Aria's reply was sharp, but Connal could not find the nerve to be offended.  Perhaps he had been overly cold to her.  Perhaps he didn't trust himself enough to dance with the sultry young sidhe.  He had upset Dawn thoroughly already, and now Roarke was off cavorting with one of the Unseelie creatures.  At least one of her guards needed to show some restraint, Connal decided.<br/><br/>But as the darkly alluring princess continued, Connal felt his ire bubbling.  He followed Aria's eyes with his own as she spoke, and he seethed to see Dawn pressed flush against the body of Cernunnos.  Connal's expression tightened, and he clasped his hands in front of him as he tried to remain nonchalant.  Aria's words about Ceridwyn being acquainted with Roarke's beastly ways poked and prodded at him.  He knew that she had been intimate with him; it was not hard to discern.  However, being reminded of it, and seeing the closeness and familiarity they displayed in public, did rankle him.  It was something he would rather ignore, certain that his princess' fancy for the creature would fade with time.<br/><br/>Aria did not seem eager to allow him to forget, however, and Connal found himself too angry to move as she leaned in to whisper breathily.  For a moment, the tight press of their bodies distracted him, and he inhaled deeply, resting a hand instinctively on her waist...<br/><br/><em>"I'm quite sure she knows just how wild that stallion is, why else would he be guarding a Seelie Princess, instead of with the Unseelie where he belongs ."</em><br/><br/>Connal's stomach dropped, and he grimaced.  She was right, of course.  Somehow hearing it whispered from another woman's lips made it strike him all the harder.  He gritted his teeth and squeezed her waist.  "She is only toying with him!  She will toss him aside eventually, like the waste he is.  She knows who holds her heart, I swear it!"  His eyes raged, the concentric green seeming to darken as his brow furrowed.  Finally he released her waist and pushed her away, which only ended up putting them a few inches apart.<br/><br/>"You will see.  Everyone will see.  She will not tolerate her toy affronting her so."  Connal said in a tight voice, glancing toward Roarke and Shar as they moved away from the floor and nearly out of sight.