Talk Shop

Artorias' eyes lit up in recognition when Manea told him that her family had stayed in the Wildberry Grove during their travels as a band prior to establishing her pack here. "Thank you. It's beautiful country, for sure, and Briar was very eager to get her paws on the fruit supply for her winemaking projects," he explained with a chuckle. He'd brought a few bottles of the Hallows' newest vintages that used some of those summer fruits from the Austral orchards to share with Manea and Alastor, recalling how they had all begun their previous antics with a few bottles of good wine. Besides, Briar was especially proud of her work with the wine, and Artorias never missed an opportunity to show off his amazing talented wife. Secretly, Artorias wondered if these bottles of wine would lead to the same outcome as the last ones had.

When he asked about Abaven and Elysium's relations, Manea reassured him that they had given her no trouble. Before she even explained herself, Artorias had a suspicion of where Manea's concerns likely stemmed from. Sure enough, the dire fae confirmed his hunch when she told him the story of how she first met Theory. She had been at the pack challenge in the wake of Incendium's termination, the challenge he had missed as word of the northern pack's fate hadn't reached Auster until well after the fact, and how Theory had publicly supported Sparrow against Manea. Art gave a knowing nod and hummed a low rumble deep in his chest. All the while she spoke, Artorias gave Manea the respect of keeping his thoughtful fiery gaze upon her, letting her tell him all that she wanted to and sussing out from her body language what she didn't want to say. He understood the reluctance to speak of the times one had fallen.

The two wolves followed the gradual curve of the lake's stony shores, a warm spring breeze rippling through the tall cattails around them. Somewhere nearby, frogs croaked along the edges of the water. When she finished, Artorias met Manea's guarded gaze with a smoldering dark fire lingering in his amber eyes. "Theory and Sparrow are cousins. Close ones at that." His answer would give Manea the details she was missing in the whole picture. Even if Theory was gone now, she could have some closure on the matter. "I know because she told me—just before the pirates attacked the Hallows. I caught Sparrow poking around my borders one day, and when I mentioned it to Theory, she told me everything. Then she said she'd seek Sparrow out, try to convince her that attacking a sanctuary pack was a poor decision. The pirates struck a couple nights later."

Artorias shared an empathetic look with Manea. Both had suffered pirate problems, it seemed. Perhaps there was more they shared in common than he initially realized. "We repelled the pirates easily, even took one prisoner for a time. I was willing to let bygones be bygones and try to lighten up about the whole situation after we ended negotiations for her wolf, but a couple weeks later, Theory showed up at my borders again, asking about the raid. She seemed... off. On edge. Asking me strange things, like if I'd released all of our prisoners and if I'd treated them well. Turns out that Sparrow had tried to convince her that the Hallows could have been a front for more nefarious things, trying to justify her brash violence against us. I don't know if Theory believed her or not... but I suppose if she didn't, she wouldn't have come to my doorstep." Artorias' nose crinkled up the longer he thought about Sparrow. If he never had to deal with the self-centered sociopath again it'd be too soon. A husky chuckle left the dire brute and he exchanged a smirk with Manea. "So it looks like we both have reasons to hate those loud, crass undesirables."

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"