Kros Voyeh Ch. 06

"They're aware of the danger." Inclining his head and loudly exhaling, "I'm supposed to trust them with her. If they've gone further than they should I'll chide them for it on their return. They may come to regret it on their own if Isonei gets bored."

Lislora squeezed his arm with amusement, but she caught the mildly offended look on the servant's face.

"Her Grace has a fondness for children, I'm certain she can find a way to entertain herself. Your Highness must remember how delighted she was to sing songs to the Lerian children."

Draeseth's face softened into a pleased smile. "I do. She cradled the little one as lovingly as if it were her own." It faded as he gave the man a harder look, "I expected the Halloc to be giving Isonei her lessons and perhaps walking with her not," he frowned and made an annoyed gesture.

"Her Grace was lamenting being viewed as useless-"

"If she doesn't want to be viewed as useless she should try harder to be useful!" Lislora snapped and gave the servant a sharp look. "She could learn to weave, she has nimble enough fingers, but she finds it dull. And the way she can plan a party I have no doubt she could run a household if she had an interest in it. Useful tasks bore her and she pushes them off on others."

Krouth's face was schooled into the slightly sour, dispassionate mask she'd known him to wear most of the time before she'd come to stay at the Keep. "Her Grace's talents lie elsewhere. You would be hard pressed, Lady Lislora, to emulate her way with people, though she insists it's very easy to be kind."

"Enough, Krouth." Draeseth glowered at him, "I know you have grown fond of Isonei and I didn't intend to make her feel useless. I know her skills. The woman could charm a demon into daily prayers, that does not mean you are permitted to insult Lislora."

The servant bowed wordlessly.

"We will take our lunch in my chambers. My cousin is required to assist me in choosing my wardrobe."

The look on Krouth's face when he straightened was disapproving but he gave a shallow bow, "As your Highness pleases."

They walked in silence to Draeseth's rooms and once inside with the doors closed, Lislora looked at him nervously, "Am I unkind?"

"No." He guided her to the sofa and sat next to her with a faint smile. "Isonei could make a saint seem ill-tempered by comparison. I've never met anyone like her." Taking hold of her hand in a way that made her blush, Draeseth continued, "I think the longer she stays and the more he sees of her, Krouth is coming to regret his efforts to make us see that we are not well-suited to each other."

"She wants to name a daughter after him." Lislora frowned and blinked in surprise as Draeseth barked a laugh and nodded.

"She discussed that with you?"

"I-" She blushed more deeply as he began to grin, "This morning when she pulled me aside for our discussion, she said she tried to convince you to marry me. I offered to name a daughter after her if you did."

"We discussed the name last night. She offered it to me for a daughter if I married you instead of giving her a child."

"She's trying to bribe you into marrying me by naming our children?" Lislora narrowed her eyes as her cousin began to laugh.

"No, her conversations can be difficult to relay afterward." Seeing her look, he made an amused noise. "We were discussing ways in which you were better suited to me. You might give me fine large sons, she teased me that she might give me a very pretty one and the subject turned to daughters. It was suggested I name the girl after Krouth so that he would help me keep her suitors at bay."

"You would name...?" Lislora couldn't hide her bafflement.

"In Ara, the father names his children. Isonei has begun to embrace the idea of naming her children, but I think she would be unhappy if-"

"I understand that, but you'd name a child after a servant?" She gave him a hard look as he grinned.

"The name is rich and the man may be a servant, but, as Isonei points out at every opportunity, he serves me better than I deserve at times. He has his faults, deviousness among them, but he uses it on my behalf more often than not."

"But he's so sour!"

Draeseth's smile faded, "As am I. Isonei looks past such faults easily."

"You're dour, cousin, as it suits a man of the Kroscur to be. Your servant always looks as if he's just taken a bite of unripe pudding fruit."

"Before Isonei I might have agreed with you. I had never seen Krouth smile before she came." He frowned pensively, releasing her hand, as the door opened. Food was brought in and the table laid.

Some of the leftover roasted goat had been spiced and fried, served on a bed made of the leftover vegetables cooked again and mixed with a rich sauce. The smell was so lovely she could almost forget it was goat.

