There was little to be said about Sirius' feelings of ownership. He was an arrogant being, right to his wicked heart - Had Eris asked him directly, he might have told her that he owned her. It was different, though, than the restrictions the word held. One could own a dagger, or a horse, or a slave - Sirius' sense of ownership went broader than that, much more like a term of responsibility. If anything happened to Eris, or her children, or her mate, he would be responsible for that - As her owner, in a sense. That he felt she and her kin belonged to him was a different thing entirely; More like some twisted manner of deeming them family. Such was how he viewed the world of familial relationships.
Mateship was another thing entirely. There was a clear reason that Sirius had not yet taken a mate, and that was for the sole excuse that he had found nobody yet worthy to give birth to his progeny. The idea of fatherhood in itself was, although exhilarating, also terrifying. The ownership and responsibility he felt for all the members of Salsola was hardly comparable to that which he would feel for his own offspring. Perhaps Eris might have been a candidate, but she did not fit his template for the dam of his children, not really. She held that magic he so detested, and her womb was better put to Larkspur's children, his soldiers.
Mateship had nothing to do with the vulgar and erotic carnal pleasures he took from women, anyway. As King, he could have those without the strings of mateship. It was owed him, really. Rape had never been particularly tasteful to the monarch - There was something to be said of a man's skill in seduction if he reduced himself to raping a woman - But, in the manner of Eris' thinking, it would mean little for him to demand it of some of his more willing subjects. But since the bachelor days in London, where whores had willingly opened their legs for whatever other skills he could provide, Sirius had been more mature and reserved about such things. Self-control was the basis for everything, and it begun by denying all desires, all temptations. He took what he wanted, but only when necessary. Physical gluttony was never good for a ruler.
Eris had remained mounted, just as he had indicated. She had little tracking skill, and might have messed up trails if he had let her get down and wander around. But more than that, it was unsafe for her to be unprotected in this area - She was too valuable to be allowed such freedom here. He could not risk her being hurt by the strangers, for their intentions were unknown to the Thistle King, and thus assumed to be sinister.
At her question her paused a moment to think, dark eyes resting on her in a brooding directness which, by ancient and instinctual law, the dark woman could not return without invitation. By her expression she, too, was anxious about these newcomers - Eris had never been good at hiding such things from him. The scowl over his eyes deepened, and he absently patted his mare's glossy, arched neck. Although ignorant of most political advances, it seemed Eris was perceptive to the problem this potential new pack posed - It would fence them in. If he showed his own anxiety over this now, it would surely cement her own feelings of unease, and so Sirius was careful to replace such an emotion with a look of irritable nonchalance. "So long as they remain banded, we shall keep an eye on them. We are well defended, and they are few," The thistle King shrugged loosely, his dark hair falling about his moody expression, "If they pose a problem to us, then perhaps they will need to be removed." His voice held enough intent to fill the gap in meaning.
Having secured their immediate area, Sirius allowed his gaze to wander again. "If you would like to look around, we may, else we could press on?" Having gathered the information he had come here to accomplish, the Revlis man was compliant, willing to allow his Auxiliary to sate her own curiosity with the land here.
.gsiri-01 {width:500px;margin:0px auto;text-align:justify;line-height:15px;font-family:Georgia, Helvetica, serifs;font-size:12px;letter-spacing:.75px;word-spacing:1px;}
.gsiri-01 .ooc {text-align:left;font-style:italic;font-size:11px;border-bottom:1px dotted;padding-bottom:5px;letter-spacing:.90px;}
.gsiri-01 p {text-indent:40px;padding:0px 0px 5px 0px;}
.gsiri-01 b {font-size:13px;letter-spacing:1px;}
.gsiri-01 .name {text-align:center;font-family: 'Permanent Marker', cursive;font-size:50px;line-height:20px;}
.gsiri-01 .quote {text-align:center;font-size:10px;padding-top:10px;letter-spacing:10px;text-transform:uppercase;}</style>[/html]