Secret planning
The heir was due today, a great honour, in theory, a pain in the backside in practice. The WARSEOEUM[slaves] were scurrying around preparing to receive SYO[him]. The guest room had been aired out and decorated, a floral scent permeated everywhere but the kitchen where the spices being added to the welcoming feast ruled. MINOLY KIFE thanked RYSHE that SYAE[her] morning sickness had passed. Neither SYA[she] or SYAE[her] husband, FYMI, had time for this meeting but the Gods care little for human comfort.
SYYS[it] seemed SYYS[he] would be stuck in the LYOENK[senate] with other noblemen. Although many wouldn't consider TROO[legate] HEKAIM to be a nobleman with SYI[his] mother's savage heritage and the loss of prestige SYI[his] father left to SYO[him], very few are brave enough to say that to SYI[his] face or to the in-laws SYYS[he] had acquired through dynastic marriage. The man liked to play the witless soldier but SYYS[he] didn't get a family as esteemed as the KIFE as in-laws without ambition and the intelligence to sell SYI[his] vision SYAE[to her].
A decade ago, SYA[she] had found SYAE[herself] in the unpleasant position of being the eldest member of the family at nearly twenty years of age. SYAE[her] brother, the official head of the household, had barely begun reading, if SYYS[he] were to catch an illness, any illness, SYYM[it] would likely be fatal. Something SYA[she] was sure many of the men trying to win SYAE[her] hand were counting on. SYORYM[their] honeyed words were practically laced with poison, so when the old TROO[legate] came to the house, not with poetry but an offer of partnership, with explicit mention to how SYAE[her] baby brother living, could not only be included in these plans but with plans to help the boy flourish under SOURYM[their] combined care, the old man with a daughter nearly as old as SYA[she] had suddenly become very attractive.
Now MIQEIM KIFE was a man grown with a sword at SYI[his] belt and a seat at the LYOENK[senate] waiting for SYO[him], SYYS[he] still preferred to stay at the home of SYI[his] sister to SOURYM[their] father. SYI[his] health and happiness was the proof of a successful partnership between two surprisingly compatible individuals. The child SYA[she] is carrying was proof of the affection that had grown over the years. SYI[its] existence had come as a surprise of many, nobody expects a good harvest from half-dead seed after all. SYAE[her] husband was clearly aware of this if SYI[his] doting was any indication.
Now that SYYM[they] were alone SYYM[they] could speak frankly for possibly the last time until the heir leaves. SYA[she] wasted no time plotting.
"TYA FEUES MEO NOMAR KYDIARIM BIKORBI SO OPSAR MEL NAKES?(Do you want me to welcome the KYDIARIM boy or wait for you?)" SYA[she] began, this emergency vote had been called at an inopportune time. This meeting was also to be MIQEIM's first, the family's seat being vacant until SYYS[he] reached manhood. The only person legally allowed to represent SYO[him] in SYI[his] absence was a currently non-existent wife. Not even SYA[she] was allowed to take the seat despite being the only adult member of the family for years.
"GRUT UNAM U TYA QARES SYYS(Best if you do it. I've got no idea how long this farce will take)" FYMI replied sounded tired already. "MEI INT QARETIS POE RILA TROKS GRUKNT(we might even do something productive between all the preening.)"
An unladylike snort escaped SYAE[her] in response, SYA[she] has taken SYAE[her] husband's seat before so SYA[she] knew how the city's lawmakers could be when they were supposed to be at work.
SYA[it] pleased SYAE[her] to know SYI[they] weren't just difficult because of SYAE[her] sex.
"NOAR BIKO GRUET UL MARDIUTAR KUID TYAE, TYA GRUS HASA HENS MEOS(officially the boy is here to learn politics from you, as you are the brains of the team)" SYYS[he] mentioned while grabbing the appropriate missive from the desk unfirling the scroll as if to double-check the contents.
"IES YNSEYM KE WYKSE MAGMORO, QARS KROS SKEYE SKEIMMENK SKEIGNIET YL?(Save the flattery for the senate husband, do you know the real reason he's coming here?)" Always the politician SYAE[her] mind had worked to navigate a new path through the tangled mess of personal politics. A path leading to the advancement of SYAE[her] family naturally but this was the first opportunity to hear SYAE[her] husband's thoughts.
