Oh, how he wanted to shake some sense into the pretty blond fool.  He was Kethaias, the Warrior King.  Since when did he have to justify his wants and desires to anyone, himself included?  He didn’t need a<i>reason</i>to do what he damn well pleased.  That wasn’t as infuriating as the notion that Ryland thought he was so important that Keth had blazed a trail with deadly force to insist on little more than a marriage arrangement.  He was too lightheaded and angry to realize the contradiction.<br/><br/>“I thought your mountains had been breached,” he insisted once more, his voice softer.  The pain was spreading, a vicious reminder of the weak spot in his armour, under his arm and down his side, and deeper breaths seemed to stretch that pain out in broader strokes.  Kethaias was both uncertain and unconcerned if anyone else but the prince heard his words.  It really only impacted the two of them, and he was feeling a wave a dizziness he’d managed to hold off until that point.  Now that the real scheme was revealed, adrenaline was fading and his body was giving out on him.  “I thought Banque was compromised and that you were under threat.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come.”  He grit his teeth and whispered the rest.  “I was in the middle of something more important.”<br/><br/>Though, now that he was there, he couldn’t deny that Ryland had some good points.  Taking that gorgeous face home had been a real goal on his previous visit to the teacup kingdom.  Perhaps he’d have found a way to talk Ryland into it, if not for the imagined scandal of the prince sleeping with someone<i>not</i>of native blood.  If he were honest, that whole fiasco was still a mystery to Kethaias.<br/><br/>To be called a coward didn’t impress him.  Being taunted into action, less so.<br/><br/><i>I don’t want to take you under force,</i>he wanted to contest.<i>You don’t want me.  You’re only choosing the lesser evil here.  And incorrectly so.</i><br/><br/>But whether Ryland would admit to that or not, it wouldn’t have changed anything.  Their positions would still be the same, Ryland wishing to escape the mouthy, entitled bastard his brother wanted him wed to, and Kethaias drawn so far away from his endangered borders and facing a nulled treaty for his troubles.  He didn’t want to give in to the prince’s selfish whims.  He didn’t want to go home after all this empty handed, either.<br/><br/>Still, a marriage at this juncture felt cheap.  It was a tool.  An escape route.  A mind like Ryland’s could’ve had it mapped out from the start, from that very first letter.  And perhaps he had.  Playing with others and using them to his advantage was not outside of the prince’s ability.  But then why didn’t he look for an easier out with someone else?<br/><br/>Keth’s mind continued to swim.<br/><br/>“You wouldn’t be happy,” he thought out loud.  “Not unless you’ve done a lot of growing up between then and now.”<br/><br/>Kethaias couldn’t see himself happy leaving the situation as it stood, either.  Ryland and Teleyard?  The thought made him ill.<br/><br/>He tugged at his armour and reached a hand inside.  Warmth had long since fled his fingertips, and it was hard to find what he was fishing around for.  When he finally caught hold of the precious object, he lunged, snagging Ryland and pressing that soft, warm body to cold, unyielding armour.  He kissed Ryland unapologetically.  Hard and sure.  He didn’t notice, but his men were preparing to keep the enemy at bay in case this new offense drew a more volatile reaction.<br/><br/>“I think I’ll have you,” he gasped out after, pressing the well-travelled ear cuff into Ryland’s palm.  With it were smudges of fresh blood from a wound that had never been given time to heal closed, thanks to the haste with which they’d journeyed.  A moment later his strength left him entirely and his vision went dark, and the weight of Keth’s body and the sturdy armour encasing it hit the ground like stone.<br/><br/>The warriors accompanying Kethaias showed their discipline well.  While they all looked and took note, they looked to the second in command for direction. Rijek knew what their king would want of them all, and it only took the flash of a hand signal as he moved to convey the order to stay and maintain their defensive line.  Then he was down at Keth’s side unfastening leather straps and ties and flinging bits of the dark armour off.  Though concern was obvious, Rijek didn’t look surprised.  From the thick, stained fabric along Keth’s right side that came into view, it wasn’t hard to see why; the collapse had been a long time coming.<br/><br/>“Prince Ryland,” the redhead asked as he pressed his hands against the telltale slit through the grey arming doublet where new blood was mixing with old. “Would you be so kind as to call for a healer?  Before this idiot bleeds out all over your courtyard…  Corpses are notoriously hard to wed.”