Itek had procured a large assortment of candies, treats, and other delicacies that he had arranged on the dining room table to take inventory.
He smiled at me as Ormiss and I entered, clothed once again, and he told Ormiss, "So. Roses."
"Of course she has roses in her twilight garden," Ormiss said with dignity. "And she will have roses here. When the season is right to plant them."
Itek just chuckled and held out his hand to me. Ormiss, with a hint of reluctance, released me so I could drift over to my gryphon mate. Itek brushed a kiss along my hair, his golden eyes dancing with feline mischief, and indicated a small box of treats. "Since you enjoyed your candied rose, I found you other flower sweets."
"You didn't have to."
"Of course I did not have to. But I love you, and enjoy making you happy."
"I am happy."
Ormiss sighed as he passed behind Itek towards the table to survey the array of sweets. "I know. She told me the same thing. Are gryphons devoted mates like dragons and hippocamp?"
"Are you asking if we're neurotic like dragons and hippocamp?"
"If you want to use that word." Ormiss seemed to be taking serious inventory of the sweets.
"No."
"Oh, so you're the normal one," I told Itek.
Itek chuckled and gave me an affectionate swat on the rump. "Very few gryphons, even when there is a trinket in play, are sexually faithful. When you meet my family, you might be... surprised... at some of the arrangements. Both of my parents have their own paramours. I am odd for a gryphon in that I am inclined to want only one partner."
"But your parents want things that way," I said.
"Of course. They have what humans would call 'an arrangement.' But never gets a name in gryphon roosts because everyone has an arrangement. An arrangement would be a pair agreeing to not have fun elsewhere." Itek's golden eyes seemed to glow. "Unicorns almost never mated gryphons. That's why you have never heard of unicorn/gryphon hybrids. Simply never happened. No unicorn wanted anything to do with a gryphon, and the gods never paired unicorns with--"
"Sluts?" Ormiss asked.
Itek flipped Ormiss the finger.
"We aren't going to need an... arrangement... are we?" I asked Itek warily.
Itek grinned, and Ormiss left his study of sweets to slink behind Itek. Ormiss leaned over Itek's shoulder. "Intriguing. She never wants anything at all, usually so gentle, and I heard a threat in her voice."
Itek pushed Ormiss away with a hand to Ormiss' face while smiling at me. "No, my love, we do not. Most gryphons don't go to the Churn at all, and I always knew I only wanted one partner to dote upon. It's why I went to the Churn."
"And you still chose to go to the Churn?" The Churn offered the perfect partner, and if I was seeking perfection, I didn't share. I was fine with sharing within the household, but if Itek had an itch to go further afield...
"Of course. Because I wanted one partner, and I knew the only way I'd find that was to go to the Churn. Which is also why I was chosen to become the Ambassador. Gryphons almost never go to the Churn, and when they do, they usually only mate other gryphons or pantere because of their preferences. I suppose if we traveled more, Ravens as well. But dragons, hippocamp, and wolves? They want loyalty in all its forms. The average gryphon can't provide that." Itek's fingers kneaded a gentle, soothing pressure over my spine. "Prepare for the dragons to be bewildered or worse by this arrangement. A unicorn with five consorts? Dragons are very devoted mates. I think there are going to be worries that Korr and Ethat are... defective."
There were already worries Ethat was "defective." I bristled. "They aren't defective."
"Don't cause a scene," Itek said in a teasing voice.
"Have they ever met you, gryphon?" Ormiss inquired.
"No, but they know I exist. Not sure they know I masqueraded as Korr's husband, though. Not sure they'd care either. Dragons have their fun until they pair off, then they're intensely devoted. They are going to be very bewildered by this situation."
I tensed. So did Ormiss, and he said, "You think there's going to be a problem."
"Based on what I know of dragons? Yes." Itek said grimly. "Ethat is... Korr protects him, but I've been with Korr and Ethat for some time. You've seen Ethat, though."
Ormiss made a noise of agreement, while Itek clicked in his throat.
"Hmm," Ormiss said. "They will think what small, little dragons these are that are content to divide their consort five ways."
Itek said, ,"It was already controversial enough they had the same trinket. Korr doesn't talk about it much, and Ethat, of course, never talks about it, but I've gotten a few things out of Korr over time. And of course, we've seen what Ethat is."
I nudged Itek. "Do you think that's something to worry about?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're a gryphon," I said. "Your species tends to... share. Do you think the fact they can take... I don't know, less will reflect badly on them?"
"I think it will cause trouble," Itek said. "But we have to go. It's very improper for dragons to not introduce their consorts as soon as they're found. Korr has an excuse, but it won't hold much longer. They'll be annoyed enough Ormiss' and Asund's family met you first."
Ormiss raised a brow.
