“I was busy while you were out,” Esylle told her.
“Planning a wedding?” she asked, hopefully.
“We talked about what we want. I sent someone out and found you an art teacher. You’ll start lessons tomorrow.”
Sono thought it was a good thing and it would give her something to do that didn’t involve who she was supposed to be. She didn’t get upset again, but she seemed confused.
“I saw your drawings on Idric. You’re very good and I thought lessons here would make you happier. I want you to think of this place as your home, not a place you can’t leave.”
She still seemed confused and a little uncomfortable. Sono tried to make it better by telling her he saw her sketching while they were talking to Huegin and they were good. He thought she might enjoy the lessons. Neptis and Oris both chimed in to tell her that her sketches were good as well.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked Esylle. “I thought you were finding other ways to teach me to rule?”
“I’m also finding other ways to make you happy. I thought you would enjoy the art lessons.” Esylle seemed unsure of herself now, like she might have done something wrong again. Everyone at the table was holding their breath hoping this didn’t upset Lisana.
They were finally able to breathe when a shy smile appeared on her face and she said she thought she would enjoy the lessons. Belisarus always told her that drawing was a waste of her time and sometimes made her stop to go outside with Frog or made her do another lesson.
Sono still wanted to get her alone now that they were done eating, but Esylle said they were all needed. Sono wasn’t invited the first time they all met, but she wanted the three of them there now. He entered a room with a long table and an ornate chair at the head. Esylle took that chair and motioned for Lisana to take the chair next to her. Leodos and Joron took the seats closest to her. Sono, Neptis, and Oris weren’t told where to sit, so they just filled in the other chairs. Sono hoped whatever was said today didn’t drive her off again.
“The Lords have gone back to their estates and they are not happy they are no longer here. They want an answer to when a human will be placed on the council. We need to start that process. Lisana, since you know these people, I want you to talk to them and get that process started. I don’t think we should allow those Lords back on the council based on what I saw before. You know these people and I’m sure you already have an idea of who would be best to represent them.”
Sono thought she would fight, but she just nibbled on her bottom lip thoughtfully. “There’s two I think would be good, but I don’t think they think they are ready for something like that and they just consider themselves poor merchants and not what you are asking them to do. You think I’m ready for this?”
“You’re ready for more than you think you are,” Esylle said gently. “You’re going to be helping me so you can learn. You’ll need to pick your own council, though I imagine these three will be on it. This will help you learn and the merchants know and trust you since you helped their children. If anyone can convince them that one of them must be on the council, it would be you.”
“Can Sono, Neptis, and Oris help me? They know them too.”
“Of course. The four of you need to learn to rule together. They would help you choose when you are queen. They need to learn to rule more than just their tribe.”
Sono felt himself getting angry and he could feel heat coming from Oris and Neptis as well. All of them had been raised to rule since birth. He couldn’t imagine what else he needed to learn. Lisana was looking at the three of them with concern about the heat coming from them.
Esylle finally spoke. “Ruling humans, Theran, Tark, and Farkhi all at once is different than just ruling one tribe. There is a delicate balance all of you must learn.”
“I think it’s time for me to teach the three of you the heart flower,” Lisana said.
Esylle excused them to learn and he was hoping she would teach them this soon. He had only felt it when they mated second hand from her and wanted to experience it first hand, not only because it would mean he wouldn’t hurt anyone and because it felt so good when he felt it from her.
Leodos
The next few weeks were a whirlwind. If Leodos wasn’t in meetings, he was with Esylle trying to plan a wedding. Esylle managed to keep Lisana so busy he didn’t have to worry about her sneaking off to do something she wasn’t supposed to. Lisana spent most of her time either out on the streets trying to talk to the two men she thought would be good on the council or she was in the garden with the three boys trying to teach them the heart flower and how to use their Tempris gifts. While they were out there, they all taught each other to better use their new gifts. Leodos didn’t like it when they all disappeared for hours because they went to the sea, but he didn’t stop them.
There were workers in and out of the palace working on her chambers and soon, Volaris, Fluvis, and Terros got up the courage to go out and commission work on their own chambers. Leodos had never thought of it before, but the palace had no trace of the tribes in it at all, not even the Tempris who had been living there since it was built so long ago. He didn’t consider that anyone besides Lisana would have been uncomfortable there when she told them everyone would need chambers there now.
He knew Esylle desperately wanted to make her see this as her home, so every time they sat down to eat, she would question her about making changes to the rest of the palace. Lisana would try to get everyone involved with suggestions and they were always to put more of the tribes in the palace. She didn’t know this, but Esylle and Leodos had already commissioned her wedding gift. He had never gone underwater with her and still had not fully explored his Tark gifts, but Esylle explained to him what she liked to swim as and he had seen the drawings in her room. The both knew that Lisana, Neptis, and Fluvis wanted reminders of the sea, so Esylle commissioned a fountain of her in the form she liked to swim as to go right in the entrance of the palace.
