Two Eyes Cenote sixty-third [ap]

"you are of moontide, are you not?"

senmut's kohled eyes were upon @Heph, whose name had been filtered to the prince by the fellahin.

his voice was hushed against the throng of sound and light. "i am senmut, priest and erpa-ha. a beautiful party, and here i am to be a bore and speak with you of trade."

he smiled.

The wolf who approached her had a sweep of something over his eyes and she recognized him from the ceremony. But he knew her pack and she smiled and nodded. "Yes I am. My name is Heph."

"It was wonderous, I've never seen anything like it. I hope your new leader's reign is prosperous." Her voice did not carry over the mass of sounds of the feast but it was not quiet nor lacking in wonder.

She laughed, and shook her head lightly. This was much of what she had come to discuss after all. "I must also be a bore then and be excited to discuss." She offered to start with, if only to feel for what they might wish to trade and so that both sides might understand the distance between them. "Moontide is far to the north of here along the coast, but we have scouts to make the journey and I'm sure prey, flora, and shells and stones as different from here as this has been for us."

heph of moontide leaned into their discourse, and senmut was pleased by this. he listened as the woman listed several items on offer, considering the beauty of gemstones brought from the sea. "akashingo and by effect, muat-riya, has an intense emphasis on what is most lovely. our pharaoh adores such things, not only for herself, but as gifts for her faithful."

prosperous indeed. senmut stopped a passing servant and took up berries from their offering, encouraging heph to do the same if she wished. but he would not press. "we have furs, feathers, sandflowers, meat from flatlands and desert. precious stones, inlays of beautiful wood. besides this, we can deal in more permanent alliances between packs. marriage i mean."

he paused, turning his darkened eyes upon her.

She considered, the trade of furs sounded most promising and familiar but she remembered Samani's ulaaq and the care put into it and Towhee's talk of finding a stone for her brother. So she knew that even if her own life as a wanderer was not one that encouraged trinkets instead of travelling furs the pack would appreciate the opportunity to trade. "We use many furs and would welcome trade of them and meat, especially of creatures we do not encounter by the sea. Many of our number like to decorate our dens or ulaaqs with flowers, stones, though I have never seen inlays of wood."

She took a few of the berries, they were surprisingly sweeter than she remembered plants being, far too used to eating the bitter buds of spring when prey was scarce. A smile spread across her lips at the look but she demurred with a soft shake of her head. "I'm afraid I personally cannot speak for alliances of marriage, Moontide is a sister or perhaps more accurately daughter pack of Moonglow. The Moonwoman there, Kukutux, handles matchmaking if there is matchmaking to be done although I have not heard of any political matches made. But I could speak to her about the matter if it is of interest?" The grandeur and customs of her hosts she found charming, but she wondered if it would suit a wolf used to village life, or vice versa. But Rodyn had spoken of matchmaking parties and perhaps the Moonwoman could arrange that for the young wolves of the Moon pack sand Akashingo and Muat-riya. After all Moonwoman had three young sons, and Shikoba too had children and Moonspear had had many in the previous year who would soon be grown and might seek partners. An attraction or attachment might blossom then, naturally in the way that suited the village and politically beneficial as well.

heph provided a wealth of agreeable information that he took a moment to digest. the wolves of moontide were indeed not without their own distinctive contributions. furs from the steppes, he thought, sheepskins combed to pure white and the thinner pelts of the pronghorn.

"it was moontide who brought the elk meat, was it not? a superb and deep flavor. i had never tasted such before." oolak, what was that? the woman kukutux too was an intriguing character, as was the concept of a daughter pack.

"please, speak to her on behalf of myself. i am planning a personal journey in the spring, to the sea, and would not be averse to flesh-and-blood meetings."

he paused to take an offered drink; "when the honeymoon has begun and i have returned to akashingo, you may expect an emissary after the snows have begun, with wood inlays included. it will be the first excursion of its kind. i wish to have — a nursery prepared for our pharaoh, and i feel that the delicate objects of the sea would appeal most beautifully to the divine eye."

Heph nodded a smile at the mention of the gift. It seemed Rodyn, as always, had a fine taste for diplomacy and she was glad that they had not blundered. "Our alpha @Rodyn provided it, I'm glad it was enjoyed." She took a sip of the drink provided to quench her thirst, even as the day grew later and though she had not had to travel that day she still found the desert dry. Perhaps she had spent too long by the sea.

