Northstar Vale It's just a lightyear and a day

You're a liar. Defensive, she frowns. Now you wouldn't, now that you know what kind of man he is. She was tired of people saying the things she wanted to hear at the moment just in order to get the exhausted Empress to do or say what they wanted. How could she believe that Vespera would have blindly trusted a decision to kill a fellow packmate so soon after they had just met, and so soon after the formation of the pack?

The more Vespera spoke, the more annoyed Reiko grew. I, me, what I went through, that was all she heard from the cloaked woman as if both her experience and what was happening now were the same. Talking down to her just as Takeshi would for simply calling Yuudai's action stupid. You're so selfish. She growls, her own hackles prickling, where was this all coming from? Who asked Vespera to start lecturing her and judging every little detail of what had happened when she only truly saw what was going on a couple of weeks ago?

He is an idiot! She barks, this time her own head raises as she refused to be looked down upon anymore. She wasn't the enemy and yet, Vespera kept acting as if she was. As if Reiko had planned all of this to happen and didn't try everything she could to keep it from exploding, that it was so wrong of her to not want anyone to get hurt, to carry Takeshi's burden on her shoulders in hopes that he would leave everyone else alone.

He has a son that will never know how truly amazing he is, all he will hear is stories. A now widow who mourns him after she had already lost so much, what about Hiromi? Is it heroic that he threw his life away after I begged him to just stay quiet and live happily with her? There are other things he could have done than to fight Takeshi like that! She yelled, so tired of the accusations as if she wasn't aware of how despicable Takeshi was. As her heart drummed heavily in her chest, the wounds bled further, staining her coat a deep red as it trickled down her neck.

Are you blind?! I didn't let him do anything! Furious she squeals as her body sways lightly as once again she fights the creeping weakness just so she didn't seem frail while trying to stand up for herself. He beats me if I say or do anything! You think I didn't try telling him to leave, to stop, that I just ignore it all!? I try to force him to leave and he laughs! I confront him about anything and he hits me and ridicules me, and if I'm lucky he doesn't force himself onto me! Nothing changes if I talk to him or even try to force him out. If I'm such a terrible, ignorant, leader then go! I can't work miracles, I'm trying and all anyone ever does when they see what's happening is lecture me and tell me to do something when I have been since the beginning! Do I have to die too for you to believe me?! She was done listening to Vespera's accusations, to her long-winded stories that had nothing to do with what was actually happening.

Instead of them all working together to fix the problem, that now they would know he had to go and instead of them blindly trusting her decision to chase someone out or kill them should Takeshi refuse as always to leave the vale, the empress, and all within the mountainous walls alone. Instead of trying to figure something out, they alienated her. And if that was what they wanted to do, they succeeded. I don't want to talk to you. I didn't ask for this, you came to me asking what happened. I'm done explaining myself. Mad, she turned away in a stiff manner, her neck burning with every moment she does and begin her journey to the den and tend to her children. She had been away from them for too long. She truly did feel alone now in all of this, that she had to begin thinking of ways to get rid of the Emperor herself... if talking didn't work and fighting him didn't make him leave, there had to be another way.