This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

Intrigue

"Jinora, the khal was actually very gracious to want to spend time with you before we ironed out the marriage details. That happens to be a lot of leeway. Would it kill you to be a little grateful?"

"Wow, he wants to see my face before we get married. I'm so overwhelmed by his graciousness..."

Catching her mother's eye in the mirror, Jinora silenced her muttering and just sat still, letting her mother finish brushing. She felt the bristles riddle down her back as they passed through her locks from her crown to her waist and then back again. It was all she had to concentrate on in the moment.

"Sweetheart, it's not that bad," said her mother, putting the brush down and combing through Jinora's hair with her fingers. She was firm though not unkind. "The khal wanting to see you before actually marrying is still a good sign."

"It means he wants to decide if he thinks I'm beautiful enough to be his wife," said Jinora, staring despondently into the mirror as her mother tucked a shimmering lotus broach into the single bun adoring the side of her head. She tried not to frown bitterly. "Or attractive enough to be a bedslave."

"Jinora, please." Her mother sighed. "He's a good match for you. Lord of a powerful kalasar, strong, very healthy from what I hear... and he's just about your age. This is a match other girls and their families might have been crawling over each other to have."

"Might," said Jinora firmly. "I find it hard to believe that most girls would be interested in a man who killed his own father to be that powerful lord."

Her mother sighed.

"And after all those books you had your nose buried in it never occurred to you that other peoples have other ways of looking at things."

"Murder's still murder." Jinora tugged on the sleeves of her robes irritably. Raava curse it all, why did she have to be wearing so many of them? Was it really all that necessary for the ceremony?

"Not to the Dothraki," Her mother said with finality and stood up. "Speaking of which, they should be arriving soon. Let's hurry now. We don't want to keep them waiting."

Jinora resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"The same way they make us wait?" she almost spat.

Her mother seemed to ignore that.

"Our relationship with them may be a great one, but we are still two peoples. The Dothraki do things on their own time and we do the same with others, but they honor their word and that very much counts for something... and darling?"

Jinora sighed.

"Yes, mother?"

"Whatever you do, please, be polite."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "I always am."

-:-:-:-:-

The sound of distant galloping didn't make the day any less sweltering and it certainly didn't make Jinora want to curse their Dothraki visitors any less. She was standing outside with her family in the courtyard, surrounded by a small crowd of subjects, dressed in way too many robes for the time of year and expected to be patient when their guests had been making them wait longer than she could hardly abide. In a less formal occasion she might have been forgiving, but for all the fuss everybody had been making about this she expected it to be treated with the utmost importance and have everybody be on time.

Of course, that was all of her irritation talking. Irritation at what she was wearing, the weather... her so-called good match and how she didn't wantto be his queen. Why would she want to be the queen of a man she knew could never respect her? She'd met many men of many lands and ranks and if there was anything common about the lot of them it was a lack of respect for their own mothers let alone their wives. She'd always dreamed of being able to choose her own husband. A man who loved books as much as she did and cared to know what was swirling around in her head for all the right reasons. Wanted to know what was there because, just maybe, she might be as fascinating as he fantasized...

Being desired was not the issue. Whyshe was being desired was the problem here.

And what's more was that her father had never truly talked to her about a husband. Eventually, she'd figured that Ikki, who was betrothed to an older son of the Beifong family, would suffice and their relationship with The Kalasar on The Soaring Plains would be well enough that she needn't get involved.

But no.

Her father had brought it up over a casual conversation at dinner and they'd talked about it more in depth together with her mother. Of course, Jinora had agreed to meet the man if only to please her parents. They seemed to really be pushing this on her and she hated the idea of disappointing them.

So, here she was. Most of her regretting the decision in the heat and wishing she'd just explained to her parents why she was so reluctant. Then again, what good would that have done? At some point, they would have just laid down the law that she was the daughter and they would be making the final decision. She, would just have to "broaden her horizons" about the matter because that was what was best for her...

The galloping became louder and Jinora damned herself for her heartbeat doing the same. Why was she so nervous? She never cared what the last khal thought of her and she certainly wouldn't care what this new one would think of her either.

Husband or not, she mentally asserted.

The hooves were like thunder as four horses rode into the courtyard. The first rider she laid her eyes on was most obviously the khal. With the longest braid he was the easiest to spot, but even then it was simply because he was the most imposing. Clearly very strong and battle ridden, he bore several small scars across his body with the largest and most noticeable being the jagged one on his chest. The top of his hair did an odd thing where it was messy but underneath was where it smoothed out, the sides shaved, and his ponytail tied at the base of his skull.

Being very familiar with the Dothraki over their years of mutual diplomacy, Jinora knew the three behind the khal were probably his bloodriders. His dothrakiquoy, she reminded herself. She liked to think of them as his kingsguard except more like brothers and less like subjects or servants as she'd seen in societies such as her own. If anything, one of them looked like they might even actually be related.

The khal turned to look down at them, his eyes flicking over in her direction briefly and she caught the color of deep green as her father graciously opened his arms and took a step forward.

