But if it had to perish twice,

The smack to his head did nothing to soften his disposition. It might have given Art time to approach him, and growl out his demands, but the Warlord didn’t stay down for long. Rising, he pulled the boards of the cart closer, snapping them beneath a meaty paw, and giving himself enough room to swing the strap over and let it fall to the ground. The cart was a bust, but fuck it anyway. He rose to his full height, towering over the pup, as he sneered past his elongated fangs.

“I did not ask her to come, but she was my General and she would have done so regardless. As would I have if the situation was reversed. As I did, staying here well my Wife went off alone into the wilderness, never to return. How dare you ” he snarled, nevermind that the guilt of it already ate at him. “You already feel fear for the wolf you love, who sits alone in her dungeon. You fear for what may come. Well I have faced it. I held the burnt remains of my wife's head while the skin melted from the bones. So you can either fight me, or put down your fucking pride boy. Get your healer, and move, so I can go and tell Resin that she has lost a daughter in law, and return to my grieving family.” He quivered with rage, it was rising up inside of him again. Alive, with a mind of his own. If the prideful blue wolf didn’t step aside now, The Warlord knew he would be more than happy in the moment to do something he might regret later.

Artorias Sirius Carpathius, stop! Now is not the time!

It was both a slap in the face, and a bath of cold water. He stared in rising horror at the boy that had been named after him. He had snuck ‘Zee’ in Briars name because of his terribly unabiding love for his wife. Resin, dying, beautiful Resin, and loyal to the bone Tamsyn had named their son after him.

What had he done?

"Speech"