Better days are coming for you.

The rain came heavily, and appropriately. Quicksilver listened to the rain batter stone beyond the safety of his private quarter, heard the biting wind as it howled through the caverns. Somewhere farther off, a rumble of distant thunder; tragedy had befallen Vanderfell Woods and Shiroshika both.

It pained him to think of Orlaith, and the bad blood that'd been long harboured between them. He didn't think he'd ever done anything to warrant her suspicion of him, and over time her blatant mistrust had never seemed to cease. Quicksilver did his best to avoid her and, with news of her demise, he sorely regretted his decision to refrain from extending that olive branch.

Guilt bore heavy on his shoulders, yet there was much to be thankful for. He turned then to @Reiko, who'd been understandably quiet, and concern was clear in his eyes should she choose to look upon him. The marring of her face would scar, he knew, and he'd done his best to tend each fierce wound made by the cat's claws with care, but he worried for those that were not visible. He wanted to reach for her, to press his lips to her crown, but he was afraid she'd reject the contact.

“The rain isn't permanent,” he tried to smile, but it was clearly feigned - simply hopeful. “Soon, we will dance in the sun again - you and I.”

The tiger lived and thus, the war wasn't over. But there could be light at the end of the tunnel.


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There was a discomfort that settled in the pit of Quicksilver's abdomen to hear nothing but rainfall following his hopeful quip. He blinked, stealing another glance down at his belovedto find her muzzle buried beneath dainty paws. The druid's ears splayed backward and he stifled the whine that rose in his throat; to hear her utter such a question broke his heart.

He hesitated for only a moment - not because he had to consider it, but because the last thing he wanted was to deepen her insecurity in any way. Their relationship had been a rocky one before Winter's arrival and while distance hadn't dampened what one felt for the other, it was clear that Reiko now worried how her war wounds might affect their future. He, still very much smitten with everything that made her who she was, had not once considered that. “No matter what,” he sank to his belly before her, keen to be more on her level. A limb was extended, and he attempted to nudge his toes to the Empress' ankle, “you will always be beautiful, Reiko. I mean it.”

He loved her, all of her - including the broken parts of her. It killed him to know how she fretted over how she looked when she simply did not have to.


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Again, silence from the Empress. Quicksilver felt that he might deflate, disappointed that he could not succeed at all in lifting Reiko's spirits, but he was determined to maintain whatever was left of his strength. Even if it bore no fruit and didn't seem like much, it was something - all he had to offer.

At last, his beloved appeared to let down her guard. She scooted across the furs and into his willing arms. Quicksilver gathered her close, mindful of her tenderness, and shifted to curl himself at her back. With a croon he nosed her unmarked cheek, and was content to simply lay with her for a time until she wished to entertain his small talk.

Sooner than he expected, she piped up in question. The silverwhite pricked an ear, curious. “No,” he said, entirely unaware of the grand plan that both Queens had in store for his future, “what's that?”


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The druid detected anxiety creep back into the dove's being, and felt his own tension rise. An agreement, she had said, one made by Reiko and Ira, and one that clearly made the former seem... uncomfortable? Quicksilver flicked his tongue nervously over his upper lip and waited with his breath held.

I offered my children.

He swore his heart skipped a beat.

The firstborn of the next litter.

He blinked.

Did she... want to marry him to provide her with children to sell!? The idea, at once, both shocked and horrified him. “You...” he fumbled with his words, not sure what he was supposed to feel, “you want us to have pups? And you want to... give them away?”


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An arrangement had been made where he was expected to play a key role, and Ira had held her end of the bargain - all without him knowing. Quicksilver felt dizzy to think of it, and the rush of emotion was difficult to bear. His mouth dried and he turned his face away, rooting himself to the Empress' side despite the sudden desire to peel himself away from her. How could she be so reckless!?

She loved Shiroshika, but more than her children? Would she favour them when the time came to sacrifice one, have a change if heart and thus sever the bond forged between her pack and Ira's? And what was he, a puppet? A pawn?

Quicksilver would not father pups to be shipped off from their home and their family at a tender age, not without their willingness to go. What on earth would Ira want with a cub, anyway!?

There was a small comfort in that "might", but it was short-lived. The potential was there, and it terrified him.

“I...” his breath wavered, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the beginnings of a headache, “I want a family. I want that with you, but not-” Quicksilver felt emotion swell in his throat, and he looked at the dove once more, “I'm not saying no, but...what if I didn't agree? Would you...?”

Would you find someone else?


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He respected Ira and Vanderfell was the one place he knew his offspring would be safe, but to make that choice for them was out of the question. It wasn't fair to make prisoners out of children, and for what? To be reared as a soldier so they might face the sane fate as Orlaith? To be wed against their will?

“You know I want to marry you,” he said, swallowing the lump in his throat, “and I... I wanted to do it right. I wanted it to be special.”

To court her. To give her some grand proposal. To be ready.

He sighed. “I don't like that it has to be this way Reiko, not... not one bit. But I'll do it - for you, for Vanderfell and for Shiroshika. What I won't do is rob any children we might have of their freedom.”

Why were peace and happiness so difficult to achieve?


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He was hurt, of course, to have had his path carved out for him by Ira and Reiko in exchange for aid in removing threat from the Everfrost. A union with his Shiroshika dove was what he wanted, of course, but he'd been content to let it shape and grow in its own time. Quicksilver was in no rush to make it official considering he barely knew her children and her pack-mates. It would also mean he would need to relocate sooner than he intended, and the thought of leaving his young wards pained him above all else.

He was uncharacteristically frustrated, but he tried not let it show. Instead he allowed it to fester right at the heart of him, let the mental image of sending his firstborn baby off into the unknown fuel his simmering anger. Quicksilver inhaled deeply, reminding himself that it did not need to be, that it was a mere possibility. He would sacrifice himself first - be sure that his family be borne of love, not for the fulfilment of a contract he did not agree to.

“I understand you felt desperate, but... in future,” the druid said, perhaps a little coldly; he could not meet Reiko's gaze, “I ask that you do not bargain lives in exchange for soldiers.” He shot her one last sideways glance, and curled himself away from the Empress in an effort to keep himself from falling apart before her.


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Darkness clouded his mind, and once more Quicksilver began to wonder if Reiko had ever meant what she said when she'd told him she loved him. Time and time again she would press him, push him for answers, expect more from him than he could give. Was that the way their life was meant to be? For so long he'd yearned for her, a fool bound by whatever destiny had brought them together, so socially and romantically inexperienced that he'd convinced himself he could ever be more than a pawn to provide heirs that might save strangers.

The dove gathered to her paws and wordlessly departed the chamber, and Quicksilver did not pursue. He remained lain atop his furs and regarded the sound of her footfall with a sideways can't of an ear. When he could no longer hear them, the druid inhaled deep and exhaled a heavy sigh.

He remembered Ira and Hiero's wedding day, two souls bound willingly and on their own terms and surrounded by friends to celebrate with them. His own union to Reiko would not be so magical, he felt, considering how he'd been robbed of the opportunity to ask her as tradition expected. Quicksilver shifted uncomfortably, hating that children were expected from him to be presented to Vanderfell as payment.

The silverwhite gritted his teeth and bit back the threat of tears. He would never allow it, he decided then and there. He would die before being forced to submit his son or daughter to anyone, regardless of Ira's demand or Reiko's promise.


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