"Atchomar chomakaan, zhey khal vezhven," he said to the horseman with a small graceful bow.

Respect to one who is respectful, great khal, Jinora recited mentally, a habit she'd formed out of her years spent mastering her hand at Dothraki. It was not the only language she spoke, but it was very much one of the more important ones she had to learn. Ceremonies like this being part of the better reasons why.

She bitterly resisted the urge to snort. Respect. As if the khal was going to show a mutual display of respect. Khal Sokhan had never been so generous. Suddenly, their new khal, his sonfor the matter was supposed to be much different?

"Khal Kai," said her father, now in the common tongue. "It is a pleasure to have you here in our capitol city of Miao Cheng. The people of Rlun welcome you."

Just as she got back into her own head, Khal Kai bowed his head just as gracefully and dismounted. Jinora frowned. What was he playing at? No khal dismounted in the presence of a foreigner. At least not at a ceremony like this. Khal Sokhan had never done so courteous and Khal Rukko only did so because he was friends with her grandfather.

But thisman looked no much older than herself.

"Atchomar Chomakaan," said Khal Kai simply, standing face to face with her father.

Her father, taking the greeting with a curt nod, turned and gestured toward her and her family with an arm, beginning to rattle off each of them in the common tongue.. Khal Kai looked at each of them, resting his eyes on her the longest. Getting a better look at him, Jinora noted the patch of hair under lips and on his chin. She noted the deep green of his eyes and the dark copper of his skin. She noted the way he moved as he and her father walked toward them. She noted the way he commanded a presence by doing nothing but simply existing.

And she wished she'd quit noting all of these things because it was making it very difficult for her to look threatening when they finally reached her.

"...and as you may have guessed this is my eldest daughter, Jinora of House Gyatso." Her father gestured for her to come forward. She did – reluctantly – and stood straight faced in front of the khal. She wanted him to know just how resistantto this she was. As much of a first impression as he was seemingly making, she still didn't really care to deal with him.

Murder was still murder, she reminded herself.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, Khal Kai's face blank as he surveyed her. Her own face, surely, had a frown etched onto it. When their eyes met, she saw an enigma. Would she know what he was thinking in ten years time? She didn't even ask if this marriage was going through. What better diplomatic marriage would she have than this? As much as she didn't like the idea, it'd be the work of a fool to turn it down. Even if she had her own reasons, she'd be a moron to think they were valid in the spirit of why they were doing this.

"Marriage is for love, yes," her mother told her once. "But among nobles it's for the love of family and for the love of nation before all else. Love for oneself is a spoil few of us ever receive the way your father and I found."

Marrrying him is good for the family. It's good for our country, she mentally sighed, steeling herself. It'll keep our ties strong. I can do this. Just because I marry him doesn't mean I'll be less than I am now.

"Do you speak the common tongue?" she asked finally, quietly. From the way her father kept on speaking to him in it, she had wondered.

Khal Kai nodded at her though he didn't say anything.

So, he did understand her. That was a relief. As fluent as she was in Dothraki, him knowing the common tongue wouldn't make her feel so isolated. They could understand each other rather than she having to work to understand him.

"Will you take a ride with me?" sked Khal Kai in Dothraki.

No, she told him mentally.

Despite what her mind was saying, she nodded. As he turned away to walk back to his horse, her father gestured for her to follow encouragingly. Biting her tongue a little, she followed, feeling as if she were being handed away in chains.

-:-:-:-

She and the khal rode in relative silence for a good part of the way. He had nothing to say it seemed and that was just fine with her. It wasn't like she had anything to say either. In fact, she wanted to pretend like she was having a nice, casual ride through her family's countryside. They rode along a large open space, her own guard and his dothrakiquoyriding behind at a respectable distance. He didn't say anything and she didn't look at him. Quite frankly, the blue skies were a lot more interesting than he was to her at the moment.

"Are you always this silent?" he finally asked in the common tongue.

Jinora looked at him, probably scowling.

"I speak your language," she said in Dothraki. "You don't have to speak in the common tongue just for me."

"Okay, then," he said, switching back to Dothraki for her. "Are you always this silent?"

Her grip on the reins tightened.

"Vos," she said pointedly. Of course she wasn't usually this silent. She was just this silent right now. "I just don't have much to say. What did you want to talk about?"

"You," he said.

Okay, she had to admit, that she liked the way he talked. Something about the way he rolled his r's in the common tongue and his own language made him easier to listen to. It wasn't exactly uncommon to listen to noblemen go on and on about themselves and have the most annoying voice while they were at it. It was usually then she wished she couldn't understand them.

"What did you want to know about me?"

When he didn't answer her right away she still didn't look at him, instead, keeping her eyes focused on a pair of birds flying through the sky.

Nothing to say? she wondered.

That was fine with her. The less he talked the better.

"How many languages do you speak?"

She turned to him with a small frown, almost pulling back on her reins. What kind of question was that? A valid one in hindsight, but she hadn't expected him to ask her that.

"Why do you care how many languages I speak?"

