At first Ozragad thought he had misjudged her, that he had misread what he had thought as anger in her eyes when they had spoken outside. She seemed sincere in her praise for his Kingdom, and implicitly his rule. [i][color=f7941d]Maybe I am being unfair to her, reading my own feelings instead of hers.[/color][/i] But as she continued he saw that he had not been wrong. She did not bend to propriety but rather waxed lyrical about the 'exquisite' countryside, she belittled the war he was the chief architect of, and revealed that she knew of the additional price that Ozragad has set on peace - that he coveted the lands of Eorzia. All the while, a clenched fist held to her side.

He could feel his own rage building behind his stony exterior. Her own land? Hardly, the Eorzian's were all thieves at heart. Squatters on the birthright of his people, deserving of whatever he unleashed upon them. Sometimes he thought he'd rather burn all the forests and fields of that land than see it under the thumb of another. He was preparing to let his own tongue off of its leash, but her parting barbs caught him completely by surprise.

[color=f7941d][i]Perhaps I did a favour by burning it? [/i][/color] Ozragad stared at her for a moment, not quite believing what he had heard her say. Then she disparaged his aesthetics, and looked him up and down like he was some kind of uncouth peasant. He could honestly not remember the last time someone had spoken to him in such a way. He could not help it.

The King laughed.

It was a low throaty chuckle, one that rumbled deep down in the hollow of his chest. It was absurd more than anything, a girl almost completely in his power, whom he had centuries of experience upon, commending him for an atrocity he had committing against her own Kingdom whilst simultaneous reprimanding him for his sense of dress? He looked out of the carriage window again as he quieted himself down, watching the desolate landscape outside roll by. When he was silent the rattle of the carriage and sound of the horseshoes against the road surface filled the quiet. 

[b][color=f7941d]"So you know the price I set for this peace then? My own slice of your 'exquisite' countryside. Frankly you are an afterthought to me, a necessary complication fostered upon me by your family so I do not simply break my word and resume the war at my convenience. Although I fear your father may have overestimated my commitment to my honour."[/color][/b]

He leaned in closer to her, a malicious glint his burning eyes. Let them drop this pretence, he would say what he had been thinking over all these days of having envoys come and go. What he had been thinking of on the ride out pick up his betrothed.

[color=f7941d][b]"You really are lucky that you are here as my bride not my prisoner. I would not have tolerated the insolence that came out of your mouth otherwise. You are not what I was expecting."[/b][/color]