Ronnie took a deep breath, doing his dead-level best to obey the orders he'd been given. King Cass had said play nice, and he was trying, but the girl's rudeness was getting on his nerves. People were allowed to have their secrets, and Ariella was clearly nervous. Some privacy wouldn't be awful, but the Mage clearly wasn't going to be allowed that.
He also really hoped the townspeople kept their wrong opinions to themselves. He really didn't want to have to waste time defending King Cass's honor, or Ariella's. Though he appreciated that the girl had at least framed the reason as 'unfortunate rumors.' That meant she was at least willing to give the benefit of the doubt, which was better than a little bit ago. Small steps.
He hoped there was something they could do to help her. A mark was no light burden, and people had been known to crack under such a thing. It looked fairly permanent, so… hopefully she would hold up just fine. She certainly seemed strong enough.
Ariella looked down at the frozen ground, appearing bashful. The woman had a pint, they shouldn't have been whispering about her. But…she didn't know what to do in this situation. She had no knowledge of another mark and she didn't like not knowing. She had an urge to rummage through the palace library until she found what she was looking for. Only she couldn't go through the palace because it was being occupied by Calamity. And none of them were strong enough yet to take her on.
She looked back at Ronnie, worry etched on her face. He had spoken at all since the mark was revealed. She was curious what his thoughts were. But she wouldn't ask here. Not until they were alone, the three of them. She turned her gaze forward, the cold finally settling in again.
She was shivering again. She wasn't sure ifnshe would be able to concentrate enough to summon the flames again. And if she did, she didn't think she would be able to keep them. Still, she held out her palms and tried. But the flames only flickered before going out each time. She was much too cold to be able to concentrate on anything other than how cold she was.
Erin feels the displeasure rolling off of Ronnie and rolls her eyes.
"Stop brooding like a prententious ass and speak your mind. It's getting on my nerves." she sighs. "But if it has to do with 'privacy' and 'secrets,' save it for the next person to end up with my Mark. I'm not going to allow you to mutter and whisper and plan about how to 'deal' with me. And I don't care if you're a near immortal being. And I don't care that I'm speaking to demigods. Now that I have my Mark, there's no killing me permanently either."
Ronnie immediately retracted his hopeful small steps in his head, as the girl resorted to eye-rolling and name-calling. He otherwise flatly ignored her. Nothing she'd said required a response from him, and she'd been very clear that she 'didn't care'. Though he did take some small satisfaction that he was clearly on her nerves as much as she was on his.
He kept his attention on their surroundings, and on King Cass, who seemed to be handling the situation the best. Ariella was going to need some support, and if all the townsfolk were as hostile as their companion, Ronnie would have his hands full. So it was good that King Cassius had a solid head on his shoulders, and was dealing with the stress well.
He was King, after all. Highly capable and used to intense situations. Part of what made him so admirable, as far as Ronnie was concerned.
(😭 I’m trying to et a post up- lol)
