Part One: What They've Sown

Eyes of the Tiger

Lord Talika gestured with his hand, and Manu turned his head to watch as a woman, probably only a year or two younger than himself, stepped out of the shadows of an open archway. He was surprised that he had not noticed her before, or even had some quiet inkling of her presence. Her skin was dark and her hair was shaved close to her her. She wore a simple sleeveless dress of deep blue silk and emerald embroidery. On her arms, which Manu noted were incredibly toned, were golden armbands that almost looked as though they were intended to keep her muscles from growing any more. Her jawline was motionless, and she did not smile.

It was her eyes, however, that caught Manu's attention. They were a dark orange fire that looked at him without any passion, any emotion. They were the eyes of a tiger, and in her mind, he could be her prey. He suddenly felt very unsafe.

Still, he smiled, as was expected. He turned to Lord Talika and nodded his head. "My Lord," he said, knowing that his illusionary face would keep all his inner turmoil and concern from showing. "You do me a great honor with this offer." He rose and bowed to the tigress, as was custom.

"He does you no such thing." The girl said. Her voice was melodious and Manu found it enthralling, even though it was clearly hostile. There was steel to it. "He trades me to you in hopes a husband will tame his wayward daughter." She turned to look at her father, and crossed her arms. "Is that not true, father?" She asked, her eyes aflame. "Do you not want me out of your house, so that I can be someone else's problem?"

Lord Talika sipped from his wine, clearly accustomed to this type of attitude from his daughter. He seemed to have expected this reaction. "Magister, I present to you my daughter, Chaya Talika."

Manu rose from his bow. The girl was the same height as him, and was built more like a soldier than she was a traditional noble woman. She did not look at him, instead focusing her fury on her father. "Do you think to sell me to the highest bidder like you did with my sisters?" She asked, clearly on the warpath. "I will not be treated like cattle!"

Manu looked from Lord Talika, who signed and took a very long drink of wine, and the girl, Chaya Talika, who appeared ready to pounce. When her father set down his goblet he refilled it form the jug on the table. "You need to take a husband of some statue, and the Magister here is the brother of Her Majesty, Queen Aanya of House Amin. It is an incredible honor for you to even get the opportunity to-"

"I do not need to marry!" Chaya shouted, taking a dangerous step closer to her father. Without thinking, Manu's hand dropped to his sword, but he stopped himself from grabbing the handle in case he offended the Talikas.

"My Lady," he said diplomatically. "I am sorry if my presence here is of any offense to you," he said truthfully, "but you must understand, your father merely brought the idea up in our conversation - I had yet to hear further of it or to agree to it."

The tigress jerked her head to look at Manu with her flaming eyes, and she looked as though she wanted to tell him to shut up. After a tense moment, she looked down at the sheathe on his hip, and then at his hand, and she blinked. Strangely, her face turned to one of composure and, Manu might have imagined it though, a glimpse of respect.

"Alright." She said, as though holding herself back from saying anything more.

Lord Talika took another swig of his wine. "Chaya is my last unmarried daughter, and you can see, she's clearly the least excited about it." Chaya opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when her father continued talking. "I promise you though, the strength of her tongue is outmatched by the strength of her arms and her skill with any weapon, human or elven. She is the best huntress in all of Duren, and the ferocity that can be found in her words is the same that I saw her unleash on her brothers when they were growing up. She can singlehandedly overcome any of my levies or guards, and she can chase down a horse before it gets too far. I wonder sometimes if her mother laid with some mythical hero to create Chaya, but I've been assured that was not the case."

Chaya raised her chin, giving Manu a strong view of the pride she clearly held in her accomplishments and talents. The description of her, however, did not inspire him to remove his hand from the vicinity of his weapon. She caught him looking at her, and held the eye contact. "My mother would have been wise to choose another to sire me," she said. "As my father is a coward who cares more for his wealth than his family."

Manu blinked, wondering if her tone was ever kind and complimentary, or if it was always so savage. "Your father clearly thinks the world of you, my Lady." He said, not sure what exactly was the appropriate response in this situation. He turned back to Lord Talika, who looked back at him with weary eyes, clearly worn down from years of this behavior. "I must beg your pardon, my Lord," He tipped his head. "But I did not come here with the expectation to leave an engaged man."

Lord Talika sighed. "No, I suppose you did not." He said, taking another drink of wine. "But along with my daughter, I will not only pay for the cost of a wedding, but I will include a dowry of twenty thousand Crowns, so long as you agree to give House Talika the sole rights to the Chamakeela vineyards, and you will also agree to never start farming olives on any of the lands of House Amin." Lord Talika was clearly concerned with maintaining his foothold in those markets, which was a fair concern, considering the Chamakeela lands were the perfect location for olive groves.

Manu bit the inside of his cheek. The idea of binding himself to House Talika was concerning for a number of reasons. Their status as a lesser House meant that, in the eyes of the other noble Houses, Manu would be marrying down the social ladder. If any of the noble Houses made hostile actions against the Talikas, House Amin, or at least Manu specifically, would be required by custom to act in the defense of his in-laws. He was also incredibly concerned with allying with a House so close with the Magisterial College, of which he was a high ranking member, because the College was supposedly meant to not interfere with the politics of the realm and was supposed to be independent of them.

More importantly, however, he did not want to marry. It was not out of protest that any arranged marriage would not be out of love, because he was not sure that he cared about love, but because he felt wrong marrying a human when he himself was only pretending to be one. The marriage vows in Duren were made with a magical bond over an earth primal stone, and therefor incorrigible. The vows ensured honesty between couples, and those partners that failed to follow them would find themselves suffering from a magical illness borne of the land itself.

Lord Talika looked at Manu expectantly. When an answer was not forthcoming, the dark man spoke up. "Magister, word has already gotten out by now that you have made inquiries into the cost of the Chamakeela holdings." His tone was not forceful, however his words certainly were. "Houses Sher and Ankar have already declared that they each intend to purchase the lands from the Crown, and the only thing preventing them from doing so is that my brother has come down with a terrible sickness that requires he be in bed and allowed no visitors."

Manu looked into Lord Talika's eyes and saw in them the recognition that Manu was right where he wanted him. Even though the deal was strongly in Manu's favor, Lord Talika clearly felt so strongly about this marriage that he made certain Manu would be in no position to decline it. The subterfuge could be respected, and under normal circumstances, Manu would not feel neither manipulated nor cornered. However, these were not normal circumstances, because honesty was something that Manu ironically valued highly. There were some aspects of his life he did not wish were illusions.

"If you would wish to speak with Her Majesty about this, I would not be adverse to hear her opinion on the matter." Lord Talika said, making Manu question whether or not his current relationship with the Queen had become public knowledge.

Manu shook his head, recognizing that he had not only been outplayed, but that there was no malice in it. He looked at Chaya Talika and saw that she realized, too, what her father had done. The fires in her eyes burst into life once more, but Manu spoke before she could say anything. "I would be humbled and honored to marry your daughter, Lord Talika."

He bowed, and as his eyes looked towards the ground, he wondered how long it would be before Chaya Talika killed him and buried him below it.