He pulled the blade out, stabbing it down again as Io replied to him. He needed something violent to direct his energy to, and it seemed a safer sort of violence then others he had shown in the past. “She didn’t like how I treated slaves, so I made them members.” stab She didn’t like mistreating people, so I offered lost souls a home. I try to appease her every way I can, so who knows how I screwed up this time?”[/b] stab went his blade, feeling the parting of the earth between each movement. He knew he was going to need to clean and oil the blade after this. Maybe that’ll give him a good work out. The bitter truth was, he didn’t want to share Zee with their children. He wanted his WIfe at his side, always. Zee had always managed to make him feel something. Life was more vibrant, more intense when she was there. They could fight like cats and dogs, but they always made up in the end. He just… he missed her. Io tried to comfort him, nuzzling him gently in a way that lifted his head upwards. He pulled away from her touch with a frown, and a soft snarl. “No, no. Zee is perfect. It’s me.” he said, without hesitation, or a flicker of doubt. And she was… at least, when she was there. She was kindle to his fire, and he often gone out of his way to urk her, just to watch her roar. She mentioned a little about his children, and how they still had so much growing to do. On this he could condur, and he was trying desperately to mold them. And then she touched on Deathbelle… he looked back up at Io, and his lip curled back in an expression of distaste. He had never agreed with the practice, and well he had known the family was known for it, he had thought… well, he had thought Deathbelle better than it. Didn’t they know that it was a perversion of nature? “Dammit Io, I worry Asla and Indy are being influenced by it. I won't stand for it in my family, I won't.” he threatened, waving his paw, knife, and feline claws all in one, in the hand vaguely as he spoke. "Speech"

He really was a mental mess. When they were less impaired, she would have to press it upon him to talk to her more often. This sort of thing wasn't good for his mind. An unstable mind made an unstable man, and that wasn't ideal in someone that ruled a group. She wasn't aware that he had released all of his slaves. Of course she wouldn't be complaining about that as she was rather opposed to slavery as she'd made known quite a few times. He'd done it for Zee though. Did the woman not appreciate his gesture? Iolaire firmly believed that Sirius was not the one in the wrong here. He was the one being wronged. Though adamant that it was his fault, Iolaire shook her head in the negative. "I refuse to believe it." She had taken a few more drinks of mead and held the gourd in her paw, gesturing with it as she spoke and sloshing the contents, but not enough to spill a drop. "You went out of your way to release those that you held captive. This is a big thing. And yet where is she?" Her tongue was getting a little loose as her inhibitions floated away on the wind. "Imma talk to her. Where is she?" She forgot about Zee for the moment as Sirius continued to stab the ground with his claws and knife. He mentioned that Aslatiel and Indigo may have the same proclivities and the dark woman winced, teeth flashing as she wrinkled her nose and pulled her lips back. If he had noticed something between the pups, she was sure that he hadn't taken it well. Though he wouldn't listen to reason, she had to try. "You know that such things happen regularly 'tween other species, right? S'not as foreign an' uncommon as you think." She had drained her own gourd by now and was sufficiently tipsy. Her lips felt a little numb and, despite the heavy conversation, she uttered a little giggle. Her speech was getting a little slurred and her vision was a bit glassy, but she didn't pay it any mind. "Maybe..." she trailed off, realizing that her mouth was dry. Forcing herself shakily to her paws, Io stared hard at her brother. "We've come this far and I'm still thirsty. Wan' more?" In her cottage, she had many more gourds of mead. They were simply honey and orange blossom, but they would continue on their state of inebriation. "C'mon if you wan'." A little wiggle in her tail and a few staggering steps and she was on her way down the hill, her little body swaying and threatening to fall over with each step.

Well he would never doubt the virtue of Zee’s intentions, he did think that speaking to her was a marvelous idea. “I dunno” he admitted. Around. Doing queenly things, most likely. They should talk to her, he missed his Zee. He wanted her arms about him, her scent in his nose. He vulted to his feet suddenly. “Zee?” he said, as though she might be right there, before them. She wasn’t of course, and he blinked about him, unsteady and a little dizzy from the quick motion.

He ignored the matter of his children for a moment, his mind was firmly made up on it. He would not have his line sulled in such a way, and he would take measures if he had to! He drew his drunken self up, blinking about him groggily.

When she offered more of the drunk, he forgot that he ever had a doubt about putting a little something in him to loosen his tongue. Maybe some more liquid courage would help him hunt down Zee and have a good heart to heart with her. “More” he agreed, with great eloquence and pose. He stumbled after her, wobbling quickly to catch up, and press her shoulder against his. Perhaps, swaying as they both were, they would balance eachother out and manage something almost straight as they made their way towards the courage. “We ‘s’hould do this more often ‘sis” he slurred. “Your a fun time.” he promised her, knocking his shoulder more heavily against her as he made his point.

Sirius began calling for Zee and Io snorted laughter. "She's not here. She's hiding. We hafta find her." It would be like a spy mission. Together they would comb the land, looking for Zee. Okay, so her imagination was going a bit overboard, but it would be fun. As she made her way down the hill, Sirius caught up to her, bumping into her shoulder. Their mutual swaying helped and didn't help. When he came against her side and she back towards his, the force of his giant body knocked her from her paws. Iolaire ended up on her back, staring down the hill upside down. She crowed in laughter, wrapping her arms around her body and rolling back and forth in a fit of giggles. She hadn't felt any pain in the slightest and the world was still spinning. It was terribly amusing. Right before he had knocked her over, he had confessed that she was fun and said that they should do this more often. "Of course I'm fun! And you're uptight! Loosen up, will ya?" Yes, being a ruler was serious business, but all work and no play made so and so... something something. Eventually she found her way to her paws and together, much more carefully, the pair made their way to the bottom and into the cottage. She showed him where she stored the gourds of mead and then time began to skip. Who knew just how many gourds they polished off? Well... she would know in the morning when she came back and had to clean it all up. By the end, she was calling for Zee just as loudly as Sirius was. Then they set off to find the woman in question.