raise me from perdition

Ragnar had been, not avoiding this conversation per say, but at the very least putting it off until he had planned it out. He was not sure how Thistle was exactly going to take it, nor if she would agree with his logic. Running away wasn't an option, though dropping everything and leaving it all behind without a backward glance did hold with it a certain level of temptation Ragnar liked to think that he was a better man than that. He had a family that he loved, a wife that he loved, and a pack that he loved. A pack he loved enough to consider that, as small as they were, there was no sense in having two leaders. The idea of going from alpha to subordinate did not bode well within the Jarl, who realized that providing Thistle listened to him for once and did not put up a major fuss over it, that it was a title he would be giving up. He did not want to be a subordinate by any nature within him, but if there was one wolf he had to bow to he would rather it be Thistle than someone else. At least, he could give this a chance. He could contribute and focus as a member of the pack instead of a leader, and right now that was what Stavanger Bay needed more than anything: a healthy core of subordinates. They had Onyx in their adult ranks, alone, and Gyda, Gunnar, and his nephew whom he was not that well acquainted with Nazara. It was not enough. They were grasping at straws and barely scraping by.

He could not pretend that he did not see it, did not worry over it, and perhaps the break from leadership, not that it had to be everlasting by any stretch of the imagination was what he needed to help get the Bay back on the right track. It would give him a chance to speak with Peregrine again, providing the other male's offer still stood without worrying (though he would probably worry anyway), and would allow him to focus upon earning the Gamekeeper trade which he had had decided to pursue in the stead of counselor because it was what the Bay needed; and it wasn't as if he was leaving the pack never to be seen again. If Thistle needed him he would give her advice, or suggestions if she needed it. Knowing his Queen Wife, though, Ragnar had a suspicion that this would not nearly be as easy as he hoped. He had not spoken anything of this to her previous, keeping it well guarded until he was sure that it felt like the right thing to do. If it was right or not, he couldn't be sure of course but he wanted to at least speak with her about it.

With his mind made up, Ragnar drew in the crisp, cool winter air deeply, and let it out in an exhale that carried with it a summons for @Thistle Cloud hoping that she would come to him promptly. As a man of action, Ragnar did not like to dwell on things, and did not wish to linger any further in this purgatory. By the end of this conversation it would be done, he was determined, confident that his last act of leadership — for the time being anyway, until his ambition kicked into hyper drive again — would be to tell Peregrine that he accepted his offer of an alliance, and to pass the word on that his Queen would rule alone for now. If it went that way or not, Ragnar knew was anyone's guess but he had moments where he liked to dream.