In his chambers at the end of a long day, Aedan sighed, stripping off the thick fur cloak he wore regardless of the beautiful late-spring weather. He did not remove the golden circlet around his brow, but paced up and down still wearing it. It conferred upon him, he thought, some reminder of his office. That was why kings wore crowns. It wasn't for the spectacle and it certainly wasn't to confer legitimacy. It was quite simply to remind you, day in and day out, that there was a burden upon you, a palpable burden. The expense of a crown (and his own cost thousands, set with an enormous diamond and tens of rubies, made of gold and velvet) was not meant only to impress onlookers. It was meant to remind him that if he tilted his head, the price of hundreds of horses--the price of the Keep--would slide to the ground.

That sort of pressure he couldn't take on a daily basis, so he wore the circlet, which was less burdensome but a reminder nonetheless.

The situation at the eastern border was making him uneasy. The eastern barbarians were a fierce lot, and unlike the Western ones, he had no link to them. The western barbarians had at least seen fit to give him a hostage, apparently their leader's sister--someone of barbaric importance, anyway. But would that hostage mean anything to the eastern ones? They knew so little of barbaric ways--of course, how many customs could they have? he asked himself. They were complete primitives. Still--

He strode to his door and opened it, pointing to the first person he saw, one of the guards always stationed outside of his bedchamber. "You. Tell a servant to fetch me the barbarian woman, I need to speak with her." The cold look on his face forestalled any thought of the guard's that his purpose might have been sexual rather than political. And it wasn't--as if he'd sully himself on a barbarian bitch!

He retreated to his chambers and waited, looking out of one stained-glass window to the orange-blue-green-tinted darkness below, until there came a diffident knock. He moved to the door and opened it.

"What have we here?"

For the good of her people, that was the mantra she had been repeating to herself, over and over again. This was all for the good of her people, and yet her jainko was listless. She had come to the small courtyard again as she did every day, it was walled in and there was no way for her to scale it to make her way back home, though she had tried. Here she could at least see the sky, and there was earth beneath her feet instead of the stone that blocked the taupada lurrai.* She had spent many a day here, and learned nothing much about these people other then the fact that they despised and reviled her people, while looking lustfully at the body she displayed in her native clothing.

Oh how she missed home, sitting quietly in her lodge speaking of the state of things with Ekain, spending hours talking of the spirits wth Aitor, or just going for a ride on her beloved horse. Anything… as long as it was not within these stifling walls. She feared she would go mad here, if she were forced to stay for long.

She stiffened at the presence of another and stood quickly to face the guard who stood there glaring at her.

“The King desires to see you, follow me and be quick about it.” He said gruffly, obviously put out at being forced to act as a common messenger to a Barbarian.
A deep exasperated sigh was pulled from her, and she ran her fingers through her hair to untangle it, as she followed the man through the maze of stone to the room of the king. She had seen the man briefly when she arrived, but had taken no notice of him, really. As she had been too angry to care then… but now she had calmed, and wondered what it was he wanted from her. She may not be a warrior, but she would relocate some of his body parts, should he try to put a finger on her. She smirked at the thought, and the visions that came with it carried her to the Kings chamber door.

Knocking softly she waited for the door to open her eyes straight ahead and her glare defiant. If nothing else the man would see that she was not afraid, she closed her eyes for a brief moment, before forcing them open again as she heard the door scrape against the floor. Her dark eyes looked up and met the eyes of the man in front of her. She would NOT be afraid.... she would not.

"If you don't know then why did you send for me?" she asked him in accented Scailian heavy with scorn.

*Heartbeat of the earth

Aedan was surprised, but not entirely shocked, to hear the captive speak in his own language. They could be clever in some things, the barbarians, or so he had heard. Her accent, anyway, was rough, almost animalistic. This was no civilized woman, and her dress was completely scandalous. He could practically see through the thin cotton of her clothes to that animal-like brown body. While certainly she had a delicate form, there was something rude and dirty about her; he didn't see her as a woman at all really, only a barbarian.

Or so he told himself.

He nodded to the guards who had brought her to leave and they did, shutting the door. He knew they would be just outside in case she somehow attempted to hurt him. As if she could. She was clearly unarmed, and a woman besides, even if these barbarians were said to have demonish power. But Aedan had never held with that.

"I sent for you to learn how I can best use you against your people," he said abruptly, speaking (quite consciously) a little too quickly, as though to underscore his own fluency in Scalian and her lack of it. He felt himself, however, strangely conscious of any awkwardness in his own pronunciation; and he ran a hand over his beard. These barbarians were all smooth-chinned, which made him shiver. If it weren't for the obviously female body beneath those clothes she would have reminded him of the warriors he had faced, and fearsome they had been too.

"And you'll cooperate because you are in my power now. False answers will only bring you punishment; and perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement. To spare your family, maybe, when we do finish our complete conquest of Thiasa."

He took a seat in his cushioned chair and motioned for her to sit opposite him, in a smaller, straight-backed wooden seat. While he spoke, he leaned forward, elbows on knees, his face intent.

