Whether Nathaniel warned her or not, Sara welcomed them with opened arms and was thrilled Indenuel and Inessa would stay for a few days. They never specified for how long, but Sara looked as though she didn’t care if they stayed forever. For once in his life, Sara beamed at him, then shot Inessa a concerned look.
"My dear girl! Did you eat at all while Indenuel was in the dungeon?" Sara asked.
"I..." she started to say, but Sara pinched her dress around her waist, proving there was far too much room.
“Tima’s gone away, you know. You must keep up your weight or you’ll have to get a new wardrobe,” Sara said, touching her cheek to look into her eyes.
“Yes. Right. I’ll try,” Inessa said.
“We must strike a balance these next few days. Fill that dress up, but not too much, or else you’ll have to get a new wardrobe anyway. Come, I shall show you your room,” Sara said.
The rest of the day was relaxing. Indenuel and Inessa spent every moment with Nathaniel and Rosa so that Tolomon could remain near Rosa. Honestly, Indenuel had the feeling he and Inessa were more chaperones for Nathaniel, Rosa, and Tolomon. They retold old stories, correcting each other on the details. Nathaniel and Rosa talked about their children, and Tolomon listened, adding in details that Nathaniel might not know. They had taken a walk in the garden, but after a short stroll, Nathaniel proclaimed he needed a rest, which once again was a reminder what the two men had gone through. The moment they sat down at a small table in the shade, Sara appeared, handing Inessa a large plate of apple pastries. “I want you to return this empty. Everyone else at this table may only have one. You must have the rest. Understand?” Sara asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Inessa said.
Sara smiled as she stroked her cheek before disappearing again.
“I didn’t see you at Sabbath worship, yesterday, Inessa. Were you sick?” Rosa asked, acknowledging one of them for the first time since they arrived.
“Oh, um…” Her cheeks turned a red color as she set one of the pastries down. “No, I’ve…” Her eyes bounced between Tolomon and Nathaniel. “It’s not appropriate to talk about.”
“Oh, right. If you need Sara has some excellent tea that helps the cramping not hurt nearly as-”
“I was denied entrance because the High Elders proclaimed I am a whore,” Inessa said quickly to cut Rosa off. She took a large bite of her pastry and looked away.
Rosa’s face fell. Indenuel gasped, taking her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Inessa took her time swallowing her pastry. “You’ve been… busy. With other things.”
“They can’t do that.” The words weren’t long from his mouth before he realized he didn’t actually know, so he turned to Nathaniel and Tolomon. “Can they do that?”
“I’m not allowed to speak ill of the High Elders,” Tolomon muttered.
“Yes,” Nathaniel answered instead. “They are allowed to do that.”
Indenuel sighed, rubbing his head.
“Please don’t let this worry you,” Inessa said.
“It’s not. It’s going to be alright. Honestly, it works out better. I didn’t want to go to Sabbath worship anymore at the Cathedral anyway. We can spend the day with the Oraminians.”
Inessa nodded, and Indenuel squeezed her hand.
“Api!” Diego shouted, coming toward them.
Nathaniel glanced up at Diego, trying to hide his worry. “Yes? What is it, son? Did something happen?”
“Tolomon’s almost been here a full day! Aren’t you ever going to fight him?” Diego asked.
Nathaniel let his face relax. “No, I won’t.”
“Why not?” Diego asked. Nathaniel really didn’t have to say anything, though Rosa gave him a stern look. “Oh right. Sometimes I forget,” the boy mumbled. An idea struck him. “Then can I fight Tolomon?”
Nathaniel now gave his son a look. “Absolutely not. He got whipped too, even if he is better at hiding it.”
“You’re not of age to do mock battles, anyway,” Tolomon said.
“Api and I have already fought,” Diego said.
Tolomon raised an eyebrow, then glanced at Nathaniel. “Really?”
Rosa shook her head and sipped her tea as Nathaniel shrugged. “He had Eduardo come after me with his philosophy and rules, and next thing I knew I was fighting my son.”
