“Ezra I will break your kneecaps if you call me tiny again,” She threatened in a calm voice, not entirely joking, “My anger is perfect for my size, you’re the one that gets all whiny when you’re angry and it makes you come across as a tiny little ball of anger.” Allian didn’t look at him, only glanced around at the table, hoping the last few people would finish eating so she could leave.
He snorted. "And how will you do that? I don't think you can even reach my kneecaps." he retorted, shaking his head at her and putting down all his utensils. He was done eating, and was preparing to leave the table.
Allian glared at him and had to stop herself from grabbing her fork to stab him. "Watch your words, General," She said, "Or both your kneecaps and your title will be gone." She smoothed out the skirt of her dress as she tried not to murder her former friend. He may be a general now, but she had no issues using her position to get back at him for backhand comments about her height.
He wiped his mouth off with his napkin, almost disturbingly calm. "I see. You'll exchange my title as general to give me a title as king, yes? As tedious as marriage to you would be, perhaps I could accomplish some good with a throne." a smirk tugged at one corner of his mouth.
Screw stabbing him, Allian was going to gut him right at the table. Her eyes snapped to him and it was all she could to not yell at him. Instead, she found herself snorting, hiding her anger with another layer of petty words, "You could only dream of being a king. Your title inflates your ego now, I can't imagine how big your head would be if you were king." She looked over at him, wanting to smack the smirk off his face, "I was thinking you could become a florist that way your fragile attitude will be around fragile flowers."
Ezra rolled his eyes. "I could only dream? My dear Allian, I believe you are the one that dreams of having me there, else why would you care so much about me being on your mile long list of potential suitors?" he squashed the urge to just laugh at her; his mood kept flopping from amusement to anger and back again.
She wanted to yell that her father wasn’t going to give her a say in her suitors, and that he was leaning towards Ezra simply because of his position and their former friendship. But she didn’t. Allian just rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, “You’re the one that got yourself on that list in the first place. I think you’re dreaming of getting chosen so you’re not lonely anymore.” She looked over at him, glaring and watching as finally the other generals finished eating. Without wanting to stay a minute longer she stood from her seat and smiled falsely at Ezra before walking out, not caring in the least if it was considered rude.
Ezra rolled his eyes, watching her go. "You're the reason he put me there." was all he said, shaking his head. For a moment, he sat in silence, then got up and headed out the door himself. He headed towards his room, silent and a little pissed off about that conversation.
Allian didn't head towards her room, instead going towards the garden. She didn't want to deal with possibly running into Ezra at all. It wasn't likely that he would come to the gardens, so it seemed safe enough. As long as she watched for him, she figured it was a safe place to relax.
Ezra sat down on his bed, still silently fuming about all of this. He did not want to be king. He just wanted to go back to the front and throw himself into his job, and his inability to do that was Allian's fault.
She sat down on one of the benches in the garden with a huff, smoothing out her dress to give herself something to do. Ezra was a pain in her ass. And there was little she could do to convince her father to take him off of her suitor list. At the very least, she could marry him then send him off to do who knew what. It wasn't a very positive thought, but it was something.
Allian scowled as she imagined actually marrying Ezra. He was a good candidate when it came to his position, but nothing more than that was good. Though he was a good person to argue with when she needed to get her anger out.
He ran a hand down his face, letting out a short, quick huff. The more he had to hang out in the palace, the less he wanted to be there, and the more he wanted to be back at the front instead. It was awful here.
She shuddered as she really thought over the idea of marrying him. Allian would have to kiss him at the wedding, and she would have to look happy to be married to him. That sounded like torture on its own, and adding onto the idea that she would be with him until one of them died? Having the pressure to bear children? She would rather gouge out her own eyes than do that.
With a huff, she stood, breaking herself out of the rampant thoughts. It was bad enough imaging it, there had to be some way to stop it entirely. She didn't have a plan in the slightest, but she could at least try to find someone with one. If anything, maybe she could work with Ezra…they had a mutual interest in getting rid of the other.
