Deathbelle’s Warlord found himself across the water, and on the Ashen Island. Death’s palace lay here, with all the comforts her pack, and himself, could build for her. It was almost getting into the embrace of night, and he knew his nocturnal little phoenix would be making her round soon.

He ducked through the entrance, chuffing softly at the door to her sleeping quarters. He stood there politely, respectfully, waiting to see if she was awake. If she would hear him and grant her entrance. He might be a pig-headed Warlord these days, but some things never changed.

He saw some touches of similarity in this palace that had been in the home they had grown. He could almost close his eyes, and remember the courtyards and trees of their youth. Of training sessions and play. Of secrets told, and their question for the future laid out before them. Who knew it would have led them here? To this place, and this time. Not Sirius, no. None of this was as he had imagined.

Magnus was making it out of the den again, he was out of the woods and very nearly fully healed. Deathbelle felt like she could breathe a little bit easier now. She stretched her languid form as the evening began to set on. The den was nice and tidy thanks to Seven, who was still in need of a better name, and she was in a decent mood. Happiness was a state of mind you chose, and it had been hard to accept that for a long time. There was much in her life that she might change were she given the option, but for now she could admit she was content. Changes would happen soon, but for now it was like a calm before the storm.

A familiar voice that hadn’t greeted her upon waking in a very long time sounded outside her quarters and for a moment she was so very tempted to invite him inside. Doing so was only inviting trouble so the Empress pushed herself to her paws and shook out her ivory splashed coat. ”Coming,” she said softly as she fixed her appearance and slipped gracefully from the skin door to greet her warlord.

”Hello, Sirius.” She said warmly, offering a respectful kiss on his cheek before sweeping towards the hearth to heat water for tea. ”Can I offer you a drink?” She asked before gesturing for him to sit on one of the piles of furs surrounding the fire.

He smiled at his Empress, as the smaller wolf kissed his cheek, and brushed past him to heat tea. “That would be lovely, thank you” he responded, settling onto one of the pillows across from her. The entire scene was so homely, that it struck an almost ache in him. Perhaps it was empty nest syndrome. His little ones were not little anymore, and we're out of the den more often than in it.

“How have the days been treating you?” he asked, falling into soft pleasantries. Some of the old comfort that had always been between them was still there. “Venom has grown into a fine young Princess, and she’s been teaching Azure some of the ropes of leadership” he continued on, bringing the conversation around to their heirs.

Deathbelle made her way to the cubbies on the wall as the water heated and she chose what she wanted to start her day. Just a little bit of black tea leaves mixed with mint once she poured them a bit of powdered stevia leaf, a practice she picked up from Iolaire.

She could feel him reminiscing and as he followed up with a small question she could believe it more readily. How many times a day did she ask herself what if? How different would her life be if she had only changed but a few crucial moments? Would happiness be easier to embrace?

”Long, I was worried we were going to lose Magnus.” She told him softly while removing the water from the heat and revealing a couple of her favorite bowls. PLacing the leaves in the pot her tiny lemur helped to pour the steeped liquid for each of them. A bit of the sweetener in powered form at the bottom of each. She slid one cup towards him as she lay luxuriously on her almost throne.

”Yes, she’s growing in leaps and bounds.” She wondered if she had instilled enough of her values in the girl, they were so different. ”Future Empress and future Warlord spending time together. Reminds me of a different time.” She stole a quick longing glance from him before leaning down to lap gently at her tea.

Magnus. His, but… maybe not so his anymore. As possessive as he was, he would not keep the warrior from Deathbelle if she decided she wanted him among her ranks. Among her ranks and perhaps… even more? He had no right to jealousy. Not one single, tiny right. “I hear he’s doing well now” he commented blandly.

He took the offered cup, leaning against his own pillows, and looking across at the gently white-splattered wolf. At Death’s words, a bit of tea would find its way down the wrong pipe. He coughed softly, clearing it, and glanced back up at her. “So like us, and yet so different. Azure has a great many ambitions I never had at his age.” ambition had been beaten from him. Not from Deathbelle, who would have sheltered him if she could. She had always been his greatest support, in a world where he had meant nothing. Now. Now he would defend her until the world's end.

