Tammy: He believes in telling her he’s angry, then retiring from the field until he either gets a grip on himself or Alanna comes to apologize (if it’s something she said), or talk it out. She did learn to apologize after some years of being with him, though it half-kills her. Of course, Alanna will be fair if it kills her, and while she’s felt a little giddy while apologizing, it hasn’t killed her yet.
She learned very early on that if she valued George, she would watch her temper around him. I can’t think of anything that crushes her more than him saying, “You’ve disappointed me, lass.” He’s definitely of the “I’ll talk to you when I won’t be vicious” school of fights. Sometimes he’s wrong, and he’s quick to realize it and make it up to her. (Who do you think she learned it from?)
Couples have to work this sort of thing out if they’re to survive. Alanna and George have, partly because Alanna’s smart enough to know she wants to keep him and she’s willing to work at it, just as he is willing to work at it.
Sometimes it takes as much as a week of being polite to each other and sleeping in separate rooms, but eventually they sort it out.
Tammy: They don’t have separate rooms normally, but if they’re fighting, somebody is sleeping in a guest bedroom, probably one that doubles for arms storage.
If Alanna really lets fly with the nastiness, of course George will say she’s disappointed him. To me a couple that occasionally has spats and works to mend their fences together is a lot more interesting than couple who float through marriage. (What drugs are they on?)
And if you think him telling Alanna she’s disappointed him is harsh, what about the year that Thayet moved into a separate wing of the palace? (After he talked Kalasin out of going for a career as a page.)
SOURCE: [22358]
Words of Tamora Pierce 