Marital Arts Part 13 - The signs a woman can tell

The evening sun sank beneath the edge of the boundless ocean, tinging the waters with rose-gold and outlining the glass covered dome of the Assembly Hall in a burst of brilliant golden-red fire. It shone off from the beak, where the large, marble white building was situated, across the bay and almost blinding Oberon when he looked straight at it. So he shifted his eyes away, gazing down in the waters instead, looking at the frothy turmoil where the waves crashed against the dark, seaweed-covered rocks, listening to the powerful whooshing noise as if it was speaking to him, got things to say. It was a sound he had heard since he was a baby, rocking gently in his carved cradle of rowan wood, a sound he had heard even in his deepest dreams and it never failed to soothe and comfort.

As a child, when he had been angry or upset, Oberon used to run down to the shore, where the hissing song of the waves soon appeased whatever troubled him. It had become his refuge. His soul asylum. Even now, when the pressures of politics and family life weighed too heavily upon his shoulders, the Elven King found this place restive. Here could he draw peace from the ageless, endless Atlantic. Yet this time even the sea failed to work its magic. Agitation drove Oberon to pace to and fro in the sand, following a path he had trod many times before, despite the fact that the secretive sea had since long washed away his footsteps. This time it was not the weight of the world that drove him here, but something more powerful, more compelling and more painful.

His mother's words.

Let her go!

They echoed in his mind, tormented him. He knew she was right. He couldn't hold on to Titania anymore. She wasn't supped to be locked into a cage, no matter how gilded. She was supposed to be a free bird. And he – Oberon – had to be the one to open the door and let her out, allow her to fly freely again, to soar in the air on her own wings and go wherever she desired, if it meant returning to Briton or wending off someplace else. He had to – even if it broke his heart, because that was the only way left for him to show his love.

My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememberest
Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid's music.
[William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 2, Scene 1]

***

As the large clockwork tolled eight times, proclaiming the hour of the evening meal, Titania made her way quickly through the throng, trying to reach her place by before Oberon appeared in the doorway. With only a few seconds to spare, she stood at the head of the line and breathed in deeply, a smile of welcome forming on her face as she watched him enter. After not seeing him since yesterday, his approach took the breath from her lungs and she curtsied to hide that fact.
"Titania," he quietly said. So quiet that she almost didn't hear him. "We need to talk."
"Of course, sire. Shall I ask Ariel to handle tonight's revelry?" she asked, mind racing to try to figure out what she now could've done. As nothing came immediately to mind, she could only fear that he'd somehow figured out the truth she so desperately had been trying to conceal.

Oberon paused, as though he'd forgotten that night's festivities. This fact made her double take, since it was the anniversary of his ascension to the throne. In all the time that they had celebrated this, he had never once forgotten it. He loved the wine and the carousing – and the attention to his person – far too much.
"Yes, that would be acceptable," he responded with an almost absent minded nod of his head, his blue eyes locking onto hers for a heartbeat or two.

"Does this have something to do with the crisis in Ranoyar?" she asked him, trying to keep her face as blank as possible.
"No," he shook his head. "Please, no more questions until we are alone."
"As you wish. I will join you in your chambers as soon as decorum allows me to excuse myself," she said, watching him disappear towards his end of the table before making her way over to her daughter.

Ariel was standing by her place, looking lost in thoughts, but she snapped to attention as soon as her mother approached her. Titania knew that look well, something was troubling her oldest daughter and she realized that they ought to have a daughter-to mother talk. But that would have to wait until after her upcoming discussion with Oberon.
"Yes, Mother," Ariel smiled lightly, head bowing regally.
"Oberon requests that you take over tonight's festivities after the dinner, as he has something of importance to confer with me about. We might join in later, although I'm not sure when."

Ariel nodded slowly, studying Titania's guarded expression carefully. There was something else in those emotional, green eyes which spoke to her. Something that said her mother was not quite finished talking to her but was unsure of how to bring up whatever subject it was upon her mind. Ariel had no such problem though.
"Was there something else you wished to speak to me about?"
"Yes, dear – as I can see that you need some counseling too. Woman to woman."
"How..." Ariel lost her composing for only a fraction of a second, still that was enough for her mother. That slight tick of her upper lip, two blinking, Ariel had always done that, still it wasn't so obvious in the mature Elf than it had been with the child.

"I know you all too well, sweetest. But first I have to see what your father might want. So how about tomorrow."
"You don't really need..."
"But I want to. It is true that I have been away from court for all those years, but I still care, Ariel. And if it is in my power to aid with the burden you carry or at least offer some advice, I will be delighted to do so."

