Zee's anger had been brewing and brewing ever since Riva's concerned approach at her den. She wanted nothing more then to go now and free the man chained to the bottom of the latrine, and then maybe throw Sirius down there instead and see how he liked it. At the border between Traveller's Lake and Illusions Oasis she paced with her fur bristled in anger and soft snarls peeling from her throat. It was completely and entirely unacceptable and the new queen was furious beyond belief. Her snarls grew louder and her pacing more frenzied as Sirius had still not shown. "I am a queen." She told herself firmly. "I should go free him myself." However serious her intention, the blue-tinted woman could not bring herself to the latrine and the wolf Sirius had housed there. The new empire extension and her title brought pressure to the small wolf's shoulders. This was Sirius' conquest, not hers. The title of queen was gifted to her only for her place beside him and she still couldn't bring herself to risk stepping over the line and interfering with his choices as warlord. For now she'd wait until his path brought him to her, and do her best to speak reason to him and his stupid foolish choices away from where his potential members might see the confrontation. "Speech"

It wasn’t long before he appeared before her, her scent had bene fresh on the air, and he had followed it immediatly to find his Queen at the borders between two territories. The temporary ones that the pack waited in until the Volcano had run its course. He could be more often found in the new home of his Armada, carefully cultivating the land, carving it into what he desired, but he often returned here, to home. Home being wherever Zee might be found, and she didn’t like to go too far from Deathbelle, her closest friend. At first he appeared with a smile, but it dropped away the moment he saw his Wife’s expression. She looked distressed, and furious, and it was easy to get the sense that something wasn’t wrong. The Warlord came to a stop before her, giving her a measure of space, and tilted his head head. “Zee, is something wrong?” he asked softly, deceptively calm. If something had hurt or frightened her, he would rip them asunder. None might mess with his Queen and get away with it. "Speech"

Sirius' heavy pawsteps brought the pacing queen to an immediate stop. Her head lifted to watch his approach, fur bristling further as he crossed the distance between them. She pierced him with her usually soft blue eyes and her upper lip curled to display her teeth. He was acting like nothing was wrong, how stupid could the guy be? "Yes something's wrong." She snapped, tempted to stab him with her horns for the mere question. "I want Balsam out of there, now." Within her chest her heart pounded faster, her anger building as she thought of all the things she wanted to yell at him. Did Iolaire know about this? Was this why Sirius cared for the woman so much, because her heart wasn't as soft as the former-slave Zee? Sirius was lucky he'd given her space rather then coming in for a nuzzle and she wondered if she'd be able to run up and bite him before he was able to dodge it. "How could you?" She seethed. "Speech"

Ahh. That did explain her anger, and it was clearly Sirius’s fault that she was upset. She had been going to talk to Zee about him, and see if she had any solutions for the man’s loyalty, he just hadn’t quite worked up the courage to tell her yet. Sometimes, Zee could get a little unreasonable and hurt when it came to slaves. He well remembered the one he had picked up from the Battlefield. He had found the lost, injured lamb, and offered him a purpose in life. Zee had seen it as a gross misuse of power, and he had almost lost her. “I gave Balsam a choice, a chance to rise from the ranks of slave by merit. He turned down my offer, and so I made good on my word. I’m still working on him, I will create a loyal soldier out of him yet. He is not one destined to stay a slave forever, but he must be prepared to work for it.” Sirius said. Calm, weary, this was a part of him that he could not relate well with Zee on. He didn’t know where her line was, or how not to cross it. "Speech"

Sirius' explanation did nothing to calm her fury and only egged her on further. There was no excuse and Sirius was a mad man if he thought he could breed loyalty through cruel and inhumane torture. Zee took a step towards him, her snarl still upon her lips. "Sirius I swear to god." Her body vibrated with anger and her chest heaved as she tried to hold it in. He'd always been stupid when it came to slaves but this was much too far. "This is not a discussion, I want him out and I want him out now!" Small paw stamped upon the ground and her tail flagged. Every piece of fur on her body stood on end and she had to force herself to not attack him where he stood. "The next time you decide to mistreat a slave you'd better think hard on it, because if you or Deathbelle had done anything like that to me I wouldn't be here! That is not how you gain loyalty, Sirius!" "Speech"

