Hideaway Strath silt

elevated, presumably, in the eyes of his superiors, ramesses walked. he had been released of his ill-fated duty to the priestess, and now applied himself elsewhere: the decoration of a splendid den.
ironically, he toiled and spoiled his coat as a peasant would, dragging stones upon muddy banks, plucking flowers and pretty tree-limbs, all feverishly applied in an visually pleasant way to the den he had excavated.
he would be seen as pharaoh here.
at noon he paused, streaked with mud and panting as he leant against the edge of a tree on his way to water.

Arlette had already been at the water that Ramesses had been looking for. She knew Dreg would be watching the pups and she could have a quick break from being a mother. She loved it. She loved to see her little ones grow bigger and bigger, explore the world. The pale female quickly lapped up the fresh water, quenching her thirst when she saw someone approach, someone she hadn't met but had seen that time when they had their pups meet. "Hello," she greeted.

thanks for joining! <3

was every woman here covered in scars? what sort of individual was kynareth, keeping company with feral battlemaidens and not the soft lushness to which he himself was accustomed? ramesses dipped his head to the pale wolfess, assuming she too was above him. 
"i do not think we have met. i am pharaoh."
his proper title, mouth wet from the water and stirred despite her friendly tone.

<3 welcome!

Arlette's tail wagged in a friendly matter. "No, not officially. I did smell you. But it is good to have a face with it," she spoke. "Nice to meet you, Pharaoh. I'm Arlette. One of the medics, and since recently, mostly den mother too," she chuckled, since she was always watching pups, her own and the others. She loved it though. She wished they had more fat fluffs to watch over and nurse. "Have you been here long?"

"two months." or close to it. pharaoh had not counted. he puzzled over this new phrase of den mother, and decided it was self-explaining. another medic. "do you work with the priestess aerin?" ramesses wondered aloud, curious to know if the worshipper shared her ways and medicines, or if she only made potions for the gods to consume.

Arlette smiled softly. "That must be around the time I had my pups," she smiled. "Sorry for the delay of meeting you," she smiled. Arlette nodded in confirmation. 'I'm a medic like her," she confirmed with a nodded. "She is more specialized in pups. I am more a general medic," he explained further.

ramesses shook his head. "you are a mother, and a nurse as well. i do not expect you to have many moments to yourself." he did not mean it unkindly, but found it cruel that arlette was left to nurse her own brood as well as entertain the rambunctious children of the leading wolves. why was she alone? where were her attendants? 
perhaps she too was a slave, elevated to a place slaves did not belong.
there was so great a diamond of cruelty set into the heart of pharaoh.
"it is good to have many studies of medicine within a gathering, i think," the scribe-aspirant commented next. "my own skills lie with the remembering of stories."

Arlette had to chuckle at that. "This is true,' she admitted to him. She didn't mind it though, she smiled at the thought. She thrived on the company of others she realized. Especially her own children. But also those others of the pack.

"Oh you must come by the tell the children stories,' she spoke then. "I am certain they would love that!" Arlette didn't know the nature of the stories but she figured the male would adjust them to his audience.

the very idea of putting himself forward as storyteller to children revolted pharaoh. he sought to hide the shift in his expression with a dip of his head and a respectful nod.
the scarred little priestess had told him to seek out her husband. this scarred matron now said to speak of stories. ramesses wanted to do neither, but saw only danger in his future if he did not comply.
"i am afraid i do not have so many tales fit for children," the godhead said with a feigned regret. "they are often stories of blood."

Arlette noticed that the male didn't seem too happy about it, or at least not as enthusiastic as she would be. She could understand that children were not everyone's cup of tea. The pale wolf then spoke that the stories weren't for children. She doubted that would apply for these children.

"I think Kynareth's pups would love it," she commented. 'But maybe you are right, when they are teenagers," she nodded. "I mean, it isn't a secret that Kynareth wants every pup to become a warrior." Arlette sighed, she just hoped her children would be spared from that. Though perhaps, if they really wanted to be a higher like their father who was she to stop them?

the sigh caught ramesses' sharp pale ear. "is this what you wish?" he asked. he had not met them, nor was he focused upon birthdates, but it did not appear that kynareth was here present with arlette.
this, the scribe-aspirant felt, implied that the man was not their father. who was? "you are nurse to the royal children, are you not?" came his next pointed inquiry, tone polite but lazuli gaze hard-focused.

Arlette gave a light shrug. "I don't believe my opinion matters that much," she responded. "I wish for the children to be able to become what they want to be," she added. "For Kynareth's children I can see all them loving battle. My own? I don't know, perhaps they surprise me. But I would dislike it for one to love medicine and now allow to pursue it because Kynareth's needs fighters," she explained her point. "Though there is the reasoning of them being able to defend themselves. That is also worth something."

After all she couldn't really defend herself at all. She wasn't really a fighter. But she made sure she was useful in other ways. She nodded to the male. "All the royal children from Kynareth and Simmik, my own three, and Nyra's daughter Lotus," she confirmed. "I gets--- busy," she chuckled then. "But honestly I am glad I can help the pack."

arlette did not believe her words carried any meaning. she was a woman who spent all her hours with the young children, without her own servants from the sound of it. was this to mean she was only their own? the way that the scarred nurse spoke, it was as if she had no footing outside of that given to her by kynareth.
was he correct to judge her?
"those who heal are as important as those who fight," ramesses chose to say. "i was only trained for the latter."

Arlette nodded. "Perhaps you are right. I just... I want the help the pack in the way I can," she spoke. "I don't want to force my opinion on the leaders. That is not how I am I suppose," she admitted to him with a kind smile. Perhaps she wasn't really the type of wolf that would normally join the saints but she felt at home here, and loved. They had never judged her for being too kind, and they seemed to trust her with their children so that was only good. Perhaps she was seeing things more grimly than they were.

"you care for their young. their heirs. they would be unwise to dismiss you, arlette." ramesses tasted the name, feeling its unfamiliar syllables rattle around his mouth. 
he looked at her, drawing himself up to a better height. "i am going to hunt," and perhaps he was, and perhaps he was not. "i will see you again."
but his eyes lingered upon her, as if asking the scarred healer to speak again, and truly so.

Arlette offered a soft smile at the new male. Perhaps it was unwise to dismiss her but... yeah she didn't know. She just wanted to do right by this pack. She dipped her head when the other said that he was going to hunt. "See you around," she commented and then went her own way. Speaking of kids she should probably check on her own.

- fin -