Bucky nods. "I want peace, too," he says. It's honest, because he does, because he would like the war to be over. He'd practically been born into it, and couldn't really conceive of what it might be like once the tribes stop fighting. Part of him is nervous, wondering what will happen to him if he manages to screw this up, but he's confident enough it's only an anxious worry.

The prince of the Fiukav taking lovers unmated would have been an enormous scandal, and shame. He doesn't have any experience with this, and though it's never embarrassed him before, he's a little uncertain now how well this is going to go. Bucky had snarled at any alpha that came to close to him on a normal day, and during his heats he'd not been shy about getting aggressive if he needed to.

Bizarrely, it didn't seem to discourage the alphas. Probably because of his status, even beyond his designation. "Our union will be a good step in that direction," he says. It's definitely not a rehearsed statement, because he sounds awkward and not entirely confident. It would be a lot easier to just go through the motions if Prince Steven were a typical alpha trying to dominate him moments after meeting Bucky, but he's not.

It makes him want to put effort into it, to make it work, instead of a loveless marriage of convenience.