No, they weren't deeply in love. For the most part, Ashok was a complete stranger to her, and she knew that he had to think of her as exactly the same. They hadn't so much as met before their wedding, and those days had been a blur of family traditions and cultural ceremonies. Nali might have spent a fair amount of time at his side during that time, but her head had been spinning; she could hardly remember her own vows.
Still, she'd had a long time to come to terms with her family's sense of duty. Ashok was just another duty that she had accepted long before there was ever a name or a face to go with it. Some girls were stupid when it came to their fates – Nali knew plenty of girls who had played at romance with men that they would never be allowed to marry. She had known better, behaved better... which meant that she'd had a long time to think about just how she would go about being a pleasant and dutiful wife.
"No? I thought it would be a fitting bribe for getting out bed," she offered back sweetly – although there was definitely a little bit of teasing to her tone. Her eyes flickered over his bare chest, lingering for a moment on the little spot of carnelian. It made the corner of her mouth twitch slightly; she could still remember very well how difficult moving back and forth between forms had been when she was learning.