Duty

Chapter 64 The art of the game

...

Ariane couldn't contain the smile that kept breaking through on her face. She couldn't remember ever smiling so much before in her entire life. It even made her cheeks hurt.

He had been so tender with her. Like she was something breakable, something to cherish.

His words kept replaying in her mind.

"Why don't we try for another child? "

Another child! How she longed for that. She loved Loukios dearly, but he was growing so fast. Cyrus was right. Their son needed siblings. To play with and to protect. Already Cyrus had inquired after young lords to be sent to Auros to be Loukios' companion, like his father had done for him. That was how Iolaus had come to live at court. They had been older than Loukios was now, but their friendship had been strong, and remained strong to this day.

And there had been Vara, of course, Ariane thought with a sigh. Over the years she had learned the story of how Vara had come to live at the palace and wear a royal name, It was still a foreign concept to her that a peasant girl would be adopted by the king himself, seeing as such a thing would not happen in Tirèze. She tried to imagine Vara as the wild and mischievous child everyone remembered her to be. Cyrus had been more sullen then, a serious child but with a knack for trouble.

What would it have been like to grow up unrestricted?

"You seem happy."

Ariane looked up at the sound of Torcan's voice and inclined her head. "I was just daydreaming."

He smiled at her. "It must be a good dream then."

She blushed lightly. "It is." She looked up at him. "How are you? Did you sleep well? Is the room to your liking?"

"Everything is well," Torcan assured her, "the servants are taking care of our every need."

Ariane nodded. "Good to hear." She bit her lip. "H-how bad was it? Silas did not say much other than that Vara almost died. And you... you saved her?"

Torcan sighed and rana hand through his hair. "Ari..." he said gently, "I'm not sure war stories are what you will want to hear."

"Tell me, please," she pressed softly.

Torcan sighed again and sadly shook his head. "We arrived late," he said, "Balor had already done great damage. A lot of people living at Boncini had already gotten injured or lost their lives. Vara was fighting. I saw the young soldier that defended her fall, but I could not get to her because of all the attackers. A Balor warrior grabbed her..." Torcan closed his eyes and paled. The memory of how he had almost been too late still made him sick. It brought back memories of himself as a child, unable to do anything to protect himself.

Next to him, Ariane had paled as well. She felt suddenly nauseous and regretted her question. She had seen the aftermath of the attack on Sylece, years ago. She should not have asked. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Torcan let out a shaky breath. "I could prevent him from hurting her, but it was close. I never want to relive that again."

Ariane looked at him sadly. She knew, of course, what Balor had done to him, but she did not know any details. And she was afraid to ask. Not just because it would be inappropriate, but also because she could see the haunted expression in his eyes, still after all these years. As a child he'd had nightmares. Did he have them still? "Forgive me."

Torcan sook his had an cast her a sad smile. "There is nothing to forgive. Let us talk of more pleasant things."

She gave a nod and smiled. "Talk about your brother. He is your brother, isn't he? Lord Mikos."