sun.

the sun has begin it's ascension in the horizon, climbing above the steep suntouched canyon's sunrock.

but has not yet breached it.

still, ajaw watches the paint of oranges, reds, purples, and pinks in the cloudless dawn, finding serenity in nature's painting, waiting for it to crest the sunrock walls of the canyon as they prowl through their claim.

their steps are purposeful, a beeline to the borders where they intended to reinforce now that they are mapped out and initially marked.

Ajaw walks for where their borders will be. He intends to do more work, as it is assumed.

Sabah joins him, chaffing lightly in greeting. Ajaw does well. He had brought them all together and gotten them here. Home. 

This wasn't to say he hadn't always done well. But in this case specifically, she gives him praise as both council and friend.

What come next? Sabah wondered this aloud. They had come this far. What else did ajaw have planned?

not without the holcan. ajaw supplies , almost humbly. without the holcan, ajaw is nothing. a god without a home, without a temple, without their faithful.

ajaw's accomplishments are the holcan's accomplishments.

we prepare for season gift, we continue to spread word and let the godless of these wilds know we are here. we are a force. ajaw speaks, a determined flick of their doe-like tail given.

tikal makes partners ...or enemies. for in this, there was always a fifty-fifty chance. and this one desires to further the bloodline. perhaps the most important! that tikal survives them, that tikal has a future.

Some of these things she understood. But one, she did not.

"Further the bloodline." 

What was meant by this?

Explain, ajaw. Sabah asked of him, respectfully. Further bloodline? She repeated his prior statement, the origin of her query.

she is confused.

she asks for clarification.

to further this one's bloodline. to have children that would one day become this one's heirs. though, how that might shape to be with more than one cub would be a situation ajaw would have to navigate.

but there would be a time and place for that.

to ensure tikal's future among these wilds.

He answers. It is clear now.

Ajaw find wife. Wife, or perhaps simply a woman willing to provide this without need for legitimacy and formality.

a frown tugs at ajaw's lips.

not wife. their connotation of the word is not the same as how others might view it. to them, marriage is to take away from tikal, from the holcan.

to have a wife would force ajaw to make her more important than that which is the most important thing to them.

they would not do it. could not do it.

this one would seek women who know this one cannot commit to marriage to mother heirs. perhaps, ajaw considers this sounds cruel though to them it sounds fair.

a clear and concise arrangement.

Sabah was relieved, in some way, to hear these words.

Ajaw would not focus himself upon a woman. The giving of an heir was meant to supply all of Tikal.

Sabah understands. She nodded. What ajaw want in baby giver? Perhaps she pried too much. But she couldn't help but be curious.

she is continuously curious.

it is her right. one day, she may be holcan to ajaw's heir(s).

an understanding that this one will not marry. that there may be others ... from tikal and beyond ... but that all children have a chance at being heir.

Questions were answered. Sabah's curiosity was satisfied.

Respectfully, the holcan dipped his head to her ajaw in thanks. Ajaw will find this. He would. Someone would come to him and make this reality.