Bk 2: Chapter Five (17)

"Rubbish!" she exclaimed and turned away.

"Where are my attendants?" he asked, but something told Amie he knew she had sent them away.

"Help me," he said and she turned only to turn away again.

"For the Lady's sake get dressed," she said.

"Since there are no attendants, why don't you help me?" he asked and started to dress. She could hear him moving around behind her but could not dare to turn around.

"I brought your dinner. I will set it up," she said and fled to the other room, to his amusement.

She had barely calmed down when he joined her in the sitting room. She was sited before his well-laid out dinner, waiting for him. He took his seat and unceremoniously started eating.

"So, tell this king why his wife graced his chambers," he said and she frowned.

"Is it odd for your wife to grace your chambers?" she asked.

"Of course. It is you we are talking about, is it not? Besides, I had said I would be going over to your chambers at night. What made you run all the way here, prey tell?" he asked.

"You are right about one thing, I am your wife. I don't think I will be leaving this marriage anytime soon. My family name will never allow it," she said and he smiled.

"Is this a realisation you came to after our talk? This king should have come talk to you a long time ago," he said.

"Nevertheless, I will be sleeping here from now on," she said and he paused.

"You coming to me instead of me going to you, is this your idea of giving this king face?" he asked and she only smiled. He had seen right through it.

"You gave me face by letting me do as I like. Don't think I don't know that my total disregard for you on our wedding night not only slapped you on your face, but your indulgence gave my family name prestige,"

"Ha. So, that this king became one that could do nothing to his wife, this great insult, is repaid by coming on your own accord?" he raised a brow.

"Don't flatter yourself. My family name only holding more weight does you great favour. I have taken a step back. Will you now tell me what you intend to do?" she asked.

He stared at her for a while. He noticed she did not seem nervous at all. Now that he thought about it, this girl always showed tiny claws from the day they met.

"What will you do if the ancients hand over power to me?" she asked.

"You mean when they bend the knee? You seem to think there is much difference between yourself and me," he raised a brow.

"Southern Lan's uprising will fall with the ancients on our side. But till then, people will starve to death," she said.

"There will be food tomorrow" he said casually and she paused.

"I don't understand,"

"Their rebellion is to our advantage. Now I have reason to subdue them. Just, not the way they are thinking. I have people retrieving food from them," he said.

"We are stealing?" she frowned, "That is low,"

"You cannot call a thief one if you did not catch his finger in the pot of soup,"

"But he will reek of the smell of oil ten thousand miles home," She snorted.

"What kind of thief dares to leave his hands stained all the way home? Those are the kind you should fear," he said and she raised a brow.

"You intend to cause their will to shake by this action? It will not,"

"As though such a thing will be enough. We will not take anything more than what was owed. All the grains paid for, we will receive. How it will be done is not a matter of thievery, but that of might," he explained.

"You mean to tell them that it does not matter if they ban food from entering Juhntt. As long as Juhntt paid for food, it would get to us. This will anger them. This kind of disdain…."

"Only we can show it. They disregard your family name, they disregard the religion. They wish to provoke me with their actions. If I dare not retaliate for fear of how the world would see my crown, the rest could relax and disregard the title I wore when I took the throne. If I retaliate, the world will think that I am one who has designs for their territories. By taking only what was owed us, it is beyond disdain, dear wife. It is pure might," he said casually. She could understand his point. She just did not think he had the ability to take those grains without care. She had been trying to understand more about the situation of Juhntt and the world in general. Just from her investigations alone, she was sure she had been living in naivety.

She knew quite well that this duchess of Wickshire was known to have arsenals in her pocket that one dared not provoke her. Why did she not consider that this husband of hers would gain some sort of privilege from her?

"Will you, though?" she asked.

"Will I what?"

"Will you invade?"

"No. They will submit," he answered, taking a bit of juicy meat.