"Actually," Itek amended, "they're going to be pissed about that."
"But it wasn't intention," I argued.
"Technically, our first stop should have been to take you the mountains," Itek said. "We breeched dragon etiquette. But that's Korr's problem to spin."
"I hope the candies offset it." There sure were enough of them. I went to try from my pile. There were an assortment. I chose the ones that looked like little meadow flowers dusted in sugar.
Crunching into the flower rattled something in my headcheese brain loose. It tasted familiar--something I'd enjoyed eating in the past, but had forgotten all about. But it didn't taste right either. There was a slight fetid taste to the flower that even the dusting of sugar couldn't overcome.
"Theia?" Ormiss asked.
I tried another flower and it was the same. Familiar, but not right. Slightly fetid. Which was to say it had that slight fetid taste everything had, and I'd grown up with, but this didn't match the shape of what I expected and it bugged me. Slightly fetid water, slightly fetid food (or a lot fetid), sure, that I didn't notice, but this I noticed.
And the hillside of Haven hadn't looked right either. What about it hadn't been right? Just like in the dream/memory of being carried, I'd heard my name, but I hadn't heard it. I'd just known the sounds were my name.
My original name. My real name.
And the voice--Korr's voice, but it hadn't been Korr's voice either--that had asked is that all of her?
Below us, the front doors opened. Itek tensed, and Ormiss summoned a crackling ball of lightening as he strode to meet the intruder, only to be met with a fluttering black raven that dodged a zap.
"Marcus," I said as the raven cawed at Ormiss and dropped into human form. Marcus dusted off his shoulders. I was going to be very sad if Marcus had decided to return to Soir's house.
"Lady Theia," he half-bowed gracefully in a flutter of bound-clothing. "Lord-Regent, Lord-Ambassador."
"Have you come to tell me you're returning to Soir's?" I asked.
He straightened and clasped his hands together. "The Lord-Raven conveyed to me you asked to retain my services."
"I'm sorry if I was too forward," I said.
"And that you felt I appreciated the puzzle of your household," Marcus added.
Whoops, had I overstepped? I bit back an apology. "I am not trying to steal you away."
"I would be pleased to remain," he half-bowed again. "The Lord-Raven is pleased I am such a benefit to you, and I admit that I cannot resist the puzzle of wrangling such a..." he glanced at Ormiss, "undeveloped household."
Itek snickered.
"Shall I dispose of the two maids, or do you prefer that I... keep them?" Marcus inquired.
"Oh, I think they could learn a great deal from you," I said, amused. "I would hate to see them leave their positions before they've been trained to your standards and reflect well upon you."
"Precisely." Marcus agreed, face straight but eyes glittering with wickedness. "They have told me they believe the situation is hopeless. Not in so many words, but."
If Yanice and Deliah thought they were going to escape... "I'm sure they're not hopeless. You cannot let them give up so easily."
Ormiss ran his thumb over his lips and tried to look somber. He made a hmm, yes noise. Itek said nothing at all.
"They may be hopeless," Marcus told me, "but the downside of dismissing them now would be I would have to give them a bad reference, which would end their careers."
"Oh, no, Marcus, you can't do that. Not until all options are exhausted." I might have been born in a bubble, but a "bad reference" was the kiss of death for any household staff, regardless of what sort of house they'd served in. Yanice and Dealiah would have to leave Haven, because that "bad reference" would haunt them all up and down the city. "Did you tell them?"
"No, Lady Theia, I wanted to speak with you further. Should I advise them that if they list households I oversaw that I will not be able to speak well of them? I have resisted as I was not serving your household in a formal capacity."
"They should know." Yanice and Deliah at least deserved that much. I'd have wanted to know if I'd been slated for a bad reference.
"Then I will tell them. Perhaps they will be inspired."
"Thank you for staying on, Marcus," I said, and I meant it.
Marcus brushed this off with a flick of his hand. "You are most welcome, Lady Theia. Please just ensure I am left with some funds in your absence. There is much to attend to given the hosting you will be expected to do, even if kept to the bare minimum etiquette requires. Like..." he looked around. "Like many things."
"Do not take excessive liberties," Ormiss rumbled.
Marcus leaned forward with a hand to his ear. "Is that the rattling of an empty coin purse I hear?"
Ormiss raised a brow. "It is me not wanting to return to a house my beloved does not favor. You should know how particular and personal Hippocamp are about such things. My cousin was sorely disappointed by the lack of the Lord-Raven's attention to this very basic matter, not that the Lord-Raven would have the requisite magic to properly prepare her home, but no effort was put forth. If you presume to even attempt such a thing in my absence--"
"I live here as well, horse-fish," Itek said. He gestured to the wall. "There is an entire house you can redecorate on the other side of the street."