”It’s a relief, too.” She commented almost off handedly, by now she was fully aware of her affections for the black and white man, the question was if she wanted to open herself up once more. She already had the answer though, almost losing him had proved that. Sirius wouldn’t want to speak much on that, and she couldn’t blame him. They both still felt the everlasting pull. The never ending question of what if.

Pale brows lifted as Sirius coughed when she spoke. They were growing up, that was for sure. She hoped they might not make the same mistakes that she had. ”Well, if you had such an accomplished Warlord as a father your ambitions would have developed much sooner.” She sighed softly. ”I’m sorry,” her eyes were at her paws. ”I’m sorry you were kept back for so long.” What could he have accomplished by now had he not been under the heel of her boot?

Maybe his father would have been a Warlord, maybe he had been. He didn’t remember anything about the man. He just knew that he had been an accomplished warrior in the Ashen Empire’s army. Instead, he had died before Sirius had been born.

At her soft words, he reached over, and placed a paw against her own. The one her eyes had drifted to. “Hey. It was not your fault, never your fault. You did what you could to protect me from your family. You wanted me to rise from slave even sooner than I did. There's a reason you have my undying respect, Deathbelle.” He said softly, looking across, and up, and his childhood best friend. His best friend. His Deathbelle.

He took a drink from the tea before him with a sigh. No, he didn’t blame Deathbelle. In truth, he didn’t blame the Klein’s either. It was what it was, and he was now what he had made himself. Perhaps that was why he held contempt for slaves that did not learn and better themselves. Only had what you made yourself to be.

They couldn’t ever know what might have been. What might have been if Sirius hadn’t been raised a slave, or if they’d never been separated. If she had not met Archon and he’d not fallen for Zeitgeist. Deathbelle tried not to dwell on their past as he assured her, with his own massive paw over her dainty digits, that she had his undying respect. Despite everything the Empress could still look into his eyes and call him her friend. The one she trusted the most in the world, as it had been since childhood.

She smiled lightly into her tea and pulled her paw back to her chest as Sirius’s attention was turned towards his tea. ”I love you, Sirius.” she told him softly, her royal purple stare still remaining on her paws. It was a statement she knew that he was well aware of, but saying it every now and then didn’t hurt quite so bad anymore.

His breath hissed out softly, and he put down his tea quickly before he could drop it. The large Warlord looked at his dainty Empress and swallowed softly. Expression helpless and uneasy as he looked from the floor, to her. Too much respect in him to say these words to the earth, and not her gentle expression. “I love you too, Deathbelle. I always have, and I always will. But I would lose respect in myself if I ever acted on it. I chose Zee, and well you are always welcome in my world, I fear these words continue to hurt you. I fear that I continue to hurt you.” He hadn’t expected her to utter those four painful words today. That it always seemed to circle back to this. He would be lying if he did not admit the urge to draw her into his arms, to kiss her with the passion of a supernova. To make her his with scent, name, and action. But he could not. He held himself still, scarcely daring to breathe. Hoping she would not see the need in him, burning his eyes and the base of his stomach. She played with fire, uttering those four dangerous words. Hurting him, hurting herself. He hated himself for ever hurting her, so how was it he always seemed to do so? "Belle" "Seer"

”It’s okay.” She whispered back, feeling that familiar pang in her heart. If it wasn’t there she wouldn’t know what to do. Loving him came with the added territory of being unable to love him at the same time. Deathbelle knew he was loyal to his core, and she loved Zee too much to try and tempt him. ”I just needed to remind you.” She offered him a half grin, doing as he did and scarcely moving though she tried to find his gaze. It seemed like they had been made for one another, and being apart like this was wrong. Being together wouldn’t be right though. ”I still love you, pesky morals and all.” She told him with a playful wink as she pushed hard against the turmoil deep in her chest. By now their dynamic seemed to play out a million times, at least now she didn’t hope for a different outcome.

Her soft gentle whisper, telling him it was okay, that she was putting his hurt before hers, just about broke him. The days the Warlord had weeped were few and far between. Waking up alone, injured, and not knowing if she had survived was one of those times. This would be another. He closed his eyes, to keep the moisture at bay. This was his childhood friend. A wolf he had sworn to protect, who had stood by him in thick and thin. Who had come here to start anew, and had wanted to do so with him.

He had shattered her dream, when he had fallen in love with another. That wolf still held his heart, held it tightly in soft golden paws. The knowledge that in the path he had taken, he had left Deathbelle out in the cold. Hells, how it hurt.

