I'm not leading you astray

Amber eyes snapped shut when Briar spoke his name, his face wincing as if he were in physical pain. He hated how his name sounded in her voice and the way it twisted his heart in his chest. The hurt in her voice was as clear as day as she immediately launched into a broken and upset apology. Artorias was silent while Briar emptied the contents of her heart to him, laying bare all the feelings and turmoil she'd put herself in by breaking them apart. All the things she said were the same words he'd heard before when she'd ended their budding relationship before it had a chance to blossom. When she'd pushed him away, both figuratively and literally. When she'd broken his heart. She didn't feel good enough for him, she wanted better for him, he needed someone to match him. It was all the same stuff; nothing had changed.

But Briar wasn't understanding. She still didn't seem to get it. She was still disregarding him and his perspective and emotions. It appeared she hadn't learned anything in their time apart, she just wanted an end to the pain. She was still the same insecure and uncertain wolf that had pushed him away—the only difference now was that she was overcome by pain and not rage. Deep down, Artorias knew if he gave in to his aching soul, it would just be a matter of time before something set Briar off again and they repeated the same song and dance. But he wasn't about to go through that pain fresh. Gods, it still hurt him, but time had allowed some of the pain to dull and simmer into bitterness. He had no desire to rip that wound open again.

Sucking in a deep breath, Artorias held it in his lungs until he felt like they would burst, then released it in a slow exhale. His eyes flickered open, fire peering from beneath black lids while he slowly turned his head towards Briar. He finally allowed himself to look at her. He saw the pain written across her face, the fear reflected in her eyes, begging him to undo the mistake she had made. But it didn't make a difference. He couldn't trust Briar wouldn't do this to him again. She hadn't gotten right with herself, she was just looking for a painkiller. As much as he wanted to forgive her and reverse time to before they fell apart, it wasn't something he could do. He'd given so much of himself to her, opened up his heart and bore his soul to her, only to have her crush him out of some misguided sense of being worthy. That wasn't something he could just forget—and it wasn't something he could readily forgive.

Artorias' eyes dimmed, no longer burning with a cold fire, but neither did they hold the life and passion that once burned for the Fatalis princess in them. He slowly shook his head, taking another deep breath to steady himself so he could say what had to be said without wavering or breaking down like he had after she'd left him on Ashen shores. "I can't, Briar..." His words came out barely above a murmur, afraid if he spoke any softer his voice might break and if he spoke louder that Mortis might hear. This was a private affair between the two wolves. "Whether you meant what you said or not, there was enough truth to your words for you to say them. I can't just ignore what you said or what you did. You wanted me to leave, to push me away and make sure we weren't together... You can't just undo all that." He was trying very, very carefully to not let his emotions hijack him or let the pain and bitterness boil over into anger. He didn't want to hurt Briar intentionally—even though that was exactly what she had wanted to do to him, and had succeeded in doing.

"Artorias Carpathius"