Ashley's jaw almost hit the ground before she started hitting Riley.
"What. do. you. mean???" She punctuated each growled word with a slap at his shoulder until he caught her wrist in his hand, chuckling.
"Exactly what I said. I ran into Roland and--"
"YOU WHAT?" She almost yelled, prompting him to cover her mouth with his other hand. They were still semi-hiding in a dim area between buildings, and it would be strange for them to be caught chatting there late at night.
"Oh, he's alive, if you didn't know," Riley whispered, cringing a little, "I guess I could have led with that. I forget you don't get all the latest news as a lowly private. It's a pity you're not aware of all the secret goings-on us bigshot corporals know about." He winked at her, causing her eyes to narrow in irritation.
She yanked her wrist from his grasp and pulled his hand away from her mouth, "Well, Corporal Riley, Sir, I appreciate you condescending to share such confidential news with me, Sir. Would it be insubordinate to request some elaboration, Sir?"
Riley suppressed a smile at her snarky show of respect. "It would, but I will overlook it."
"How magnanimous of you, Sir." She saluted. "Thank you, Sir."
"Think nothing of it," He waved his hand dismissively, "As a superior officer it is incumbent upon me to keep my inferiors apprised of important events."
"Truly, you have risen to a rank worthy of your stature and benevolence, Sir. I'm honored you would even take the time to speak to such a lowly inferior as I." Ashley's face remained utterly deadpan, and Riley nodded thoughtfully until she broke. "Now will you PLEASE tell me what's going on?"
"I already told you, Roland's alive, I ran into him, and he told me the happy news that your fiancé is his father, Duncan, Crown Prince of Rhone. Felicitations on your upcoming royal nuptials."
She shoved against his chest with both hands, but her strength was not enough to make him even sway slightly. He grabbed her hands in his again to stop the assault.
"When did you get so violent? The military is a terrible influence on you. I should have you discharged for poorly-attempted assault." He chided.
"I am NOT getting married!" Ashley whispered angrily at him. "Not now, not ever."
"Never?" Riley was surprised at the outburst.
"Not to him! Not to Roland's father! What kind of lecherous old man..." She shuddered, and Riley couldn't blame her.
"If you've got your eye on Roland himself..." Riley began.
"Oh, goodness no, he's all for Finn, and she for him, once she finds out he's still alive." Ashley was confident after seeing Finn's heartbreak at his death. She flinched as she remembered who she was talking with. "Sorry to be so blunt, Riley, but that's my assessment. You put up a good fight, I assume."
He shrugged with his signature lopsided grin, "It is what it is. He's a good man, and I can't really begrudge him anything after he saved my life."
"I suppose that would be in poor taste. I'm still sorry though." She looked at her hands, which were still in his. He dropped them suddenly in embarrassment. He'd forgotten that he was holding onto them, it felt so natural to do so.
"Sorry," He said, regarding their hands.
"I'm the one who shoved a superior officer," She ducked her head.
"Well, you tried to. I gather that your duties here do not involve any sort of strength training whatsoever." This earned him a sharp look followed by a soft laugh.
He remembered how much he enjoyed making Ashley laugh. She seemed so sad sometimes, with the weight of her family problems and an unwanted engagement on her shoulders. When she laughed, she lit up and seemed to shed those worries. He pressed his luck and poked one of her arms gently with a finger.
"Seriously, though, I'm used to farm women like my mother with some muscle on their bones. You city women, you're all soft. How is that even possible?"
Ashley's face scrunched into an indignant glower, and she looked like she wanted to hit him again. She drew back her arm and he gestured with an open hand to it.
"Feel free to try and hit harder this time, but I'm afraid it won't make any difference, Princess. Excuse me, Future Crown Princess." He grinned at her.
The blow landed as a closed fist in the middle of his chest, followed by the other.
"That was a little better, but not by much. You really want to put your weight into it, even though you don't have any weight to speak of," Riley coached as he bent over slightly to peer into her face, which now looked toward the ground.
She glanced up at him with angry tears in her eyes and he suddenly felt terrible.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean... Don't worry! I wouldn't be teasing you about it except I'm sure that you won't have to marry him! I'm sorry!" Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her into a hug in the dim light.
She didn't resist, and cried softly against his chest for several minutes. Crown Princess of an enemy nation indeed, trapped in a loveless marriage to a creepy old man! She'd been so lonely and isolated since Finn and Mayra left. Even before that, she spent most of her time with no one at all to talk to except her father, who constantly came by to manipulate or yell at her about familial duty.
He was increasingly scary, pushing harder on her to comply with his demand that she resign and marry her intended. The only thing stopping him from being worse was the fact that he would be charged with treason for kidnapping an active recruit. If he found his way around that obstacle, she had no doubt that he would just tie her up and ship her off, with or without her consent.
Somehow she doubted the royal marriage ceremony of Rhone would require her to say "I do." She'd been so powerless for so long, and then she would be worse off than ever.
The mental pressure had weighed on her so heavily that Riley's last comment broke her down. She sobbed against him, feeling oddly safe there. It had been a long time since someone hugged her. At last her tears dried and she pulled away.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any excuse for that. I've been so isolated and lonely and... as I said, there's no excuse. Thank you for putting up with it." She couldn't quite look at him, she was so chagrined at her display of emotion. Soldiers probably weren't supposed to act like that, weeping all over someone of higher rank.
He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to get her eye contact. "I am the one to apologize. My teasing was out of line. I enjoy making you laugh and I pushed it too far. Forgive me, please." She put on a weak smile and nodded, and he was satisfied.
"You won't have to go through with the marriage, I promise." He paused a second to enjoy what the hope in her eyes did to his heartbeat.
"Really?" She wasn't sure how he could make sure of such a thing, but he looked confident.
"Of course I wouldn't let that happen! You're too pretty and too young to be Roland's stepmother. He really needs an old, bitter woman who can thrash him soundly when he misbehaves. You'd hardly do for that job. He'd get away with everything."
The comment earned him a giggle, and he beamed.
"You think I'm pretty." She accused, not having missed that compliment hidden within the joke.
"I'm not blind," He rolled his eyes. Objectively, she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, despite the fact that he'd only ever seen her in her ill-fitting military uniform. "Go get some sleep now. I think a lot of things are going to start happening quickly, but I'll check in on you as I'm able. You're not alone."
"Thank you, Riley. You're the very best superior officer I know." She smiled at him.
"The very best? Maybe the Supreme Officer?" He raised his chin with pride, trying out the term.
"That's far outside my authority to decide, but all right. Goodnight, Supreme Officer Corporal Riley." She saluted and walked towards the lonely women's barracks, and he watched her go for a few moments. As she turned the corner, she looked back and waved at him, and his face flushed at being caught staring.
After all, she was in uniform, like any other soldier. He just wanted to make sure she got back safely to her barracks. Although Klain had a low crime rate, you never could be completely sure about these things. It was always better to be safe than sorry.