the cubs have been wrestled to sleep, but it was easier now, not just from all the help given by @András ( for she has to admit that her husband is a much caretaker than she is ), but fernweh herself found her own rhythm in all of this. as she watched them snore, wrestling even in their sleep, she couldn't help but feel contentment again. even despite the wounds on her body still present, old and scabbed over, they serve nothing more but as a reminder that she won.

yet still, there's still much to mend here than injuries. fernweh understand her aunt's decisions - but not all of it she will fully support. looking back to the tiny shapes, fernweh knows what she must do, but before she does it, she needs to speak to andrás first.

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He had long grown complacent, content. The joys of fatherhood was not lost on András, and the appeal of this relatively easy life was beginning to wear on him, in ways. He had sworn allegiance to the Summit in a rather public display when he had positioned himself over Fernweh Greyflood protectively, and though there had been no Rike present to denounce his actions, word of it would undoubtedly spread. And though he had been content to keep their children at bay during the challenges that came after, he knew soon he could no longer hide behind the guise of being a protective father. Soon, he would have to make a choice, and the lack of his family being around and the growing trust placed in him by his former enemy made the eventual decision that much harder.

He emerges from the outside of the den, a large chunk of meat between his jaws. Their children had kept their appetites busy, and András found himself taking larger and larger portions from each hunt. He'd been given enough grace as a new father, but as the cubs were slowly weaned, he knew he would have to return to some semblance of duty soon. For now, however, he reveled in these moments. His head lowered, hoping to bump his forehead against his wife's, before settling at her side with their meal just within reach. However usual such an affair may be, there seemed to be something different, an intensity he did not quite recognize. You seem tense, he observed.

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the smell of meat beckons fernweh from her thought, knowing all too well who brought it here. she closes her eyes, feeling @András brush his forehead against hers, savoring the moment. she allows herself to be quiet as she makes room for him, suddenly realizing how much smaller the den they picked out is.

her smile flickers for a moment at seeing the slab of meat, but mindful as always, she allows herself to speak first do i? i suppose i am then she said, sighing. to tell the truth, fernweh thought that it would be easier to tell andrás her plan, but now it feels harder. still, he's here and no one else will bother them for a while. she turns to look in her husband's eyes, that stoic gaze of his still making her heart beat fast. i'm hoping we can revoke your status as prisoner

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The Summit hadn't treated him awfully. For a while, he almost forgot he was fettered here, bound by Greyflood chains, with a certain Sigrun God snickering in the background. He had forgotten he wasn't trusted, an enemy wolf among sheep. All of it had seemed a distant dream in the wake of his children. But when @Fernweh brought it up, András tensed; now, he could remember the way eyes would stare at him skeptically as he passed, burning into his back as if he were capable of launching, of betraying their trust all at once. He remembered the hesitance Morrigan had upon her first approach, the glance in her eyes at their children that was rejoiced by them, but also fearful of them. Half Rike, András recalled, and the name he would have once been proud to have passed onto them was instead smeared from their histories.

I don't— he began cautiously, thinking of his next words carefully. How easy it would be to petition Morrigan, to show his months of dedicated service and public declaration of loyalty to his wife would be worthy enough to break his chains. And yet, he still found himself indecisive, some feral part of him still desperate for the approval of his family. Were Eulalia and Odhgrimm to appear on the Summit that day, András wasn't certain it would be under the Summit banner he would fight. That indecisiveness felt dangerous. I don't think it's a good idea, he finally admitted, turning to look away from her, Morrigan has no reason to trust me.

I have no reason to trust myself.

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this isn't the response fernweh hoped for. all hope for their children to have a father who isn't the prisoner of his own pride is now dashed to dust. fernweh is at fault too; if she had been more proactive in trying to free andras earlier if she had talked morrigan out of imprisoning him...then perhaps andras would not have been here, tethered to them like this. but she cannot be the naive girl and think her words and tears can change her aunt's mind. the rike is their enemy, always was, and will be until one of them perishes.

so what will happen once the summit learns of andras's connection? of the warring bloodline they brought in?

she...has reason to fernweh admits, sagging her shoulder in defeat, and i don't think i can bend her will any time soon. for a moment, fernweh wonders if living here amongst the greyflood will harm andras and the children. what if andras's kin finds out? surely they will, one day, and what can fernweh do for her husband and their family?

we can leave she begins, but there is a rising hesitation in her. the summit is home, and if she's to ever find a new home, then it must mean everyone there will accept both greyflood and rike. which is nigh impossibe in this political game. plus, she would loathe to kindle any animosity between her and her own family. fernweh must be cautious and ever-conscious of the turning of the war tides.

then, an idea comes to mind. it's almost ridiculously laughable, but it's the only way that they can live freely.

i can take a pride. not the summit, of course, but surely somewhere in the lowlands...

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It is not the news András hopes to give his wife, but it is a grueling reality, and though he had seen the turn of softness in the Summit Queen's eyes and seen how she's reacted to his acts of duty and service to Illyria, he knows the scars that the Rike had sown runs deep, and knows he is still yet too attached to his family to abandon them entirely. He had been lucky, so far, to have not come across them in the field of battle, to have avoided their scrutinizing eye. But András knew he could not hide forever, and eventually would come the day he would stare down the throat of a Rike assailant and be forced to show his hand.

He is troubled, mostly, because he still does not know how he would react that day.

A man loyal unrelenting to his wife and children would think of nothing other than abandoning all he once knew to defend and protect them. It were the fact András were still troubled with the thought of it that kept him fettered, that kept him unbelieving he was deserving of anything more than being a prisoner. His face noticeably fell as @Fernweh's did, but as he opens his mouth to speak, nothing comforting or reassuring comes forth. Nothing that wouldn't be a blatant lie.

We can leave.

Her suggestion gives him pause. To abandon the entirety of both families and isntead forge their own...such a thing was almost appealing, but András would sooner be labeled equally a traitor for wrenching Fernweh and their young cubs from their family as he would for changing sides back to the Rike. If she were to take a pride, however, perhaps it would distance him enough from Morrigan while still maintaining a wavering peace between them. It would give him room to breathe. Leadership is a heavy burden to bear, he cautions her, a lionish brow lifting. However, after that brief moment of tense silence, he reaches forward and aims to press his nose between her eyes. But I'd support such a decision. I think...leaving Illyria may be in our best interest.

It is bold, and perhaps a selfish decision; but the tenseness of this place had become overwhelming, suffocating.

Art by Raph, table by cala