There had been a restlessness inside the Warlord, and a curiosity after he had begun to train so many youngsters in the way of the warrior. The Warlord had begun to consider the possibility of stepping away from the immediate pack of Ashen. Not tot abandon them, never that, but the Ashen Empire needed to expand. He previously had not considered himself a candidate for such an expansion, but with his rise in ranks, and his determination to serve Deathbelle as loyally as he could, as well as his desire to give Zee -who still ranked as a slave - something more, the idea had begun to bloom. He sought out his Empress, whom he found not far from her den in the early hours of the evening, when she would just be beginning to rise for her day. “Deathbelle” he said, stopping before her, and giving her a deep bow fit her station as Empress. “Do you have a moment?” He asked of her. "Speech"

She had to step away from Sirius, she couldn’t try and make him fill the hole Archon had filled for her. The warlord was the reason for the first hole, and a reason the Empress had so easily allowed the Abraxas into her heart. She hadn’t spent enough time with him recently, but she was avoiding the pain it would cause her if she allowed him too close. She sighed heavily at the sound of claws on stone behind her.

A desert hare raced towards her, its eyes crazy as it dashed mouth open in rage towards her. Surprised, the Empress jumped out of the way of the hare’s teeth. She growled deeply and turned on the creature, teeth snapping as she aimed at the neck. With a little aim Deathbelle’s jaws fell around the hare’s neck and with little more effort the made hare was dead. She let it fall to her paws as the sound of Sirius’s voice reached her.

She looked up to see the Warlord, he was keeping busy, and likely hadn’t noticed the lack of her presence with all the time he spent with the children. She felt her lips pull back into a small smile as she saw him, though the hole that lingered inside of her throbbed at the same time. ”Of course, Sirius.” She said quietly as she reclined back onto his haunches.

The ambitious but loyal titan woukd make his way to the Expresses den. He would find her with blood on her fangs from her recent kill, but voice soft as she invited him to talk. He stepped into the den, bowing again in an elegant motion before settling in across from her.

His childhood friend, the first wolf to ever claim his heart and the holder of his absolute loyalty. She looked fierce, lounging in her den like a waiting predator, blood against her lips and across the tips of her unnaturally sharp claws. She looked like a wolf that could hold a nation, despite the deceptive delicatcy of her supple body.

"Deathbelle" he said her name, letting it rolly gently from his tongue. Once he had called her little princess, but she was no longer a few steps from a throne. Instead she held it, and with it the loyalty of her people. She had come so far from the wounded battle princess that had fled the Ashen Empire. He wished he did not love her.

"I have been doing some thinking. The ashen empire is only one pack, two lands beneath its paws. Beneath your paws. There was an idea, not too long ago, that the pack could branch out. I think upon that idea now. Imagine, my Empress, two nations ruled by you, with a leader, a praetor to act out your wishes. The Ashen Empire would become twice as strong, and would be the start of an expansion. Perhaps, only the first expansion." He mused, eyeing the ambitious woman with a soft smile.

Sirius gave a low bow for how tall his form was. Belle offered a forced smile as he settled across from her. She felt the distance keenly, but tried to ignore the sensation as best possible. She had his loyalty but she couldn’t have him. Now that he had been allowed to pursue Zee there were no more cute nicknames, and she always hurt when he got too close.

Sirius smiled after he spoke but Deathbelle’s hopes were not so high. Hannibal had been gone for nearly a season with no attempt at contact. She worried for his survival now. ”Maybe too ambitious a dream.” Belle sighed longingly as she looked down at her cat claws paws, bloodied by the crazed rabbit. ”With so many of my family missing.. it’s impossible.” She whispered softly, wondering if the empire would even be able to sustain its bright flame a year.

He knew her thoughts strayed to Hannibal, that was the one worry with his plan. He did not want the mourning widow to remember yet another loss. He knew in his heart of hearts that the man was gone. Swallowed by the volcano, along with many other lives. The Ashen Empire felt a few holes in his ranks after the titan mountain had spewed its poison. He knew where Deathbelle came from, as she looked to him wearily, and called it impossible. Still, the Warlord did not despair not as the Empress did. He did not see this as the end, but just another hurdle to overcome. He looked to his friend now, and he saw the lines of worry where deeper than the grief she felt. He realised in that moment, something he had not before. With the loss of her husband, Deathbelle had lost also her hope. He crouched before her, soft and gentle despite his giant size. He did not encroach upon her space, he knew better than that. “The Empire has outlived worse then this, it, and you, have survived and come this far. You come from a lineage of strength, and you will weather this storm. Let me prove to you the strength of the Empire. Allow me the freedom to create a pack, a Legion of warriors who follow the Ashen name, the Ashen Empress. Let us be the Black Ash, that can rise above this disaster, and any other. I would recruit none from within your own ranks barring one, I would not lesson from your borders, if you grant me this freedom. Instead, I will swell them, grow them, and give you strength. An army.” "Speech"

She didn’t want to think of the possibility that Hannibal was really gone, that he had been swallowed by the volcano as well, never to be seen again. Deep in her heart she hoped desperately that she was wrong, that he would return to them in the spring and the empire would again rise to greatness. This wasn’t the first time he left her, she needed him to return. Deathbelle suffered too much loss to say goodbye to her brother as well.

