Curtain of Stone

They were back inside. The cup she had poured herself earlier sat cooled and ready, forgotten in the rush of events.

She took a swig of the tea. The new recipe settled easily in her stomach and even relaxed some of the panic in her sinew and mind. It helped her breathe well and deeply.

Who was she? Was she anyone any different than she was a few moments ago? What had fueled the fire within her earlier? Children, the desire for pups, her last modicum of control that she would seek to end them if he had deemed them chattel.

In his response, he stripped her bare of her servanthood and deemed her worthy to be above most of the pack. Any children she has with him would be royalty well and good, with the freedoms afforded of all young royalty in Armada.

There are more choices... There will be a good many more choices to make now. No one may command her except him.

The ball was in her court and all she could do was look at it. She wasn't the daring type, was she? She wasn't the type to order others around... or was she and she just hadn't had the opportunity?

She did feel different. She had a true choice in front of her and no strings attached.

She looked at him, this mountain of a man in her paws. The tea well and swallowed she stepped toward him. No skittering in her stride, her head held up on her shoulders, she felt bold. She felt new. Her tail rose above the sanction it was accustomed to.

She stepped grandly before him, then braced herself against his chest, lifting her head to be closer to his face. She reached up one paw and brushed it over his long saber-like tooth, hoping to send ripples of need within him. Had this been within her all along?

"Basilisk?" The power he held beneath her paws on his chest, his protection, his commands, his tender care, and his passionate need for her. "Basilisk," She said again, more quietly, more intimately, tasting his name on her lips as she had never had before, "I am yours, only you may command me now." She breathed into his ear, the need thrumming within her. "For I love you too." She said, pulling on that saber to bring him to her level and kiss.

"Speech"