Many thanks to Nthusiastic for her help with editing, beta reading and making good suggestions!
*****
Isonei couldn't ward off Ximesra's curious frown with a wave of her hand and very quietly relayed what had happened at the baths as her father slept. The Munian woman embraced her.
"I'm sorry, Isonei. I'll have a basin fetched for you after dinner. They're probably too busy right now."
"I can wait." Isonei tried to give her a smile but her face still felt stiff. She went back into her father's room and lay down on the servant's bed to wait for dinner, letting Ximesra go to be with Xagorath.
Her mind wouldn't be still. Whether she was right or wrong about Daga Lothlaerith being like Draeseth, his people wouldn't welcome her. An Aran would never be accepted as his match. Part of her thought that perhaps he could do something to make Arans more welcome, to help them be seen as friends and allies instead of enemies waiting to reveal themselves. But another part of her argued that he could never convince his people of something that he himself didn't believe. Yet another suggested it was somehow her fault.
A faint knock stirred her from her unpleasant thoughts and she rose to see who was at the bedroom door.
"I came with Daga Lothlaerith to invite you to dinner,"
Daga Liadith spoke softly and pulled her away from the doorway, closing it gently.
"We were greeted by a very proud soldier reporting to Commander Valothe. Are you alright?"
"He didn't harm me, but he had no need to put his hand on his weapon the way he did. I think he wanted to make it very clear that I'm not welcome here, my Daga. I won't attempt to go back to the baths."
He sighed and pulled her against his shoulder.
"Sweet girl. Commander Valothe said his orders were misunderstood, you are welcome."
"My Daga..."
Isonei pushed away from him carefully to look him in the eyes,
"I'm not. Ximesra was accosted in the baths because someone mistook her for me. Commander Valothe and the men under his command seem to loathe me, whether Daga Lothlaerith is still angry with me or not-"
"Isonei..."
Lothlaerith's anguished voice came from behind her.
"I wasn't angry. I will take you to the baths myself, please. Forgive-"
He stopped speaking and Isonei turned to see him covering his eyes.
"My father chided me for faulting you on a lack of hospitality. He said you were more cordial than he expected and if I expect the same warmth and welcome from you that I'm accustomed to in Ara and in the south of Leria then I'm the one who is unreasonable and ingracious. I apologize for expecting too much, and I apologize for whatever I've done that has made Oyeth Lothlaeri less hospitable than Torga. I ask you, formally, to release me from my promise to return. Perhaps without the threat of an Aran as your match, your people's anger may quiet."
Her throat felt tight but she managed to get the words out without her voice breaking, her eyes felt painfully dry.
Daga Lothlaerith's eyes, however, were damp yet burned, shifting between shades of green when he removed his hand.
"I refuse. I require the opportunity to address the faults you have found, in me and in my people. Will you break your word to me?"
"I do not break my word unless I am forcibly prevented from keeping it."
"Then you will return and be offered to me."
He inclined his head and straightened himself, his face seemed to settle into the coolly displeased mask he was accustomed to wearing.
"I had foolishly hoped you would return and become my match immediately. I ask you to forgive my impatience."
"When I returned to Leria, I finally felt safe again, Daga Lothlaerith. But I also feel so-so lost and-"
the feelings she was trying to keep under control threatened to overwhelm her as she tried to express even the shape of them with words. Grief, foolishness, guilt, relief, homesickness, and more that she couldn't name all wanted to come out at once and closed her throat.
Daga Liadith pulled her close and pressed her face into his shoulder as he stroked her back.
"Do you see it?"
"Yes. She hides it..."
Lothlaerith came closer and placed a hand on her head.
"Forgive me, Isonei. I will not insist you stay, I can see how badly you need to return home, but I ask you to stay one more day. The thought of you leaving, while thinking so poorly of me and my people, hurts me. If you do not wish to eat with me I will return after dinner to take you to the baths."
Isonei took a deep breath. The sweet smoky smell that clung to her Daga was soothing and it helped her regain her composure. Turning her head without pulling away from him, she spoke softly,
"It isn't that I don't want to eat with you, Daga Lothlaerith. I want to stay close to my father. I want to make sure he eats, he's too thin."
"You're too thin, little blossom. I want to be sure you eat something as well."
Daga Lothlaerith's face softened as he caressed her cheek.
"Perhaps I can eat with you?"
"We would be glad to have you, Daga Lothlaerith, as long as you don't mind eating in the bedroom."
She gave him a small smile and he leaned to kiss her cheek.
"I can sit at the table for a meal."
