Sun Mote Copse ravenflight

for @Ar-Khalba <3

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following the sacrifice of bachir, eshamun found that fresh grief had welled within her. she had wept that night and every night thereafter in her den, knowing that within a handful of days, she must take giana's child. honey had disappeared from the packlands, carrying young within her; she was to be barred from the borders without a good explanation, or killed, her entire litter given back to the god. eshamun would decree it to be so soon.
for now, the canaanite made her way beneath the cover of early dawn darkness to the new grove. it was here where ar-khalba would rule — the woman wended her way gently between the trees, finding serenity in the cold silence of the beautiful glade.[/tr][/td][/table]

He woke early, long before first light to make his necessary rounds within the grove. Ar-Khalba particularly enjoyed moments like this when he would walk alone in silence through the grove, brisk winter air filling his lungs with every deep breath he took. In this early hour, everything was still in the morning haze. There was something about a nice, quiet place that Ar-Khalba found particulalry appealing. It was peaceful there. The only sound that rose to Ar-Khalba's ears was the soft cruching of snow beneath his paws as he blazed a trail through his grove.

The thought that someone might join him never crossed his mind. Usually, no one did. The time of morning's birth was usually saved for just himself. But, when he heard the sound of footsteps through the snow, Ar-Khalba altered his course and made his way torward the sound. He could smell her. Her presence was undeniable. "Eshamun?" Ar-Khalba spoke into the darkness. His voice, soft as morning itself.

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her voice sounded, held in ar-khalba's gentle tones, and eshamun's ears swiveled to hear the timbre of his voice. he appeared from the cold air, between the lovely boles of the trees, and she felt her heartbeart quicken at the sight of him. "ar-khalba," the ekar-aji answered with a smile wreathing her muzzle.
she stepped toward the crimsonfurred man, wanting nothing more than to unshoulder her burdens onto his willing ears, but should there not be some separation between them? she was eternal queen; he would be her kurvat, but never her equal. and still she yearned toward him with a breath that spiraled into a plume of white, and preened the fur of his chest silently.[/tr][/td][/table]

She came forward, slowly slinking into Ar-Khalba's wanting embrace. It was a pleasant suprise to find the ekar-aji among the grove. Her unanounced preasence was something that Ar-Khalba wished to savor and enjoy. As she went to work on his chest, falling silent as she began to preen, Ar-Khalba couldn't help but find it odd that his queen was taking the time to groom a servant. Kurvat or not, his lot was lower, but he made no motion to protest. He enjoyed the attention -- especially when it was from the likes of Eshamun. It made him feel special. It made him feel loved, just as he loved her.

"I love it when you surprise me like this," he said. A smile, mirroring that of his lover's, crossed his narrow featured face.

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if her mother could lay eyes upon her now, eshamun had no doubt that the great priestess would have her beaten, even driven out of the malkaria. in a larger pack, one could afford to cling to the ideals of the malkaria, adhere to them steadfastly. eshamun must keep the laws of her mother and foremother, and all that had come before her, for the sake of those who would follow. but ar-khalba's warm embrace provided a security of which she was bereft! how was such a thing wicked?
"i love when you take me in your arms," was her quiet rejoinder, though guilt sliced through the ekar-aji, and she soon pulled away with a small smile, one that faded quickly. "i must speak with you of something: the fate of the malkaria."[/tr][/td][/table]