“You are not.” He had sought consent, if not quite approval from Azyebel. He would not have the distaste between the two women impact his relationship with either if he could help it. Of course, that was asking a great deal of both. “I am not certain what point she sought to make. I did ask. It had nothing to do with the lack of official announcement.”
That had more to do with Isyllt, but he wasn’t certain how to explain that. Shayleiah had been a tidy excuse, but the interaction with the Asrai had left him shaken. He was surprised by her response to his “assumption”, but not displeased. He did not give that away so easily, even if it would mean a fight between them. Better they have it now, he figured, than when commitments had been made final.
“You are right enough. We have never discussed such a thing. Yet I am not basing this on my own assumptions, or idle gossip. For obvious enough reasons, I am not prone to believing every rumor that makes it my way. Will you deny you have discussed it?” It felt uncomfortably like an interrogation with her sitting before him, lending him even more of an advantage with that height than he already typically enjoyed. “It leaves me wondering precisely what you want of me, Avalynn. With any other woman, I would assume you sought the influence of the position marrying me would grant you, but it is a step back in your case. I had convinced myself, perhaps foolishly, that this was a matter of less pragmatic desires, but if all you wanted was to share my bed on occasion, without any exclusivity, then we needn’t have gone through all of this about marriages and titles. I am the only possible draw I can see in this arrangement for you, so I confess I am out of ideas.”