He didn't answer her again, but this time she got a good look at his face. His eyes were focused directly on hers, but he looked neither taken aback nor upset. If anything, his face was as stony as her own as well. For a moment, she wondered if he was playing her game... not that she considered this a game, but there was something in the way that he looked at her that said 'I'm not scared of you' and she raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Tor," she said, holding up four fingers and turning away from him. "Fluently that is. Rluni is my mother tongue, the common tongue, Dothraki and Tunese. I'm working on Hinokokuan and Imaqiat."

He went back into silence again and they rode for what seemed like forever just like that...

It was driving her mad. Now, as hard as she tried not to, she kept on casually taking glances in his direction. Their exchange was brief, but... interesting to say the least. He'd begrudgingly piqued her interest and she wanted to know what else he wanted to know.

Damn him, she huffed to herself. I don't want to care what he wants to know about what I want to know. I just want to know what I know and let him wonder about what he wants to know. I don't want anybody to know anything.

She didn't like this. Why did he have to be so different? Men usually enjoyed talking about themselves to her.

But Khal Kai didn't say a thing until he damn well pleased.

She shook her head, not liking the questionable nature of that last thought. On that note, she glanced in his direction again. He was looking ahead, as casual as she was and she couldn't help but be reminded that he was a king from the way in which he rode his horse. His technique was rather effortless yet, effective. Being bare-chested was definitely the better choice as well...

Jinora almost bit her tongue.

Since he wasn't wearing armor, she told herself diplomatically. Being bare-chested was better without all that armor to slow down his steed.

She immediately looked ahead, doing her very best to contemplate the clear blue sky. Too nice of a day not to think about it.

This wore on throughout the entire ride. As their time was close to ending, she tried not to scowl. Why would you just ask one question? She didn't know what to ask him. Not that she wantedto ask any questions, but it was... proper. And he'd gotten to ask her one.

Damn it. She felt like a pouting child.

"Did you want to ask me anything else?" she asked in Dothraki. They were nearing the courtyard gates and the urge was nearly leaping out of her she could no longer contain it.

"Sek," he said, nodding and actually rode around in front of her. She raised her eyebrow at him.

What was he playing at now?

Frowning, she slowed her horse to a stop.

"Yes?" she repeated after him, this time inquiring.

"If you were to base whether or not you'd marry me on the one question I asked you earlier, would you marry me?" he asked, eyes boring into hers.

She froze for a moment, but... actually thought about it. Based off the one question he had asked her? He had only asked her how many languages she spoke, but it was a question she didn't mind answering.

In fact – Raava, help her why was she admitting this even to herself – she wouldn't have minded talking about it more had she known what to really say to him.

They stayed like that for just a moment, beginning to ride in somewhat of a circle, but his eyes never left hers and she couldn't look away.

Finally, he broke the circle and began riding toward the gate once more. Jinora let out a breath, slightly disturbed that she had been holding it in the first place.

"Then consider that a formal proposal," he said and, as he turned away, she swore she caught the faint, yet surest curve of a smile.

She opened her mouth to say something after him, but found that she couldn't say anything. What didshe say to that?

What did she say to that when she no longer exactly wanted to say no?

The two of them didn't speak to each other again as the brief farewell ceremony finished, merely looking at each other once more when he'd climbed his horse.

When Khal Kai left, Jinora wasn't surprised as her parents turned to her. Before they could say anything, however, she beat them to it.

"I'll marry him," she said firmly.

Her father blinked, beginning to stroke his beard, and her mother shook her head.

"Just like that?" he asked, trading looks with her mother. "Nothing to say otherwise? No criticisms? No concerns? It's alright to talk about something you might be worried about."

"Are you sure, dear?" asked her mother.

Jinora nodded confidently.

Her father raised an eyebrow.

"...What happened?"

Jinora took a moment to think about it. What had happened exactly? She couldn't exactly explain it in proper words.

"He just asked the right question," she told them simply. At this point, she was willing to admit he was an interesting man if nothing else.

She wanted him to ask more.

Whoo, new kainora fic!

Since, What's Done in the Dark is ending soon I thought this would be a fine time to start my new kainora project. This chapter turned out to be pretty fun to write, but one of the biggest balancing acts was (and is going to be) is the language thing. I hope you guys were able to clearly understand where the language swtiches were. I mean, the good thing about writing fanfiction is I can tell you that usually Kai and Jinora will be speaking on Dothraki to each other. I mean, I'm going to relay that in text anyway, but I do hope those language switches were clear.

This chapter wasn't super long in perfect honesty, but I think it covered the initial stuff I wanted to cover. This world (fused with the Avatar world of course) is different in the sense that the four nations don't have their traditional names. I'll cover it more later in the fic and on my tumblr, but I did rattle them off when Jinora was talking about language so, in short Air Nation now is Rlun, Fire Nation is Hinokoku, Earth Kingdom is Tu and The Water Tribes are Imaq. This world has different names for things, but hopefully I can get a map out on my tumblr real soon.

On that note, I love it when you guys drop those reviews! They really keep me motivated and get me writing the next chapter faster and I appreciate every word even if you just have something to point out! Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!