Alpin's Chambers

The events of the day had gotten to her finally. She'd let her emotions free finally, not having any clue that Alpin would be back from Carnaghan so soon. She'd curled up on the couch and just kind of let herself sob. Something she definitely wouldn't have done if she had expected him back this soon. When the door to his sitting room opened without a knock she jerked her head up and saw that it was her husband. Despite her tears she flashed him a smile and managed a soft laugh at his comment about her still looking good in his shirt. She wiped away the tears that had been streaming down her face and stood up. She crossed the room and when she got to him she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Which should have made her feel better, but it just made her start crying again. The poor girl. Hell. Poor Alpin, too, for that matter. He was probably going to be extremely confused by her sobbing into his shirt. After a moment or two she managed to get a hold of herself and lifted one arm, wiggling it so that the shirt sleeve fell back from her hand and she could wipe the tears from her face again. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she said with a half laugh as she looked up at him and tried to put a smile on her face for his sake.

When he'd wrapped his arms around her and whispered about it being okay was when she'd allowed herself to relax a little. She'd been waiting all day to hear someone say that to her. A shaky laugh erupted from her when he asked her what was wrong. "I've had a hell of a day," she said on a sigh. When he tilted her chin up she'd look at him and pretty much melt. She stood on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I love you," she said before she explained anything. "When you left this morning I wandered into the audience chamber because it's probably the prettiest room in the palace," she began. "I ran into a friend there; or more like he ran into me," she said with a frown, but continued. "The king showed up and he, apparently, didn't like the fact that I was pointedly ignoring him because he came over and threatened me in front of the friend and his uncle; both of whom happen to be knights," she paused and chewed on her lower lip for a moment debating if she should tell him what the king had threatened her with. "He basically threatened to rape me, but with prettier words," she said on a sigh. "That didn't sit well with my friend, and so he got irate with the king and...I don't remember who challenged who, but they dueled and...well..long story short the king is dead," she said on another sigh. She spared him the details of the fact that the sight of the king's dead body had made her empty the entire contents of her stomach on the floor of the audience chamber. "I fought with said friend when he yelled at me because I told him after he killed the king that I was married. Then he came to find me and apologize and the queen and I pretty much had to force him to see a physician because he got injured in the duel with the king. I couldn't stomach watching the physician stitch him up, so I came back here," she finished and shook her head. It felt good to get all of that out of her system.

She leaned against him, and when he asked who the knight was she frowned, but didn't hesitate to tell him. "His name is Esras Kavanagh," she said with another frown. "His uncle is Aeden McCoy," she said with a shrug. She had no idea if he would know the names any better than she did or not. "My guard was with Davan still. I hadn't returned to your chambers at all after seeing you off this morning," she said and suddenly felt like he was mad at her as he continued to fling questions at her. She stepped back a little bit and a blush settled over her cheeks when he asked questions about Esras. "I don't know. I mean. I think it might be possible that he was interested in me," she admitted, chewing on her lower lip for a moment. "He tends to call me an angel, so I guess that means he was," she said in an uncertain tone. When he said he wasn't leaving her alone again and all but crushed her against him she frowned slightly, but wrapped her arms around him in return. "I'm not a child, Alpin. I can handle myself," she said, a little bit of irritation slipping in to her tone. "Just because you men tend to over-react to things and think that horrible things are going to happen to me without actually figuring out the facts first," she said on a sigh. She pulled back from him a little bit and lifted her head to narrow her eyes at him. "You have to be able to make sure that things are running smoothly at Carnaghan while we're at the palace," she pointed out. "And I don't think Moira would much care for me running off as often as you'll need to."

She frowned at his question about Esras flirting with her. "I hardly have control over his actions. And I met him before I even knew you existed," she said with a frown. "Moira brought him in as someone to study with me," she said and shook her head. However when he reacted to her irritation with anger she would step back again and try to shove down her own temper that threatened to flare up. "I never said that," she snapped, though she hadn't meant to. "I could have handled myself," she defended. "I grew up with five brothers and both of the ones that were older and my father taught me how to defend myself and disarm someone even if I don't have a weapon of my own," she growled. "I'm not the type to stand back and play the victim, Alpin. I'm also not as stupid as you seem to think I am," she said, her temper getting the better of her as she argued with him. "Fuck," she cursed as tears welled up in her eyes and she wiped at them angrily. "You know what? You can sleep by yourself tonight, husband," she growled at him before spinning on her heal and storming out of the room. She wiped angrily at the tears that fell down her cheeks again, but they wouldn't stop flowing. Why? Why did everyone think they had to fight with her today?

"I know that they wouldn't ever have actually hurt me. But you seriously over estimate the king if you honestly believe he could have convinced any men to hold me down. The men in this kingdom are loyal to Moira," she growled. She snorted, a very un-lady-like action, at his comment about her being intelligent but head strong. "I wouldn't have survived at this court for this long if I wasn't at least a little bit head strong," she said through the tears that streamed down her face. Right now she was so mad that she couldn't think clearly. The last thing that she'd wanted was to fight with him. All she'd wanted to do was spend the rest of the night wrapped in his arms so that she could feel better about everything that had happened when he was gone. But apparently that wasn't going to happen. Or at least not the way that she had hoped it would.

When he grabbed her by the wrist she growled and spun around, lashing out with her free hand to break his hold on her. She cringed when she realized what she'd done, though. She hadn't even thought about what she was doing, just reacted on pure instinct. When he yelled at her about this not being how their marriage was going to be and she saw the hurt flash in his eyes she cringed again. "Fuck," she cursed again and wiped at the tears that streamed down her face. "I hate this," she growled through the tears. When he spoke again she shook her head. "You can't prevent every potential bump and bruise, Alpin. Shit happens, and if it's gong to happen you being around isn't going to do much good. If you really think that Cahir would have been able to use his men against me you can't possibly think he wouldn't have used them against you if he was really that intent on getting to me," she said, shaking her head as she wiped at the tears again. "I don't want to fight with you," she said, her tone almost desperate. "I've had enough fighting for one freaking day. I'm tired and this day just can't seem to go right," she said as she closed her eyes and covered her face with both of her hands before rubbing them over it in another attempt to wipe away her tears. "I'm so tired of being yelled at over shit I had no control over," she growled and stalked across the room to the couch. She flopped down on it with a sigh, figuring that if he wasn't going to let her leave she could at least sit down.

She leaned forward and rested her elbows on top of her knees, burring her face in her hands and sobbing as quietly as she could manage. The poor girl had just had enough suffering for one day, and she didn't have the energy to keep her day going in the direction that it was. "Please," she said on a sob. "Just. Enough with the yelling," she muttered into her hands.

She shook her head when he said he could damn well try. "It's pointless to try, is what I mean," she said. "Bumps and bruises are going to happen whether you want them to or not." When he said he was sorry for yelling at her she just shook her head. "It happens," was all she said in response. However when he came over to sit next to her and wrap his arms around her she leaned against him for a moment before crawling into his lap and resting her head on his shoulder. "I forgive you," she mumbled and was finally able to actually wipe the tears away. A soft sigh drifted from her lips as she wrapped her arms around him and just snuggled against him. Finally she was able to feel better. Probably because all she'd wanted for the majority of the day was to sit in his lap and snuggle up to him, especially given the horrible events of the day. "I love you," she muttered. "And I understand why you got upset, but nothing happened. Well; at least not anything too serious, to me," she sighed. "It did make me wish I'd just gone to Carnaghan with you, though. None of this would have happened if I wasn't being so stubborn about that," she admitted sheepishly.