"MEYS GRYAN YNSE SYIS IY SYI KOLGAKENT SYOS, ER AYPS WIDM TYAE KYE TRONT BIKO ELOKSERAT BRA MANDOO TRO ER FRYIE YERBI(I will flatter them when they deserve it, and to answer your question it seems the boy was caught in the wrong position with a bed slave.)" SYYS[he] handed the letter to SYAE[her] to reread.
The letter was written by the practiced hand of a scribe on behalf of STIROTIYSTA KYDIARIM, the matriarch of the KYDIARIM family, SYYM[it] informed them that the heir was traveling to other Imperial territories to expand SYI[his] cultural education alongside a request to host the boy. So far so normal, presumptive perhaps, but nobody in their right mind would turn down the opportunity to ally with the powerful family.
SYYS[it] was customary for young nobles from the north who embarrass the elders to be "punished" by being sent to another city until the gossip died down. SYYS[it] allows the nobility of the northern city-states to intermingle and form alliances. LORSA PRANSA was often excluded from this tradition due to distance, and the fact that the people of the island are descendants of battle ARNYEIS(slaves owned by the state) instead of disgraced citizens of the old empire, like the northern nobility.
"HOKS SYYS GRYT YIR POEK BIOTONT(So he's not very discreet.)" SYA[she] deduced, "BOEST POELET ORPE Y MEA GRYAN GRA MEKRIAN SYO APLOPS(That could make things difficult if I was to actually teach him anything)." Assuming of course that the boy was here to learn what SYA[she] is willing to teach. One major question remained, why MEOS[us]?
As if FYMI could read SYAE[her] thoughts SYYS[he] answered "INT KROMYI KYDIARIM FEYT SYYS STINKARIMA BOEKSAR SYYS AYTM PLIYKEUM, GRYI TRONKA'S IN LAKSUI'S TROKS
WALO LANLABEORYM ER PRAKS QYRSERYNT, TEYOBRY'I MEI AYKO BRA IYO HOKS IY SYI PRIENT AYPS AMWONSENT FAEO'S MEORYM GRYEMYS PRAKS TOEK SYORYM GRAMA(Perhaps lord KYDIARIM wants his competitors to think he's gathering an army, there have been rumours about hostilities between WALO LANLABEORYM and PRAKS QYRSERYNT, I have been marketing my company in the area so when they decide to purchase spears ours will be the first on their mind)"
A bolt of fear ran through SYAE[her]. SYI[they] couldn't have found FYMI's scouts could SYI[they]? This could end badly, spymasters are considered beneath contempt, if the other nobles knew that the HEKAIM family engaged in espionage everyone who has dealings with MEOS[us] would risk losing their positions in the LYOENK[senate]. SYYS[it] is a shame that SYAE[her] husband's urban scouts are so effective that people might mistake them for spies.
"INT(Perhaps.)" SYA[she] started. "INT BOEST RIKSERYNT SYOS. U SYI GRUMABRUINT KE PIRSA SYOS WAMENT POELNT SYOS OBARA. BIKO PIUKIT BILAR MEORYM DUILA.(Perhaps that might have worried them. If they are already gearing for war it might make them paranoid. The boy might have been sent to see what we know.)"
FYMI took a few seconds to consider SYAE[her] words. "SYI MAGGEO GRYT SYIO KYIM BRI ENERBIOD. MEYS GRYM YIR LY GRYLIT SYIS AAR HOTE.(His father is a smart man but very proud. I'm not sure it would occur to them to play dumb.)"
SYAE[her] husbands naivety was shocking "MAGMORO, SYI QAR SYO OMPUPS.(Husband, they do it all the time.)" SYA[she] explained slowly "SYI BIR SUITBANT YNKAR TUO MARS BOEKSNT SUPSA WYSTO'RYM GRYNT PEI(They just never bothered to do it with you because they think mercenaries are stupid.)"
"STIA LOM HENS MEOS FREPSNT MEI OA(A fact many of us play up to my wife.)" SYYS[he] jokingly replied "GRYS YIR NAR QANDI QU GRALS KLAUK MINKE. SKEYS WAE, KLESM SYYM. SYIS MI IN SYYM.(You are not usually one for talking around a point. You have a plan, I can feel it. Tell me about it.)" SYYS[he] ordered.
