For the next two days, Aseära avoided her husband and it was not a very difficult task. As a matter of fact, he made it extremely easy and was barely around her presence. She dined alone at all meals for those two days, the time she bothered asking, he had either already eating and was not ready to eat yet. She didn't exactly care about dining with him, but his obvious staying out of her way somehow defeated the whole purpose of her avoiding him.
Today, however, she would seek him out whether he wants to meet with her or not. She had to let him know her mind, that she was tired of the union and there was no need to wait for the end of his stupid trial week when they can end it now.
She let her maids dress her to the nines for dinner tonight and timed the time she supped to be the exact time he also came down to meal. An hour after sun down, a maid came to inform her that the master had gone down to the dining hall. It is go time.
"Evening, husband" she greeted the Darklord as she took her seat at the dining table
"I was not expecting to dine with you tonight" came his reply.
"As I thought" her voice was clipped, ignoring his gaze on her as she began to eat, the cook it seems, has outdone themselves again tonight. She would probably be leaving for Birek bidge tomorrow and she is yet to see and thank this cook for all the wonderful meals she has been having.
After what felt like hours of silence but was probably just minutes of prolonged quietness save the clacking of utensils, Aseära sighed and stood up. "I'm done with dinner" she said as she gathered her full dress to leave the dining hall.
On her way out, just a few steps to the door, the Darklord spoke, stopping her in her tracks. "You have been rather different these past days"
"I am surprised you noticed when you were barely here" she replied.
"Hmm" the Darklord hummed and continued eating.
"Darklord," Aseära started and saw the way he paused and his countenance changed at the name she called him, rephrasing she said, "Husband, I am tired, tired of this union that is not working and perfectly not wanted by either of us"
He didn't say anything as he just continued to stare at her as he had now stopped eating.
To avoid another stretched silence, and before she loses her brazen confidence, she rushed into speech, "Let's end this now"
"What did you say?" The Darklord asked rising to his feet, looking more intimidating than usual.
Aseära refused to be shaken in her resolve, she squared her shoulders and stood her ground, with lifted chin. She was ready for a fight, if needs be.
"I said, let us end this union now and be done with it" she repeated, "I see no reason waiting for the end of your trial week when we can barely stand each other"
"We stand each other just fine, though admittedly, you can be quite a nuisance" the Darklord said
"We don't even speak to each other, you have ignored me for the past two days!" she avoided him as well, but that is not the point now.
The Darklord kept his silence.
"I say we end it now, I am tired of it anyway" she said, "whatever deal you had with my father, you should cancel it, because this won't work, I cannot be your wife anymore nor bare an heir for you"
His silence was infuriating at this point.
"Well, are you not going to say anything or should I just get my things and leave, after all they are packed for travel already" she said. A couple of seconds and he did not still reply, she turned to leave.
She had already walked out the door, when he grabbed her back by her arm into the dining hall and shut the door. Aseära tried with much effort and no success to remove her hand from his strong and firm but not hurtful grip.
"Release me!" she told him when she saw she could not release herself.
"Be silent!" his commanding voice boomed, making the dining hall seem smaller, and her feel much smaller than him.
"You have had your chance to speak and now, it is mine" he said, his voice in a calmer tone now. "I am the one in charge in this union, this marriage. I and I alone get to say when and if it would end. Do you understand that, wife?" he asked and only when she nodded did he release her hand.
"You don't get to walk out on me. Never try that again"
"Or what would you do? Send me back to my father?" Aseära asked as she rubbed and soothed her just released wrist, not as though it was actually hurting her, his grip wasn't that tight.
"No. Just try me and you will see" he looked entirely menacing, not like that had the expected effect on his defiant wife.
"And the trial is off, the marriage continues" he told her
Why he wanted to continue this not working marriage was beyond Aseära, if it was an heir he wanted so bad, she is sure there were other power hungry men who had daughters of marriageable ages that he could strike a new deal with.
Anyway, she was done with this, if he didn't want to end it, she would have to plan her escape somehow.
"And don't even think of running away from this, wife. You are stuck here now, probably, until I am tired of you" he said just before walking out the door and leaving her alone in the dining hall once again.
And just like that, Aseära had her next course of action being planned in her brain. She was surely going to escape this castle and the Darklord. Now she just had to figure out how to go about it.