"Because it doesn't matter, Cor! It doesn't matter!"
He didn't explode. He didn't move, or open his mouth. He sat there, completely stunned, shocked furious and on edge. She could tell she'd hit a nerve—because he was too close to bursting to back away.
"So." He said, after they'd been staring at each other for a couple of seconds. "So."
"I… Listen, I did not—"
"You did. You meant every word of it."
She didn't attempt to deny it, only put her hands on his chest, and murmured, "Please, calm down, you might hurt yourself."
"Calm down? Calm down, Aravis?"
"Yes."
"You manage to make everyone speechless, don't you?"
She didn't answer.
"You keep talking, and talking, and every little word that comes out of your mouth is meant to put someone in tears, to have men and women revolving around your every step—"
"No, Cor. You're not thinking straight at all—"
"And you don't care."
She looked up at him, wide-eyed, genuinely furious now. "I do care. Which is why I won't let you do anything."
"What is it, then, that would stop you from letting me rip that man to shreds?"
"The fact that he is also ambassador of my mother country, a friend of my father's, and that he's trying to make peace." She whispered. He pulled her into his arms and held her, so tight that she could barely breathe.
"Aravis—"
"You care too much," she continued, "You shouldn't be willing to throw away everything your father has worked for simply because one man doesn't know where to put his hands. I can handle things myself, you know, he's not the first man I've encountered whose fingers wander."
He raised an eyebrow. "I'll murder them."
She gave him a small punch in the ribs. "You care far too much. You and your brother—"
"What did Corin do to you?" he growled.
"You think he hasn't offered me the head of the ambassador yet? I don't even know how he found out at all. You're both ridiculous, with your stupid northern chivalry—"
"How has chivalry become ridiculous, now?" he asked incredulously. She pulled away from him and sat in the armchair as he plopped himself on the floor in front of her. A stranger would have mistaken him for a devoted husband—why else would a man be in her quarters at this hour in the evening? But they'd stayed up later, in much more compromising positions—on the various 'adventures' as she called them, to different countries, they were often found with Corin, huddled together under one blanket, Aravis squashed between the two brothers and the heat that they radiated in the cold winter nights. So really, neither of them cared anymore—the palace knew they weren't husband and wife, or even courting, and the rest of Archenland knew the same.
"It's ridiculous," she answered finally, "because you put it before everything else. What about peace? What about the blood that would continue to be shed if you were to act chivalrously and cut off his hands?" she took his face in her palms, and leaned forward so as to emphasize her point. "Don't you consider that, though you would die for a lady's honor, thousands more will die as well, thousands more that have nothing to with the lady?"
His fair face softened a little. "I never thought of that."
"I know." She sighed, patted his shoulder lightly. "Go to sleep. You're tired and angry."
He nodded and kissed her cheek. "But if he does it again, I will rip him to shreds." He whispered in her ear.
"No, I will. You will shut up and watch me do so."
He exhaled. "I…"
"Go."
He nodded and walked out of the room slowly. A maid was waiting outside the door to dress her mistress, and he walked past her, slightly dazed.
"I take it she boxed your ears, sir?"
He turned around. Her eyebrows were raised, and she was blushing a little at her own impertinence.
"Something of the sort."
The maid smiled and went in.