She would get that smirk on her face that it was hard to tell her no when she pressed them for wedding details, but Esylle wanted it to be a surprise for her since she knew she was excited about it and had never seen one before. She would be in the wedding and Esylle would only give her details about what she was supposed to do. Lisana would pretend to pout and then break into a huge grin that reminded him exactly of Esylle when she was that age.
Lisana tried to get him alone to get him to give her details and he had a hard time refusing her. She seemed more excited about their wedding than the fact that she would be planning hers after theirs and she could finally do what she kept doing that made Esylle and Leodos so upset with her. He finally asked her about it and she admitted she was nervous about hers and she wanted to see theirs not only because she had never seen one before, but because they looked at each other like the people in her stories and wouldn’t be getting married if she hadn’t said something. He ruffled her hair and sent her on her way because he wasn’t going to ruin Esylle’s surprise.
He tried not to get upset when Oris tried to get him alone to find out if they had set an actual date yet because he was tired of waiting to be with her. They had a date set and intended to announce it over dinner, but Oris was nearly as hot headed as his father and Leodos learned later the only reason he was in the forest the first day they met was because he ran away like Lisana always did. He tried to be kind to Oris when he told him it would be soon because if he upset him, he knew how she would try to make it better.
He was surprised when they all sat down to dinner and Lisana joined them and her robes were black. She wore the same robes the female tribe members wore like she did when she first showed up, but hers had always been white. She had worn Esylle’s clothes when they first started traveling, but after she exposed herself, she went back to wearing the white robes. She didn’t change them to black when Belisarus died and she would have been in mourning. He couldn’t imagine why they would be black now and asked her.
“I don’t know how he knew
, since I got here and my mother wasn’t wearing them, but Belisarus told me before the wars, the Tempris wore black robes. If I have to do this because of the Tempris part of me, I thought I would try to bring the robes back.”
Leodos looked at her again and the black looked good on her. It made her pale skin look a creamy white and her red hair and violet eyes really stand out more than when she wore the white. Esylle never wore black and now that she wasn’t hiding her hair and eyes anymore, Leodos could see in her daughter how beautiful Esylle would look if she decided to wear the Tempris robes.
“I’m not comfortable showing as much of my skin as you do in those robes. Your entire back is exposed! I also don’t understand why it doesn’t bother you to swim the way you do in front of Neptis and when you swam with me. I don’t understand why it didn’t bother you when you nearly lost the front of your robes tying them again when you had your back marked!”
This was the first time Esylle had chastised her since the beach and Leodos hoped if it upset her, she ran in the gardens like they had discussed instead of disappearing again. She didn’t get angry at Esylle and only smiled at her sadly.
“You know I didn’t know what mating was before I got here. Our house only had two rooms, so Frog stayed in mine. I didn’t think anything was wrong with it, and neither did Frog. Belisarus never said anything about me changing in front of him or that he would sit and talk to me when I took a bath. You have so many rules here that I don’t know. I still don’t understand why mating is so complicated or why it bothers you that I swim the way I do. I’m still learning.”
Leodos hoped Esylle didn’t launch into a long lecture at the dinner table for the things she still needed to learn. He was relieved when she changed the subject and announced they had set a date for the wedding. Lisana’s eyes lit up and she was beaming at both of them. For a minute, he couldn’t look away from her, but snuck a look over at Oris, Sono, and Neptis. Oris looked less frustrated when they spoke, Sono couldn’t keep his eyes off her with that smile on her face, and Neptis remained stoic as usual.
When they got up to leave, he intended to go back to his chambers and sleep. Esylle had been begging every night for him to sleep in hers and he always refused her. He thought she would ask again and he had always had trouble telling her no. He was surprised when she didn’t and asked Lisana if she would sleep in her chambers tonight. She had been sleeping in her own since they got here, but he didn’t think she had snuck off again because Esylle kept her so busy, she was sleeping like she was supposed to. Everyone had already left and it was just the three of them standing by the table. Lisana looked confused and asked her why she wanted her to.
Esylle tried to explain that she wanted to until the wedding because after, Lisana would wed and she wouldn’t get to anymore. Leodos hoped she didn’t refuse and Esylle would have to pretend she wasn’t upset. She didn’t, she just looked at Esylle like she wasn’t understanding and asked her if she thought she was too old now.
Esylle walked over and embraced her. She didn’t pull away and returned it. “You’re never too old for me to hold you. I want to until I can’t anymore because I didn’t get to while you were growing up and I want to be able to feel what you feel when I do until I won’t be able to anymore.”
That seemed to make her feel better and Leodos thought she would agree, but then she asked Esylle if she was only asking because she was worried she was going to sneak out of her chambers again. Esylle was able to convince her she trusted her not to, even though deep down, Leodos thought she might again. He watched the two of them disappear and missed sleeping next to the two of them, but she was right, she was too old for him to do that again. She needed it while they were at Inanos, but not here. He went to his own chambers and fell into bed to sleep.
The wedding started to creep up faster than he thought. Esylle finally let her see the dress she would wear. Leodos knew she took care when she was talking to the dressmaker to make it comfortable for her because she knew the girl didn’t like Esylle’s dresses that she had worn before. Leodos stopped when she spun around and asked him if she looked okay while they were trying to fit it to her.
