It was totally fine for Luke to not talk to Rhiane if she so wished it, because in spite of the brief yet very real moment they shared during dinner, the reality remained that they were not friends. Just like the young lords and ladies of the court, the advisors, the representatives of the houses, the heads of ministries, she was a political figure that he had to work with without any expectations of either loyalty or friendship. She was as much of an obligation to him as he was to her, because together they were expected to play a part in a grand scheme that was orchestrated by the queen. 

Therefore, when he heard her voice calling after him, he stopped midstep and looked over his shoulder.  He had already made it to the door, actually it was already parted enough for him to catch a glimpse of Ms. Viscomi. “Ah, she found her voice.” He pushed the door shut then leaned against the frame. “And here I was thinking that my future wife has lost her tongue out fear of Dr. Isaac.” Sarcasm was ever present in each word of his sentence, but he did wait.   

Rhiane stopped a few feet from him before her admission that she disliked doctors. It was not fear after all, but maybe she was just making it sound less like an issue of weakness and more like an issue of preference. Regardless, it was an unfair and baseless generalization. He wanted to point it out, but the subject of discussion had quickly shifted from her to him. His attitude, to be precise. 

“Had she made a decision on my behalf in front of me without my input?” Luke mused smiling, but not really smiling. Was it not obvious that his life was pre-planned before he was even born? While it was true that a lot were riding on his decisions, ironically how he would live his life was not among them. “I am looking at her decision right now.” But he understood that it was not the point of her argument. He did have the tendency to act on behalf of the party that was not performing according to his expectations. It was a habit he acquired from being a leader – picking out the weakest link then helping it perform, because his team was only as strong as its weakest member. And in the Luke-Rhiane tandem, Luke found her lack of cooperation as hindrance in achieving the goal, so he took it upon himself to act on her behalf.

“It is teamwork,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “For it to be a productive consultation, one of us should talk otherwise it’s not a consultation at all. You were being stubborn, and you were letting your prejudice cloud your better judgment, so I thought it would be up to me to stand up for us.” Luke ran a hand through his hair. Whether he liked it or not, they were a team. “If you do not want to be treated like a child or a puppet, then I encourage you not to give me or my family a chance to treat you as such. For the record, I do not wish to be married to a puppet. I much prefer an intelligent woman.” It was an advise, but he was unsure how she would take it.

When she mentioned how he was too happy about the prospect of being separated from her, he grinned. “It was that obvious? No, don’t get me wrong.” Luke followed-up before she walked out on him, annoyed. “And don’t take it personally. I just find our arrangement very restricting. Besides, are you not equally excited to be rid of me for a whole day? I know that was not the most pleasant companion, you practically left me for a box of dessert. But if it will help you for tonight, then I can tell you that there are far better things that that happened today than Dr. Isaac’s recommendation to the queen.”