Lily twisted out from under Dell's hands and glared balefully up at the tall minstrel. Why ever did minstrel's have to be such a friendly lot? She had never known a one who practiced proper decorum when it came to the opposite sex, or the same sex, depending on the minstrel in question. She'd seen Kall-Su's eyes ice up the moment Dell placed hands on her. Just turn hard and emotionless before he'd whirled and stalked away and all because Dell had a tendency towards familiarity.
"Who was that?" Thizura asked with a definite gleam of interest in his eyes.
One just didn't say, the lord of this province, and not seem the fool or a liar.
"An acquaintance."
"Yummy."
"Where were you? Crayl sent us out to look and see if you'd been ambushed on the streets." Dell put his arm back around her shoulders and she let him guide her towards the lights and noise of the Tavern.
"I was asked to play at the castle." She said, still rather amazed at the fact herself. But not half so flabbergasted as she'd been at Kall-Su's appearance afterwards. She could hardly convince herself it had happened. He had been concerned for her. He had talked with her. Actually talked with her like a real person and not a lord to a slave -- a servant. He'd wanted to hear her play. She had touched him. Bold, bold, bold. How had she ever managed to work up the courage to do that? He had taken her elbow and walked her here. And Dell had ruined it. Come up and put his hands on her like she and he were closer than they really were and Kall-Su who could not know the ways of minstrels and performers -- had taken it at face value.
"You played for the Ice Lord?" Thizura wanted to know.
"Yes."
"Did you get lots of gold?"
"No."
"No? Whyever not?"
"I didn't." She said quietly, but firmly.
They exchanged looks over her head. "Sooo, was that a lover?" Dell asked.
"No!!" Vehemently.
"Ah. But someone you wish was?"
She blushed furiously, refusing to answer. Instead she asked. "You came to the White Hare looking for me? I thought I was to meet you after your own performance?"
"We decided to come and listen to you play. Obviously you didn't show."
Inside the tavern there was still a crowd. It was not so late that adamant drinkers would be driven home.
"We found her." Dell said, upon reached the table where Crayl and Allun sat. "She was playing at the castle."
"Was she now?" Crayl smiled up at her. "And did you woo them with your silvery voice, Lily?"
She blushed. Her face felt hot from the amount of blood rushing to it this night. She did not get the chance to sit down, for the barkeep, upon seeing her, bustled over, wiping his hands on a dirty towel.
"Where were you girl? Customers were asking for you."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't get away from the castle, master Harden." She explained.
He waved her excuse away. "No help for it then. Play a few songs for the latecomers at any rate."
"Yes, do. We came here to listen to you and won't be denied." Dell encouraged her.
So she sat down and played a string of popular favorites. A collection of small coins were tossed her way. A mediocre night at best, even for only half a set. The minstrels applauded energetically when she'd finished. One could not find a more obliging audience. They passed her a mug of ale when she sat back down with them and for a pleasant time talked shop.
"We're headed south in a month or so -- once summer hits full on. The western coastal cities are always awash with wealthy travelers that time of year." Crayl said. "There is a fair in Caban during mid-summer that every minstrel and performer worth their weight will attend. A great many master harpers will gather. There will be much to be learned. You ought to go."
She drew her breath, at a momentary loss. "I-- I've heard of the Caban Fair. I've never been. I would love to -- but I don't know if I could make my way alone."
"He's not asking you to go there alone." Thizura said with a mischievous grin.
"You could travel with us." Crayl said. "A female voice to blend in harmony would be a boon. And we've no one to sing the love ballads of heartbroken maidens."
"We would be honored to have you." Allun said softly, smiling briefly at her.
Her eyes grew round. How incredibly ironic that she should be invited to join their troop -- a thing she had wanted desperately up until two hours past when all her carefully constructed dreams of traveling the lands had been upset by a sudden show of interest from Kall-Su. How untimely that Crayl should ask her this when all she could think about was the lord of this city.
Crayl saw her hesitation. Must have seen the dilemma in her eyes, for he reached out and covered her small hand in his. "No need to decide now. We've the rest of spring till we leave. This is your home, I understand. Not so easy to up and leave."