She looked almost exactly like Esylle had the day she married Rivannus. This style of dress was in style then and not the corsets that were worn now. Esylle chose a cream colored lace dress with hunter green accents. It was only tight around her chest and arms, but it flowed out from her waist and the sleeves opened up at her wrists. The green over her chest, in the sleeves, and by her ankles made her flaming red hair stand out even more and her eyes looked a slightly lighter shade of violet.
He remembered the day Esylle got married and how bad it made him feel. Rivannus asked him to stand with him and he did, never letting either of them see his heart was breaking the entire time. He closed his eyes when they kissed so he didn’t have to see. He never thought this day would happen. She snapped him out of his reverie when she asked him if she looked bad. When he opened his eyes, she looked unsure of herself. He walked over to embrace her and told her she looked beautiful. She pointed out he had a look on his face and he explained to her he was just thinking of the day her mother got married. She didn’t comment, she just looked at him like she understood why he got distracted.
Before he knew it, the wedding day had arrived. Esylle refused to let him see her dress. Joron helped him commission clothes for the wedding for a king. It was Joron that suggested he wear black since Lisana said that should be the ruling Tempris color all along. He had on a doublet in shades of blacks and grays. He was waiting with Joron for the processional when Lisana stuck her head in. He fussed at her she needed to be in her place, but he wasn’t angry with her.
She grinned at him and disappeared. Soon, it was time for him to walk out when he heard the lute, viol, and flute being played. Lisana had wanted to play her bone flute in the wedding, but they convinced her she was needed in the ceremony. As he walked out, Lisana was standing under the carved arch with a huge smile on her face. He was trying to remain calm as he walked out, but he couldn’t help flashing her a nervous smile. This walk seemed to be endless, but he finally took his place next to Joron.
When the music changed, everyone turned to look at Esylle. He sucked in his breath when he saw her. Her gown was silver and gold and the same hunter green accents Lisana’s had. She had curled her hair and it fell down her back in crimson waves. She had painted her eyes and her lips were the same color as her hair. She had an ethereal smile on her face as she floated towards him. He had to stop himself from running to her, swooping her up and carrying her to the arch to demand the cleric carry out the ceremony.
She finally made it to him and he closed his eyes and took in the scent of jasmine. He was too busy staring at how beautiful she looked to pay attention to what the cleric was saying. His eyes never left her as their hands were bound and he couldn’t help the kiss he gave her when it was done. He had completely tuned out everyone in the room and was surprised when everyone, tribe members and human alike, broke out into applause. He finally turned and saw everyone and everyone was beaming at them.
They all spilled out to the celebration afterward and he was glued to Esylle’s side for so long, he almost didn’t realize he had lost track of Lisana. His amazing night nearly got ruined when he realized he couldn’t find her. Esylle asked him what was wrong and he didn’t want to tell her what he thought she was doing again. Since he was so tall, he just looked out over the heads of everyone in the room to see if she was just occupied. He finally calmed when he saw her sitting at the table with Huegin, Oris, Neptis, and Sono.
They appeared to be in deep conversation. “You may have a council member after tonight,” he whispered to Esylle.
Leodos spent the night laughing and dancing with Esylle. He would frequently look around to check on Lisana. She danced with them because Esylle had someone teach her and those boys the dances they would do at the wedding. Leodos wasn’t shocked she inherited her mother’s grace at dancing. There wer
e wine and spirits at the celebration and unlike before, she didn’t refuse them. He could tell she was getting a little drunk again because anytime she danced near them, his head spun.
Pretty soon, it was late and everyone was leaving. He meant to lead Esylle back to her chambers for a passionate night, but Lisana stopped them and said she wanted to try giving them a wedding gift. She also told them she wasn’t sure if she could do what she wanted to try or not. She placed herself in between then and placed her left hand over Esylle’s heart and her right over Leodos’. He hadn’t seen this since Inanos, but the Myalis flower appeared on her chest and her eyes started glowing white again.
He didn’t know what else she could possibly gift them with and knew she wouldn’t hurt them. He was already drunk and felt even more so as the light began to flow out of her hand and into his chest. He was trying to ignore the light and feel Lisana because he didn’t know what she was doing to either of them. Both Esylle and Leodos had almost all of her gifts except the gifts of creation and thought and he didn’t think she could give those out.
He could feel intense concentration from her, then lost her as the feeling of light became overwhelming. He felt the light trickle out of him and watched her eyes go back to violet as he concentrated on her face. He was surprised when he felt weariness, concern, and confusion all at once. For a minute, he wondered if something had gone wrong with what she had tried to do and that was why he felt the concern and confusion.
She swayed on her feet and he caught her as she collapsed. The weariness was stronger when he held her, but he didn’t know where the other feelings were coming from. He thought she might not be able to explain until morning, but he looked down at her and she was smiling weakly at him. She hadn’t fainted, but she would need to sleep.
“Can you feel each other now?” she asked.
“Is that you?” Esylle and Leodos both asked each other at the same time.
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