“I have always been at your side, Sidonie,” he protested, the words hushed and defensive. Things always became so clouded when she was around, and it was a frustration he mistook for his personal desires warring with his sense of honor and duty. Those crutches were something of a blessing now, because they helped him to resist that urge to go to her and apologize, to just kiss it all away and promise her anything and everything she wanted.
He mistook her emotions for his own, even as he instinctively struggled against them. He was angry with her, after all, and that shouldn’t be such a hard thing to hold onto… But it was. It was hard to even focus on it. He should he recognized those signs, of course. He had been around Liliana for decades.
“I am not even sure what you are asking. You want a public declaration? You want a wedding at the start of a war? Or you just want me to take you to bed?” It was blatant, crass, but by now she may have been accustomed to that. He didn’t care to leave room for misinterpretations and if he was off balance, he didn’t trouble himself with padding his words.
“Is that your ultimatum then? Get to work or you’ll find someone else to occupy your bed?"