“You may,” Sovele answered him evenly, not looking up from a letter he was writing straight away. He ignored Basren, letting the young man guess at his mood, giving nothing away. A cruel joke he liked to play to keep his favorite on his toes. If he had something to be guilty over, he figured the young man would get antsy as the silence lingered on, but perhaps Basren had gotten used to the game, because he simply waited for him to finish.<br/><br/>Sovele brought him wordlessly to his bed next, but if he was expecting violence, it didn't come. He undressed Basren and fucked him slow and tender, even going so far as to pay attention to the younger man's pleasure. Sovele was capable. He was just usually selfish, and it was within his rights as a King. He did plenty for his country. He showed Basren that he knew his body better than anyone, and left his seed deep inside of him to remind him of who he belonged to. It wouldn't change, no matter who he was married to. If Sovele decided he didn't like the arrangement, it was easy enough to believe Alaras succumbed to his health after battling it all those years.<br/><br/>He kissed Basren and petted his hair, letting him lay up against them after they'd finished, daring him to bring up the subject of the man who was currently courting him, wondering if it was possible to manipulate Basren to guilt for his ungratefulness. If he could, maybe he could get Basren to drive Alaras away instead, though the boy was older now. He had more of a mind of his own, and if not Alaras, it would be someone else.<br/><br/>“I've some things to teach you if you're ever going to be host to offspring,” Sovele commented, running his fingers over Basren's belly. He was tempted to just get on with it, but he couldn't do anything until after Basren had been married off. Anis would kill the child the first chance she got if she knew for certain. She'd probably suspect it regardless, but suspicions were easier to live with than truth. If Sovele was younger, he might have taken Basren a second time, but he was content to lay in bed like that, taken by a pleasant mood at the notion of being able to have something he decided he'd wanted.<br/><br/>The pleasantness wasn't to last. There was arguing outside his bedroom door, and Queen burst in on them, shoving past his guard. Sovele didn't move. That would be him admitting wrong, and she knew enough any way that trying to cover it up was pointless, regardless of how Basren felt about her scalding gaze. Sovele wasn't sure why she'd come in on them in the first place. It wasn't typically like her, especially so soon after she'd visited him.<br/><br/>“Oh no.” She shook her head at Basren when he made move to skulk out of the bed. “Don't dismount my husband on my behalf.” She poured herself a glass of wine, and then the contents across one of his expensive rugs. She took a seat, sipping, and crossed her legs.<br/><br/>“You'll both want to hear this news, as I imagine there may be a slight shift in plans,” she announced with a fake smile.<br/><br/>“My brother's wife has died. We knew that was coming, of course. Maybe I was hasty when encouraging Alarastian. Don't you think he and Basren would suit that much better?” Anis asked, leaning forward to stare her husband down. Her brother, Duke Evren, was not known for his kind nature. He'd built a reputation for himself, having a mind for culling the unworthy, as he liked to put it. He was not a man to be bullied, and with his position, it was less likely to happen even from the King, and best of all, he'd take Basren away. Far away, where Sovele couldn't hope to continue using him to slight her. Evren's position was more elevated, so it would be hard for Sovele to argue, especially considering that she just caught them in bed together. She could raise holy hell if she wanted to. Sovele did so anyway, moved by anger.<br/><br/>“Like hell I'd send Basren to marry Evren,” Sovele argued regardless. It wasn't so much that he worried for Basren's well being there. It was that he and Evren were too much alike. He couldn't control him, and no telling what Anis would do if he had him killed. Better to use tact, especially since she just caught Basren in bed with him.<br/><br/>“Let him contend with Basren's other suitors,” the King growled, pretending as if there were actually more than one. “The final decision is up to me, and you've always known it would be that way. Your brother has never been able to sire any children, and it seems all he's ever doing is burying wives.” Sovele was quick to point out the man's shortcomings. Of course, that all likely made Evren perfect in Anis' eyes. Sovele couldn't put a child in Basren if he was married to an infertile man without raising suspicions. Evren hardly even visited, had hardly laid eyes on Basren. Sovele was not so sure what would possess the man to agree.