He turned around, taking the man's hands in his. "I never would have deprived them or you of your homeland. That would be cruel of me. I cant expect someone who has grown up in warm lands to immediately be accustomed of the cold or ever be completely comfortable in it." He answered, his blue eyes sad.
"No. The chill only bothers be at night. It is just- The culture itself seems cold... We have sweet and warm honey cakes at home and here I'm lucky if I can convince the servants to fetch a lemon cake. And your servants seem terrified of me! The handmaids were afraid to tighten my corset at first." He spoke earnestly, not entirely sure why he suddenly gave all this away. Lavey looked down at the floor. "Even our names are so different.."
"Hm.. well, we dont have much that grows here. But, it might be possible for me to ask the cooks to add more things to our imports. That's how we get most of our ingredients." He frowned slightly, "Afraid of you? If you tell me what they look like I'll talk to them." He said, tilting his head slightly. "Well.. I cannot change how my name is, just like you cannot change yours. I believe it shows our differences, but not in a bad way."
"No you mustn't do that. It will add onto your expenses as a king and that's a lot to ask. Also, I'm not sure why they seemed afraid of me, they just seemed to jump anytime I moved." He spoke and pulled back to sit on the bed, looking down at his feet. "And on the name thing, our cultures give names in odd ways. We name our children for happiness, brightness. My mother's name was Rosegold and my father's name is Thyme so they chose Lavender for me."
"I couldn't care less about expenses, we have a surplus of gold right now. And if it makes you feel better about staying here, even just slightly I will get it." He said, face set in determination. "Well, it could be because we have never had a marriage between two different cultures before and they dont know how to act around you yet. They will learn."
"Ah, yes. I understand. Here... we do not name our children until their first accomplishment. Which could take years. Unless they are royalty, then they are named based off of what they choose when presented with certain items." He explained.
Lavender just shrugged before he sighed and thought. After a moment he tilted his head, confusion sparking in his eye. "I've seen nothing related to any gods or beliefs so far. Maybe I do not know what to look for or have completely overlooked it. Who are your gods? What do they believe? I am sorry but our children will know mine even if they do not chose to follow them."
"We only have The 3 Sisters. There is Gava, Goddess of Fertility, Pheksyn, Goddess of Life and Death, and Itris, Goddess of Destruction." He answered, "I do not care what you teach them, as long as I am allowed to teach them about my culture as well." He said, sincerity underlying his tone.
He nodded. "We have 5. Vintari, Goddess of the Day and Rage, Nycto, God of Night and Sadness, Kyri, Goddess of love and fertility, Yeri, God of hate and War. The 5th Gods gender is unknown but most say he. His name is Myist, he is the God of freedom."
He nodded slightly, although he already knew that. He had to. He knew if he were to accommodate his new spouse, he would need to understand their culture. He remembered sitting in the library day and night, looking for any book he could find on Lavender's people. Which, admittedly, wasnt many.
"I am afriad..." He spoke after a long moment of pause, thin tears filling his eyes. "What if I fail you and can't bring you a son? What if I only give you daughters? Your culture seems to want boys and I do not know if I will be able to provide." Lavender sighed, knowing to an outsider this was a jump of topic, but not for him. All of the Gods were infertile and hated it so they made all of their children fertile. With that, came the rules between marriage. Their Gods believed that if a couple did not at least try to bare children the Gods would punish them because to the Gods, their gifts were being ignored.
