Lion Head Mesa weighing feathers

@Foxfur; continued from here

first the stranger called their nurse a warrior. ramesses looked with amusement at jawahir. sayyadina was given a kiss. sayf was coddled against his chest. kasmut was with belen. all was at peace.
secondly the man described the roman quite pointedly. 
but most interesting of all was the mention of crowfeather.
pharaoh looked down thoughtfully at the supplicant. "the one you seek is here. he is recovering from grave wounds. the man you met before was germanicus. he has gone from akashingo to establish our outpost."
he slid from his throne and moved to approach, to catch the tired eyes. "a prince who left his people. why would he leave royalty?"

The Pharaoh was a sharp thing who watched like a hawk with a lazuli stare. Foxfur did not like the feeling of the others’ eyes upon him. They did not say anything, and they had not been introduced, but the man who was called Pharaoh continued to play with them, hold them, press them to his body.

At least information was provided. The man had been a warrior called Germanicus and he had moved to establish an outpost in another territory. More importantly, Crowfeather was there, and he had suffered grave injuries. Foxfur felt his heart lurch and wondered if this was why the wolf called Germanicus had been so staunch in his nature.

The Pharaoh slid from his seat and drew toward Foxfur with a luring stare. He asked why it was that the princeling had run away from his royal line.

I cannot say, Pharaoh. If I had to guess, it would be perhaps that his role in our clan was too great and he was overwhelmed. What he remembered of Crowfeather was enough to piece this together.

May I see him?

ramesses looked at the man. for a moment his lips parted; it seemed as though he would relent.
"no." his gaze swept to the physician. "tavina has given him medicine. he sleeps for now." ramesses circled the man, returned to his throne. "he is a respected person here. and i know nothing about you." his lazuli eyes were hard.
"if he is a prince, then who will pay akashingo for his care? it has been skilled. the queen herself has attended his side."
pharaoh smiled with the smug intention of a man who has maneuvered another into a corner.

How could he have believed it would be simple?

Foxfur sank, his patience rubbed raw. The warrior could not understand why the wolves in this land enjoyed playing with words. The Pharaoh tried to piece rationality into his reasons, but there were none. The man was playing games, and this was clear in the glint that had struck within his gaze.

The warrior watched the Pharaoh return to his throne. When the man spoke again, it garnered a deep frown. Foxfur could not understand what this man wanted.

If he is esteemed as you say, respected by you and your people… I imagine he did not become this way without reason. Surely, the boy has paid his due. Once he has been returned to his father, I am certain that the Starsea’s ruler would have you awarded.

The tired figure tilted his head.

If I did not know better, you have something on your mind that you would like. Let’s hear it.


He tired of talking.

ramesses enjoyed the games. he absorbed the stranger's frustration, growing more glossy and more smug as the corners of his mouth tipped up.
crowfeather was a prince. that made his father a king. he schemed. 
"it is moot for the time being. tomorrow we will meet again and speak. now," and pharaoh felt the fellahin slipping from his embrace to regard the stranger, "you will be bathed and given something to eat. sleep in the caves by the wellspring. one of the beautiful ones will stay with you, if you would like."
their time was over. ramesses had decreed it so. he would delay the as of yet nameless man until temper erupted and pharaoh could leverage his own wants.

Stars, this man was infuriating.

Foxfur watched him carefully before nodding his head.

Very well. We will meet tomorrow. I do not need to eat your foods or to bathe in your waters. I have no interest in adding to the debt that is already owed.

The tired brown of his eyes turned, searching to find someone in the room who would show him where he would be kept. The warrior did not understand what the Pharaoh had meant by having one of the beautiful ones stay with him. The idea sounded repulsive from the man’s mouth, so Foxfur would decline if it was offered to him again.

Which of your warriors will take me?

ramesses laughed as the man cut away his offer and demanded a guard. "you are my guest. these things are given as comforts to those who visit. you have come for the boy, not to stay." but he would not press the hospitality of akashingo. let the man moulder and go to the prince reeking of exhaustion and travel.
"tavina will take you." 
ramesses chuffed for the woman.
"she is the boy's physician. and tomorrow she will take you to his rooms."
so let it be written.
the black wolf came forward. ramesses waved them both away and turned back to his throne.

Tavina would take him.

Foxfur turned to the dark woman who had escorted him from the wilds. She was a physician and a warrior to the man called Pharaoh? How peculiar. The fox-faced man still believed that she had been patrolling the borders in search of him. That she was a protector to the man’s lands. For him to think that she also had skills with healing and mending was almost unfathomable.

Foxfur turned to leave with the medicine wolf. 

Thank you, the warrior offered wearily to the Pharaoh, who seemed to have lost his interest in their speaking. The thanks was only a way of being polite. Foxfur did not like to be in the presence of the man, and he would rather find his way back to Moonglow than to spend another minute in Akashingo.

Crowfeather had been found, and he would be able to see the boy in the morning. It could all be rectified.