Tolomon chortled. “Who won.”
“I did,” Diego mumbled. “But it was because he was teaching me a lesson about the value of life.”
Tolomon nodded, moving his empty teacup around the saucer. “A valuable one indeed.” Tolomon studied Nathaniel closer. Nathaniel finished his tea before giving him a look Indenuel couldn’t interpret. His bodyguard tore his gaze away to study Diego. “A Graduate doesn’t just use his brute strength to fight. You need to use your mind.”
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Diego deflated a little. “So, you’re not going to fight me?”
“I’ll give you a test of mental fortitude, and if you win, I’ll fight you,” Tolomon said.
Just as quickly, Diego stood straighter. “What is it?”
“Convince your mother to stay and watch us fight,” Tolomon said.
Diego’s jaw dropped, and there was the slightest disappointment before he faced Rosa. Rosa gave Tolomon a look, her lips pressed together before facing her son.
Diego stared at Rosa. “Mother, please. Oh, please let me fight him.”
“Diego,” Rosa said, a pain in her voice. “I do not want to see you get hurt.”
“But Mother! I’ll get to fight Tolomon!”
“Which is why I do not want to watch you get hurt.”
“Then close your eyes!”
“I’ll still hear it.”
“Plug your ears.”
Rosa touched her cheeks. “I don’t like this, Diego. Not at all.”
Tolomon waited patiently, watching the interaction. Diego noticed, and his frown deepened before he faced his mother again. “Life is full of learning experiences, Ami. Fighting Tolomon could teach me a lot, and yes, I’m going to fail spectacularly, but I’ll learn far more fighting him than I ever will at the training grounds! If I fight Tolomon, I’ll learn that much quicker about how to survive on the battlefield. I need to fight the best in order to know how to keep myself safe. Please, give me this opportunity to survive that much longer on the battlefield.”
Indenuel and Inessa exchanged glances. That was quite the good argument. Rosa placed her teacup on the table, giving Tolomon a look. He was still moving his finger around the edge of his own cup. “I’m going to close my eyes the entire time. Please try not to scream.”
“Yes!” Diego said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Yes! Thank you, mother!”
“Diego,” Nathaniel said, taking out his own sword and handing it to him.
“I’ve already got a sword,” the boy said.
“I know,” was all Nathaniel said, siting tenderly back against the chair.
Tolomon stood up, brushing himself off before moving a few paces away from Nathaniel and Rosa. Indenuel watched, interested. From what he knew about Tolomon, there was no way he would suggest something like this right now unless he had a plan. Rosa in danger, him being whipped, he must be confident this would be a quick fight.
Tolomon faced Diego, who held his two swords in front of him. Tolomon made no movement to take out his own sword.
“Just to be clear, you’re not going easy on me?” Diego asked, moving to basic stance with both swords.
Tolomon shrugged and said nothing. It was then that Diego realized Tolomon made no movement to get his sword out. Tolomon was starting out with the idiot’s maneuver, and Diego’s excited face stilled. He narrowed his eyes, studying Tolomon. Indenuel was struck with the realization that Tolomon already knew how to defeat Diego.
Diego went with a double jab, straight for Tolomon’s heart, but Tolomon side-stepped the blades before smashing his elbow against Diego’s face. Tolomon wrapped his arms around the boy to keep him from falling to the ground. The two swords slipped from Diego’s limp hands.
Indenuel couldn’t help but wince. He was right. Tolomon knew exactly how to defeat the boy.
Nathaniel got to his feet, touching Diego’s temples as Rosa kept her eyes closed. Diego gasped, and Tolomon kept his arms around him, helping him to find his feet.
“Diego?” Rosa asked.
“It’s already done, love,” Nathaniel said.
Rosa cracked an eye open, surprised.
“How did you do that?” Diego asked as Nathaniel sheathed his own sword before moving to the other side of him, helping him over to the table.
“What do you mean?” Tolomon asked, easing him into the chair.