At the mention of Moonglow she responded easily, while Kukutux may or may not agree to the matchmaking she thought that the leader of Moonglow would be willing to meet and discuss with Senmut. "I will let her know and tell her that you may be by in the spring. If you travel north then her territory is called Ourboros Spine, It is just east of the western mountain range's northern tip." While it may have been more convenient if the daughters of Moonwoman had settled all on top of each other each had given the other some room to breathe.

She tilted her head at the mention of the emissaries. They moved quickly but she could appreciate it and that would only allow their trade to begin to flow more quickly and often if the wolves of the packs could see more of what they might gain."They will be much appreciated and we will prepare stones and seashells for your pharaoh and the nursery. If you visit in the spring the elk will have begun to shed their antlers which hold up to the teething of the young if you think that would suit as well?" She queried, light trusting Senmut to know best what would be preferred by the leaders and wolves of Akashingo.

tag for ref :)

senmut put aside this graciously provided information for later perusal. ouroboros spine sounded as if it were a place worth exploring.

"that is very thoughtful, heph. these things will be acceptable. such sheepskins from the steppes can be removed of hair, and the skin beneath is soft almost as the inside of a gumline. perhaps moontide would welcome such things for their own young."

senmut realized in that moment he had not considered such things for himself in a long while, and found the conversation confusing in its earnestness.

"Our mothers would have much use for them." The mention of the sheepskin made Heph curious, their furs were sturdy and comfortable but not so soft and fine as that. Their healers may have special use for such a thing as well as their mothers and she already considered that if Moontide had no children that year that perhaps she could take them to Moonglow, Moonsong, and Moonspear as well.

A moment where matters of business seemed to lull and she hazarded another topic of conversation, somewhat hesitant to be so out of her depth. She did not wish to ask anything taboo but if Akashingo and Moontide were to have further dealings she wished to better understand them and much of the ceremony had been a strange mass of unfamiliar rites to her. "If you'll forgive my forwardness and curiosity, during the ceremony you gave your...Pharaoh" She settled on that title because it had been the one on the invitation, and seemed to be the one most used. "many titles. Have all of Akashingo's leaders had these or did this Pharaoh come by all of her titles individually?" To Heph the blonde gold wolf had not looked older than herself, had seemed young even - what must she have accomplished or done in her life to have garnered so many names if she had earned them all individually?

"not at all. i enjoy speaking of our ways." his smile was true. "our pharaoh is divine, an intermediary between the gods and those of us who are mortal. her father and sister were such before her, as were the princess and princes who did not ascend the throne. today she inherits her father's titles, and those of those before even him. her lineage is ancient."

"what she has done on her own is establish such peace in her realm that muat-riya has come to be fulfilled. her focus has been upon companionship and now trade. she has made her people wealthy and they serve her without question, in complete devotion and love. she has erased many sins made previously in her dynasty. and all as queen, even before this day."

A strange thing to think about and much to consider, but she listened intently. Divinity she supposed she understood, wolves of course saw different shades and pieces of the world suited to their own eyes, some saw beyond it and above it to other things. But were not all lineages ancient? For all wolves sprang from the joining of other wolves and those wolves from those before them and those before them, perhaps though the significance of the lineage was what mattered - after all power ebbed and flowed, to keep in pooling in one spot there must be great depths to plumb.

But peace, trade, companionship, bounty. These things Heph understood, cherished herself - Moontide sought much the same for its own pack and its sisters. Love and devotion without question magnified the sins and the ascendence of the ruler, but this one had already gathered so many wolves in peace and prosperity. She could respect that. "Thank you for your insight, in this case I am glad and honored to see her coronation. Peace and trade strengthen not one's own pack but all those around as well." For as much as she hoped to see Moontide's bounty flow to Akashingo she also felt that any trade would benefit them just as much.

senmut sensed that heph had much considered behind the quiet, intelligent gaze. but he did not ask and she did not extend her mind. perhaps another time; the prince did not think that this would be the last time that they would see one another.

"i agree, and i thank you once more for attending as our first official partner in interland trade."

a voice; at his shoulder, a servant, bowing away.

"lady heph, will you excuse me? i am wanted in the gardens."

his eyes said he was loathe to leave their discourse; he invited her to enjoy herself at great leisure.

"of course, fare well." She offered, watching for a moment the other wolf depart for she had confidence that theirs paths would cross again. While only time would tell if their trade would suit both well she trusted in his assessment of Akashingo and her own in the Moon packs and felt there to be a decent chance of sharing in the prosperity that the pair hoped for each.