Again, there was a considering look in the jade eyes as they contemplated the Queen. Ariel knew there was something more to this request than was being spoken. There was no way that she could miss the tension in her mother's posture and the hesitance of her words. The question was, did she respect Titania enough to not pursue it?
"I have the morning free from appointments," she agreed after some seconds of thinking. "Come to see me in my office when it's convenient for you! Perhaps we can go for a ride."
"That should be ideal," Titania's reply was quiet. "I leave you to the evening's entertainment. For I know that they promise to be something unique."

***

After the dinner, Ariel cornered Uriel.
"What's going on?"
"With?" he asked, mostly sure he knew to what his sister was referring to but unwilling to make it easy for her. While Uriel knew whom of their parents he was loyal to, he knew as well who Ariel in turn was devoted to. He was resolved that – unless something truly awful happened – he was never going to let anyone know what Titania had divulged to him, not even his sister would hear of the truth. He also knew that there were more to Titania's story – things which Titania had not told him and which went on beyond the Human Duncan Pershall. Titania had taken a big chance by concede even those fairly innocent parts of her stay in Briton. Oberon was, after all, his father as well as she was his mother. Still, she had trusted him – and he could hardly reward her trust with betrayal.

Ariel's look was one of pure irritation.
"Don't give me that innocent look, Uri! It doesn't suit you at all, though I will admit that it fools some people. You know more than anyone else around here what's going on between our parents. I want to know what it is."
"Then you'll need to ask father," he simply said, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't break confidences given to me. If I did, I wouldn't consider myself worthy of hearing them."

Instead of looking put out, Ariel looked satisfied. At his questioning look, she guilelessly smiled.
"You admitted that something was going on instead of insulting my intelligence. I appreciate that."
"I'm not Arnid," he shrugged. "Considering you stupid has never been an intent in my mind because you aren't – and I'm not about to underestimate any opponent I come up against. Even if it's only in a friendly sparing match with my dear sister," he added, putting down his glass to join the Court Elves in the center of the floor where they danced about merrily. Thankfully, she didn't follow him.

Lorelei on the other hand joined him a few moments later.
"What did Ariel want?" she asked, moving in time with the dancers with an ease Humans would envy, her blond hair falling freely over her shoulders and flying about like flames. She stayed close to him, putting her arms on his hips, teasing slightly by instigating skin to skin contact with her bare belly while keeping her voice low. "To taunt you once more about your lousy taste in clothes?" she pulled toyingly at his mauve lace cravat.

"No," he hooted, watching the dancers before his hand travelled down the small of her back gently, sliding smoothly over the butter-yellow silk. Looking down at her, seeing the apology in her blue eyes, he knew he couldn't lie – not about this at least. With ease, he kept them central and away from the keenest gossips among their entourage.
"She wanted to know what I knew about the situation between Titania and Oberon."

"And what did you tell her?"
"That she needed to ask Oberon," Uriel calmly replied, all the while hoping his wife would drop the subject. If she didn't, he'd have a hard time keeping his promise to safeguard Titania's secret. Lying had never been easy for him. If he was honest, he'd hardly ever told an outright lie. Twisting the truth in so many ways had always been sufficient for him to declare what he wanted. And he didn't intend to start lying now. Especially not to Lorelei.

Instead he figured he could distract her, so he laid his arms around her curvy form, pulling her close, breathing across her somewhat sweaty forehead, inhaling the soft scent of her flowery perfume as her hair brushed against his shoulders. But Lorelei was for a change not that easily diverted. She let go of him with a tingling laughter, and he could tell by that edgy spark her eyes held, that she was not yet ready to let go of the matter.

All of a suddenly she released him though. Spinning out from the dancers and onto the wider floor, her gold-threaded skirt billowed for a moment, showing off quite a bit of her shapely legs before she returned to the inner circle and his side.
"If you're going to protect her, I figured that I should help you out," Lorelei whispered and laid her hand on his cheek. "She might've not always been the best mother in law but she has always shown me her respect. Besides, no woman should suffer in a marriage the way she's been doing. No wonder that she left him. And no wonder that the life she had in Briton was of quite a different kind. More rewarding."

Uriel nearly missed a step at her words. She couldn't possibly mean? The awareness in her eyes let him know that the admirable woman had figured out the truth. A part of him feared that if Lorelei knew, others might do too and he'd need to find a way to discover who did and who didn't. Truth to be said, he did love Lorelei to the bits, but she was still a bit too fond of her gossip for him to feel entirely comfortable at the notion.

