Haidar was no fool. A bit crude, perhaps, but not a fool. He recognized Olivia's games. Still, he accepted them, because regardless of whether or not they were tempered by his awareness, they did have the desired effect, and he calmed a bit. "It is these trivial matters that make me king," he replied, his deep voice softening, "I just wish they would hurry up." But it was not entirely Theiri that Haidar was concerned with. He saw a larger picture. He saw a bidding war. While the Aserits did not fear the desert horsemen, they had learned long ago not to underestimate them, either. If Theiri drew Nydewia into an alliance, Aserit's conquest, even if successful, would be long and bloody.<br/><br/>The king blew out another exasperated sigh. "I'm simply bored. I haven't killed anyone in<em>weeks</em>," he bemoaned in a rare moment of vulnerability, as if such a thing was worse than death. Only the two women with him now ever saw him like this; P'Tulla because he had gotten used to ignoring her in most situations. There was a saying Olivia told him: "Who hears all and hears nothing? A King's bodyguard." Olivia saw him vulnerable because she had stubbornly weaseled her way into his confidence. The desert king knew, in the back of his mind, that he might come to regret letting her do so some day, but for the most part he paid it no heed.<br/><br/>He stood, stretching his thick muscles. "Come," he said to the both of them as long strides carried him down the steps and to a corridor off to the side of the audience hall, leading to a staircase and, eventually, his quarters at the top floor of the castle.