Citadel had come to him to speak on the subject of Authority. Apparently, his mother had practically suggested it. if you ask him, he’d say he did. He’d wanted some points that he didn’t fully understand clarified. Such as how Ignita and Basilisk could be equal authority sometimes, but not at others. He wasn’t sure how much the subject had twisted around and around his head before the boy had come to him.

He’d had a very simple answer for Citadel, one perhaps far less complicated than Ignita’s. I am the greater authority. Your mother is mine, and I love her. Before sending the boy on his way. He went and sought out Ignita, and found her still in the storage den. However many hours after Citadel’s talk with her.

He sheathed his claws, stepping lightly against the stone floor. As silent as a tiger on the forest floor. He moved closer, and closer. Her attention on some paper before her. He held his breath so it wouldn’t stir the air, moving until he was close enough.. He pounced. Leaping towards her, and wrapping his paws around her. He dragged her back towards him, holding her against his chest. “You, my little Ignita hold the second largest authority over the Armada. But mine will always be greater” he whispered in her ear. ”Because you are mine.


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

She was still half thinking about her conversation with her son. What was he getting at? Why was he so concerned about authority and what it meant? She had made Bas promise her that their children would dethrone Wylan and Spider from their plates as Hier. Was he vying for one f their positions already? Did he see himself in his father's shadow? She supposed it was the way of all firstborns... She had seen a particular streak in him even when he barely opened his eyes that made her think. He certainly had a streak that was more Bas than her... Hmm... Oh, yes the furs from last week, looks like there's about...

She let out a shriek of pure surprise as she was suddenly surrounded by the Warlord's great arms and pulled into his chest. Her paper and pen had flung out of her paws in her surprise. Her heart still pounded in her chest from being startled but quickly melted as his voice entered her ear. She huffed with a coy smile at him. Oh yes, he loved to remind her how much she was his.

"So I suppose he came to you too then?" She asked, trying to push his arms out or roll around to face him but she was held fast, as she always was when he wanted to hold her. So she arched her neck back to try and nip his cheek fur to tease him into a nuzzle. She hadn't misstepped in how she taught the boy had she?

"Basilisk" || "Iggy"

He chuckled, kissing the nape of her neck before releasing her. He did spare a glance at the floor in front of her to ensure he hadn’t caused her to drop anything. Seeing everything in order, he turned his attention back to his Little Bird. “He did.” He agreed, remembering the boy's circular thinking. Their son had been aiming for certain replies, hadn’t he?

“Any idea what all that fuss about authority is about?” He shook his head, his expression thoughtful. “I don’t remember questioning my father about the topic. But then, his approval was all I wanted.” What did Citadel want? Did he realise how much his questions revealed his heart?


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

He released her back to the floor where she grabbed her pen and paper and put them back up on the shelf she had placed them earlier.

"I suppose that'll be my genes showing up." She chuckled, "Always the one with that question, though he really seemed less interested in the day-to-day aspects of authority and just wanted to see if there was a higher authority than you. You should have seen him light up when I finally told him that alpha's can sometimes fight if they both want the same thing, and completely ignored how dangerous it could be." She shook her head, the laughter from her eyes shifting into something more concerning.

"What do you think?" She asked, maybe he had a better idea of what Citadel was gathering this information for. Politics wasn't one of her strong suits, other than finding peaceful solutions. She knew how dangerous it was out there... Was he going to cause trouble with the other packs?

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

He chuckled softly at that. Ignita was definitely one of the most curious wolves he had ever met. However, his response to fighting was different than her own. He nodded his head, thoughtfully. “He will have to learn one day to fight for what he wants - I just hope we install in him enough values that what he wants is the safety of this pack.” He mused out loud. Fighting was second nature to him, through to Ignita it was still a bewildering and dangerous thing.

He pressed a paw lightly on her shoulder and grinned down at her, “I know i’m not afraid to fight for what I want…” Which, these days, that fight was for Ignita… sometimes against Ignita.


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

She sighed at his first response. Yes, they all had to fight for what they wanted here. Her included. She hoped that when she had pushed Citadel to find out what compassion meant it would lead him to the idea of protecting others and the pack.

