more than one are welcome to join, but looking for a coronation emissary:
@Inji @Legend @Tuna
Though the shadow came and went, aimless for a time, he now walked with a renewed purpose; objectives concealed behind a mask of inertia.
Long and limber, the darkstar coasted across a vast flatland awash with hardy flowers. A sleet had recently fallen here, leaving the land chilled and mist-covered as far as the eye could see. His tall figure parted the fog – all of him but a visible marring of ink against the after-rain horizon.
A silhouette shrouded in thick fog. Sent from the cenote with Akashingo scent sprawled on her flank, it was the sight of another with an inky tail that flagged her attention. She joined it, a smile spread across her dark lips and spirited eyes. Low belly, she quickly crawled with eyes that could not yet make the other out. Those lips soon spoke, "Hello!"
thank you for joining!
A small, rayless thing slithered towards him in the mist, and Vortigern stilled his progress to observe it. At first, there was nothing but its bright eyes to indicate true sentience, until the creature had come close enough for him to perceive a guiltless smile and wriggling tail. He regarded the she-wolf coolly once she had greeted him, the heretic appearing exceedingly relaxed as his dull burgundy eyes swept carefully about her features.
Salutations, brave one,
came a gravelly rumble. He was quiet thereafter, suspecting that she had approached for a reason.
That low, low belly soon rose from feet away, her ears to a pristine peak and eyes ghostly, big. The messengers head gave a telltale proud bounce. "Hi, sir!" Her eye came to a squint, muzzle curved with that cheeky smile with her tail waving a subtle hello. Large. Dark, starless fur. His voice tingled her ears, and she felt a shudder.
"You near the summer palace of Akashingo. We seek guests for coronation. If you could take a minute, you wish to hear more?" her head quirked, up, down, and oh, so eager in patient hopes that he would offer his time.
The fog began to filter away from them as their body heats commingled. Vortigern angled an ear towards the grayscale waif, her impish, almost child-like voice greeting him once more over a scythe of a grin. What she said next was highly unorthodox.
A summer palace implied a kingdom – Akashingo, she’d said – and there was to be a crowning event, open to all who wished to bear witness, even to the loneliest of faces in the lowliest of places. The heretic was intrigued.
I do like ceremonies,
he acquiesced. He saw no harm in humoring this darkling, not while those ghostlamp eyes of hers begged him so. Tell me all that you can, messenger.
He listened, and she revelled in it. The opportunities, the work, the job of fetching and retrieving. This back and forth monotony that she learned rewarded her in plenty, it was enough to make such work in itself feel like a gift.
He chose to entertain her. Then, she would open up a new world for this lonely straggler and entertain him the same!
"Akashingo is pleased to announce that the Coronation of Pharaoh Muat-Riya Iset Nofret “Toula” will take place at the palace of Muat-Riya, and will be conducted by the Erpa-ha, Senmut." A tickle on her tongue.
How did she feel about that?
"The Ceremony will see Her Holiness Toula crowned alongside The King Consort Rashepses.
The Coronation will reflect the Pharaoh’s role today and look towards the future while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.
Honored guests are invited for a week of celebrations and encouraged to bestow gifts from their homelands.”
There were many words spilled, some of them foreign, and much information was given to the wandering Austere. His tail, the only sign of life upon the shade, flicked back and forth in thought. When she had finished, Vortigern seemed to reanimate, his nostrils flaring for her scent and an ear twitching as if disturbed by an invisible fly.
If I may, do all wolves in this region fall under the governance of this Pharaoh?
How far did their influence spread? Would his own machinations come under the scrutiny of such a kingdom? He wondered if it would be to his advantage to join them or if simply positioning himself as an ally would be enough.
She'd pause and motion her head towards the sun. Where Ra held his eye and watched them all with a threat of scorch and a burning love of warmth.
"Only those of Akashingo. Of Muat-riya. Pharaoh's word, it is God." Then, when her eyes touched still over his own again and her tail moved to a bushy bounce, she fixed her posture. Where familiarity grew strong under her pads, she flourished. "You will find many others lurking the grounds of Teekon."
A glance towards the sky. He gave a thoughtful nod, again peering over the owl-eyed shade with thinly veiled interest. What a lovely devotee she made. Austere could feel her reverence — it pulsed through her like another heartbeat. His ears twitched, casually dispelling a private hungering.
I understand.
There were the believers, and there were the lost and misguided. As such with every kingdom. And what should one bring as a respectable gift if their homelands are... inaccessible?
"Feathers. Hides. Gemstones. Foreign meats. Kohl and pigments. Our Queen is beautiful. Only finest."
Inaccessible. Intrigue festered.
"She enjoys intricate gifts. Special things, if they are handcrafted. So," she paused, and then looked him up, down, watched how his eyes touched the sky, then touched her again. Took note of the image of his face, how it bended in the light, each curve, and she would remember it, should they meet again. "If you are gifted," a taunt, "she enjoys accessories." She had seen the bones, the hides, the vines and flowers of jewlery Akashingo flaunted.