Krouth stepped into the room as the other servants left and Lislora moved to the table with her cousin. The sour looking man looked over the meal before speaking to Draeseth, "Would you like for me to lay out a selection of your tunics for consideration?"

The Prince made a gesture coupled with a sound of agreement. They filled their plates as the servant disappeared into the bedroom. Lislora began to eat, but Draeseth looked at his plate with a frown.

"I will return, I wish to speak with Krouth for a moment."

She sat at the table by herself briefly, taking another bite and chewing slowly, but the low sound of the men's voices made her too curious to remain seated by herself. Quietly, she rose and moved closer to the doorway.

"-she is a fine Torgan Lady, your Highness, and I had expected you to see, eventually, that the two of you are well-suited." Krouth paused and Lislora could hear a frown in his voice as he continued, "But I have come to see the fine qualities in Duchess Isonei that were apparent to you from the beginning. Her Grace is genuinely kind and she strives to see to the happiness and well-being of others above her own. In times of hardship, a person's true character is shown, and hers is above reproach."

Draeseth gave a peculiar grunt, "Perhaps you can understand my dilemma. Isonei has often pointed out that I need a woman like Lislora, someone who will love me and help me in ways she cannot. They're both good women and I'm coming to understand how Aran men could take two wives."

"Your Highness?" Krouth sounded speculative, "Perhaps, you should give thought to which of them you cannot bear to be without? You're Torgan, not Aran, and two wives would be firmly discouraged by the priesthood."

Lislora moved back to her seat feeling something twist in her belly. She'd started to think he was certain about choosing her, despite his insistence that he needed time. That she wanted to stay had to count for something, Isonei would leave the moment she had the opportunity and rush home to Ara. But if he were uncertain...

Her cousin rejoined her at the table as she sat lost in thought. Silently they began to eat. Once Krouth left to perform other duties, however, Draeseth made a soft sound and set down his fork.

"You overheard us?"

"Some of it." Offering him a concerned frown, she began, "If you're uncertain-"

"I am." He leaned back in his chair, "I had always hoped to have a wife to lighten my burdens, love was not something I expected. That I might have the love of two women never occurred to me."

"Does Isonei lighten your burdens?" Lislora placed her own fork across her plate. "She doesn't do much other than smile."

The amused expression on his face somehow made her feel like the simple one.

"She lightens my mood. Burgath insists that at Court she'll make my life easier with her charm. He's offered to assist me in keeping her away from certain people."

"She said your brothers were putting her in the Queen's retinue. That's Burgath's doing?"

"All of them, I think, have suggested it to their mother. Rogath has insisted on it. My father is good to his Queen, especially in front of her retinue, and he avoids bedding the women she spends time with." He paused looking displeased by something, "But there may be some, like my cousin Shoban, who would make cruel jests of things that would make her miserable.

"Burgath has been receiving more letters from her father. He insists he has proof she is still alive." Draeseth leaned forward to put his elbows on the table. "Perhaps I should have kept the jester here to entertain her. Whatever tales he carried..."

"He needed to be sent away." Lislora studied his face, if Isonei could lighten his moods so could she. "I can't imagine your mood being light with a jester underfoot, cousin."

He made an amused sound and inclined his head slightly. "Isonei was trying to teach me to appreciate them. Why a man as nimble as the jester was would choose to waste his talents that way, still baffles me. The man could have been a fighter as quick as he is. One of the lighter blades would suit him, even the light ax might suit a man that agile. And to jest the way he does he must have a quick mind, if he turned it to something worthwhile he could raise his station and make his father proud."

Shaking her head, she disagreed, "He looked too peculiar to me. I don't know that many could take him seriously even if he made the effort."

Draeseth snorted, "They all look peculiar in the Dalcur. Even Karisians settle there, for anyone who isn't solely Torgan the Vrudalcur is a dangerous place and the half-Lerian men are less perturbed by strange looking people."

A moment's silence fell as she hunted for something else to say, speaking of the Dalcur reminded her of his brother Prince Burgath. "Does she really think your brother-"

His barked laugh cut her off and Draeseth rose from his chair offering her his arm. "She adores Burgath. Even having met Rogath, she insists he's the kinder of my brothers."

"She's a terrible judge of character." Lislora shook her head as her cousin began to laugh.