Her attention was drawn up to him as he pressed her shoulder lightly. He mentioned he wasn't afraid to fight for what he wanted. She narrowed her golden sunshine orbs at him, was he implying their tentative disagreement of future litters? Was she afraid to fight for it? They had about a year before that conversation really needed to go anywhere so she was content with letting the subject lay for now. She looked away from him, touching his paw. She wasn't up for opening up that wound yet.

"Something I'm worried about... You promised me before we had them, that our children wouldn't endanger Spider's or Wylan's positions in the pack. Do you think he might be aiming for one?" She brought her quizzical expression back up to that stoic face.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

Basilisk considered her words for, perhaps, longer than she intended him to. A sign that what he had to say would not be easy. “Spider is my child, and I love them immensely. But if they ever pull off another stunt and run away from the pack again, they will forfeit their place as Heir. They need to be seen as confident in the pack and its decisions. Running away to a pack we are not allied with is not a good look.” He had treated Spider's abandonment with nothing but sadness and support, but the underlying message and what it meant to the pack could not be ignored.

He knew that Ignita considered them a friend, and her need for Spider to approve of her seemed to override some of her decisions. A fact he had finally come to see when they had broken the news of their engagement to Spider, and how she had reacted to them leaving. As for Wylan… “I do not believe Wylan has the right drive for the position. We shall see…” He said thoughtfully. So not, he didn’t intend for his own children to displace these wolves, but there was the chance they may lose the rights they had earned.


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

Ignita's expression grew ponderous as he let the silence linger. What was he intending?

She blinked and pulled back at what he had to say about Spider's actions before the blight. She was about to retort and argue in their favor when it occurred to her that Bas was right. But... It had saved them from the Blight... She tried to turn it around in her head. Her breathing grew shallow as she considered that moment when they found her in the den. After they had been made aware of the relationship.

They had seemed so betrayed. "They... were still young..." She retorted weakly, knowing it was a weak argument. Spider's leaving had been a direct response to their knowledge of Ignita coming between Bas and their Mother. To her, it made sense that they would need time. She couldn't help the feeling of heat in her paws and a stone in her stomach over the repercussions of Spider's actions that she felt were soundly her fault. But she knew Bas wouldn't hear a word of it. Surely Spider wouldn't jeopardize their status with another misstep.

"And... Wylan?" She asked, afraid of the answer. His answer was... vague to say the least. Her nose to the ground, her paws felt like lead. What made her think she wouldn't made waves with her presence here? She was no longer a slave to do just Basilisks bidding. She was the Consort, her days of hiding in the background were behind her. Now every move she had made had sent ripples throughout Armada and disrupted what it was before she stepped into it.

She suddenly felt very alone. She had made friends with Wylan and Spider when she got here. Now Wylan had become distant and bitter with her, and Spider...

"I feel like I've ruined their lives..." She whispered suddenly to the one wolf left closest to her.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

Basilisk was watching her closely, looking for her reactions. The shortness of breath, the anxiety in her eyes. “You are not objective when it comes to Spider. I hadn’t realised how close the two of you were.” -Not until recently- but now he knew to look for the signs, he saw them there. For a while, he had thought Ignita’s relation to Spider stemmed only from her position as his mate. But it ran deeper than that. How deep, exactly? He could feel a stirring of something inside of him. Jealousy? No. Her relationship with Spider was nothing like attraction. Impossible.

Basilisk tilted her head, surprised at her comment. The unexpectedness of it slashed across his contemplation. He pulled his mind from thoughts of the Armada and legacy, and instead tightened his arms around her. “Life is about change. People come and go, constantly. The amount of wolves that join the pack and then simply vanish is higher than I would have ever guessed. But everyone leaves an impression, both in their coming and going. Your arrival has not ruined anything. Things would have changed regardless if you had been here.” Was that a comfort to her?


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

She startled at his comment about Spider. Not objective? Well… no… she wasn’t. They had been friends. At least she thought they were.

“We… we had a friendship, before… before Hazel left.” She stammered, “Well… maybe a semblance of one. They helped me feel welcome when I arrived. And spent time with me when I was recovering from my fall…” and they made a few things in the forge together. And they laughed. “I just… you know my history. I didn’t have many friends. And Wylan… I was friends with him too. I think… I helped him make a pendant, and he helped me while you were gone. But he’s pushing me away. He’s suffered a lot.” Her words were distant, but honest.

She sighed as she felt his arms around her. Ugh how could she be so self absorbed. Why did she make everything about her in the end. She buried her face into his chest as she listened to his words.

