Nope.

It's just that if they're not allowed to even imply that they'll kill her children, and she refuses, then they have no reason not to just send her south, and - whatever. 

"All right. I'll tell her we're accepting her terms."

"Thank you." He feels sick, and very very tired, and they haven't actually even started yet on solving anything.

The women have a feast to put together. Most of the work is done by slaves and servants, of course, but there are decorations to hang, and there's music to be selected. By their standards it is not extravagant, but many of the riders are guests, and large numbers of guests are well worth having a party about. Male guests, almost exclusively, so for a brief moment the household nears parity between adult men and adult women.

There is music, dancing, and an abundance of delicious food brought into the dining hall. Menador prides itself on not needing the wild extravagance of southern nobility, but of course this is still an Archduke's household, and the appearance of poverty would be unthinkable. 

If you're watching the social divisions - wherever the full orcs are, they're not in the feast hall. Half orcs intermingle with humans, at every level. Some interact freely with the nobles, as equals or near-equals. Others wait tables, alongside human servants. Almost all of the orc-blooded people who speak freely with nobles are men, with Ivet the sole obvious exception. Older children are present; younger ones are away somewhere.

Queralt is flirting, and trying not to look it. "Do they dance, in Lastwall?"

They do. Not to celebrate the raiding parties having brought slaves home to rape.

They cannot serve these people if they are going to resent them all the perfectly non-evil things in their lives too. It's a party. There's nothing wrong with parties. "People dance in Lastwall. I don't know this dance, though."

"I can teach you! It's not hard, see - "

Marit is in fact perfectly capable of identifying when a fifteen year old girl has a harmless crush on an unavailable man a decade older, this being a common phenomenon even in Lastwall and not particularly worrying. He will dance with her.

At some point he really has to get this over with. He's warned Marit that he's going to call on him to explain things afterwards. He calls for attention at the end of a set, after people have had enough of a party that it isn't terribly cruel to end it.

"Everyone. Some of you have met Marit Tenwaller and Arn Klakafos. They are Iomedans, sent to us by Lastwall to aid us in learning about our ancestral faith, and to draw out the poison of Asmodeus. We are deeply grateful for their advice and guidance. Over the next weeks, we will likely make many changes, to cleanse this land of Asmodeus's touch. On their advice, I am ending the practice of allowing a man to keep his first capture. I mean no slight to you, Alfonso; you should be very proud, that you can defend these lands. You are a man, and can hold your head high among all other men. But we will not mark it this way. More than slaves, you should have a wife, now, and I will see that you have one."

A few angry murmurs at the unfairness, here; he waits a moment for them to pass. Alfonso, indeed, looks obviously upset, but is restraining himself for the moment.

"Furthermore, I am instituting a temporary moratorium on all free people sleeping with slaves, in this household. For the moment, no free person is to enter a slave's room, and no slave is to enter a free person's."

There are no murmurs in the hall, then. Guim looks at him with open incredulity. Montserrat nervously glances at Carles, who shakes his head very slightly. Ivet is absolutely expressionless. But no one speaks.

"I know this is unfair to many of you. If it is the wrong decision, it will be temporary. If you are angry, or upset - or relieved, or pleased -" not that there will be much of that in the hall, though he's sure there will be elsewhere - "Our priests ask you to speak to them about it, to help them understand what will best serve the people of this house, and the people elsewhere in Menador. Many of you here are guests, and will be returning to your own lands soon, so now I ask Marit to explain further what Iomedae would have us do, and why."

Well, here goes. 

"In Lastwall to take a woman on a raid, and bring her home as your slave, and take her to bed, is to commit the crime of rape. It is Evil; people are damned for it; it is a great wrong to that woman. I believe that the Queen, in her decree, probably meant to bar taking prisoners on raids and then forcing them to sleep with you, and quite possibly meant to bar sex with slaves in general, as Lastwall does. Iomedae requires this because it is wrong to force people to have sex with you. It is an important wrong, not a petty one. 

 I understand that if this is the way that things have been practiced for a long time, then - situations become very complicated. I understand that this rule is as currently implemented probably breaking up families and not just protecting captives from their captors. I understand that many people don't have an alternative that they prefer to the current situation. The rules are meant to improve things for captives and slaves, not make things worse for them, and we are planning to go and talk to everybody over the next few days to figure out what rules would actually do that. But - this custom is not how men acknowledge each other for bravery and strength at arms, not in Good countries, and not in the Menador that raised Iomedae into the greatest warrior in our history. You should only sleep with people who are willing and free to refuse you. Arn and I will both be here to answer questions and help design rules that are a good way to achieve this without wronging people further."

There are not questions. There is a general atmosphere of anger and fear and incredulity, but there are no questions.

Well he's very sorry that it's so upsetting to them to be prohibited from going on raids, dragging bound women home, and raping them repeatedly. It must be very difficult.

They're not very good at going back to partying, after that, but if nobody tells them they're done, then a bunch of them will attempt to fake it for a while longer.

Iolanda drifts out of the room with an only slightly orc-blooded retainer who is definitely not her husband, who is definitely a completely separate human guy who she was dancing with earlier. Alfonso-Ignasi gets halfway down the hallway out, and then whispers something to a human servant, who follows him, stiffly, to his room.

Carles has a question, actually. Not for the priests.

"All?"

"All. Speak to them about it."

"We should - split up and go talk to everybody, I guess."

"Yeah. Goddess go with you."

Ivet is still here, and doing a good impression of someone completely indifferent to the situation. She's around thirty, outfitted the same way as the other warriors.

"Do you speak orcish? As they speak it in the Menador Mountains, in particular."

"I don't. Is there anyone available who can translate?"

"I can. Many of the half orcs can, and some of the humans, but I will serve. Who do you want to talk to?"

"- the people you just captured, if that's possible, and then - the ones from last year, will they also mostly speak orcish or will they mostly have learned Taldane?"

"The ones we just captured? In the town? In the household there is only the cleric you saw. The others will be older."

" - I guess let's start with the cleric, and then - some people from last year and previous years. Unless there is someone you particularly recommend I speak to first."

"You should speak to Carles. But not now; he is busy cleaning out his room. I will take you to the cleric."

"Thank you."