He grabbed a book, sitting down and opening it and beginning to read. At least he could do this, if nothing else. He really didn't want to dwell upon the idea of marriage to Allian. That sounded like torture, in all versions of the idea.
Allian started back into the palace, finding herself heading towards Ezra's room before she could really think over her ideas. It was a half thought-through plan to get rid of the one person she couldn't stand, but it was more than she had before. Stopping in front of his closed door, she hesitated before knocking. Quickly, she put her annoyance on her face, showing that she didn't want to speak to him and yet she was going to.
Ezra set the book aside at the knock, getting up and opening the door. His face, which had been set in a calm neutral, immediately morphed to irritation when he saw her standing there. "What do you want, Allian?" he demanded, none of the respect that was usually due a royal in his tone.
"Do you want to get out of here and back to your precious soldiers?" She questioned, glaring up at him and using none of her usual royal commanding tones. "I have…part of a plan. But I need your help." Allian seemed begrudging to ask for his help, and she didn't meet his eyes until a moment later. There was demand in her eyes as she questioned, "Well? Will you help?"
"Yes, I would." he replied, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe and crossing his arms, looking down at her with notes of scorn in his eyes. "I'll help, maybe. It depends on what you're wanting me to do."
Allian crossed her arms, “I can’t talk in the hall, it could get me in trouble.” She met his eyes, not even daring to look into the room behind him, “But I have a few ideas. It all depends on how quickly you want to get back. And how good of terms you wish to be on with my father.” The longer she stood there, the more ideas came to mind, ones she had never considered on the walk over.
He arched his eyebrows. "You're inviting yourself into my room? How bold, Allian." nevertheless, he straightened and stepped back to allow her inside. "Welcome to my quarters." his voice was still faintly sarcastic and mocking, and he clsoed the door once she was inside the room.
“Ezra, you forget I live in the palace, I’ve been in almost every room here.” She replied with a huff, walking in past him as if she owned the place. Allian glanced around for a moment, simply looking around his room to see what he had and if there was a place to sit. “I’ll make this quick. Sound good? I don’t want you here any more than you want to be here so this should be easy to plan.”
He sat down in his chair again, raising his eyebrows again. "You invited yourself into a man's room, Allian, you are only encouraging the rumors. But sure, tell me your plan." he said, leaning back and looking at her with a lazy, slightly tired expression on his face.
She rolled her eyes but didn't snap back, crossing her arms as she stood in his room. "I have a few plans. If you never want to come back to the capitol, we could get you arranged to marry me, then have you cheat and my father would send you back to your soldiers in dissappointment. Or you could simply leave. It wouldn't guarantee your position, but you would be away from here." Allian rattled off her ideas in sucession, leaving Ezra no time to object or make any smart comments. "Finally, you could marry me, and as my first royal order, I would send you back to your lines. You would be able to come back to the capitol when your presence was needed, but you could spend all of your time away."
"Firstly, who would I cheat with you on?" he arched an eyebrow at her. "This may come as a surprise to you, but I do not have a steady stream of lovers pining at my door; I have not had one since Alexei died. Secondly, even if I could find someone, most people would not dare cross the monarchy, there is too much fear of retaliation from your father for that. As for actually marrying you…you do realize that at some point you will need an heir? And if you marry me, the heir will be mine as well? Do you know how heirs are made?" his last sentence was sardonic, one of his eyebrows arched as he studied her.
Allian huffed as his blatantly dismissed her ideas, deciding to take the bait and respond again, “I know of a few young ladies that are head over heels for you, I could probably track down a noble boy too.” She then scowled at him. “As for the bit with getting a heir, I don’t plan on having one for quite a while. By that time I could find a lover, I know my father has had a few so it’s not unheard of. I’ll make sure they resemble you enough to pass as your child. The only thing you’ll have to do is entertain the idea of staying around the capital for a few days so the story is believable and come around again when the child is born.” She raised an eyebrow, watching Ezra carefully for whatever he would bring up to complain about next. “Anything else? With all the flaws you’re bringing up it almost seems like you actually want to marry me.”