Lilac gaze shifted from her paws to Sirius’s terrible but now gentle features moved so he might kneel before her. His voice was low, but offered hope and encouragement as he spoke. Deathbelle did not share the same bright outlook on the future as Sirius did. She had many years left of feeling thehole Archon left, of living beside the one she truly loved without being able to express the deep feeling.

Sirius offered a great deal, with him as the leader of their second pack, he would expand Ashen’s reach and build her an army the likes of which would not have been seen in Boreas before. Belle was pulled by the idea and didn’t wish to doubt her vessel. Despite her losses, she still held onto her desire for such power, she wanted to rise up higher and take the lands for all they were worth. Hannibal’s loss cemented her destiny.

”My permission is granted.” She said simply, wanting desperately for her Daimyo to follow through with such high promises. ”Don’t let me down, Seer.” She commanded him, unable to take another such loss. ”I need you.” She admitted softly, a fact that she had long known to be true but she didn’t say. He was one of her support pillars, as his rank so clearly showed. When he succeeded, he would be even more powerful than he already was and would also elevate Deathbelle with him.

He watched his Empress as he spoke, and at last, her loss would fall sway to her ambition, and he gave her a gentle smile as she offered to him her permission. “I know, as I need you” he told her, the woman who had guided his actions for as long as he could remember. He had fought for her, as he always would. The Empress, who was also his friend, commanded his absolute loyalty and respect. With her permission granted, he settled back more easily on his hunches, and considered her for a moment. “I will start the process of looking for volunteers for my school and army. It will not be a quick assimilation, my ranks will fill slowly in the wake of his disaster. Until then, I would like to reside in your pack, and continue as your Warlord from closer quarters. Once this pack is created, I will remain your warlord still, and fight for you always. I will not consider the pack a separate entity, but an extension of your reach” he promised her. His eyes where curious and hopeful as he looked to the Empress, wondering what advice she might part onto him, or what rules she might wish for in this army that would be hers. "Speech"

He gave a confession similar to her own, and she tried to focus on the pride she held in her vessel instead of the reminder his presence was for her pain. She wanted to be selfish and dwell in her losses, but she was more than that. Deathbelle had to be the Klein Empress and a mother to their grieving pups. There was little time to dwell on the unfairness of it all, or the lack of her control.

Sirius pulled himself up from his position before her, and her lilac gaze shifted from his handsome features. She hated how glaring her newfound loneliness became when around her childhood friend. Putting the distance of leadership between them would help her to feel better, right? Belle tried to shove the thoughts from her mind, she wasn’t being fair. The issue was put to rest, but why did it still hurt so bad?

This was how Hannibal’s disappearance began. He was forming up Ashen’s second pillar.. and now he was gone. Fear struck the empress in the heart and against her will, her features returned to Sirius. Fear that he too would disappear into the wilds and never return to her. Deathbelle lost him once, twice, the third she was sure he would not return. Her wild gaze was only barely returned to her control, ”you have to come back. Don’t leave me.” Archon left her, Hannibal left her, Rosemary was gone, he was all that she had left of herself.

She knew she shouldn’t doubt him, he always returned, but the fear and paranoia held the Empress tightly. The last week Deathbelle surged forward in her recovery, but her familiar haunts returned to her. Her family was missing, her home disturbed, and her husband was dead. Fate was working on taking everything from her. Slowly the ivory splashed Klein lowered herself to the floor of the den. How was she supposed to be strong when she felt so weak?

He didn’t expect her soft, fearful request, and it caused him to pause, his carefully wrought words falling apart. He looked to his childhood friend, the beauty that had entranced him for most of his life. Saw the fear, and the cracks, and realised what she must be thinking. She had lost so much, but at some point he had forgotten that losing him might hurt her also.

He broke their quiet agreement, and came close enough to press his muzzle to the side of her face. “It would take a lot to kill me, more than this world has thrown at me already, I would not go quiet into that good night” he promised her softly. “I will be here always, and first and foremost I am your guard. I have not forgotten that.” he said, his thoughts churning. “I will start a rotating shift once my pack begins, and ensure there is always a wolf, trained by me, guarding you” he promised.

She caused him pause, likely he was just as surprised as she was at the blatant display of fear in her. For a long time she had been fearless. She was never meant to be the heir, or meant to take up the throne. Her life had been disposable and she feared nothing. Now she had much to lose, even after so much had been ripped away. This wasn’t the first time she broke down in front of him, though she wished it would be the last she doubted it would.

He was suddenly close again, close enough to touch her lightly and speak softly in assuring tones. She felt like a child, and hated that she didn’t have her husband next to her. She wanted desperately to bury her features in his chest and get swallowed up in his arms one more time. Sirius couldn’t offer the same comfort.

”I don’t need a guard that isn’t you.” She dismissed the idea, there were none to match Sirius. Not even one he himself trained. What she needed was to arm and armor herself and start training so she might never need a guard again.

