what needs to be (MEETING)

Everyone arrived in an orderly fashion. It was a much smaller gathering than last time. First all the elder Abraxas, then Rain, then Tsarvix, had disappeared with nary a word. The family leaving had been hard, but none hurt like the loss of Tsarvix. Pyrrhic had thought...well, honestly, he couldn't pin down the specifics of what he'd thought, he'd just thought more of the man. The first wolf he'd ever recruited who had taken to their ways as though he'd been made for had just, what? Lost faith? The fact that Tsarvix had pledged himself to whatever future Pyrrhic decided to build and then promptly disappeared was what left a bitter taste in his mouth. This was proof, perhaps, of Pyrrhic's ill suited nature.

Pyrrhic looked at those gathered, noting the overwhelmingly youthful faces. Ruefully he considered his father's words; how it had been his job to stoke the Abraxas' future at home versus abroad. Malleus hadn't been wrong. Here, now, the youth who had a chance to grow during his rein were the only ones left standing. The useless, purposeless chaff had been sifted from the grain, leaving behind the seeds to their future. "Thank you all for coming."

His gaze roved over those gathered as he sought to get a feel of the "room". "Since our last meeting I have put a great deal of thought into our future. We've had more than our fair share of difficulty this past year." They'd lost people to fire, to illness and to cowardice. They'd lost their land to natural disaster. "And I have had a chance to further evaluate my role in our rebuilding. I've seen my place with new eyes." Pyrrhic took a deep breath and glanced at his followers with an impassioned expression. When he spoke again his voice was rough. "I wanted to thank you all for putting your faith in me when my faith was shaken. You will never know how much that meant to me. How it made it possible for me to be here now."

There was no beating around the bush. The longer he waited to say it the harder it was going to be to say what needed to be said. "I will be stepping down as Emperor." Pyrrhic gave that a second to settle over them before continuing, "But I'm not going to leave you high and dry. You'll be in my brother's," he gestured to Eligos, "capable paws. I have no doubt he will see us to prosperity and be a worthy successor to my father. Extent to him the respect and mercy you showed me as he is far more worthy than I."

"Eligos." Pyrrhic stood up and stepped aside with a dip of his head. "The pack is yours."