Quiet Reflection

He knew this was important to her, it was for that reason solely that she had not been given a big fat ‘no’ that he didn’t say. ‘Fight me, and if you win I’ll believe you have the strength to come back to me in one piece’ because she was a healer, and he was a warrior, and everything would be stacked against her.

Through he loathed to be parted from Marshal, he loathed to be parted from Io even more. “See that he does so” he said, putting a hint of Warlord-Command into the words. “If he doesn't do so, then Marshal will go with you.” these were his conditions. He was a possessive man, who loved those he cared for fiercely. At least she wasn’t going yet. He would cling tighter to the time he had with her, knowing now that it was more precious, and limited.

Io took another long sip, and Sirius knocked back a large one of his own, his paw tightening over the material, so the liquid squirted in his mouth, almost choking him. Displaying in that motion the emotions he was feeling. The mere idea of being helpless to know or do anything well Io could be in danger did not sit well with him. “Perhaps one of my Heirs would make a good lesson out of going with you” he mused out loud. In a season they would be that much closer to a yearling, and already they were fierce fighters. “But, maybe not” that might be too much of what he loved out there without him for him to be able to bear it.

The alcohol fizzed in his stomach, he pulled Io closer yet, holding her tightly to him for a moment, and kissing her cheek. “Between you, Deathbelle, and Zee, I’m going to lose my mind. I love you all too much.”