He eyed her as wearily as he would any unpredictable predator. Her rage was absolute, and there was a fire in her veins. Her blue eyes were ice despite it. Gods, but did she look hot. He was not foolish enough to tell her just how sexy he thought her rage to be. He liked to see her standing up for herself, ready to do battle for what she believed in. even if was against him. At least she wasn’t threatening to leave him, that was the small quiet fear that was always in his heart. That one day, she would arise, and realize he was not worthy of her. He squashed the thought, his attention on the beautiful dame before him. He pointed out that she would not have stood such treatment, and his mind flicked to all the times he had shoved her into the dirt and made her eat earth. How was that any different to this? And yet, somehow, inexplicable, she had come to love him. She would have hated the old Ashen Empire with all of her heart, Deathbelle was a saint in comparison. He had outright murdered unruly slaves at the behest of his masters. If she had met him back in those days, would she have hated and feared him instead of loving him? He worried at Zee’s soft heart, if war came to the Ashen Empire, would she do what was necessary to protect what she loved? Would she kill to protect this pack, to watch his back? He looked at her with dark, unfathomable eyes, and decided his love for her was stronger than his beliefs. “Very well, your wish is my command. Come, if you desire” He said softly, and moved off the border of the Oasis. He wasn’t foolish enough to try for any affectionate gestures as he walked past her, giving her a hint of space as he made his way towards Travelers lake. He stopped at the pit, making no motion that the smell caught his attention, as he paired into the depths. He almost shot Zee a cheeky expression, before remembering wrong place, wrong time and instead cleared his throat. “Balsam, I have never met a wolf as tenacious as you. I am impressed that you would hold onto your beliefs, day in and day out, and would fight for them with every breath you take. Your warriors heart is wasted down here, join me, and win honour and trophies at my side.” "Speech"

-insert epic fight scene here-



Balsam leaped away from the dictator quickly, aiming to put as much distance between himself and his ex-captor as quickly as he could. He turned back once he thought he was far enough to make a real run for it if Sirius lunged for him. The little ninja looked positively feral. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and he held his head low to the ground. The muck in the pit had seen to it that his fur stuck up in clumps but amid the yuck it was clear his hackles were raised. Occasionally his hide twitched in agitation.

A switch seemed to flip suddenly and with an angry huff Balsam managed to collect himself. He straightened to his full height - which wasn't much - and lifted his chin high. Somehow he managed to look down his nose at Sirius. Coldly, he said, "Let me get this straight. You throw me in a latrine. Piss on me. Beat me and degrade me whenever and however it suits your fancy and now you want me to work for you? Be loyal to you?"

Seething now he went on, "Honeyed as your words may be, I wouldn't join your ranks if my options were to join or drown in that pit of shit. My "warrior's heart" will not be wasted with you, cruel beast, it will spend its days working in opposition to you and everyone like you for you are a monster and anyone with a conscience would rightly flee your clutches or die trying."

She followed Sirius to the latrine, listened to his 'heartfelt' speech, and watched the proceeding fight without saying much at all. Her fury was palpable, and throughout their match the new queen found herself rooting on the little guy. Eventually he came out victorious, and Zee's lip twitched in the beginnings of a grin. Balsam wasn't done however, and launched into his response on how he felt about being asked for his loyalty after a golden shower and who knew what else. She winced, ashamed at the actions of the wolf she called husband. Generally, Zee would never dare speak for the warlord she'd taken as a mate. She'd felt the kiss of his teeth before and still bore the scars upon her neck. Though she'd never been so angry at the beast in all her life and whatever punishment might come next was worth stepping over him. "Balsam." She interjected before her husband had a chance, throwing a dagger-sharp glare towards him before continuing. "I apologize on behalf of my mate. I can not express how sincerely sorry I am that this happened to you. Please know that if I had been made aware sooner, I would not have allowed this to happen." While Sirius was the primary alpha ruling the Armada, Zee knew she was capable of snatching the reins out of his dirty paws when a situation called for it. He'd deemed her his moral compass, and then failed to consult her when it mattered most. "You have your freedom. Please on your way out, help yourself to some food from our stores. Food, herbs, whatever you can carry I will replenish it. If you'd like, I will have a healer to see to your injuries and ensure you do not catch infection." There was hardly enough she could ever offer the little wolf in exchange for the humiliation he'd suffered, but Zee was determined to do her best. She knew what she had to say next would likely not be taken well, but regardless the wolf had earned his freedom and could leave whenever he wished. "I know there is nothing I can do to change what has happened, but should you change your mind you will have a place here. If you choose to accept it, I promise I will do whatever in my power to make this up to you. If not, know that you have me as an ally. You may call on me whenever you need for anything you may need, and if I can give it I will." As she spoke she cared less and less about Sirius' opinion, her fury towards him eliminating any worry of retribution or disagreement. If he had a problem with her offerings, she might very well chain the direwolf to the latrine and piss on him herself. "Speech"