"MEL MEI KROTIS RI BIKO FEYT MEI ATIS PEI. MEI ANT I Y INABRYIS OO ALBANT. SY GRYTIS HOKS ENERBI AYPS EIPATIS SYYS ANQU. KLYISTETIS BIKO A'ARYMPLIAE. IY MEI KROTIS SYORYM WAERI AMYS MEORYM STIPSMYS. GRYT FROO MEA BIR MARDIYTI TYI GYA'E PRABO, MEI WAEIMYS O SYI EA ER SYYS YIR KROERIT, BRI TRONT WIRSERITIS KLAYK MEORYM GRALWEA.(Until we know what the boy wants we play dumb. We act like this thing is in good faith. Like we believe the excuse given. Like we are too proud to see it any other way. We watch the boy's actions. And when we know their plan, what they want, we build our own. It's a shame I never learnt your mother's tongue, we would have been able to plan right beneath his eyes and he wouldn't know, but it seems we will have to sneak around in our own home.)" SYYM[it] was not much of a plan, but SYYM[it] was the best SYA[she] could do with so little information.
"(I'm sure it won't be too difficult. I can play the dirty old man with his beautiful young wife who he has finally found time to fuck. I doubt anyone would look too closely at that.)" SYYS[he] replied in a flirtatious manner, before kissing SYAE[her] cheek.
Secretly charmed despite SYAE[herself], a coy smirk found a way to SYAE[her] lips. "(Oh. Am I to act like the trophy on your arm?)"
"(If you like,)" SYYS[he] put an arm around SYAE[her] waist before continuing "(maybe act exhausted by it when it is just you and the boy. It should make him even less inclined to try and listen in on our private time.)"
"(Just remember husband, even if I was willing to tolerate you getting overly familiar in public my brother will not)" SYA[she] smiled softly. "(You didn't raise him that way.)" SYAE[her] smile removed with ruthless efficiency, there was still business to conduct. "(Speaking of overly familiar, what are we to do if the boy expresses an interest in you bastard granddaughter?)"
The thought clearly hadn't occurred to SYO[him], and SYYS[he] was clearly unconcerned "(I've heard he is only interested in men.)"
"(I've heard she is more of a man than he is.)" was the immediate counter. SYA[it] was likely true, wealthy men from the northern colonies have always been considered vain and foppish. SHINA on the other hand was broad and muscular from a lifetime of martial training.
FYMI took SYAE[her] words seriously, looking quizzically at nothing for a second, and then as if SYYS[he] had grasped something that should have been obvious to SYO[him], SYYS[he] muttered "(Perhaps you are right about that)". SYYS[he] cleared SYI[his] throat before continuing "(but anyway there is that contraceptive plant my mother planted in the garden if she allows him anywhere near her, but I have no plans to sell her off to be his mistress. She is still SYTY's heir after all and will be so long as my good son remains as fertile as a eunuch.)" SYA[she] doubted that. SYTY HEKAIM was only due to inherit if SYA[she] outlived SYAE[her] sour husband and even then any child SYA[she] has from a second marriage would inherit before a bastard SYA[she] never bothered to visit. A marriage of her stepdaughter's own choosing was inevitable once SYA[she] was free of the man chosen for SYAE[her].
"(Not even for all the copper in the copper city?)" SYA[she] was being contrary now but usually, when SYAE[her] husband had that look on SYI[his] face SYYS[he] would tell SYA[her] what threads SYYS[he] had tied together. SYI[his] granddaughter's masculine looks and behaviour was hardly news to anyone in the household, anyone with eyes could see that. There were whispers that if SYI[his] seed brings forth such a masculine woman the son inside of SYA[her] would be a terrifying thing to behold.
"(I can get all the copper I need off the sweat off my own back without making my granddaughter, bastard or not, a glorified prostitute.)" SYYS[he] replied tartly.
"(Careful husband you almost sound like you care for her.)" SYA[she] teased.
"(She has been a great investment. Who else would allow me to acquire so much tin just for the right to speak to a bastard? Besides somebody will need to help our child run the company when I pass from this world. There is no guarantee I will live to see this one grown and your weapon of choice is a quill)"
SYYS[it] was not a dig at SYA[her] skills. SYA[she] knew this rationally, but SYYS[it] still put SYA[her] on the defensive. "(A deadly weapon in the right hands)" SYA[she] retorted with less grace than usual.
