She had waited too long. After she had taken the cure to Eris she had retreated to wait for Vereux to emerge, healed and healthy once again. She had been oh so eager to see him again, but once she had left to go back to her own den and she sat there alone in the darkness she felt something that she very rarely, if ever, felt. Fear. What if this sickness had changed him? What if he didn't really feel the way he said he did? What if everything was different now? She could handle an epidemic that swept the entire continent, but she couldn't handle the thought of Vereux not loving her. She needed that love, that affection. Now that the possibility of it had been put in front of her she craved it, wanted to fight for it. Emotions were not something she easily understood. They were intangible, she couldn't sink her fangs into them. But, here they were and now she was forced to face them head on. As she stepped out into the late winter air, she steeled herself, bracing herself for whatever she was about to face. It felt like she was walking into battle, but it wasn't anything nearly that simple. She padded out into the snowy landscape, searching high and low for her brother. Her paws moved with a swift urgency, wanting to find him so badly. Finally she found his scent and she skidded to a halt, her eyes lifting from the ground and looking around for him desperately. "Vereux?" Speech Thought

The days passing by in his recovery felt like the plague had just started. He was eager and once he got better straight headed. Of course thank the gods that his sister had not been harmed by him. From what he heard of Sendoa things did not go well. But of course he still had the slightly bubbling anger from the words etern had said. Athena would be queen and she would make the best queen glaciem had ever seen. Once their family had been taken down since their mother ran off, but now it was his time to honor the name once more. Also, he felt nothing less than love for Athena. It burned through his skin like hot coals and he had never felt anything like it in his life before. He was fairly new to the emotion, but he knew what he felt and it hadn't changed since he had recovered from that plague. Vereux had been sitting in the snow when he heard his sister's voice. Wearing the same necklace that she had bestowed on him, the boy would stand snow slipping off of him relieved to feel the cold instead of heat this entire time. His head swiveled as he approached her, his single green eye looking her over. She was beautiful, and he was thankful he had this moment to really look at her. "Athena, I am relieved that you are okay." he would say, his little stoic act would drop suddenly. A smile curling at his lips as he relaxed slightly. Shuffling his dark paws against the snow. Speech,

Finally, her eyes would land on him and looking at him now it was hard to remember the bloody, ill state he had been in the last time she had seen him, standing over Etern's body. He looked as healthy as ever and it warmed her heart to see the necklace she had given him around his neck. Seeing that gold chain seemed to ease some of her fears and calm a few of her worries. That chain meant so much more to her than just a decoration. It was a symbol of the power that they both held here. It was a symbol of his pledge to her. If he was still wearing it then it surely meant he was still at least intent on staying dedicated to her, right? A slight smile softened her features as well as she replied, "Same to you, Vereux." She padded closer to him, but kept herself from touching him. At least for now. She wasn't sure she would be able to keep herself together if she did, at least not yet. "Brother... What you said before..." she mentioned hesitantly. She knew he would know exactly what she meant without her having to explain. Athena wanted it to all the true, but was it? Speech Thought

The cold would rub off on him, apparent in his breath as it came out in a cloud every time he took a breath out. His maw was slightly open, breathing steady as she approached him. He was a lust filled boy filled with eager emotions. His eye would close as she spoke, tilting his fluffy head to one side he smirked. My how they had grown, he was already filled out, no longer the scrawny boy he had once been. He had been bred for fighting, and his feelings would remain the same for all that made him, him. "No one will ever have a place in my heart like you Athena." He opened his eye. Leaning forward his forehead would come to caress the top of her forehead. "The moon's shine doesn't ever compare to the glow of your soul. You are beautiful, cunning, a queen. Athena, I love you, dearly, I want you to be mine." his voice would come with curled tones that he had received from his fathers gene's. But of course he was not his father, he was Vereux Armada and she was Athena Armada and he wished for her to be his wife. "From the day I vowed to you, I vow to you again. I want marriage to bind our paths forever." his scarred right leg would come to try and sit between her two front legs. Head dipping and caressing across her cheek. Emotions filling him as he then backed up, he honestly hoped that she was not thinking of any other answer than yes. His breath came through in the air as he watched it, feeling his heart beating faster. This was what it meant to live, to survive. To strike down their enemies, and to have something that was close to them. Fighting was easy though, love was hard. Speech,

Athena would watch him closely, her breath seeming to catch in her throat as he leaned forward to caress her forehead, her eyes sliding closed. Her breath left her in a soft, frosty cloud. Feeling his touch and hearing his voice after what seemed like an eternity made everything feel right. It lifted a weight off of her shoulders. His sweet words made the smile on her muzzle widen. He had certainly gotten the gene of flattery from their father, but she knew that unlike Isardis, who could be manipulative, Vereux meant every word. He moved closer and she would leave her eyes closed, her head tipping to lean into his touch. He left her skin burning like coals but only in the best of ways. Finally she would open her eyes as he backed away from her once more. Even as the cold touched her skin once again, that heat refused to leave and it only continued to spread. Even in the depths of winter she felt warm with Vereux at her side. Athena didn't have to ponder a response to his proposal. She already knew, deep in her heart, what her response would be before she even found him. Looking at him now she didn't see her brother. She didn't see the pup that used to tease and pick on her along with Genesis. She saw her mate, her husband. Her King. She smirked slightly, stepping forward to close the distance between them once more. She pressed her cheek to the side of his neck, nuzzling her face into the thick fur there. "And so it will," she replied with a quiet intensity, her voice rasping softly with the truth of her words. She would lean her head back once again so she could look into his eye, brushing her muzzle against his as she whispered, "I will be yours and you will be mine. You will be my King, Vereux. I love you." Speech Thought