left the nest

His lips twitched into a wry smile, and he could see there would be no convincing her otherwise. She hadnt had the childhood he had, pressed into service at a young age. Trained, beaten, molded. Nor known the death of the original Empire, the defeat and almost death as he and Deathbelle fled it. She hadnt experiance the pain, but she still had the tenacity. It was more pure, brighter, and he wanted to see it grow. He would protect her from such horrors, if he was able to. Part of that protection was teaching her to stand for herself.

"Do I?" He mused, leaning back to eye his apprentice, his Princess. Seeing the young girl that had cried at her fathers death. The student that had learned to gut a deer with practised ease. To take down a cat with no hesitation. The wolf that had lead the Empire against the Armada in war games. They may not have won, but they had fought fiercely. No hesitation I following their Princess into battle. Easy it their love for her, or their love for her mother that allowed it? He wasnt certain, but he could see her taking to the role of a leader with ease. He smiled. "Yes. I see the Empress you will be. I will follow you, as I do your mother." She knew that, but perhaps it would do her good to head him swear fealty. He knelt then, going down on his knees before her, kissing a paw. "You will be my law, future Ashen Empress."