"How did you...?" Uriel's question was both resigned and relieved, for he knew that he'd found an ally worthy of the title.
"Give me some credit, husband! I may not be the head of His Majesty's Secret Service but I'm far from stupid."
"I know that well, honey, but..."
"There's something in the way Titania moves that speaks of being trough certain womanly phases recently. The way she carries herself – exhausted yet pleased. Sad yet placid. Uriel, I think Titania recently had a child."

"A..." The Prince breathed in surprise, now that was something he wouldn't have figured out, head of the spy organization or not. He simply wasn't female enough.
"Yes, dear. And to have had a baby there has to be a man. I have no doubt that the babe is in safe hands, still trust me – my lips are sealed! I won't tell on another for taking for her the thing all women deserve. After all not all of them has a provider like I have."

Uriel's head shook as his laugh rang out through the room, glad of the generous libation of wine and mead flowing through the veins of the assembled. He and Lorelei would've been in some trouble otherwise, for someone would've picked up on the seriousness of their talk. It was only a strike of luck Ariel hadn't come their way, demanding answers. But she seemed preoccupied with a certain herald in another part of the room.

"So you won't tell anyone?" Uriel said, relief enriching his voice.
"Who would I tell?" she jeered. "Those vipers? I think it's about time that she got some life outside of him, though I just don't understand what the attraction is all about."
"Well, love is blind, dear!"
"So they say. Although I've always walked into it with open eyes. Or I'd missed you my Prince and walked away with some castrated executive with too much gold in the bank."
"You seem comfortable enough with the wealth of the Royal Court, Milady!"
"Pah - you know what I mean!"
"And if I don't."

"Bribery! Do you really think that bourgeois over there care an ounce for your sister," she nodded in the direction of Ariel and the Herald Orkid. "No he's only using her for gaining some benefits."
"As do she. Ariel doesn't care about men in that way. She'll let him flatter her for a while, take him to bed and then, come dawn tomorrow she might as well pretend she doesn't remember his name."

Uriel noticed Ariel watching them, an imperiously questioning look on her face. Subtly, he indicated her and Lorelei acknowledged it and grabbed him by the neck and kissed him avidly, making it certain to look like nothing more than a married couple having some fun together at the dance floor.
"Sweetheart," he whispered, moving out of the center and towards the outer rim as the melody altered from tempestuous and heady to a slower, mellower sound.

The Court Elves switched patterns easily before Puck moved to stand before them, clearing his throat. As he spoke, they faded back further, leaving the floor to him.
"A tale of the gods and goddesses, back before time was time and things were as they are now."

My friends, I begin to sing about two lovers
Two lovers who went off to war together
Bravery lived in their chests and Cleverness in their minds
Sharp were their swords and strong were their arms
And fast-legged horses they rode.

His name was Apharnael, he came from the north,
where the snow lays on the hillsides long into April
Her name was Elessa, she came from the south,
Where the sun burns endlessly over the barren desserts
They were like the moon and the sun, dissimilar, yet connected in dependency

***

In another part of the large hall, Prince Arnid walked over to his sister Cloë, who was standing by the fireplace sipping on a drink she had fetched from one of the trays the servants were carrying around.
"Something troubles you, noble sister of mine?"
"Nothing that I can put my finger on," she admitted with a sigh and lifted her eyes from the vibrantly undulating motions of the sparkling flames as her long, slender musician's fingers played with the glass, blue eyes lifting to exchange a thoughtful look with her redheaded brother. "It has nothing to do with impending war – and everything to do with Mother and Father. Haven't you noticed anything odd about them?"
"They're always odd. It's called love," he replied with his trademark grin, leaning back against the ornate stove.

Cloë shook her head.
"I've seen love."
"Seeing and experiencing it are two different things," he replied. "If you've never experienced it, then you can't really judge it."
"Don't you start in on me too, Arnid," she threatened him. "General Agenon might've been a looker and fine in bed but his brain was the size of a pea. Besides, he failed to impregnate me."

The younger Elven Prince held up his hands.
"Never thought of it. But you have to comprehend that love comes in many forms and what we see when observing our parents is just one kind."
"But they aren't..." Cloë searched for the word, "happy."

"To our eyes, but they once were. I have to believe that they will again," Arnid answered.
"Why would you think they have a chance?" Cloë asked.
"Because he wanted her back. Father never does anything merely because of pride. He went after her even though he sure didn't have to. She would've made it back some day nevertheless, since this is her home. His heart wanted her to return and he gave her time to heal, to come back to him in fullness of heart as his wife. No man has that much patience for someone he doesn't love."
"I just don't understand." Her head shook.
"Watch him sometime," he advised her. "Especially his eyes, it's all there."