Sun Mote Copse here comes my baby, here comes my man

what was there to do? only everything.

arcturus could see it so vividly in his mind -- the spear, and a blackness come to settle over it. a dark shroud, a malaise -- his father and mother's legacy, come to a shrieking ruin..

he had to turn it back.

he had to take it back.

"i am going to dethrone her." he announced through gritted teeth, not caring that to do so might cost him his life. "i have to protect my family." or what is left of it, he thought bitterly.

he had to protect kukutux, dragomir, atlas, osiris, jarilo -- maybe even dirge. dirge. a spearpoint of guilt lanced his chest -- he would likely lose that friendship forever..

but he had to do what was right.

wraen's suggestion elicited the sharp prick of arcturus' ears, followed by a forbidding gaze. "no! you can't." he softened once he met her gaze, realizing he could not tell her anything at all.. she was free to do whatever she wished, only.. he hoped for her own sake, she would not insist. "it will be dangerous -- it is one thing if i get hurt.. but i can't let the same happen to you."