Vai made himself useful, quickly mastering any task given to him. Hjora, Hana, and him had quite a bit of work after all. As Hjora had predicted, the men and women of the Bear's raiding party increased the laundry tenfold. Clothes arrived torn and bloodied and then, even arrived at the estate, the men occasionally fought and bloodied themselves and their clothes all over again and Vai learned what the lemons were for.

To Vai's relief, Lyra returned after three days but he had his work cut out for him. Her mood was foul and many of his attempts to relax her were snapped at. Her second night back she got in an argument with Bryn. The house seemed to shake with his roar. She returned to her room and Vai with her face flushed. She’d stormed in and slapped Vai hard enough to knock him over.

He'd stayed on the ground, glancing up briefly to see her walk past him uncaring and begin fiddling with her weapons. Her anger seemed to spill out of her and Vai breathed out, realizing her anger may have been taken out on him, but it was not directed at him.

Her rage translated to a new take to their night routine. Vai played along, accepting her rough and controlling direction, being sure to cover the bruises the next morning. On the fifth night she left again. This time it wasn't a mystery where to. Her arguments with her father made the Bear's plan privy to the entire household.

The Bear had enemies. Jarls he had stolen from and harrassed. Lyra was being ordered to intercept a diplomat delivering a letter of alliance. It was a bold move that put the family in the spotlight. Lyra did not approve, insisting it was too soon and they should make it look like an attack from a giant or natural disaster. Bryn had called her a coward...and that's when the shouting had started.

In the end, Lyra had no choice, if she didn't go he would send someone else and she had too much invested in the political web of Valhym to risk someone else screwing up the operation.

She muttered all of this as Vai braided her hair, one of the only things the agitated women would allow him to do. He arranged the plait in a complex snaking pattern he had learned from watching Hjora do Hana's hair. As he finished, he gently laid his hands on her shoulders and, cautiously, began to rub her neck.

When she didn't lash out he pressed on, massaging her shoulders, the prevalent muscles tight. His well trained hands worked at the knots, fighting against her tension and slowly winning.

The night crept through the window and Vai's hands ached after two hours of work but Lyra sat still for the first time all day, her eyes no longer clouded with anger, but sharp and planning. She had not slept much and Vai, not slowing his hands whispered low and soothing, "You should rest."

She moved almost imperceptibly and her hand crept up and grabbed the front of his shirt. Gently, he cupped his hands on her elbow and lifted her out of the chair. She let him and then, with a twist of her arm and little resistance from him, Lyra tossed him onto the bed.

He lay there, his face serene but carefully judging her mood. For a moment he was resigned to another night of rough sex and scraped skin but instead she folded herself onto the bed and rolled into him. He wrapped his arms around her and she entwined them with hers possessively. Despite his limited mobility, Vai did his best to rearrange the bedding for her comfort and to his relief she fell asleep quickly. Her breathing slowed and he again marveled how different she was from the empress.

Lyra certainly kept him on his toes. She was a challenge to please and Vai was finding he enjoyed a good challenge. It was strange to see himself adapting. If anyone had suggested to him two years ago that he would be serving a bandit's daughter in another country he would have laughed, insisting he could never survive outside the zhurl palace.

His pride had taken a huge blow when he'd been banished and sold. He was sure he'd never find a position as grand as the empress's favorite zhurl. But Lyra was...a force of nature. She was sharp and bright and cold and unlike anything he could have imagined. He felt like one of the mortals serving the old gods and goddesses. The ones who were often in mortal form and did battle with one another, rending the earth in their wake and raising and destroying kingdoms at their whim before they rose to rule untouchable in the heavens.

Lyra was a primeval goddess, yet to rise to her iron throne and Vai was her servant, her priest who stood at her side awaiting her will and watching her ascension. The empress was at the top of the kingdom, had the emperor's ear and heart, but Vai felt Lyra could go even higher. She was meant to.

In the morning, Lyra would go on her mission and Vai would await her return.