His Desperation

Atlas walked into the bar area of his palace after shacking up a servant girl. Well, not just any servant girl, but the girl he thought of making his second wife. With his father's permission it would have to be, since he had forbid Atlas from polygamy. His father absolutely praised and favoured Sana as though she were his son instead, which was odd considering the former King's ugly reputation with women. The man loved Sana so much you'd think he wanted her all to himself, but as it turned out, Sana was just the daughter he'd always dreamt of having. So, he passed a rule against his own son that forbade him from marrying anyone else for as long as Sana was his wife, unless he approved of the person. And that put Atlas in an awful place for someone of his thinking, a king tied and held down by a single person. That had only fuelled his resentment against Sana, giving him even more reason to hate and hurt her. For as long as she remained his father's favourite, he could only enjoy the sexuality of his other partners outside of marriage, making him look like scum. There had been others who tried talking Atlas's father out of his seemingly outrageous decision such as his siblings. But no one was able to change his mind. No one knew what grip Sana had on the former King, what made her so special apart from her being Atlas's greatest lover.

Atlas sat down on a stool after having poured himself a cup of rum, one of man's greatest inventions in his books. He heard familiar heavy footsteps rock up behind him before the scraping of the stool beside him. Long blonde-golden hair filled his peripheral vision as his companion dusted dirt off his shoulder.

"Whew, it's windy outside tonight," his companion said.

Atlas said nothing to that, wanting to get straight to the point. He opened his mouth to speak but was beaten to it.

"So, how's lovely Sana? Is she done with your…escapades yet, cousin?"

The conversation always started like that, with tension on his unfaithfulness to his very faithful wife. Even his own cousin, to whom he was far closer than most of his brothers, chose his wife over him. Everyone seemed to love Sana more than him, his family, friends, soon would the kingdom too most probably.

"I want another wife." He ignored the taunting question.

"Not this nonsense again. You know Sana is the only one you can be with. With that being said, you should quit being such a harlot, cousin." The nonchalant reply came with a sip from Atlas's cup.

"I am serious, Orion. I cannot forever be with one woman."

"And why not? Do you have any idea how many men would kill for a diligent wife such as yours? You keep taking advantage of her and mistreating her you might lose her to another."

Atlas snorted at that, disbelief evident in his tone of mockery. She would pay with her life if she ever parted from him, she had given her life to be with him. In other words, if she fell in love with another, she still wouldn't be able to be with said lover as she had committed herself entirely to him, and him alone. And him? Well, he would lose everything and be left for scraps if her ever thought of leaving her. Rather he married a second wife and give his love to her instead of losing everything for a woman he found unworthy of him.

"I need you to try and talk to my father again. Get your father to do it, someone. I am tired of being stuck with the same person. I must wed again," Atlas grumbled in frustration.

Orion looked at him for a good moment, supressing the urge to bash his cousin's empty head in. Just as he was about to reject Atlas yet again, he remembered an idea that had once come to mind, one that would possibly teach Atlas a good lesson on appreciating his wife.

"You want another wife? Very well, I will make it happen. What if I told you there is a way to marry another without hindering your father's rule?" Orion proposed deviously, not that Atlas noticed.

But that perked the Aziri King's ears with great interest as it was the first time Orion agreed to helping him.

"I'm listening," he quickly replied.

"We could replace Sana with your desired wife. You cannot have them both, one must go. Your father's rule is that you may not marry a second wife for you already have one, it doesn't say who. We just have to bend that rule a little bit."

"But what about Sana? She will die. I'd much rather remain married to her if she keeps her life."

That statement nearly made Orion scoff. He would keep his wife around merely to continue shattering her soul. Atlas would regret the day he began hating Sana.

"That applies only if she willingly parts from you. But if she doesn't know about it, she will remain fine. That I can promise, cousin." Orion found those words a bit hard to spit out.

He wasn't lying, he knew how it worked in marriage. As of tradition, wives were expected to offer their literal lives in marriage to their husbands, and if they divorced, the woman would be killed. The agreement prevented Sana from leaving Atlas with her life, so he'd started thinking of another way to help her if it was ever needed.

He then realized once returning from his thoughts that Atlas had been quiet for a while. It was not unusual, as a king he had to be calculating and decisive.

"Give me some time to think on it," he reluctantly responded.

That brought a miniscule smile on Orion's lips, that perhaps he wouldn't have to go through with the plan after all.

"Take your time." And with those words he left Atlas to think alone.