"Why won't you let me help you!?" He demanded, grabbing some bandages from the hands of the servant who had fetched them. A pretty girl with black hair and blue eyes. Maya… No, Mara! He thanked the girl, unspooling the bandages so he could easily apply them.
Aria noticed the servant girl she had seen about earlier. Strange. Although, she might be useful….
"I said, get off me. I'm fine. I'll be fine."
"Now you won't. Just sit down. Jesus." He snatched her arm and began bandaging it, hoping she wouldn't struggle too hard. The servant girl was still here, milling around in the background. Didn't she know she was supposed to leave after her job was done? He was pretty sure that was basic protocol.
"Get off or I'll slaughter everyone in the manor, including you." Aria snapped, standing up and walking out of the room.
Once Ariana was gone, Ru collapsed onto the couch with a groan. How the fuck were they supposed to have a happy marriage? It was clear that they both despised each other. Was saving his parents the hassle of getting them divorced and finding him another reasonable bride worth all this trouble? Yes, his mind supplied immediately. His mother was old and his father was practically senile. His mom had enough trouble just running the country. She didn't need any more trouble in her life.
Aria tore up Cerulean's handiwork, letting the pieces of unfinished bandage scatter across the floor. Aria walked to the bedroom she was expected to share, and found a candle still lit inside. Ru should never have trusted anyone around his work enough to keep it out in the open, let alone trust Ariana, but here it was. Stacks of paper and clusters of pens lined the table. She brought the flame to his paperwork, allowing it to spread slowly. Aria grinned menacingly, this was perfect revenge. She exited the room, then went to find out if they had a library. While it was probably mostly lawbooks, there might be a story or two in there worthwhile reading. Barring the fact that Ariana couldn't read much at all, let alone a whole novel. Aria couldn't even write. She hoped Cerulean would never learn of this fact. She was sure a servant could read something for her, at least until she could practice reading by herself a little more.
After a couple seconds of moping around the room, Ru decided to leave his wife to brood. He may as well stay out of her way until she calmed down and stopped being so angry. There was very little to do besides work or read and his work was calling to him. Most of the serious stuff was left at home, but a few pet projects were laying around his room.
At least, they had been. Right now they were all on fire. What the ever loving fuck? He took in the crisping paper for a few seconds as shock coursed through him. The spell was broken when the smell of smoke hit his nose. He sprinted into the bathroom and doused a towel in the sink, plopping it onto his laws and notes with a wet squelch. Luckily, the flames hadn't spread very far and none of the house had been damaged.
Aria picked up a book that wasn't incredibly thick and seemed like it would be good practice. Peter Pan was the title Ariana could barely make out on the gold-embossed cover. Well, it would do for a start. She sat down and flipped open the book, skimming through the pages.
Ru pulled the towel off his notes and laws with a groan. Nothing was salvageable. The few pages that hadn't been burnt to hell and back had become black and smeary with wet ink. He tossed it into the trash can and scrubbed a hand down his face. One of those notebooks had been years- YEARS- of work. And they were just gone. poof. Up in smoke. He had a sneaking suspicion about who had done it.
A servant directed him to the library, where he was assured Ariana was staying right now. He slammed the door open, stalking over to the legal section and picking up as many heavy books as possible and stacking them on the floor to alert her to his presence. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind, not get reflex kicked through three walls for surprising her.
"Yes, darling?" she asked, looking up from her children's storybook. Although unrealistic, the story inside was thought provoking and inspiring, even if hard to read. She didn't even understand half re words, but that didn't quite matter much. What mattered was getting the letters right.
Levi tromped ver to where she was sitting with a scowl o his face that melted away into a half-hidden laugh when he noticed what she was reading. Peter Pan? Really? It was like she was a twelve year old. Ariana seemed like the kind of girl who'd ready shitty war novels between sparring matches. He dropped his serious speaking points to raise his eyebrow and ask: "Peter Pan? Really?"
"Yes, really. Why does this amuse you?" she asked accusingly.
He shrugged. "It's just… kind of a book for babes, isn't it? I mean, nobody's read that in years. It's covered in dust" It was true. The last time that book had been picked up he was five and his mother was trying to entertain him. He hadn't given it a single thought since.
"Fuck off." Ariana snapped. "Some people actually like things other than lawbooks and other political bore." she said.
"Yeah, but not toddler books. I'm sure the servants could get you something better." Ariana seemed oddly defensive for someone who was trying to explain her taste in books. Maybe there was an underlying reason for it? Could she not read? He snorted. Now the that was a thought! Who couldn't read in this day and age?
"This isn't a toddler book. It's a claw-suc." she said, unsure how to pronounce "classic" but doing the best she could.
Claw-suc? Did she mean… classic? Maybe she really was illiterate. "It's pronounced classic, smart one. Read much?" He sighed, supposing e should get to the point and get out. Maybe if he looked over the wreckage he could remember some of the ideas he's written down. "Were you the mysterious arsonist who set all my notes on fire?"
"You call it arson, I call it justice." Ariana said, ignoring Cerulean's mocking of her literacy.
"Justice? In what way was I injust to you? Was it trying to bandage your arm, trying to find you while you were off in the woods or when I let you scratch me to hell and back while you fulfilled your little mating ritual?" The scratches along his back stung as he said the words, a little reminder of what Ariana had done for him. "What part of that made you decide to burn years of work?"
"You humiliated me, and by doing so, dishonored me and my whole family line, and all of our potential kin." she said simply.
That made no sense at all. How had he dishonored her? How? By agreeing to sex? Was that dishonorable? "How did I dishonor you? Please: enlighten me. Also, you do realize you're marrying into my culture, right? Not the other way around? Whatever causes dishonor to you does nothing to me or any children we might have, who will be born into my culture."
"Oh, is it now? And are you sure I'd let you take care of the children I could potentially give birth to?" Ariana asked sarcastically.
Ru gave her a look that basically said 'Bitch?' in the most polite way he could manage. "I said 'might have'. I don't think we'll need to worry for a while though. No offense but I'm not exactly rushing to start a family. Especially not with you."
"I'd want kids, just not with you." Ariana said. "Unless, of course, I'm given no other option. Although, it does seem like that would be the only…. nevertheless, you'd be a terrible father. Only interested in work and politics, it's pathetic."
Like Ru would take anything she did with a grain of salt. She didn't know him for shit and had no right to judge him. Work was a coping mechanism, not his everyday life. Though, his everyday life wasn't the most action-packed. Take care of mom, visit Adrien's grave, advise the council of elders, move ground on various day to day issues in the kingdom. "If you say so. I like to think that by trying to improve the lives of most of the people in my kingdom I'm being a good person, but you're entitled to your opinion."
"Good? Is that what you believe in? The simple concept of good and evil? No in betweens, you're either a saint or you go to hell. Bah." Aria scoffed.
"No, I figure moral absolutism is a quick way to get fucked. I think I'm a follower of utilitarianism myself, though I do dislike how easily it leads to abuse. You keep trying to judge me based on what tiny snippets of my personality I let slip but I don't think that's the best way to talk about someone." Ru found it kind of annoying that Ariana kept jumping to conclusions. At least she was fun to argue with.
"Goody two shoes, then?" she asked with fake sweetness.
Ru shrugged. "Whatever you say. I don really have an opinion. I just want to know why you burnt my work. Really? Like, that was what you decided to do? Destroy years of work that could change peoples lives for the better? I'm having some trouble wrapping my head around what you were thinking."
"Revenge, among many other things."
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