It wasn't the place that pulled at her heart. And one had to be pragmatic. The thing that did was so far beyond her reach as to seem impossible. No matter that he took the trouble to see her through the streets on a dark night, or lifted the mark of a slave from her hand. "It's not a home to me." She said. "I've not lived here long. To travel to Caban Fair would be a dream come true for me. I think I would like very much to join you on the road there."
"All right, what were you talking about with Arshes?" Schneider shut the door to Yoko's room behind him and fixed her with a no nonsense stare as she turned to look at him with those large, innocent eyes of hers. Her room had become their sanctum. It was warmer than his, and insulated with carpets and wall hangings and pillows. It might as well be their room, since a good deal of his accumulated belongings were there. He had hardly slept anyplace else since their initial reconciliation.
"Whatever do you mean?" She inquired sweetly. Too sweetly, which made him wary. She slipped up to him, stood on tip toe and brushed the side of his mouth with a light kiss. "You are so paranoid."
"I'm not. I'm so not paranoid I'm careless, but you -- you -- make me nervous when you've got that look in your eyes."
"I make you nervous?" She put both hands to her chest in mock disbelief. She shrugged a moment later and flounced around to sit on the bed. She pulled one knee up and rested her chin on it, watching him. Not so innocent not to use a pout and a coy gaze from under her lashes to draw him forward against his better judgment, when he should have been pressuring her to discover what she was up to. But his curse had always been being too easily distracted by a pretty face. Yoko's welcoming one was an aphrodisiac he could not get enough of.
He put a knee on the bed beside her, leaning down to kiss her. She met him eagerly, falling backwards with him on top of her. With the advent of soft lips and softer breasts under his hands, suspicions retreated into the shadows. He trailed his lips down her neck to the hollow of her throat.
"Did you plan," she asked while he was attempting to work at the ties of her blouse. "To take Arshes as a lover when you found her as a child and took her under your protection?"
His fingers froze on the silk of her blouse. Hers were making little circles on his back. He could feel her nails through his shirt. It was damned distracting. The throbbing between his legs was even more so. Malevolent, crafty little witch to spring such a question when he was intent on pursuits of pleasure.
"I don't normally plan that far ahead." He ground out, irritation warring with arousal. "And I damned sure don't want to talk about it now. I thought I'd settled this with you?"
"With me, yes. I just want to be clear on a few things."
"What the hell has she been talking to you about?"
"You adopted her as your own daughter. Then something changed and you became lovers, is that right?"
"Yoko, Damnit!" He pushed himself off her, out of the mood suddenly and restless. Damn Arshes for bringing Yoko into this. As if Yoko's brand of interference could do anything but create a rift between them. He in no way wished to discuss this with her. He did not want to discuss it with anyone, more content to let the wound fester and become putrid. He did not admit weaknesses or wounds to anyone. Even to her.
He stood, with every intention of ending this conversation by walking out on it, but she made him hesitate with her next words.
"If our daughter had lived, would you have loved her as much as you did Arshes when she was a little girl?"
He drew a breath, narrowing his eyes. Mention of that lost child from her was not a thing he could ignore, or rail at her for. Whether she knew it or not, it was a effective weapon to use against him. He could not defend against it, so he stared at her silently, sullenly, refusing to answer. When he didn't, she went on.
"I mean even though she isn't of your flesh, Arshes was your daughter, wasn't she? Your first one. A first child is special. Didn't you want the best for her? Didn't it matter to you that she was happy?"
"She was happy." He hissed. A dozen -- a hundred instances flashed across his mind of the child and the girl Arshes Nei had been. Shy, quiet little girl that had turned into something more. Determined girl. Jealous girl. Oh so eager to make him proud of her achievements. He could not even recall now, when the turning point had come that changed their relationship forever.
"Don't you want to see her happy now?"
"This is not your business." He almost yelled it at her. He wanted out of this room. He did not want to think about the whys and wherefores when unreasoning anger served better. Unreasoning emotion had always served him better.
