Across the strand the fair skies brightly flickered off the shimmering waves; in the rippling water the sun was reflected a thousandfold and the beach's shallows were given the deceiving image of unseasonal warmth.

Caiaphas was not stupid (nor brave) enough to wade the shallows - despite their alluring appeal, winter's bite was sharp. She settled for pacing just along the swash-line where the damp sand compressed down in heavy sloughs. The tide was low -- and in several stranded pools she could see the darting ripple of trapped shrimp. Her interest piqued, the lanky coywolf struck off in their direction.

Slinking towards the glittering pools with intensity to her step, Caiaphas' jaws slavered with anticipation. A flick of a long triangular ear was given as she caught out of her peripherals the form of Nakai. She had seen little of the wolf since his rather sudden indoctrination, but this to her was a good sign -- she surmised he had been keeping his head low to avoid confrontation.

With a splash she bounded into the pool with artful poise, her thin snout piercing the water with the sharp ambition of a knife. The crystalline water shattered under her like glass and with coruscating blades rose about her in a shimmering fountain of water-lash. The sound of her impact was sharp and the water rebounded under her, carrying the unsettled shrimp into the air like a raining buffet. For now she was happy to torture her quarry -- and her ambivalent pose suggested that Nakai was welcome to join her in her terrorizing quest.

So consumed by childish glee was the lithe coywolf, she scarcely detected the uncertainty on Nakai's face until she paused and looked upwards. He looked tentative -- as if asking her for permission -- and it was then that a mischievous expression stole across her thinly tapered muzzle.

He was close to the pool -- close enough that with a cackle Caiaphas swiped a skinny forearm in his direction, her paw bounding off the water's edge in a cascade of water aimed right at him. Without awaiting a response she yipped playfully and bounded to the next pool, splashing among the terrified shrimp with a near juvenile abandon.

Every wolf knew play was nobler than work -- and few were so enlightened to that mantra than Caiaphas. Play sharpened reflexes -- it honed skill -- it prepared every juvenile (and sometimes, not juvenile) for the darker aspects of survival.

When Nakai issued rebuke in the form of his own gigantic crescent-splash, Caiaphas was not quick enough to dodge it. She pivoted on her hindquarters, yielding away from the splash -- yet it did little to reduce the amount of frigid frostwater that fell upon her coat. She exhaled sharply, surprised by the cold of it -- and quickly she shook her pelt of the offensive water.

As Nakai diverged his attention to the shrimp Caiaphas skimmed the water with her snout. With a deft move of her muzzle she flicked her jaws upwards and a plump shrimp flew into the air. She tore after it, scrabbling wildly in the sand after the thrashing thing with an excited whine.

The shrimp thrashed upon the sand, and as Caiaphas struggled after it she inadvertently sent sand spraying about her. She froze mid play-bow, her stance somewhat questioning as she sharply turned her head about in consternation -- where had the shrimp gone?

And then she saw Nakai -- before she could intercept him he had nicked the shrimp out from under her. Caiaphas let loose a retort in the form of a playful growl, her shoulders scrunched upright as he fell. She remained stock-still -- her limbs tense....

Just when it seemed she could stay still no longer, her ears flew back -- with a roguish growl she pulled her limbs out from under her and scampered wildly past Nakai in a hare-ridden gallop. With a titanic leap she bounded back into the small tidal pool, collapsing onto her stomach. She riffled through the water with her front paws, stretching out so the cool sand and cold water ran along her belly.

For a moment, she forgot the sting of the water's taste -- and greedily, she lapped the wavering water only to sharply retort and beset by a belligerent row of frenzied sneezes.

Tears strung from the little coywolf's squinted eyes -- her throat and nose burned with surprising alacrity. Hoarse was the reverberation of her lungs -- stung sharply by bitter saltwater.

Wiping snot from her muzzle, she looked up -- surprised then to hear the male's voice trouble the air. About her a wave of solemnity seemed to return -- how fickle of her to play the juvenile one moment, and grave Siren queen the next. It did not occur to her that her many roles may have seemed curious to the grey settler -- perhaps this was a lapse of judgment she would later come to recognize as undiplomatic, unprincely behavior.

She looked up to him expectantly, but said nothing. If Nakai was bold enough to ask, she surmised he would follow through with whatever his inquiry was.

Savage as Caiaphas was, she allowed Nakai close enough to lick a blunt paw. She considered his plight -- she was a terribly inconsiderate imp, and not once since the day they had met had she considered how bereft an outsider was without possession of the Nereides' tongue.

She stifled a snicker then, envisioning the helpless bemusement her Epivitoras must have endured. "Kevlyn can teach you -- Aella as well." She was not kind enough to offer her own tutelage -- such menial work was above her deportment. "I would advise sticking close to Aella." Her lashes flickered subtly, and a strange look overtook her. "She has abandoned us in the past, and must be supervised." Caiaphas had not forgotten their rivalry -- Aella had left shortly after Caiaphas' ascension to alphaship and she had never gotten the opportunity to torment the fiery Amazon to her fulfillment. "Would you do that for me, Nakai?" She turned her slender muzzle to him and her expression was surprisingly benign -- yet it did nothing to sheath the thinly-veiled villainy Caiaphas was capable of.

But the ruthless queen did not wait for an answer. Rising to her feet, the slab-sided matriarch departed Nakai's company, setting her sights on the sea that rumbled in the distance.