Redsand Canyon sepelio

He called her to ease and it only allowed some of the tension to fade from her shoulders, a soft thank you murmured as she did collect the plants and shift them over to the den, a silent motion to invite him inside further. Despite her current feelings, all were welcome in the tablinum, and that would never change.
 
The words were quiet, and she snorted softly at that. “It’s not criticism. It’s outright disagreement.” She stated simply, the medicus’ head turning to face down her leader with her words alone. “I don’t agree that I should be either chaperoned or wed. I’ve lived amongst soldiers – whether or not they had someone to warm their bed at night, inside a marriage or not, did not affect their line of work. Perhaps if you worry about a woman being a distraction, there is another form of discipline to simply instill in your soldiers so it is not a problem.” Perhaps that was simply because the soldiers she had been raised around saw women as little more than objects, not worthy of distraction. “This is a choice I wanted to make for myself, but once again, a man has made it for me and I despise it, Imperator.” She despised it, the situation she had been put into, but she doubled down.
 
At east, for the moment, she was being honest, both with herself and with the leader in front of her. “I’ve chosen to marry him because I am not willing to lose him and I am also not willing to be treated like a child with someone watching over me constantly any time I want to see him. Chaperones impede on the ability to form a connection, to develop an actual relationship that might lead to marriage. There are things I would tell a partner that I would never tell another soul and such things cannot be done with the choices you've imposed unless this is the choice we make.” She admitted again, this time in a softer tone, simply accepting her fate. She would not leave Mereo, not after everything that had been done for her nor the good work she had been able to do in return… but that did not mean she needed to be happy about her situation.