Being caught in the middle of a battlefield, with all its sounds and smells, was one of the most exhilarating feelings in Karanteg's opinion. Little compared; not even the best woman could come close to stimulating those feelings in him. Which was perhaps why he found it necessary to be so combative in all other aspects of his life. Everything had to be a fight, everything needed an element of tension - of danger - to be worth living. And pushing his wife to the brink of violence was perhaps ignoble, and yet he couldn't really help himself. He wondered if she'd ever really crack and hurt him. He was certain the thought had crossed her mind. It would have crossed the mind of any sane person, and Cat - for all her aggravating characteristics - did have all of her faculties quite intact (although one would have to question her decision to agree to his proposal).
"You should know me well enough now to know that I do not bother to conform with what society expects," Karanteg scoffed. He had never been good enough by that same society's standards. So he'd had to create his own, and hang the rest of the upper class. He was really far more at ease with his soldiers. Men of action, instead of words. Karanteg valued coin just as much as the next noble, but that didn't mean he intended to bend to anyone just because of it. Besides, he was the ruling lord of Seòrdag. The title came with a certain...loftiness of position. It didn't make him above scrutiny, but people were going to be less likely to say anything to his face. Or maybe that was his reputation for striking first and asking questions...well, never. He took the hand that Cat had placed on his arm and lifted it up to his lips with his free hand. "As you wish."