She did not take offense. She merely tilted her head and smiled sadly at him. "You don't hate her for betraying you. How can you hate a child you raised? You hurt her by this black mood you direct towards her. She loves you, you know and you've done far more to deserve her hate than she ever has to warrant yours."
He had never held himself accountable for any of the things he had done. No one had ever had the power to call him on them. Up until the point that Yoko had wormed her way into a position of surprising power in his life, he had never let himself feel regret or admit to guilt. It didn't matter that he bruised the people that he valued. He knew they would not desert him. There had been a war going on and world to conquer then, but now things seemed to have changed. The children he'd raised in his own image had concerns that did not solely revolve about him. Kall was more interested in preserving the north and the vestiges of his own warped guilt, and Arshes chose to elevate Gara in importance over him. The wound over that was more potent that the jealousy over her sharing his bed.
That realization struck and gnawed at him insidiously. And Yoko -- Yoko never let things rest. She was never content to take the easy route or the smooth course that might avoid conflict. She was too easily willing to tear into issues better left untorn. Things he might have preferred left unsaid. Perhaps that was one of the things he found irresistible about her. That stubbornness that reminded his own, yet stemmed not from any desire for self gain, but rather from one to truly help. Arshes was more like him. Or he had made her more like him. There had been a time when their goals had been the same. Power, the thrill of conquest. Somewhere along the way she had lost interest in that. He didn't know what she wanted now -- other than the ninja master. All the things before had been the things he had desired. She had lived her life mimicking his aspirations. The only time she ever seemed to create an agenda of her own was when she thought him dead and gone. The first time after Larz and Geo Note's little coup, she'd been gung ho to help create a Utopia governed by wizards -- which had all been a crock conceived by Abigail used to steer her in the direction he wanted. The second had been less grand, but perhaps more useful. Gone with Gara into the eastern mountains to help the destitute orphans and widows unfortunate enough to live in the path of the encroaching beastmen from the eastern plains. And she'd been willing to give it up at a moment's notice for him.
It was not his fault. He had never made her do anything. Her choices were and always had been her own. They had merely never collided with his interests or his feelings before. Not when she was free to make her own decisions at any rate. He had never put stipulations on their relationship. He had never needed to -- because he had trusted her to never betray him. He had trusted her like a daughter. And what was the greatest betrayal any daughter might perpetrate upon her father? To place another man above him in her heart. To give another man her loyalty and her trust.
He glanced at Yoko, quietly staring at him from the bed and wondered how much resentment Geo Note held against him for his daughter's blatant desertion. A faint smile touched his lips. A fair amount he'd wager.
"What?" She asked. "You're smiling and it's not a good smile."
He shook his head. "I won't discuss this tonight. If you insist then we'll both sleep alone."
She lifted a brow, considering that. "All right, then. My lips are sealed on the subject."
He was vaguely surprised at the capitulation. She was generally more doggedly stubborn in her arguments. She looked satisfied though, as if she saw something in his face that agreed with her sense of righteousness. He frowned darkly at that, but she ignored it and held out a hand.
He was more pensive when he lay beside her this time, thoughts distracted by other things. She did not seem to mind.
The gates to the city stood open. A half dozen sturdy wagons loaded with furs and other valuable resources of the north waited on the road outside. The merchant who owned them was ecstatic that his generosity in allowing the great priest Geo Note to travel with his party had been rewarded by an escort of ten mounted and armed soldiers from Kall-Su's garrison. There would be little danger of bandits on the trip south as a result.
It was little enough honor to grant a man as worthy as Geo Note. Little enough to make Yoko feel more comfortable with her father's departure. It was not a totally selfless act. Men of his accompanying Geo Note south and back into the heart of the alliance of southern kingdoms would be an invaluable source of information as to just what state those kingdoms were in. They would would serve as messengers for the Great Priest, if he felt the situation had escalated into something that might require outside assistance. Kall-Su had not yet decided if he would commit forces to such a thing as a holy war -- especially one brought on by the desertion of the Prophet, but Gara and Arshes Nei had pledged their support should Geo Note and Larz, ask it of them. One hardly knew what Schneider would do, but it might be assumed that preserving Larz or Geo Note's best interests were not high on his agenda.
