Nighttime visits

Zee had spent quite a bit of time at the shores of the cluster of islands Deathbelle called home, staring out into the moon-lit water with what could only be described as a glare. Her stomach was becoming rather swollen at this point, it wouldn't be long before her children would arrive. She yearned to speak with her closest friend about the experience and her worries for the future, but to do that required swimming and the pregnant queen did not have the energy for such an olympic event. Regardless, she'd already made it this far when she could have been at home sleeping beside her husband and so she was determined to see it through. It took her some time to eventually reach the island which housed Deathbelle's den, and when she came out from the water she ended up looking a lot less regal and tidy then she'd wanted. Great.

A few too many minutes were spent trying to fix her drowned coat, though the effort to do so far exceeded the benefits. In the end, Zee stepped up to Deathbelle's den still quite damp and looking much too unkempt. It was worth it, though. Since the Armada's founding she'd spent much too little time with her Empress, and she had a feeling she'd be seeing even less of her when the time came for her to have the pups. "Deathbelle?" She called out politely, though the chill grasping her wet coat put more urgency into her voice then she'd have liked.

Over her time with the Ashen Empire she'd gone to visit Deathbelle a thousand times over and by now the routine was becoming easy. Typically she'd knock, wait to be invited in, begin the conversation with pleasantries and then get down to whatever gossip or frustration or sensitive subject matter that would be needed. Today, however, her patience was already thin. "I'm beginning to think your move to an island was intentionally to keep me out." She joked as she nosed into the den. It was still early enough that she doubted the Empress was sleeping, though late enough that she shouldn't be out and about. A part of her suddenly worried about whether or not she might have a visitor and be interrupting something important, but it was too late to turn back now. "I miss you terribly though, so if you want to keep me away you might want to look at a further island."