what hurts the most

He glanced between the pair as Sirius ordered the woman to stay before following him a short distance away and settling again as the mystery of the whole affair only deepened. With the reminder of the favor he had promised, he settled in for the story that Sirius warned him of with a nod. He listened as the Warlord painted a picture of him and this woman, who he called Deathbelle, as children. Best friends with a longing to be mates at least on her side of things. But that clearly hadn't come to be as he described how they had ended up here in Boreas and how she had founded Ashen. His brows lifted with surprise at that. Was this Venom's mother then? They did look fairly similar in looks so he wasn't all that surprised, but it made him wonder how she had even ended up in this position to begin with. Why wasn't she with Venom in Ashen? Of course he held his tongue as Sirius continued, explaining how this woman had found and lost love, something he could certainly sympathize with, and how he had found love with Zee. Ulric had never met Sirius' mate, but he had heard about her from his talks with Tamsyn and remembered hearing the news of her passing.

However, today was just the day of never ending surprises as Sirius casually mentioned Zee being back. He wanted to stop Sirius immediately to confirm that fact, his eyes going wide at the thought that his mate that had been believed to be dead had returned, but he tried to hold his questions and statements till Sirius was done with his lengthy explanation of the situation. He quickly caught on to the problem he was facing. This long treasured friend turned lover that how had lost her place in his life because of his wife's sudden return from the dead. A frown pulled at his lips as Sirius told him how Deathbelle was threatening suicide because of the whole twisted situation. He at least appreciated how he was trying to find a solution for her and how he wanted to see her safe and content, but the idea of putting himself in the middle of this situation...

He glanced from Sirius to Deathbelle and back again with an uncertain flick of his ears. If it wasn't for the fact that he owed Sirius for allowing him to leave the Armada to pursue his life outside of it he probably would have turned down the request. He felt like their had to be a reason why Deathbelle was no longer a part of Ashen and he didn't want to put himself in the middle of some kind of unknown conflict with Venom and he didn't really want to put himself in the middle of this love triangle Sirius had created for himself. But he thought of Azariah and how he might have felt if she ever reappeared and his will started to fade. He wouldn't give up Eska in favor of returning to Azariah, but he could sympathize for wanting to care for someone that he had once loved.

"Alright," he finally agreed after a long moment of contemplation, giving the Warlord a small nod. "I'll take her back to The Hallows with me. Perhaps Tamsyn can help me keep an eye on her. She stepped down from the leadership role she had recently so it won't pull her away from any duties to watch after her." He paused and added, "I'm happy to hear Zee has returned. It's not often that someone you've lost comes back to you." That was a fact he knew all too well.

Ulric Adravendi