"(I am well aware, especially if those hands are yours.)" SYYS[he] demured softly before continuing "(But it is not very helpful on the frontline. If the men can't see their leader in front of them they won't follow him.)"
"(And they will follow her?)" SYA[she] questioned, allowing doubt to colour SYA[her] voice. SYYM[it] sounded like wishful thinking on SYI[his] part, a woman may borrow the authority of SYA[her] husband or male relatives but few will acknowledge a woman's own authority let alone allow SYA[her] to exercise SYYS[it]. SYAE[her] husband even acknowledged it in SYI[his] saying, using SYO[him] even when describing SYI[his] granddaughter.
"(To an extent. She has put many of them on their arse in training)" SYYS[he] explained, a fond smile gracing SYI[his] scarred lips. SYYS[he] is more fond of the bastard than SYYS[he] realises. However, even SYYS[he] must see the limits of SYI[his] men's patience.
"BRI?(But?)" SYA[she] prompted wondering where SYORYM[their] son would fit into this plan.
"(But a captain is not a commander. Our son will outrank her)" ah so the bastard will be borrowing SYI[their] sons authority, that will silence any displeasure the men would have taking orders from a girl. There was still one issue to address in this grand plan.
"(You seem very relaxed about letting a woman on the battlefield.)" SYA[she] heard SYAE[herself] utter.
SYYS[he] shrugged before casually uttering "(Blame my mother. The savages are more interested in the tool in someone's hand than the one between their legs. In their culture my granddaughter, assuming they see her as a woman, has two mothers because a cock doesn't make a man.)"
SYYM[it] had never occurred to SYAE[her] that something as basic as sex would be seen differently "PEOK? RI QART?(oh? And what does?)" SYA[she] asked hoping that SYYS[he] would indulge SYAE[her] curiosity.
"(I was not taught)" SYYS[he] replied sadly, SYYS[he] snapped out of SYI[his] sadness with practiced efficiency "(no matter who my mother was I am a man of the GLOE FRUIEORUM HENS PIRSA.)" SYYS[he] stated in a monotone voice. "(just like today, my youth was full of those who saw their fellow citizens speaking the native tongue of this land and imagined snakes in the grass. That's why no respectable person will be caught speaking it)" and why SYA[it] is so commonly spoken by the underclass SYYS[he] left unsaid. SYYS[he] turned to face SYI[his] wife "(and while you say it is my mother's tongue she never spoke SULWO to anyone who wasn't kin, she was ashamed to know it and I only learnt it out of spite)"
A knock on the oaken door interrupted SYI[his] lecture. A WARSE[slave] with SYI[his] toga entered the room, it was nearly time to leave.
"(It has served you well it seems)" SYA[she] joked while the toga was wrapped around SYAE[her] husband.
"PRABO SO KROSTA?(The tongue or the spite?)" SYYS[he] questioned smirking.
"(Yes)" SYA[she] replied to SYO[him] while finishing touches were applied to the toga. when that was done SYA[she] kissed SYI[his] cheek sweetly before saying "(Now you have a meeting to attend. Try not to kill anyone, no matter how much they may deserve it.)"
MINOLY allowed SYAE[herself] a moment of quiet while watching SYAE[her] husband leave. The townhouse was clean, the food was stocked and a welcoming feast was being prepared, the floor was heating up beneath SYAE[her] feet. This wasn't the first time SYA[she] has welcomed another noble into the home but normally SYA[she] was aware of the reason for the visit.
Turning to SYAE[her] husband's personal WARSE[slave], a woman of savage decent old enough to be SYI[his] mother, SYA[she] took stock of the household.
"(where is the bastard?)" SYA[she] enquired
"(SHINA is in her dormitory finishing up the shawlhimation you requested for the KYDIARIM heir)" Good SYA[she] thought, ignoring the slip up from the WARSE[slave], whilst FYMI may tolerate the girl's martial pursuits an ignorance of women's work is unacceptable even for spinsters. SYA[it] was a perfect opportunity to showcase the girl's skill with a gift of climate-appropriate garments.
"(Has my favourite stola finished drying yet?)" the colour had started to fade and SYA[it] was in need of redying, the timing could have been better but welcoming a guest in vibrant regalia is always worth the effort.
"(no mistress, it will likely take another hour or so. However, the bath should be ready if you wish to rest your feet)" SYYM[it] answered, a warm bath sounded wonderful and a necessary part of SYAE[her] preparations.