"I also desire true information, which you can give me. Realize it's not a matter of stopping me from bring the rest of my lands under my control, it's only a matter of making it more painless." He watched the barbarian woman, wondering what her response would be. Maybe he'd anger her, which was all to the good. It would break her spirit more easily and she would tell him what he wanted to know.

Nekane drew herself up even more as the man in front of her stared at her with a look of disgust on his face. She smirked slightly at his startlement at her speaking in his own tongue, not that these men would take the time to learn hers, but that was neither here nor there. It was obvious to her who the barbarians were, and it wasn’t her people. He spoke quickly, but she was able to follow his words easily, and even if she hadn’t she swore it would not show on her face. No matter how much he tried to rile her up, and it seemed as though he was certainly going to give it his best effort. She shook her head as he gestured to the chair. She would much rather stand, she felt more comfortable if she could move quickly if it were needed.

She sighed he wasn’t making any sense. Conquest, Thiasa, spare her family? Did he really consider her that stupid? Her anaia-emaita was the Warlord of the Ekaini, there was no way that he would be spared if this man achieved his goal. His very presence was an affront to the Jainko she had devoted her life to, the love she had found as a child, as well as the children she hoped to bear someday. Everything about this man in front of her, this King, screamed danger to her senses, and she shivered at the cold look in his eyes. Her arms came up unconsciously to clasp over her stomach as if protecting the child that had yet to be started.

“Lies fall so easily from your tongue, sem'zakur.” Nekane said her tone as cold as the breath of winter. “But I have nothing to tell you. I will not betray my people, and the land of da’Egzuki to one such as you.” She raised her chin defiantly, even as her hands shook. Perhaps he would kill her, if she couldn’t be useful to him, if so she would be ready, as the daughter, sister, and wife of a warrior should be. If only she could see Ekain once again.

She closed her eyes briefly in thought. Anaia-emaita, Zu eutsi nire bihotz, betirako.*

*Brother-Husband, You hold my heart, forever.

"I don't know how you were raised, barbarian, but no one may speak to the King so insolently." King Aedan's voice was cold. "You're a hostage, and I've heard you came willingly. And I also hear that you western barbarians detest the eastern. Tell me, what do you know of their weaknesses?"

He refused to be baited by her hauteur, which was just exactly like the horses these barbarians were practically attached to. Like any animal, she needed to be coaxed down from her skittishness. He gestured toward the chair across from him.

"When I'm done speaking with you I'll have you bathed and clothed properly," he decided, eyeing her. While clothing did not make a barbarian civilized, it might influence her mind a little in more suitable directions. As it was, half-naked and half-wild, she seemed very unlikely to give into the eminently reasonable force of the Thiasans.

He could keep the tone light and try to teach her that civilized people bargained more subtly than recklessly denying any interest in the matter at hand. He supposed she might be the sort of defiant animal to starve herself to death pining, or fling herself off of something. But that would be a shame, and it would leave him with no leverage.

"Well, tell me, barbarian, what price do you think your leader would pay for your return? It seems he wants you back. We got a message saying as much at the border... funny that he would send you to us and then change his mind. Do you know why?"

He regarded her curiously, but without overt guile.

Nekane snorted indelicately, “You are not my king.” came her short reply. Hostage or no, willingly or no, she was a sign of good faith, and it seemed that that faith was seriously misplaced.


She would certainly not rest easy with this one, she could feel her jainko pounding within her, and she would be a very sad shaman indeed if she refused to listen to it. So she listened and heeded the warnings she was being given. His tone of voice indicated his disgust of her, and it rankled more than she would admit. She averted her eyes as they flashed dangerously at him.


He wanted her to bathe, and put on those ridiculously confining clothing she had seen the women wear here. The very thought made her shiver. She bathed in the river all the time, and enjoyed the slippery foam made by pounding soaproot with water until lather formed. Ekain had always said he loved the fact that she always smelled like flowers, and herbs.


At the mention of Ekain her head came back up and she met the kings’ eyes unwaveringly. Her heart rose to hear that he wanted her back. Not that she had thought he would ever wish to lose her, but to demand her return was more than she would have expected. She knew that he would never endanger or engender their people for her, but he would give much to have her back, and it would sooth her jainko to return home. Hope sprung up in her and she tipped her head to the side regarding him much like a wild animal, wary and unsure. “Perhaps that would be a question to ask him.”

"Perhaps it will be, when I sent a messenger to him again, but first I ask you. Name something I can use as a starting number. I will of course demand exactly as I see fit, but you know what your husband may be able to provide. Or is he your brother? Or do you barbarians have to problem marrying your own kin?" He wrinkled his nose as though he had smelled something foul and put his hand over his nose and mouth, showing only furrowed brows and dark, angry eyes. Above them, he knew, she would catch the glint of his golden circlet. It made an imposing picture.

"And I am your king. I am the King of this island, and you are my subject, and your brother is my subject, and all of you barbarians are my subjects. And because you insist on misbehaving we must punish you! But you know, if you only ceded control of your lands to us, we would kill no more of you. Only put you to work on the lands in the civilized fashion of farmers and not as vagrant barbarians, and we would teach you the true path of Christianity." He watched her with equanimity, wondering if she'd prove him correct--that barbarians were unable to see reason or be taught the proper conduct.

"But back to the bargaining..."