Deres slowly pulled the door closed behind him, holding the handle down so there would be no click to potentially pull his daughter Khylen out of her half-sleep before she could fall to it the rest of the way. She quibbled about bedtime the same as every other child that ever lived, but, once settled in, she enjoyed the quiet time with those who loved her with fairy tales and chat about the day spent and the day to come. It was something she looked forward to, so the quibbling usually ended quickly and was more an exercise in her attempting to hone an argument and a test of wills that usually ended up being entertaining at least as much as it was taxing.
Moving down the hall now, he contemplated the things that he might do to fill the evening. It was a rare thing that the nights were completely his. Bryana had taken herself away from her studies of forbidden magics to spend time with Anna, a soldier with whom she forged a friendship with on a quest some years before, and their mutual friends. He was quite happy that she now lifted her eyes from the books now and then to have a life all her own.
Neral had said her goodnights already, having left to visit her sisters at the home of Nessein, her younger sibling. The three of them would be set to gossip and pass a bottle of wine until deep into the night. She would stay until morning, then proceed with her day, not returning until near dinner time the next day. Bryana was likely to be home before too late, but, for at least the next few hours, he was left to his own devices.
Though even now he was hardly alone with a house full of servants, including a couple of playmates bound to him body and soul via magic. He enjoyed their company for themselves and, indeed, one of those playmates weighed heavily upon his mind of late. Making his way to one of the smaller studies that he had taken as his own, he gathered pen and paper to get to some correspondence that he hadn't had a chance to get to before now. He'd managed one and was taking a few moments to outline the contents of the next in his own mind when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
The door opened and Tessa, House Mistress for House Jaye poked her head in. Her fiery hair was mostly pulled to a bun, the exceptions being two long curls falling over either side to frame her face. With her cherubic features and bright eyes she still looked too young to have a job with such responsibility as maintaining one of the great Houses of Erette, but she did the job and did it flawlessly. Neral had said more than once that, without Tessa there she wasn't sure she could get herself dressed each day. It was said only partially in jest as an estate of the size of House Jaye took a great deal of resources and manpower just to keep it all from falling apart on a daily basis, from feeding everyone in it to maintaining the stone and interiors, and she did it all never losing for a moment her quiet but cheery nature, even in the midst of haggling for the best deal.
She smiled at him, "Good evening, Deres. I was about to retire for the evening and wanted to see if you needed anything before I did."
'Deres' was always enough. He never had any interest in 'Lord,' 'Master,' or any other title. They felt odd to his ear and always had. He accepted that it was a part of the lives of his wife and other members of High Court, but he would always be something of an outsider. Growing up poor in Erette and then in a land of magic and technology no one believed existed as a real place saw to that.
"No, thank you, Tessa." He paused, that thing that he had contemplated now and then coming to the fore once more and he resolved to bring it out and put it to rest one way or another. "Well, there is something I'd like to talk to you about if you're not tired or otherwise in a rush to claim the rest of your evening. If you are, it can certainly wait. It's nothing negative, I promise."
Her brow furrowed briefly as her curiosity piqued, "Oh, not at all. My book will still be on my bed when I get there," she said coming in and closing the door behind her because she definitely got the sense that, whatever it might be, it probably wasn't for public consumption.
He gestured toward the high-backed chair in front of the small desk. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, thank you."
He was fine himself so he took the chair from behind the desk and positioned it next to her before sitting down. He mulled how to begin for several seconds, his eyes roaming the room before he settled on a path. "I know that you and Elan are close friends and it makes me happy that that is so."
Even though he'd promised her the topic was not one that shoud concern her, she was slightly relieved. She still was not sure where things were going, but it had certainly started out pleasantly enough. "It makes me happy as well. She is a fine soul. We are alike in many ways, I've found." Indeed it was so. Both were soft spoken and content in being something of an introvert. They certainly liked to talk and be social, but neither were they people that couldn't abide silence. "Of course, the only way
I
could hit anything with an arrow is to walk up and stab it with the tip."
Deres chuckled with her, "Well, you still hit it with an arrow...technically." The smile faded and he pursed his lips before taking a breath. "You know about the...special nature of our relationship?"
It wasn't much of a secret amongst the extended family that those who live in House Jaye had become. Some years before, Deres' adopted mother enlisted his and Neral's aid against a mage who threatened his adopted home and, in turn, the world. A dozen elite soldiers were selected to accompany Neral on the quest. Some did not return at all, but those that did did not return didn't do so untouched by the ordeal, some more than others. On the edge of irrevocable corruption and slavery to the witch Drexa, Deres saved her life and her mind by taking that control himself. He molded her back into the person she was when the journey began. But there were still ties that bound them. As much of her old self as she reclaimed, she was still his slave. She was his. His wants and whims were her commands and the aches in her soul.
And she was content and happy in that.
"I do."
"Does that trouble you?"
She gave a small shake of her head, "It's not really my business."
The corner of his mouth turned up, "That's not what I asked."
Tessa paused and shifted her weight, working through the anxiety that came with being asked to comment on the business of people not only her employers, but those her family had been in service to for almost as far back as either of their Houses existed. "No, Deres. It doesn't bother me because it doesn't bother her. I realize that, as she explained the way things happened, she wouldn't be bothered by it no matter what, but she is at peace. She says it couldn't have happened any other way and still have her be herself and I believe her."
"I see how she behaves and how you treat her, and I have no reason to be troubled." She let a pause linger in the air before she added once again, with added firmness, "But it's not really any of my business."
He liked the hint of steel in her voice. It belied her soft-spoken veneer. "Has she told you any of what happened on our journey north?"
"That you confronted the people that aided Mareth in his attack on Erette. She told quite the tale of your time in Idros and parts more north still."
