There had not been a single word said to Ostus so far that was not meant to get a reaction, but this... this was too much. Kiara had been completely unprepared for his response. Joking about things like this in private was one thing, even talking about it seriously, but to say those things in front of a stranger? She knew that [i]he[/i] knew exactly how inappropriate and embarrassing it was. He must have thought it was worth the humiliation of being a housewife just to see her reaction and gain her money.

It felt like an hour that she just stood there, wide eyes staring back at him in horror. She would have liked to stand like that a few hours more, but unfortunately her mind had other ideas. With such a description, she could not help but picture it. This in turn led to all the blood rushing to her face in a way she was sure to entertain the soldier at fault. Normally, this would have easily turned to anger, but Kiara was still in shock. 

It took several minutes for her coloring to return to normal, only to brighten again because of her fury. The only image she could see was of her throwing her fist into his face. It was one thing for her to embarrass him. He had shown no respect for her since they had met. He had questioned her motives, her lifestyle, and even had the nerve to treat her as though she knew nothing of her own country. Putting him down just helped to even the score a bit. However, [i]he[/i] had not held a thing back and made her look like a fool in front of another. Perhaps, if she had really been his blacksmith wife, she could have taken this - though she doubted even then. Kiara was not a wife, though, and certainly not his. She was fucking royalty and she was getting tired of how disrespectful he was continuing to be. It was getting to a point where she wondered if she actually preferred people being nice to her just because of who she was. At least it was better than them treating her this way because of their awful assumptions.

Finally, Kiara realized that she was still just standing there, silent. Knowing she should respond was not helpful because she had no idea what to say. Honestly, she was ready to just go on her own. She was better with the bow than he thought and clever enough to beat many Astoran soldiers in combat. The only problem was that she was frightened. Even with her skills, it was dangerous. More so, it was lonely.

A long sigh of exhaustion escaped her lips as she made her decision. If he could openly glare at her and make her sound like some bar wench, she did not see why she had to smile at him any longer. Instead, she just turned to the horse keeper and gave him a look that said she knew they were being played. It was Ostus's fault, really. What kind of man pulls out his entire pouch? Obviously, it is a better strategy to discuss price first, then pull out only what is decided on. If a seller gets a look at how much you have, they will always try to take the most they can.

Shaking her head at the thought, Kiara sighed again and finally spoke. Her best bet was to just ignore everything Ostus had said regarding their... 'private' life. "Find the best, and I will part with 70 gold." It was a rather high price, but to her it was nothing, and she knew it was a deal too good for the stable man to question or refuse. "Anything to make my husband happy," she continued, her voice filled with a sarcasm she was trying her damnedest to hide. Under her breath, she added, "Anything to get this over with more like.." If neither of them were careful, they would have their very own war on their hands. Kiara decided that trying to end one was more than enough work for her.