Marcus stared at Ormiss.
Ormiss stared at him.
Marcus finally inquired, "Finances, Lord-Regent? Or is that too indelicate to discuss in the open?"
I bit down a giggle.
"The finances do not need to be discussed, Steward. You claim to have great familiarity with tending to a Hippocamp lady." Ormiss gave him a malevolent smile. "Prove it."
Marcus looked nervous for a second before he simply said, "Gladly," and twisted into raven form before flying back up the stairs and out the front door.
"Do you really have to be a jerk to him?" I asked Ormiss.
"I have a reputation to maintain."
Itek laughed.
Ormiss asked Itek, "When are we leaving? I am unsure about how long the preparations will take."
"When Korr takes it into his mind to do something, it's going to get done," Itek said. "So very soon. As soon as we can get the gifts and supplies together."
"How far of a trip is it?" Asund inquired, coming down the steps from the upper levels. He was sweaty, gritty, dirty, and wearing just his bound clothing. He brushed some sandy grit off his arms. Veins stood out across his forearms and calves and shins and across his shoulders.
"What happened to you? What were you doing?" I asked. Had he been in a fight and we hadn't realized it? I rushed over to him and ran my hands over him. He was dripping sweat and almost steamed in the cold air of the house. The sweat traced down him in rivulets.
He gave me a wolfish smile. "I was training with Perhon. Best two of out of three. Loser gets thrown off the roof."
"What!? You threw him off the roof?"
"He's fine. Throwing him off the roof is only a problem if he hits the ground. Which he didn't. Although he did throw me off the roof once when I was... distracted."
I blushed. At least the courtyard was sort of covered with that wood valence except the valence's vines (which would have provided shade) had died and hadn't been tended to which meant he and Perhon had seen... or heard... or smelled....
"I re-focused and tossed him off the roof," Asund said. "Focus through all manner of distractions is important."
"Was your brother scandalized by his sister-in-law taking her pleasure while he took a beating?" Itek asked.
Ormiss kept his expression very, very schooled. Lightening snaked around his feet.
"Slightly. Perhon is quite proper."
"So he's the boring brother," Itek translated.
Asund chuckled and tried to kiss me--I shied away from his sweatiness--before heading down into the baths to scrape the grime off him.
"We need a sweat scraper. Like for horses." Ormiss gestured to Assund's receding, deeply-scarred back.
"You need to pack," Asund said as he disappeared down the next flight of stairs. "And no one answered my question. How long a trip is it?"
Itek resumed his careful cataloguing of the treats. "I don't know exactly. I would say two or three weeks, if we fly quickly. Perhaps longer. I don't know where, exactly, Korr and Ethat are from. If they're from the reaches of the forests and the mountains that border the northern drop into the sea, it will be a month. But we have to leave soon, because by the time we arrive, it will be full autumn if not early winter in the north, and winter is not the time to be traveling in the north."
Ormiss pondered this.
Itek paused, then asked, "Can you stay in human for that long?"
We had hugged the coastline on the way back to Haven from the Hippocamp domain, mostly to be able to evade any bugs, but also so Ormiss could occasionally dip into the water. Many shifters couldn't live in one form for months on end, although some did, and others could grow accustomed to it over time. Another reason Hippocamp didn't often find partners with other species, and when they did, they never were far from the shores. What inland water there was--which was not much--was generally too polluted for them to breathe, if there was even a pond deep enough for them to swim in.
Ormiss went into the ocean around Haven every day, or at least most days.
Ormiss shrugged. "I will manage for the trip, and I am sure we will find some freezing mountain pool when we arrive."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Of course I am certain."
"You've never travelled that far overland."
"Are you suggesting I stay behind? That will not be happening."
"You could, I wouldn't be up--" I stopped talking when Itek and Ormiss both gave me stern looks.
"I know you want roses in your garden and are upset I will not be here to plant the vines for spring, but I will have to deny you the flowers and you will have to comfort yourself with my presence."
Itek brought me another little treat he had procured for me. "Here. Sample them all before we leave."
"But dinner is soon," I said.
"We really must teach you how to be decadent..."
/**********
Peeps!
I am feeling better. Still have an obnoxious cough (everything I get ALWAYS ends up in my chest. ALWAYS) so it's back to writing words. :: tap tap tap tap ::
I currently have Electric Callboy "Spaceman" on endless loop. I probably look stupid as I sit here at my desk banging my head while I type to lyrics like "I'm Tekkno/My religion is rave/ And I bring it to the outerworld" but we all have our coping mechanisms. :P And you guys know by now I like metal AND club music so this information is probably greeted with little more than a "....you're SO weird..."
PS: PEEP SEASON IS COMING.
~Merry
(Peak Peep Pantster)
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