"Her own brothers were much like him, I think it colors her view of him." He led her into the bedroom where Krouth had laid a variety of Draeseth's tunics out across the bed.

Releasing his arm, she looked over them, touching a fine looking black tunic embroidered with silver flowers. "You used to favor plainer tunics."

"These match Isonei's dresses."

"You'll need to take them then." Lislora glanced at him, feeling an unpleasant ball of jealousy forming in her stomach, "Does she appreciate the expense?"

Draeseth made a noncommittal sound in his throat. "I refrain from discussing expenses with her. She's stopped teasing me about the tunics since we've arrived in Torga. In Ara and Leria, she made jests about my skirts. Isonei prefers Aran doublets."

"I've never seen what they wear in Ara. I only know what our tutor said, the women wear light, low cut gowns with barely anything beneath them and the men wear clothes cut to show their slender forms."

He barked a laugh and hesitated before disappearing into the closet. She took the time to look more closely at his tunics. They weren't as ostentatious as some that she'd seen in court, but with Isonei on his arm in a matching gown, it would have the same effect as if he were wearing jewelry. The thought didn't help her jealousy.

Lislora looked up from the bed as Draeseth emerged from the closet in slightly rumpled Aran garb. The doublet ended at his hips, somehow making his waist seem smaller and his shoulders broader, and the way the slash paneled pants seemed to emphasize his thighs felt indecent.

Covering her mouth with one hand she met his eyes, feeling her face flushing, "They walk around this way? In public?"

Her cousin began to laugh and moved closer. "I wore my cloak when it wasn't so wretchedly hot I couldn't bear it. The women look at the men in Ara with much the same desire as the men look at the women."

"The way it-it..." Lislora lost her train of thought as he took her hand and gave her gentle biting kiss on the soft part of her hand.

"I felt exposed in Ara. Several of the women looked at me with open desire and it made me feel unclean, as if I were being paraded half naked for their pleasure against my will." Draeseth pressed her hand to his covered chest with one hand and tilted her face up slightly with the other. "The desire I see on your face pleases me. Do you prefer the Aran doublets to the Torgan tunics?"

It took a moment for her to find her voice, "Only in the bedroom. They're indecent but they're flattering on you, Draeseth."

Lislora's breath caught as he lowered his head with a pleased smile and began to kiss her. This time his lips were warm and the way they pressed and parted against her own felt as if he were asking permission. She wasn't sure how to give it, parting her lips slightly as his hand cupped her face seemed to be enough.

His tongue slipped past her lips as it had on the parapet and a small moan escaped from her as his other arm wrapped around her pulling her closer. Draeseth broke the kiss to press his face against hers.

"If you want to leave..." His voice was a soft rasp.

"I don't."

He captured her lips again and backed her toward the bed. As she sat on the tunics looking up at him he seemed to hesitate.

It occurred to her that the bed should be cleared first. "Should we," she pressed the backs of her hands to her cheeks trying to cool them, "put these away first?"

Draeseth laughed in his throat and pulled her up to standing again before throwing the cover back. Most of his tunics were now covered and a few had fallen onto the floor. "You looked uncertain."

She took a breath as he began tugging his doublet open, "I-it's just that..." Lislora trailed off as he stopped and looked up to meet his eyes, "On my wedding night I was told what to do. Lady Brunimla took me to the room and helped me undress. Then she-she told me to get in bed and wait. After that..." She realized she was twisting her fingers as he took her hands and made a soft sound.

"You're afraid it will be unpleasant?"

Trying to explain how she felt seemed as impossible as walking up the wall. He might even laugh if she said she was afraid of doing something wrong, she just wanted this to be what it was supposed to be. Closing her eyes she let him pull her close again.

"It won't be the same. I promise you," he murmured, running his hands over her back.

Lifting her head, Lislora tentatively placed a kiss on his lips. Draeseth moved his hands to the fasteners on her dress as he deepened the kiss. Being undressed was somehow as thrilling as it was terrifying. She found herself standing in her undergarments in a matter of moments. As she stood nervously, he began to strip himself of his Aran clothing.

It was impossible to look away as his grey-green skin was bared. She blinked in surprise as she noticed something beneath the hair on his chest.

