To say that Bellamy was surprised when it was Gilgamesh that answered her call, rather than the Raid Queen, was a surprise. She hadn’t thought that the man was well enough to be on the move, let alone answer a summons. That surprise was written all over her face as she waited for him to speak. She was dumbfounded, expecting to be lashed out against, but instead silence stretched out between them. Her companions shifted at her side, both of them uneasy, but Bellamy would wait. She had no idea how this meeting would be now. She would wait to be addressed, keeping her body language calm, keeping her demeanor respectful. When he spoke, it was with surprise that the Raid King said that he would be the only wolf to appear before her. Would his pack come out of the woodwork, as hers had? Or was Ethne, or what the pack was to become, such a mess due to her foundation that they couldn’t be trusted.
“I didn’t expect you to be up and about, let alone so soon.” Her words weren’t unkind, but they had the genuine surprise that she felt. “You may not believe us, but with what happened, we didn’t want to see you dead. I wasn’t sure what herbs your healer had on paw, so I brought the things you were being treated with here.” Bellamy gave a nod at the bag before a soft sigh left her lips. “There have been some things going on between our packs and I recognize that Ethne’s, or whatever my daughter changes us to, actions have not been positive ones… and, I know words do little, but I’m sorry for that.” Bellamy shifted.
“I don’t expect us just to be forgiven because I gave a verbal apology either… but an apology is deserved all the same.” The woman’s green gaze flicks to his yellow one. “I did not know that Haydee had gone to you to request training. All I knew was that strangers had shown up in the middle of the night and were ready to fight. When I was a child, such raids were to take the lives of rebels against the Empire I grew up in. My mind shifted to that, and I fought as if my life depended on it. I did not see your child for long, my mind warping the battlefield.” Bellamy frowned.
“That doesn’t make what happened right, and nothing will. I meant what I said when I have remorse for what happened to her, and am more than willing to give my eye in retribution. Nothing will change what happened, but if anything can bring her peace by taking something from my own body, whether by her or by you for her, then I owe her that.” Bellamy meant those words. Every single one of them. “...and nothing will change the fact that Ethne came to the Raiders for blood in the last raid. At the time, being angry with Haydee’s maim, I was for violence. Given time to reflect… I’m… disappointed and feel sick at what we’ve done. Ethne was never intended to be violent like that, nor retaliatory. To show that we wouldn’t be walked on, sure, but things had gone too far.” Bellamy shook her head.
“I don’t agree with how Haydee chose to handle your encounter at our borders… but neither can I condone the fact that you had gone after her nor that Saga used such force against you.” Bellamy continued. “I am no longer a leader, having only stepped up to support my daughter and nothing more. She sought training, guidance, but a wolf who has barely lived in a proper pack here barely has the ability to be one.” She had done the best she could, but… “The world I lived in was different than this, and so I don’t understand why you sought out Haydee over what I’ve done for retribution. Perhaps I never will… but I would be truly heartless to just ignore all that has happened.” She was getting long winded, but she hoped to make him understand. She didn’t expect forgiveness, but understanding she could hope for… right?
“I can not offer you the pack, but I can offer myself to begin atoning for what was done. I come unarmed, Gilgamesh, no armor nor weapon to aid me. My companions are merely here to return to the pack on my word to tell Saga what transpired here and to back off.” Bellamy dipped her head. “So if you have a need for blood, of flesh, you only need to take it. I will not fight you… you are owed this.” Her gaze had fallen. She had laid it all out, the best that she could. She had offered up restitution, even if the Raiders would continue to hate her pack and hunt them until the day they disbanded. She didn’t expect this to save them… but the apology was necessary. It was the right thing to do. If taking from her body would provide this pack with any comfort, any at all, then she would sit by and allow it to be done.
"Speech," 'Thought.'
Berserker