Her father's voice sounded slightly annoyed.
"I'm glad to see you feeling better, Lord Eliorith."
Daga Lothlaerith stepped back as he inclined his head to the man peering out of the cracked bedroom door.
"Forgive my intrusion on the dinner you were intending to have with your daughter."
"It is no intrusion, Daga Lothlaerith."
He inclined his head in return.
"Did you chide her the very first day she returned to you?"
Daga Liadith squeezed her and she could hear the slight edge beneath his teasing tone.
"Loving my daughter means correcting her misbehavior, Daga Liadith. If I let her run wild she would be more like Oberath than the sweet girl you and I both love."
Isonei tried not to laugh as Daga Liadith made a face at the mention of her cousin.
"Oberath is perfectly charming. Don't pick on my dear cousin."
"You haven't spent enough time with the man."
Daga Liadith squeezed her again and released her making a gesture to the window. Oberath was climbing onto the sill outside.
"I left orders we were not to be disturbed."
Lothlaerith stalked to the window and opened it pulling the man in by his collar.
"When a Daga gives a command he expects it to be followed."
"I overheard the report given outside and I thought my cousin might need a family member."
Oberath gave her a reproving look as he straightened his clothes, "Why didn't you come to us, cousin? You're still acting as if you're in Torga and trying to keep your unhappiness to yourself. Family is here to be leaned on."
"I talked to Ximesra and I laid down on the bed at the foot of my father's. I didn't need-"
"You did." Daga Liadith arched an eyebrow. "You needed someone to lean on and you stubbornly refused. That isn't like you."
"My daughter inherited my faults." Eliorith sighed and disappeared from the doorway.
"Father..." Isonei started toward the bedroom leaving the Dagas with her cousin.
He was seated on the bed when she came in and looked up at her with a sad smile. "The only people you've ever seen me lean on were your mothers. You always seemed so open I thought you'd learned it from them."
She stood in front of him, embracing him as he sat and stroking his hair. "I learned that I should make the lives of those I love easier. I try to keep people happy, even when I'm not, but I did lean on others more before I went to Torga."
"My little love, you're safe and we're going home. You can lean on me and on your brothers." He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.
"I know, father. It just feels like I need to-to keep things inside until we get there."
"Why?" He looked up at her with a frown.
When she hesitated to give an answer Daga Liadith answered from the doorway, "Because there is a difference in the safety of Leria and the safety of her Daga's house. I don't think she can heal completely until she returns to both my home and yours." The Daga gave her a rueful smile, "My father always knows what to say to her to allow her to release her pain and unhappiness. You may be parted from her for a day once she goes into the crypts. I'm certain you remember how much he likes to talk."
"I do. I once chided my daughter for taking up too much of his time. I've never seen anyone look so angry. In that moment, I think even King Tamnaeuth would have flinched."
"I don't remember that." Isonei looked down at him and smiled as he made a face, wrinkling his nose and grimacing.
"You were young, it was one of our first trips to see him with Daga Gildith and you'd spent so long chattering to Daga Liadith that Daga Gildith was beginning to look annoyed. I don't think you noticed the look, you were tugging on Daga Liadith's sleeve and babbling about his flowers as if he'd never seen them before.
"There was no further business discussed that day. He spent the rest of it showing you his garden and telling you stories. The next day she was sent to play with you." Her father nodded to the young Daga Liadith. "When he brought her out of the family rooms you were following behind looking very unhappy because she'd stolen your doll with the-"
"-scarlet mantle. I remember." Daga Liadith's face broke into a broad smile. "I would hide it when father said she was coming to visit."
"I made certain she had a doll with her when she visited after that." Eliorith smiled wryly.
"She still wanted mine."
"I offered to let you play with my dolls!" Isonei gave him a mock pout and he folded his arms with a look of clearly feigned annoyance.
"I didn't want to play with dolls in pretty dresses, I wanted
my
doll."
Daga Lothlaerith looked at him peculiarly as he entered the bedroom.
"As punishment, I sent Oberath back to my house on foot to deliver the message that you would be returning to enjoy dinner with my other two guests, Daga Liadith. I will stay to have dinner with Isonei and Lord Eliorith."
"Thank you for not being harsh with him, Daga Lothlaerith."
Isonei inclined her head.
"Your Daga has proven that allowing a man to redeem himself is the better path. I strive to be less harsh."
She wanted to ask what he had decided to do with the soldier but refrained. Instead, she glanced around the room, "Where are your clothes, father? I can help you get dressed for dinner."