"You... When did you..." Lislora touched the tattoo of the seal of Kroscur.

"In Phaethia. Rogath and I both-"

"Why?" She hadn't meant for the question to sound so horrified and for a moment she thought he might put his clothes back on.

"No grown man in Phaethia is unmarked. My brother's wife was appalled and insisted he follow at least some part of her traditions. Rogath asked me to be marked as well that these could be a bond between us and not merely something that needed to be done to appease his new wife." He took a seat on the bed. "You dislike it?"

"I didn't expect it." Lislora licked her lips and sat as well, slipping off her warm stockings and small clothes beneath her chemise.

"You didn't notice it when I startled you? The morning you came to rescue Isonei from her wedding night?" His tone was slightly teasing.

"No! I looked away as soon as I realized you were naked." She flushed as he turned her face back toward him, realizing she'd looked away in embarrassment.

"Have you ever seen a man bare before you?"

"Not..." The kiss he leaned in for took her breath away as his hand moved the hem of her chemise upward.

The feeling of his hand on her bare thigh made her feel as warm as if the summer sun was beating down and her chemise was a heavy gown. Murmuring his name she rested a hand on his chest and moved forward for another kiss as he pulled back.

He took the opportunity to begin removing the garment and once it was off and she was next to him as naked as he was, the room no longer felt quite as warm.

Allowing him to lay her back on the bed, her eyes widened as he moved between her thighs and began to kiss her knees with his hands moving upward toward her hips. His kisses were moving upward as well and she wriggled away from him, clapping her legs together.

"What are you-what are you doing?"

Draeseth laughed softly and moved closer kissing her thigh. "We call it an Aran kiss, Isonei-"

"I don't want you to be thinking of her. I don't want any anything Aran." She watched the amusement fade from his face.

"I wasn't thinking of her. Calling it an Aran kiss simply brought to mind the scandalized look on her face when I first called it that in front of her. You would enjoy it, I promise you."

"No, I just want..." Closing her eyes she shook her head, perhaps she shouldn't be doing this.

Her doubts began to melt as he pressed her down and positioned himself over her, kissing her face and claiming her lips. His kisses began to move lower, gentle kisses with just the hint of teeth along her neck and when he reached her breasts she curled her fingers in his black hair. It felt sinful and indecent to have him kissing her bare breasts and when he drew her nipple into his mouth she couldn't hold back the surprised whimper of pleasure.

He moved a hand between her thighs and she tensed at the sensation of his fingers caressing and finding their way inside her. The hand was withdrawn quickly and he lifted his head, adjusting his position and looming above her to take hold of her hips.

"Let me hear you, Lislora, I want to hear your voice."

"I don't-" Her words ended in a soft whimper as he began to push himself inside. The sensation of being opened and stretched around him, of being filled with him, was peculiar but pleasant and she tried to pull him down to kiss again.

Draeseth laughed in his throat, "Pull me closer with your thighs." Lowering himself again as she tried to wrap her legs around him he purred in a lustful tone that made her feel as if she'd never stop blushing, "You feel so tight around me, Lislora. I may not be able to wait until you take your pleasure before I find mine. I've dreamt of this."

She tried to remember how to breathe as he began to thrust, each powerful movement taking him deeper until she wasn't sure how much further he could possibly go. The peculiar pleasant feeling began to feel like too much and he didn't seem to be stopping.

"Draeseth!"

He groaned dropping his head to kiss her and breathe against her lips, "Kros Voyeh, my black maiden, tell me that you-" His breath seemed to catch as she bore down on him trying to keep him from going further his response was to thrust more forcefully.

Whimpering she tried again, "Draeseth, please!"

Suddenly he was still, pressed uncomfortably deep and so tight inside she could feel him throbbing in his release. His dark eyes studied her face and the moment he lifted himself off of her she sat up and turned away, trying to keep her legs tightly closed.

"It was unpleasant?" Draeseth's voice was soft and she could hear the disappointment hanging off of his words.

"It-it was pleasant at first, and then it became painful." She covered her face as he rose from the bed and left the room. Praying was the only thing she could think to do now. Perhaps Ganas would help him see that they were still better suited than he and Isonei.