what hurts the most

“Deahtbelle” He said, still sounding helpless. “This isn’t healthy, being a slave in the Armada? You were Empress.” When Zee died, and he broke, the Warlord wanted to break things, hurt people. He wanted to bring the Armada to war just to see if he could. Make himself a slave? Now that he had found his way to leadership, he couldn’t fathom it. Couldn’t understand how Deathbelle would be okay simply… following.

He swallowed, his throat bobbing with emotion. “Shit” he whispered softly, knowing the absolute, terrible mess he had made of things. Of her life. His destructive tendencies had spilled out, and now he would be facing the consequences. “Oh, shit.” he reached forward, not knowing if he was making things worse as he touched a paw gently to her check. “I’m taking you to the Armada. Not because I want to see you become a slave, but because you don’t see a life outside of it anymore, and no matter what, I don’t want to let you slip away into that final sleep. I’m a selfish bastard at heart, and there's going to be hell for this.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. ”Mine before death.”