His words were true, yes, but that was why Serafina had worked so hard all those years. She knew what it took to start rumours - in fact, she had a hand in starting many herself, be for others or her own person - and what it took to keep them away. It was easy, once you knew how, to make yourself (if she were to follow his words) 'fireproof'; or, at the very least, fire retardant. And she had worked far too long and far too hard to allow any stupid rumour destroy her. No, Serafina was better than that, smarter than that, and thought too far ahead for anything of that sort to be something that worried her.
"People are as fickle as you let them be," she replied, calmly. The way he had spoken was almost as if he thought his words would scare her, as though he was giving her a revelation that was terrifying or new to her beliefs, and she was amused, to say the least. "Rumours are not clothes in themselves, Corbett," she explained, bringing herself down to his level of analogies. It was a crude one, but she pushed that aside for now. "Clothes are things you wear. Why wouldn't you change it on a daily basis? It's the style that one has to look out for, not the material themselves. Yes, what people say change on a daily basis, as you have pointed out, but they always fit the same style, and that is all that matters." Again, she smiled. "I can assure you, changing style is not easy."
His offer was crude, and she raised an eyebrow. "I've been pleased by men far beyond anything you claim to be capable of," she replied bluntly, although this wasn't particularly true. She was waiting, saving herself for if she got married, not because she found significance in that, but simply because she did not want to become a trophy for any male.
His comment about her kind made her laugh. "Exactly, Corbett. We are more dangerous. Who do they call when one of us goes rogue? Surely not dragon trainers; no, we ourselves deal with it. That means we are trained to not just deal with others, but our own selves. See, Seth, that means all I need is to get word to my friends that I've been threatened by a dragon trainer or harassed in any form, and there goes your chances of every finishing University." Her words were not meant as a warning, and her tone, matter-of-fact; she was not threatening him, merely stating what she knew to be true.
"Everyone has a price," she replied, shaking her head at his comment. "Some are higher than others, and some are more complex than others. I know my worth, and I refuse to allow myself to be bought by anything less."
She ignored the comment about horses. Seth was toying with her, trying to bait her, and she was not in the mood to be baited. Besides, she wasn't going to waste this opportunity when she was so close to getting what she wanted. No, an exchange of banter would be a waste of time in this case.
The question was not one she hadn't thought about previously, and she smiled slyly. "What people don't know will not hurt them," she replied. "If you take me up on my offer, we will parade ourselves as engaged. We will visit venues and test cakes. We will go to tailors of wedding dresses and tuxes, and we will go on the ocassional date. All this, of course, will be the bare minimum; perhaps once a month or so, if you can manage that."
She paused, surreptitiously glanced around to ensure nobody was listening. "As for the question of fidility, I don't expect you to remain mutually exclusive to someone you are not actually going to marry. Discretion here is the key, and I do not mean on your behalf, for I am sure your training is sufficient." Fixing him with a knowing look, she concluded, "Do you understand what I'm saying, Seth?"
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