Darius had not been well, the General had never truly recovered from his near-fatal bout with the darnathi-engineered Pneumonic Plague. It had ravaged his voice to a gravely tenor and made him far more susceptible to respiratory infection than he had been. Such was the case at the moment where he'd caught a bad cold that had settled squarely into his chest.

Fox had been under quite a bit of stress as of late and was far too preoccupied to notice her General's slip in health. Darius in a moment of deciding to check on her to see if she was in fact alright did not expect what greeted him when he entered her tower.

Commissioned by  rebelsqurl of a "unexpected plot twist." I decided to draw an out of context spoiler for the comic. And I can say with certainty this is 100% cannon.