He sat on his horse beside Kall-Su now, scowling and impatient as Yoko bid farewell to her father. She was crying and apologizing for not going with him. Schneider's frown grew darker each time an 'I'm sorry, father' escaped her lips. Gara patted her shoulders reassuringly, bending his head to speak with her privately. She threw her arms around him and cried even more. Schneider said something offensive under his breath.
"You'd think he was going to his death." He muttered afterwards.
Eventually Yoko unwrapped herself from Geo Note and he stepped towards Kall-Su and Schneider with her at his side. "Lord Kall-Su. Again, I thank you for your generosity. I shall see your men back in short order."
"Hopefully they'll return with good news." Kall said quietly.
"Goddess willing." The Great Priest agreed. Kall did not second the prayer.
"Good traveling." Gara wished from where he stood with Kiro and Arshes Nei. They had all come to see him away and the street leading to the gates were filled with curious bystanders, eager for a look at their lord and his wizardly companions. Kiro's men kept them at bay, armed soldiers and heavy horse dampening too much enthusiasm.
The Priest nodded at the ninja master, then with an audible breath turned his piercing eyes to Schneider, who had not bothered to dismount or utter a single word of farewell or good luck to the Great Priest. Schneider returned the stare petulantly.
"Since my daughter has chosen your company over mine, it is the very least you can do to promise me to see her well cared for. It is a father's prerogative."
"Do you doubt it, old man?" A faint, taunting smile touched Schneider's lips. Yoko frowned up at him. Geo Note sighed. The Great Priest was well aware of the futility of engaging in such a debate with Dark Schneider. None of them had the time to see it to its fruition with the merchant eager to be on his way.
"I'll be just fine, father." Yoko assured him, since Schneider was being stubborn. "We'll see each other again soon, I'm sure of it. Please be safe and don't worry about me."
She kissed him on the cheek one last time, then he inclined his head towards Kall-Su and took the reins of the horse his aide held out for him. The caravan started off, trundling southward. Yoko stood in the road for a bit watching. Then she realized everyone was waiting for her, and with a sigh, went to the little mare she'd ridden through the city streets upon.
With a clatter of hooves on cobblestones the whole of the party dispersed from the gates.
"You didn't have to be so mean." Yoko complained. Kall-Su only half heard Schneider's reply to that. They bickered back and forth for the span of several blocks. One learned to tune it out. The squeak of saddle leather and the sound of iron shod hooves on stones was more comforting.
People cleared a way for them on the streets. It was early still, and men were just traveling to their work. Merchants only now opening their stalls. There was the smell of smoke and various different breakfast feasts emanating from taverns and inns. The cries of children running in the streets, the barking of dogs and the yelling of men and women who bade each other good morn. A city waking. A pleasant city, Sta-Veron. A city full, for the most part, of honest, hard working people. Occasionally it amazed him that such a sturdy, healthy city owed allegiance to him. That such a people welcomed him as their lord, even knowing what he was. When he'd conquered it, decades ago, he'd had no more thought for the welfare or loyalty of its people than he'd held for any of the cities his armies had taken. It was not a thing that would have occurred to him then. Loyalties and allegiances were things that were taken by force and held by right of fear and power. Schneider had taught him that.
Only somewhere along the way, this province, with its harsh climate and its people that stubbornly hacked out a life here all the year round, fighting the long winters and the systematic raids from nomads to the north -- had started to appeal to him. It had been a place away from the glitter and the political machinations of the south that proved a valuable refuge. Schneider had ridiculed him for making it the place he returned to time and again during the latter years of their conquest of the south. But, Schneider was easily bored and tended towards luxury and the trappings of wealth -- even if he despised the wealthy elite. One learned not to take all of Schneider's opinions at face value.
They were on the road leading to the castle when the first arrow hurtled down from the rooftops.