“How did you do that so fast? Do I really still have that much to learn?” Diego asked. Indenuel could sense the insecurities in the boy.
“We all have more to learn,” Tolomon said as Nathaniel waved a servant over for some wine.
“But… but it was over so fast. How did you defeat me?” Diego asked. Tolomon sat back down, not saying anything. “Come on, Tolomon. I failed, so help me learn.”
Rosa was brushing Diego’s face of any dirt, but there wasn’t much. Tolomon leaned back, glancing around the gardens before focusing back on Diego. “Because I’ve watched you fight since you were old enough to carry a sword. You’ve been studying me openly, and I’ve been studying you privately. I know how you fight, your style, your tactics, and I taught myself how to defeat you because you are spectacular. Your one weakness is you like the dramatic flair. You take your time getting rid of your opponent instead of taking out the threat as soon as they reveal themselves. Just like your Uncle Carlos when he was your age. You are a threat, and I had to get rid of you quick. Lucky for me, I knew your weaknesses. Unlucky for me, I just explained to you how I defeated you. I fully expect you to take this information and train yourself privately to figure out how to defeat me, since you have been studying my technique.”
“Almost religiously,” Nathaniel said as a servant placed a glass of wine in front of Diego.
“If I’m still around in another year, I expect you to knock me out. Especially if you team up with your father,” Tolomon said. “You are still young enough that you might fluctuate between insecurity and security about your skills, so let me warn you right now. Stay humble, because I always defeat someone through their own arrogance.”
Diego stared at Tolomon, his eyes wide, ignoring the wine in front of him. “You… think I’m a threat?” He sounded like Tolomon had given him a genuine compliment. Tolomon smiled before winking at him, and Diego beamed like it was him that won the fight. “Thanks, Tolomon.” He picked up his wine glass and drained the whole thing before rushing over to Aaron, pulling out his sword to practice, no doubt.
“Thank you, my friend,” Nathaniel said.
“That boy is going far in the military,” Tolomon said. “It was the least I could do.”
Indenuel watched the three of them strike up another conversation, the ease at which they talked and shared stories. He had no reference to imagine what it might look like to have three people in a relationship. He honestly didn’t think it was a thing. But as he watched them, he couldn’t help but think they might actually make that work. True, Tolomon was still refusing to touch Rosa, and she was being careful around him, but Nathaniel looked far more interested in the entire idea than the other two.
Dinner was difficult. Martin’s absence was felt the entire time, even though Ana and Sara did their best to keep the conversation light. It wasn’t until after dinner that Indenuel wondered if Tolomon should be checking Rosa’s food for poison, but he said he already had. The fact that Indenuel did not pick up on it meant the children wouldn’t either, which was good. Nathaniel and Rosa didn’t want to worry their children.
“How long do you think we’ll stay here?” Indenuel asked after he had stopped by Nathaniel and Rosa’s room to check every inch of it.
“As long as it takes,” Tolomon said, glancing around as Indenuel and Inessa made their way to their own room, which Nathaniel made sure was just down the hall from their own, and Tolomon right in the middle.
Tolomon entered their room, checking it too, making sure they were safe.
“I hope this doesn’t seem too forward,” Inessa said, tucking some hair behind her ear. “But you three, you actually… you’re all really good together.”
Indenuel nodded, glad he wasn’t the only one that thought of that.
“Nathaniel and I work well together, and it is easier to talk to Rosa,” Tolomon said.
“I mean if you ever wanted to do this for longer than however long this will take,” Inessa said.
“No. I couldn’t do that to their marriage,” Tolomon said.
“Nathaniel clearly doesn’t care,” Indenuel said.
“I’ll never...” Tolomon trailed off, finishing his search. “Good night,” he said instead and left the room.
Inessa shook her head, smiling. Indenuel placed his arm around her shoulder. “Is it alright we’re back here?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Inessa said. “I don’t have too many ill memories of this place.”
“Good. I’m glad,” he said, before giving her a long kiss.