Tate was in mid-painting when the knock of her door came, her attention not directly falling to it as she was distracted herself. It wasn't until Rian stepped into the room, closing the door softly behind him that her attention turned toward the King. It also didn't help her own turmoil of thoughts to know that no one was yet found. Not that she was eager to find out who did it but rather why? Sure, She was a commoner among these people but would they go to those lengths just because they didn't want her on the throne? It made zero sense. "Well let's hope they are found before another attempt is made." She murmured, turning her full attention to him now as he took it upon himself to sit. She didn't known why that made her nervous. It was just Rian, The damned King of Ardalan- her future husband.

Tate's eyes were on everything but the brother now, nerves jumping under her skin with the need to keep distracting herself. But hadn't she done that enough? Perhaps now was the time Tate stopped hiding behind the scenes and speak up to her future husband. She lip captured between her teeth at the apology, not sure how to proceed. Because Rian deserved to know everything and yet it would cost her everything if she told him. Spencers trust included. The selfish part of her winning. And there he was. 'My angel. My savior' acting as though he hadn't saved her life- as if it was just a simple curtesy. "Rian, I- Thank you for saving me. And before you say you merely brought me to the doctors for them to save; Can I just say not everyone would have. Especially for me." She muttered, the last part more dark than the first. But it was the truth.

Tate also realized then that the kiss between them wasn't brought up, at least not in the way she would have thought. Her head tilting to the side at his further explanation. Pity wasn't an emotion she showed often, but to Rian..She often pitied the King. His title was enough burden for them both, and yet he was dead set on allowing it to bury him the way it buried his father. "Can I just say something that we both know you won't listen to?" She hummed pausing before continuing again, "You can let the crown ruin you, or you can have someone who wants to help at your side. And not just for their own Gain but for the better of the Kingdom." Tate stood from the chair she sat in, crossing the room to stand a few feet from him. She could have loved him, cared for him even if only he stopped to care and love himself. It was a pity, because a man like him deserved the world- even if he didn't believe it.

But Tate also couldn't deny wanting a husband who didn't pretend to want to be around her; to love her and show her the affection she craved. Sighing she shrugged, the action not very lady like but in the presence of Rian she couldn't pretend anymore. To be something or someone she wasn't. And now for an entirely different reason she hated the former King. The same eyes that taught him how to love, never taught him how to be loved back. The same man who tossed his youngest son aside for the sake of the Future King. His eldest son. Tate only wished he had showed them both the love they deserved, a father's love. Not a King's. Is this what Tate was subjecting her future children too, A life without joy and love? Maybe it was best they never had children, but then that would be another problem the council would throw in their faces. The pressure was building up again. Tate sighed, running her hands through the curly blonde strands, "I'm sorry if it make everything worse. That is not my intention." She finally added, if only to give him some part of a truth. Her face burning, because Rian deserved to know the truth as well- but again at what cost?

Tate had already nearly lost her life, if she were to accuse the Former King and found lying or worse; the truth- she wasn't sure he life would last very long. She only wished she could share her troubles with Rian. Although Spencer knew which didn't help or ease the worry coursing through her veins. But the fit of anger she had when she slipped up and told Spencer was something that had never happened before and Tate couldn't afford to let it happen again. But now Tate was starting to see the man Rian wanted to become but didn't because he was scared of Failure. Or letting someone get close enough that they could hurt him or worse. "Since we are speaking..freely- I am sorry if I forced myself upon you. That was never my intention. Between the alcohol and Poison I'm not sure what has gotten into me." She mused- her cheeks flushing with heat. Mostly because of embarrassment and because when she wasn't thinking of her life being Threatened it was filled with thoughts of the brothers. Her own heart at war with her head.

There's a story behind every person. There's a reason why there are they way they are, they aren't just like that because they want to be. Something in their past created them, and sometimes its impossible to fix. Tate could not help Rian, the same he could not help her. It was a sad thought, but one that had her straigtning her posture, her nervous hands fidgiting with the dress she wore- thankful to be out of the itchy infirmary gown. "How are you holding up?" She asked instead, switching the conversation from the topic of them to him.

With Tate’s deliverance of her thanks for his act of saving her life, it felt instinctual for him to wave it off, and assure her that he did what anyone would have done. But that would have been a partial lie. In truth, there could have been many individuals who would have seen her in distress, and looked the other way. Whether it be because they cared little for the lives of royals - future and current -, despised Tate out of jealousy for her position, or even if someone desired to see turmoil grip the kingdom. People are strange in their motives, whereas Rian regarded his as simple. “I suppose I’m not everyone,” he replied in a softer sentiment.

Having his gaze pulled toward the painting in the room, he considered that he had intruded on her own fraction of peace in here. Which understandably he knew how seldom it was to find. When she began to speak again, he diverted his eyes back to Tate with a flicker of a smile. “I’m a wonderful listener, it’s the part that pertains to taking advice for myself I fall short with,” he began, “but I appreciate having someone like you to stand beside. I’ve never been concerned about your intentions though, Tate, you have a big heart. Anyone with eyes can see that, but I would be lying if I said that also didn’t worry me to a considerable degree.” Losing the smile and trading it out for a more neutral expression, Rian allowed a sigh to pass even as she encroached. Of all the things he didn’t want, having Tate’s heart turn cold or bitter from the pressures of the title was something he never wanted to see.

