I will gladly tell them, even if you wish to discuss the events before you helped Draeseth take me out of your father's palace unseen and covered in bruises." She offered a cool smile as she took a seat across from him.

"Torga hardened you, Isonei. Grandfather worried that hardship would ruin you as it ruined my mother."

"I haven't been ruined, Andnaeuth, changed, perhaps."

"I don't remember your eyes being so green."

His puzzlement as he studied her face made her smile. "What did you need to discuss?"

"We wish to join the Sons of Mun and the Northern Isles in their war. Father sent a delegation to discuss trade when Karis was first conquered, they returned with tales of horrors beyond imagining and a missive demanding our surrender. Since that time, we've given support to the Sons but because of the Accord, we haven't been able to join the fight.

"It would have put Leria in a dangerous position and been an invitation to the Torgans to invade as well as allow the Phaethians to march through to attack us both. If Torga is joining the fray against the Phaethian Empire, we feel it could be the ideal time to give more aid and make a concerted attack.

"We need a mediator who can judge the moods of the Dagas. If you've been claimed by a Daga, your King wishes to press you into service. It will require-"

A short sharp rap on the door cut him off and it opened immediately. Daga Liadith's eyes were bright and his face was set in a scowl that made the hair rise on the back of Isonei's neck. She started to stand but a gesture of his hand encouraged her to resume her seat.

"The daughter of Liadith requires time to recover before she is pressed into service as a mediator. And I will not begin to address the betrayal that is sending a delegation to the Phaethians here."

"This was why I wished to speak to her alone." Andnaeuth straightened and frowned. "I didn't expect a Daga to listen at the door."

"I have no need to. I know what occurs in my house. I know that you embraced the daughter of Liadith when she did not wish to be embraced and that her father and brother will not make the same mistake they made with Feyrith."

"My Daga..." Isonei dropped her chin and gave him a pleading look, "The Dagas can take King Tamnaeuth to task for sending the delegation but Prince Andnaeuth has been sent to discuss destroying that wretched Empire not joining it. Truthfully, I don't think my King would have believed how cruel the Phaethians are if he hadn't sent men he trusted, and if they hadn't been sent in a peaceful and respectful way, they wouldn't have survived or been permitted to return to deliver the message."

"Go show the eldest your dress and allow him to chide you for mediating after I have said you should not." Daga Liadith gave her a faint smile.

"Daughters of Liadith make peace." Isonei rose from her seat and stood on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek as she went past. Dropping her voice she switched to Lerian, "Whether he wants to be or not, he is my cousin."

"I will take that into consideration, sister."

Leaving the room, she went directly to the crypts expecting to be greeted by one of the priests as she came down the stairs. Instead, Arissa was waiting with a worried look.

"Our Daga said it was Andnaeuth not a messenger and that he was being inappropriate. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Arissa. I'm no longer looking forward to visiting my family in House Neriris so greatly, but I'm fine. Andnaeuth is being sent to Daga Lothlaerith and then, possibly, into Torga, so I should have some time to ease him into thinking of me as a cousin instead of a lover. He's been thinking of me in a certain way since the last Festival and while my feelings have changed, his haven't. He needs time." Isonei started to move past her but the Lerian woman took hold of her hand and pulled her to the chamber with Berdinothe's sarg.

"Come kneel, both of you." The priest waiting inside gestured to the kneeler. "The eldest is occupied but he wants his heart to know he saw her twirl."

Isonei beamed as she took her place next to Arissa.

"He is not pleased that you chose to mediate after your Daga said you were not permitted. Daughters of Liadith make peace, but they must also listen and allow their Dagas to rule as they see fit."

Bowing her head, Isonei winced, "Yes, my Daga. I'll try to remember that."

The priest's tone became slightly teasing, "Your father expects you to remember those words at least as well as you remember where the entrance to the crypts should be placed. You are to remain with Arissa in the family rooms until your Daga comes to fetch you, sweet girl."

°°°°°°°°°°

Lounging across her bed as they waited, Isonei tentatively touched Arissa's belly.

"The baby isn't going to bite you." Arissa laughed and pressed her hand down more firmly. "Sometimes I can feel her moving but Boraethe hasn't been able to."

"He said you'd chosen a name, but it was ill luck to share it. Have you chosen one for a boy as well?"

Arissa made a face, "My mother said I'd know if I needed a boy's name. Only girls names ever occurred to her."

"It couldn't hurt to have a boy's name on hand in case she's wrong. My father was so certain I was a boy I didn't have a name for a week!" She gave Arissa an impish grin.

"I suppose it couldn't. I think I'd want help thinking of names for a boy regardless. I want to use Issa for my children." Arissa rubbed her belly, "It may not be ideal for a boy."

"Why not?" Isonei made a face of exaggerated thoughtfulness that made the Lerian woman giggle. "A name like Issamarthe or Issaerthe would be nice. Or Berissaethe, Borissaethe..."

"I like those!"

"Or you could choose an Aran name like the Torgans seem to enjoy, Issanath-"

"No!" Arissa laughed, "I'll give any son of mine a Lerian name. I do like Issamarthe."

The sound of Boraethe sucking his lips against his teeth distracted them. "You like who?"

"Isonei was helping me think of names for a son in case my mother was wrong. She thought of several and even started trying to give me Aran names, but I think I liked Issamarthe the best."

"The elder Dagas approve of it." He gave Isonei a deeply amused look. "I'd like to hear all of them." Boraethe helped Arissa from the bed as she excitedly relayed the names Isonei had suggested.