"So, you know."
It was a bit of an awkward position that the two were in. They were officially married, and the both of them were discussing the fact that everyone expected to find Ria pregnant soon. As it was, the West was still trying to show their loyalty to the Central house. In doing that, producing heirs quickly was the best way to show that they were following what was expected of them. Though Zahi and Mio waited a bit to stabilize their young house before producing, most of the work was done as Ria rose to Lady, and Alizeti to Lord. So, cubs were the next logical step.
"I do," said the proud female. "I hate to think of what it will do to my body, but I know that I have to do it. It doesn't mean I want to."
Alizeti's pained look shocked Ria. What was wrong with him? Didn't he realize that she was giving him everything? He could be back in his home pride, nearly the lowest lion in the ranks, and here....here he was near the top! Why did he look so sad?
"Is it really that awful for you?" Alizeti couldn't help but see the parallels. Ria was like her father, and so she was pushing him to take his mother's place. It was the relationship she had seen her entire life, and without realizing it she was replicating it for herself. "I am not your mother. We are married. You cannot send me back. Though I respect you, I will not simply open if you tell me to jump, or roll over. So don't...make this more painful for me than you have to."
Ria reeled. What was he talking about? She wasn't doing anything but being honest with him. She thought that this was what he wanted, and she cleraly guessed wrong. Ria hated to be wrong, more than almost anything else. She was the Lady, and she was the one who was going to have to carry the damn whelps. She'd get her aunt to help raise them, but didn't he realize that she'd never be the same after being pregnant?
Her silence bothered him. Emboldened a bit, he decided to lay it out plainly for her. "I know that you don't care for me. I still don't understand why you picked me, but you don't need to make this seem like...a command. A chore." He knew he wouldn't be able to do it if that's how she reacted to this situation.
The lioness blinked. "What?"
Ria was flatly confused. Did...how....what? "Why do you think that way? I don't understand. I've given you so much, why do you still act like you want to run away from here, and return to being a lower being? Voluntarily?!"
Alizeti's ears flattened. "Why do you say it like that? You haven't given me anything. All of this was your parents' doing. You've given me nothing, and just giving over your body means nothing. I won't touch you if you do that." He cringed in disbelief, amazed that he even verbally said these words.
Ria was amazed. Only her father had ever been so brutally honest, but Alizeti didn't follow it up with a slap across the face. He merely looked...pained.
"I don't...I don't do it for you? Is that what you're saying?" How dare he! She was beautiful, and she knew it. How could he say something like that?
Was she stupid? Ugh. "If your heart is not in it, I won't....do it." He couldn't believe that he had to tell her these things. Though he knew that Zahi and Mio's relationship was complicated, he thought that there were plenty of other good examples within the West that love was important. At least the Chamberlain was in a committed, loving relationship. How did she ignore that fact?
Ria's head was spinning, trying to understand what Alizeti was saying. "You won't...touch me unless I love you?" She tried really hard not to laugh at that. But, with holding that in, she realized what she was saying. She was still bitter against her parents forcing her to marry, even if she was allowed to give her opinion on the matter. She kept pushing all the blame on him, even though he was just an innocent lion tied up in her own selfish thoughts.
It made her look at him differently. "It....it won't be easy. I don't think I've ever thought about it in that way." She knew it would be impossible to change things overnight. She was too much like her father, and everyone knew it. She did know that she would never cheat on Alizeti, like how her father had. That had nearly been their undoing, and she wasn't going to repeat that mistake.
Alizeti still looked pained, and didn't really trust her words. "Whatever, Ria." He took a jab at her, using her common name instead of her proper one. "I'll believe it when I see it. You don't normally promise off your words, but I've never seen you try to be affectionate towards me."
Now Ria was the one feeling pained. "You don't trust me?" Though she knew she was a pain in the a**, she never considered herself untrustworthy. This was a blow bigger than the other things Alizeti had said, and it really made her think harder than his words about love.
"Can I...gain that trust with you?"
Alizeti blinked, amazed to see a moment of vulnerability come from her new wife. A soft hearted lion like him made it easy to forgive, and her face was too honest to believe that she was trying to use him.
"Yes. We can start that tonight." This was going to be awkward for the two of them, but at least Ria was realizing that there was something more than power that would get Alizeti on her side.
He, honestly and truthfully, just wanted to be loved. He hoped that Ria would realize that, and something could come of it. She would probably become a formidable Lady if she only learned to love him.
(1,032 words)