Coming and going. It was a wonder why. They needed to get back to the topic. Citadel.

“I know.” She replied, nuzzling into his fur for a moment, wrangling her rampant thoughts.

“Citadel.” She said as she tried to bring back the conversation, get herself out of the main topic for once. “He really likes to push buttons doesn’t he? Im worried he won’t care care much about the pack and the people around him with how much trouble he gets into.”

Her stammered explanation only seemed more suspicious, but he patted her gently and didn’t comment. If he ever found anything untoward between his Wife and oldest child, there would be hell to pay. But he had to assume it was nothing more than a passing worry on his own part. Jealousy, at his wife expressing friendship with another.

“Citadel… doesn't know his boundaries. He's stronger, and more fearless than a puppy has any right to be. He’s trying to find that point where he can’t go any further, and he’s not there yet. But the lessons he learns getting there might be the wrong ones.” He agreed, though there was some pride in his words as well. At the strength and determination of Citadel. So long as he didn’t break himself in his own making, and learnt to temper his ambition, he might one day be a force to be reckoned with.


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

Oblivious to the rumination in his head she felt comforted by his presence and patting on her head. She never had experience with friendships before, maybe some fleeting moments with servants in her old desert home. But she never had a chance to form real friendships. Was she expounding on the idea of what she thought friendships were? Possibly, she would admit that.

Her son though… she worried for him. As Bas voiced his own fears she pulled back and looked up at that strong stoic face.

“I’m afraid… he’s going to hurt someone he loves before he learns it.” She said seriously, and she was more worried he wouldn’t care. Was that a valid worry? With some of his questions… and the way he pushed things… she wondered.

He felt Ignita tugging at him, attempting to pull back. He released his grip on her long enough to allow her to do so. Finding the liquid gold of her eyes as they settled on him. She wore her emotions, his little one. There was a great deal to see there. Concern in the angle of her ears, worry and hurt for broken friendships in the creases around her eyes.

“Citadel is still incredibly young. But perhaps we could set him up a small apprenticeship, something to learn some skills and keep him busy. In the infirmary, perhaps, where he can see the consequences of fighting.” He raised his brow at Ignita then, asking her silently if that would calm some of her worries.


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

How could he be so... unflappable and impassive? Her eyes danced between his deep blue eyes. The epitome of strength looked back. Her emotional roller coaster steadied within her as he made a suggestion. She tilted her head at him as she considered the idea. Spending time with Ollie and the healers might do him some good. Learn some bedside manners, learn to stitch others up. Was he already old enough for such things? They grow so fast.

She nodded, "I think that a brilliant idea," She admitted, then grinned with a tease in her eyes, "I thought I was supposed to have all the brilliant ideas." She gently booped his nose with her small paw, enjoying the way he held her and giggled.

The day had grown late outside. She peered down her nose from the entrance to the storage room. Wolves might be coming in for their evening meals and grabbing fresh furs for their beds and crafts. They were about to be interrupted as the evening activities started.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

“I think I can manage one every now and then, the rest are up to you.” He said dead-pan back at her tease. When she booped his nose, he pretended to snap lightly at the paw. He pulled her closer to him again, and breathed in the scent of her. She belonged to him, and that knowledge and the scent of her pulling through his nostrils still caused reactions inside of him.

“I know you worry, but we Fatalis wolves are a different breed altogether. When my father was barely more than a child he had already started a feud with another pack. My grandfather fought in gladiator sports for his survival. He was bred for fighting abilities, and that isn’t going away any time soon. You will just have to rise to this challenge.” He breathed the words softly into her fur.


"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

His dead-pan response did nothing to assuage her admiration for his steadfast demeanor. Her giggles erupted as he pretended to snap at her paw but faded into a soft intimate hum as he drew her close again. The scent of him enveloped her senses. Her eye glanced at the storeroom doorway. How far could they get before someone came in?

She closed her eyes as she listened to his soft explanation of what it meant to be a Fatalis. Bred for fighting, she had to rise to the challenge of raising fighters.

"Should I throw them at wild pigs then?" She mused into his cheek fur and grabbed a lock of his blue tones in her teeth and let the strands run through them. "And what has my bloodline given them? Feelings?" Her tone tempered sweetly into his ear. She knew very well her emotions could get the better of her.

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"