She was holding herself still, through she winked at him, and tried to play it off as easy. He let out another soft breath. He could not recall when he had started to hold it. The scent of her was strong in the den, tantalising him. “A part of me wishes you hated me. I feel I would not hurt you so easily, then.” he whispered back. Pulling himself upright, ignoring taunt, stiff muscles, as he leaned forward and kissed her paw. A gesture as old to them as time.

She knew that he felt similarly to her, how much it hurt to deny their natural order. Not being able to be close anymore because what if they went too far and couldn’t say no any longer? Or just saving herself from the hurt of rejection for the tenth time. Despite refusing each other she still felt that terrible pull of attraction but more than that she was still in love with him. It was a feeling she learned to deal with, and one that would never go away. There was too much history and emotions between them for it to dissipate as they maybe wished it.

These days she found it easier to let everything roll off her shoulders with an unassuming smile, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel the familiar pain. Her mismatched ears fell to her skull as he told her that he sometimes wished that she hated him. She closed her eyes and shook her head as he offered a kiss to her delicate paws. The familiar gesture causing her chest to swell further and her heart to beat more painfully. What would life be like if she had Sirius beside her instead of the list of wolves who let her down.

”Maybe we’d both feel a little better, but there are many other what if’s I’d take before that.” She spoke softly still, half lidded gaze searching his features. ”I may not be able to change things between us, but I’m thankful every day I have you to rely on.”

She would not give him up, not even to save her heart. Relief. His heart didn't align with his words. As much as he might wish to spare her pain, he knew his world would be darker without her in it.

"And I you, beloved old friend" he whispered back, looking into her half closed eyes, and aching with the desire to draw her close. Heat infused his vains, and his soft breaths were warmed by it. Her scent was everywhere, it clung to him from the den, from their proximity. From the pelt beneath his paws. The scent of his desire lingered there too, his body saying what he would not allow his words to utter. That in that moment, he wanted nothing more then draw her into his arms, to mate with the woman that had always been in his heart. First the distance had been social, now it was by choice. Somehow that made it harder, hurt more. He closed his eyes, sinking to his hunches. Letting that create a pocket of space between them before he lost himself. He did not expect this direction when he had come to seek her out.

Hr had not expected her to profess her love, or how his body and heart might react to the words. The knowledge that only a few different paths might have meant that this moment could have been different. A different choice, and they would have been free to make love, to be in love, to be more then thr friendship thry had always allowed themselves. He was losing himself. He had to remember why, what he had build for himself. What he had to lose.

Deathbelle had long felt the shift in their meeting and she realized she was thankful for her foresight to sit with him in the common room instead of inviting him into her bedchamber. Though she wouldn’t deny how much she wished she could lead him inside and forget the world with him. The knowledge that were she only to suggest, to press him very lightly, they would both give in to primal desire. The temptation was severe, but she felt just as terrible for entertaining the idea as she did for not acting upon it. The passionate fire she held for him burned brightly as he stood there with their gazes entwined like their bodies could never be.

The moment broke as the decision was made yet again to abstain, though she felt disappointment there was also relief as his haunches hit the ground. She knew it would have been a great betrayal of Zee, however much she wanted him. Deathbelle wanted badly to throw caution to the wind and finally listen to her heart and body. She could never be with Sirius though, that fact had long been branded in her brain. It wasn’t her brain that wanted to make the decisions though.

”We should get out of here.” She spoke softly, unable to send him away despite the tension inside. She wanted to be close to him, but she had to be in a situation where she wouldn’t be tempted so heavily. ”Patrol with me?” They could enjoy each other’s presence and ignore the heavy feelings between them.

Sirius looked across at the burning eyes of Deathbelle, and managed a soft, wry smile. Somehow finding amusement in their predicament. Of his desire to take her, but the prohibitions that meant he could not. His attraction and love to Deathbelle had not waned, but today, today he felt especially weakened by it.

Her suggestion was a good one, and he picked up his empty tea cup and placed it to the side. “I would be delighted to.” he promised, making for the den’s entrance. He was not fleeing, he was strategically exiting.

