He was too cool, too even keel against her desperate clinging to some semblance of something better within him. Something more than what he was so blatantly placing before her.

She swallowed as he coldly mused about how she wouldn’t even see the day her children would fight for their lives if she would betray him this way.

“No! I… I don’t want to start a war…” she replied softly, the wind died in the sails of her wings. It was finally starting to dawn on her that he really could… do whatever he wanted. He was the Warlord. There would be no way to stop him.

As the vice began to darken around her chest fresh tears began to flow. Her eyes fell to the ground as the rage boiled at what was dawning on her.

“Get out.” She commanded quietly. Turning away from him again. “GET OUT!” She screamed as she fell to the ground scraping her claws into the dirt of the floor. She wanted to kick and scream and bite him! She wanted to lash out and scar him! She wanted to wreck the den with her rage!

She moved to turn from him, and he heard the scrap of her claws on the ground as she repeated, no, yelled the word. He trotted around to the front of her, and he pulled gently at the necklace she wore about her throat. Pulling her towards him. “I love you, my little bird.” He told her gently, kissing her brow. “I hope you will understand one day, that I’m building this world for the both of us.” That said, he turned, and trotted out of the den. Giving her the space she so clearly deserved.

He did not like fighting with his little one. The sooner she understood, the better it would be for all of them. He’d squirrelled away a book he’d bought for her birthday next season, he’d pull that out and leave it on her pillow tonight.

-exit Bas-

"Basilisk" | "Ignita"

Speech // thought

When he had kissed her brow she was so close to swiping his nose as hard as she could muster. Her breathing had grown heavy and ragged as she waited for him to leave the den.

As she heard him pad down the ramp she flew into the furs of the bed and screamed. She screamed and thrashed into the soft furs. She threw a pillow at the wall. She was blind with the inferno roiling within. Her collections on the shelves swiped in one smooth motion to fall on the ground. They scattered across the floor.

She crumpled in her angry tears as she lifted one off the ground and clutched it to her chest. She was being immature, she was being stupid, how could she be so dumb and blind to thrash her own stuff like this? Was it really so awful?

She found the tiger skin coat Wylan had made her, that first frigid winter she was here. That sweet boy. Her breath shuddered against her chest. She found the sketch she did of Spider in a corner and a fresh wave of grief overcame her.

"She is not your friend..." Why couldn't she be? Why couldn't Yara be? Why couldn't any of them be a friend to her? Why couldn't Spider or Wylan be? Ollie, Tethys, Andromeda... Any of them? She was too busy placating and fucking the warlord she guessed. Somehow she was placed on a pedestal above them all and none of them wanted anything to do with her. Had she been so blind and selfish to find herself in this mess?

No, she was Consort of Armada now. She was part of the leadership. She wasn't allowed to have friends. Friends was another name for ally in the political world and they were transactional. There was no such thing as friends for a Consort or a Warlord. There were no friends for a princess either.