Sometimes he wished the world had not grown, that it could have remained simple, and pleasant. When he was nothing but a slave of the Ashen Empire, and Deathbelle a Princess with no weight of the world upon her shoulders. She had been more selfish back then, with a love for life. She had lived for herself, and he had lived to be in her presence. Here, she had responsibilities that weighed her down, aged her. She knew so much loss, the loss of parents, of homeland and husband. He had tried to shield her from all, and in the end he had shielded her from nothing.

“I understand” Sirius said, though he did not fully dismiss the idea either. He liked the idea of having young warriors on a rotation guard of the Empress. It would be a learning curve for those wolves, and a great deal of responsibility to boot. It would also ensure the Empress always had protection. He tried to hide the thoughts running rampant in his eyes, he would give her no further reason to shoot down his idea. He sat back down on his hunches, attention on the Empress, giving her a chance to mull over the idea if his pack

She tried to breathe, she couldn’t allow herself to continually be swallowed by her emotions. The Empress resigned herself to a difficult task, she would miss him for a long time to come. There was too much responsibility on her shoulders to hold up in her den and cry away her days. Their children still needed guidance, and they still had one living parent.

Deathbelle watched as Sirius offered his understanding but he couldn’t hide the eager look in his eye. She might have been clouded in her focus but she knew him too well for that. She wondered silently what kind of trouble he might think to get himself in. ”I want you close. Close enough to continue to patrol Ashen’s border. And I yours.” She mused softly, what was his was hers after all. She wanted him to remain close, for his presence to be known in Ashen. For her own selfish benefit as well.

“If that’s your wish, then I will see it done.” Sirius agreed, already moving through thoughts of pack lands, and strategic advantages. “Would you consider moving Ashen Empire if we find territories that make more strategic sense? I will need to look into it…” The warlord mused, more thinking out loud than anything else. He would need to survey the lands nearby and consider the best way to pen the Ashen Empire in, with this army surrounding her pack. What safer way for an Empire to live, then within the safe circle of its warriors?

He had much to consider, and each idea only branched out into further ideas and plans. He would make his warrior school, and he would defend the Empress, he just had to iron out the kinks first.

Her Vessel did not hesitate to grant her wishes, and as he followed up she was taken a bit by surprise. She never planned to leave Ashen’s lands, but here they were in the desolation of the rocks. Was she so attached to the palace? She made so many memories in the lands chosen. So many beautiful starts. Many tragic ends. Her dark features fell along with her ears as she continued the thought.

”Yes, I’d relocate. There is only one other place I’d call mine.” She told him, bringing her lilac gaze up to meet his stunning sapphire stare. ”Archon spoke of a shrine.” She started shakily as she invoked his name. ”I would claim it for him.” Her words came slower as she tested them. Before their children and the whirlwind marriage he wanted the land to dedicate to god. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the deity, but Archon was sure she had taken hold of godhood herself. A shrine in Archon’s name, dedicated to the goddess Deathbelle.

The thought wasn’t said out loud, but it gave her heart that even in his absence her husband might guide her actions. She smiled softly.

She considered his request, and surprised him with her words, not only would she consider relocating, but she knew exactly where she would wish to go. He got a vague sense of familiarity when she mentioned the shrine, as though he had heard it in passing. He didn’t care much for her reasoning - doing it in Archons name - he cared only for the fact that it mattered to her. Her wishes were, as always, his command.

“Then I will seek out the Shrine and assess the situation, I will do what I must to claim this prize for you, and then we can investigate the lands surrounding and decide together the best place for the Ashen Empire to rest.” he said, he leaned forward as through to kiss her cheek, before catching himself. An oddly awkward gesture for the assertive Warlord as he settled himself self consciously back on his hunches. “Right then, I best get onto that, your wishes are my command, Empress” The obedient vessel of the Empress would say, moving as through the leave unless she had more to discuss with him.

Sirius and Archon were never close, and Belle never really asked her Vessel what he thought of her husband. The Empress never got around to asking, and it wasn’t much of her business, especially with him gone. He was the father to her children, who Seer was more than in love with, so she knew he had to respect him at least that far. If he thought her reasoning was stupid he didn’t let on, only confirmed her request. Sirius would find the shrine, for her. His words were sure, and he laid out an easy plan. The two of them would decide on Ashen’s new home. Where the Empire would truly take its foothold.

Deathbelle smiled brightly at his words, there was a new hope and a new beginning. If the spring returned and the sky appeared again they would relocate. Ashen would start anew. Her hopeful thoughts were disturbed by Seer’s unconscious action. Deathbelle only barely kept herself from reaching out similarly. Her jaw hung open in surprise but she picked it up as he made motion to leave. She was reminded again of the deep love she held for him for so long. It was different from how she felt about Archon, and the hole that was left by him.

She hadn’t thought about how her life would be different had Sirius told her yes all those seasons ago. Where would they be now if he had taken her as his wife? She shook the thoughts from herself internally. What ifs only brought her more pain. ”Watch yourself, Seer.” She said quietly, the only allusion to the hurt she still felt at the loss of him. ”Bring me back good news.” She added as he aimed to make his way from her presence.