Propping his head on the hand of the arm resting on his knee, Rian gave into the lack of formality in the room, though kept his sterling gaze tethered to Tate as he watched various emotions and thoughts pass in and out of her eyes. She was an interesting person to watch, and studying what every subtle shift in her countenance meant was something Rian didn’t think he would grow tired of. Not disguising his genuine reaction to her apology, the brunet’s brows tightly furrowed with a singular sharp shake of his head. “I know it’s not, you don’t need to apologize for anything,” he said firmly but with a gentle expression, “maybe we can mutually agree to stop apologizing for things we can’t control to each other.”

It was a lesson Rian himself needed to learn, or at the very least with Tate. He didn’t fully grasp why he always compulsively felt the need to apologize for everything down to simply existing, he figured if there was one person he needed to learn to find peace around, it would need to be Tate. Unable to not shift his posture as he sat back up, and with Tate furthermore apologizing for the kiss that had happened, Rian’s hands came together again only to clasp in his lap. “I don’t hold what happened against you, it was something that happened while you were under the influence of, well, one or the other substances in your system,” Rian said, trying to dismiss the act altogether. Rian had liked to think a first kiss with anyone was supposed to mean something, although he didn’t allow himself to dwell on the lack of meaning of what had transpired days ago. It would do him no good.

“How am I holding up?” The brunet parroted. “I’m not the one who was on death’s door a few days ago.” In this moment Rian came to determine that they were both too chronically concerned about everyone else’s well-being to pay any fraction of mind to their own. Whether that was endearing or concerning in terms of it being a shared quality, Rian chose not to deflect for the sake of maintaining the trust in truth that they were establishing. “I’m holding up as well as any poorly sewn-together doll would,” he shared, “I feel like I’m unraveling at a concerningly constant rate, and yet I keep using my frayed pieces to stitch myself back together long enough for me to tend to everyone but myself.” Shaking his head, and disliking the comparison he made, he offered a breathy chuckle.

“That was a terrible analogy,” Rian outed himself before gesturing to Tate, “now it’s your turn to tell me how you’re doing, and you’ll likely convey it far better than I did.” He added with an encouraging albeit thin smile. With Tate, Rian was beginning to learn that he wouldn’t always have to pretend to be the King everyone else would see - he could be himself. Which meant he would be allowed to discover in time more so who he actually was as a person beyond a title. The idea frightened him, believing he would only find things he didn’t want to see in himself, but there was also the exhilaration of the possibility that he might actually come to enjoy being in his own skin.

"No. No you're not." Tate replied softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she moved back to her painting sitting down at the chair and picking up the brush. She had meant what she said earlier when wanting to capture the purity of the tower where Rian had taken her. His own oasis. And here Tate was painting the moment where the sun had gone down; Aero flying high above in the colored sky. She blushed at his compliment, yet was it a compliment if he was worried about her heart? She blinked away her confusion, head tilting as she looked at him briefly- "I have to learn to protect that part of myself- though it's also not something I am willing to just..change about myself. The council will see that I'm very determined when I want something, I only hope that whatever my Reign may bring it does not bring you or your family..disgrace. " She paused taking Rian in for what seemed like the first time. He was only a man trying to do his best, and sometimes to other people even that wasn't enough. Tate vowed to herself she would prove to him, that he was worth every bit of the trouble anyone gave her.

It shocked her to see him so..relaxed in her room. He had never so much as sighed in her presence before; as least that she could recall. It made a small smile lift at the corners of her mouth as she turned her eyes quickly to the painting before her. Painting was something that came easy to Tate, and gave her the comfort she so wished for right now. Especially now when Rian sat her studying her like she was something to be amazed of- and causing emotions that she wasn't sure what they meant. She flicked her attention back to him, her brows raising before she allowed the smile to fully develop "That we can do." She hummed- amused to see him this way. She only hoped it wasn't a fleeting moment because of the incident. "I know it was not my fault but all the same. You did not want me- at least not like that and somewhere in my mind-" She paused trying to find the right words for the kiss that was not intended to happen. "Our first kiss was me out of my mind- what an impression for our marriage." She mused, trying to make light on the subject. Though it did not help the embarrassment she still felt when it came to her delirious actions. Not to mention the kiss with Spencer.

That she could not blame on anyone but herself, and Spencer of course. It wasn't as if she spurred the action, but she also did not stop it. Shaking her head to clear those thoughts she continued the painting only stopping again when Rian asked how she was doing. It was a question the brothers seemed to ask her often, like they needed that peace of mind that Tate was alive and well. It was another thought she let come and pass, a heavy sigh passing her lips as she tried to come up with words to explain how she felt.

"I am alive. That's all I can really say at the moment." She huffed after a while, considering the words and what effect they would have. She looked up at him, shrugging "What else can I do? Until we find out who did this- and why I cannot do much of anything but watch my back at every turn now. Spencer was right when he said I am not careful. Considering the threat that hung over my head and now the attempt to take my life. Have you ever dealt with this before?" She asked, a frown filtering across her features. If so, she had never heard the rumors of anyone trying to kill someone of Royal status, but again Tate was a far cry from that social status; at least for now. Until that wedding bell chimed and that ring was slipped on her finger; and then crowned Queen she would just be another nameless face to the council and the people of Ardarlan. "But, All I can do is try to act as though nothing happened. At least that's what is advised of me." She hummed, a nervous habit of shifting in her seat the only sign of her discomfort.

"But, I have had enough talk of the attempt on my life- I think about it enough." She added dryly, putting down the paint brush. "And Rian everyone comes apart sometimes, it's how you glue yourself back together that matters. You can let life tear you down or you can learn to swim the current life tries to drown you under- Until then..You have me to lean on. Unless of course they actually kill me." She mused trying to lighten the dark and heavy feeling blanketing the room. "I am sorry no one ever said that to you before, but I'm here now. Right?"