Reminiscing

The heartbreak in his fathers voice, and the unexpected gesture as the older wolf moved forward was so alien that tears sprung unbidden to Bas’s eyes. He didn’t cry in front of Azure. He didn’t. He hadn’t, not since he was old enough to speak, to understand. To know the type of wolf his father was. He had spent his whole life working to make his father proud. He closed his eyes and rested his own cheek against his fathers. He breathed a soft, shaky breath.

When Azure spoke again, the words were so soft that he would have missed them if they hadn’t been cheek to cheek as they were. He thought he immediately understood what Azure was saying. He didn’t want to see how old his father had become. Wolves only lived to ten years of age. No one was saying it, but it was there for everyone to see. The Warlord had reached his tenth birthday “I know. He’s in his last year. But wouldn’t you regret it more if you didn’t spend that last year with him? I know seeing him… go would be hard. But which would you regret more? I would regret squandering it.” He said, thinking perhaps rather obviously, of losing Azure. Again.


"Speech"