He padded down to the beach, the shore that lay not far from her palace, and kept walking. First his toes submerged, then his ankles, his knees, his stomach. He ducked his head beneath the ocean, feeling it cooling the heat that had not left him since Deathbelle had uttered those four dangerous words. When he came out again, shaking his head and coat, and padding back to the sandy short, he looked to Deathbelle. As though he had not done something strange at all. “Shall we, my Empress?” he asked, nodding forward and indicating the patrol.

Sirius quickly picked up after himself and led the way out of the palace. she was overwhelmed with the musk of him and tried to hold her breath as he continued forward down to the beach. Deathbelle loped after him, her graceful stride miniscule in comparison to his long gait. Her heart was still all aflutter, even as he raced into the water to cool the fire that burned between them. Oh how she wished that she could embrace it, to shout to the heavens what she’d always felt. But she couldn’t.

The empress stood stoically, watching him with her lavender gaze as the ocean drenched his coat. His massive form returned to her, a smile on his features as though nothing had happened, like he hadn’t tried to wash away the heat physically. Her wistful expression changed only slightly as he invited her on the patrol but this time it was Deathbelle that could not keep her strength.

Her mouth suddenly went dry as he halted beside her, his toned muscles showing better through his wet fur. The love in his gaze, the beating of her heart. ”I changed my mind.” For a moment she hesitated, and then she threw caution to the wind. Deathbelle aimed to press her lips to his, a passionate reminder of what could not be. Though the moment would be so sweet she couldn’t linger for fear of being unable to let go.

Hopefully before he could do anything Deathbelle would disengage, her features showing the adoration she had for him before finding her feet and running. Running away from him as fast as she could because if she remained she would make mistakes that couldn’t be taken back.

-exit unless stopped?-

His eyes flashed to hers quick, worried. Had his lack of control offended her too greatly? Instead, what he found in her eyes was the burning fire he had tried to quench with an entire ocean. He caught his breath, unable to move as she pressed closer to him. Her lips touching his. The taste of the Empress in his mouth. He groaned a soft, tortured noise, deep in his throat. He was only a man, how could he fight this?

And then she was gone. A feral, animalistic part of him tried to stop her. One of his canines caught against her lip, and he tasted her blood in his mouth. Then she was gone, and the sudden absence of her warmth against him left him cold. Chilled. He trembled, sliding to his stomach on the cool morning sand, and looked after the fleeing form of the Empress. The taste of her blood and the scent of her coat lingering on his senses.

She'd been on her way to take Deathbelle a particularly good bottle of hibiscus mead when the woman in question went running past her at top speed. Iolaire's green-gold eyes went wide and she looked after her friend for a moment before turning back to look in the direction where she'd come from. Sirius stood there, a shocked expression on his face. Iolaire moved towards him, "What did you do?" She looked over her shoulder once more. Deathbelle was already gone, but the trail of her flight was still very evident in the sand. Casting a glance at Sirius, she waited with open ears for him to tell her the story. She knew that he would. "Speech"

The taste of her blood in his mouth lingered, and at the sound of soft steps, he thought, for a brief moment. She had returned to him. He lifted himself back to his feet, eyes flicking upwards, maw open to say… well… he didn’t know what, exactly. But the dark frame before him would be that of his sister.

He flushed, knowing she would smell the heat and desire in him. See the pain in his eyes. “She kissed me.” he whispered softly, settling back onto his paws in the sand. Deathbelle had returned. That was a good thing, the logical part of his mind knew. His emotions disagreed with him.

He forced himself to remember his choice, his loyalty. Who he was, and who he could never be. He was not a wolf that would cheat on his Wife. nor go back on such a monumental decision.

He gave her an explanation and was obviously in complete turmoil. The small woman looked over her shoulder at the tracks in the sand again and simply said, "Huh." Her tone was somewhat amused. She looked back to her brother as he sat in the sand. "Are you really surprised? She's always loved you. With Hannibal gone and no man that she can trust, it's bound to raise old feelings." Io gave a little stretch before seating herself in the sand beside him. "Pity the three of you couldn't form a relationship." She understood though. Zee wasn't into it and Sirius wouldn't disrespect her. "My mother was in a relationship with a man and a woman for a long while. They can work, but all parties have to be agreed, of course." Casting her gaze to Sirius again, she gave him a gentle nudge. "Wanna talk about it?" Was he worried that Zee might find out about the kiss? Was he worried that he had almost given in? What was rattling around in that big head of his? "Speech"