emoji_events
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.