It was the middle of the night, the kids where camping out elsewhere, which they occasionally did. Or perhaps the were finding thinks to kill the Warlord wasnt aure on the particulars, but he had no doubt they were causing mischief. He had slept on and off in the meanwhile, but his thoughts where swimming. It was well before sunrise when he leaned over, and puffed a breath of ear against Zee's horns. "Honey, you awake?" He asked softly in the darkness.

He had somethings he needed to talk over with her. Ahe was his touchstone and he relied on her to point him North. The Alpha of Abaven has surprised him with her forgiveness and her warning. He did not think it a weakness on her part, as he might have before Zee. Instead, he saw it as a sort of strength. A similar strength he had seen in Poem, when he had wished to possess her as a pupil.

Zee's eyes slid shut harder in protest as her husband whispered in her ear, and then one blue eye showed itself in a sleep-deprived glare. She let it linger on the warlord for a moment, sighed heavily and lifted her head. Blinking the sleepiness away the horned queen yawned. "What's bothering you, love?" Her voice was muddled, not quite awake. Sirius was not the type of wolf to wake her for no reason - in fact, with Sirius in the den Zee knew that her sleep would never be disturbed for what wasn't a good reason - so she knew whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about was important.

The tiredness weighed on her, and her head slowly slunk back down to rest upon her paws. Her eyes remained upon him, though when she blinked they lingered close perhaps a bit too long.

Zee opened one grumpy, sleepy eye at him, and the sight was enough to bring out a grin in the Warlord. He nuzzled a little closer to his love, pressing his warmth against her, and feeling hers in turn. She yawned, her horns tipping backwards with the strength of it, and then closed her eyes again.

He wrapped his head over hers, gentle to avoid her horns, and kissed her crown. He wasn’t sure if she was still awake or not, but he spoke regardless. Perhaps he would end up talking to the night air, or perhaps to his love. Either way, he would get out the words to his thoughts. “I met the Abaven Queen today. She mentioned you, in fact. She seemed to respect you. Smart woman.” his voice was very soft, if she was asleep, he would not disturb her again. He smirked at his words regardless, and continued on. “She spoke of Acere, I told you about him, I believe? I took his second against me and I wiped the floor with them both. Well, turns out he used his pack as a bid to Valkere, and now has to use it against his ‘allies’ in a raid. They will be attacking Abaven. She hinted that he might have his eyes on us next” he added in softly, starting with this to here her thoughts.

His warmth only made her sleepier, and a relaxed groan rolled out from parted lips at his embrace. Regardless of how much she wanted to go back to sleep, she knew his thoughts were important and she did her best to remain attentive, even if her eyes were closed while she listened. "Yes, Theory." She replied, voice soft. "She beat me, the brat." Her words were not at all harsh, and she chuckled quietly to herself at the memory.

When he mentioned the raid, Zee's eyes pulled open. She lifted her head out from under his, blinking at him. We're next? Is that what he had said? "Great." The horned queen replied sarcastically, her gaze darting out towards the door as if a winterfell wolf might storm in at any moment. "So what now?" A year ago she might worry and stress over the announcement, though she had faith in her Warlord's capabilities to protect the pack.

The pups were concerning however, and she sighed heavily. "How are we going to keep them safe? I already can't stop them from trying to drown themselves, cliff dive, or murder innocent animals. How do I stop them from running headfirst into an enemy?" Zee groaned again, already picturing their bloodthirsty brood trying desperately to participate. "Why did Theory tell you this?"

He had to chuckle at his Wife’s half-asleep voice, muttering about Theory, and how she had beaten Zee. well he would love to witness a rematch against them. He tickled his nose against her cheek, breathing in the scent of his wife as he pretended to think. “Actually, she may have been talking about someone else. Someone who goes by the name Zeitgeist... he mused quietly, withdrawing just a little so he could see an attack coming, if she decided to land one.

She sounded much more awake, and much more sarcastic at the mention of Acere. Zee hadn’t met the man yet, only Sirius had had anything to do with him. “She sounded like she wanted to have us in her court. She also mentioned inviting us over for a play date, you and the family, with her family.” He explained softly, thoughtfully. “So I think it was a courtesy, to explain what was happening on her side of the world. If it comes our way, we will send the pups away, if they are still pups when it comes.” he would have considered sending them into battles, but even he wasn’t foolhardy enough to send children under six months into battle.

Zee's eyes narrowed as she directed a glare Sirius' way, lips parting in a half-hearted growl. "Don't think I'm too tired to kick your ass." She threatened playfully, shaking her head and trying to forget that somehow her full name had made it's way around the world. Damn Archon. At the mention of a playdate she shrugged her small shoulders and lifted a paw to rub the exhaustion from her face. "Yeah, it sounds like a good idea. The pups could use someone normal to play with, and god knows we could use the allies." A soft sigh. "You know it'll be impossible to keep them from participating. Unless one of us sits back to ensure they behave, they'll outsmart any babysitter and find their way to the battlefield with or without our permission." Zee could not believe children could be so tiring, why did nobody warn her?

He chuckled huskily at Zee’s threat, half hoping she went through with it. But of course she was too tired, and instead the paw she had threatened with him rubbed her tired face. He gently kissed the sleep gathering at the corners of each eye, laughing softly at her mention of their children needing ‘normal’ in their life. Yes, well, their children were certainly a trouble making handful. “We’ll figure something out” he agreed softly, not quite ready yet to rejoin her in sleep. “Zee… do you ever think, that, well, that you’ve changed me? When I made this pack I anticipated only warriors and slaves, and plenty of both. Instead I seem to welcome every lost stray and find myself oddly protective to keep a bay whatever threatened them. I didn’t used to be this wolf. I didn't use to care about alliances, and now I think befriending Abaven might be good for those we’ve promised our protection to.” his voice was soft and thoughtful, not in the least accusing, and plenty loving. "Speech"