Redsand Canyon Mikró

Work, work, work – it was all there was to be done in Mereo.

Arsenio padded quickly through the canyon with a large rabbit stuffed between his teeth. His eyes glittered boyishly as he went. He had just filled a prey store with small animals. It had taken him since sunup to complete the task, but he had earned his rest for the evening. The hare was a prize for himself and his wife.

Bouncing the last few steps, Arsenio poked his head into their den before shuffling inside and placing the prey on the floor where it would not get in the way of much. His glacier gaze scoured the room for @Tamar.

tamar was jealous.

aquene was married! lady ruenna carried children. but tamar remained as unchanged as ever.

she had taken to staring ruefully at herself in the water outside the tablinum.

aquene had said that her time would come. but tamar had grown doubtful.

still she turned with a smile upon her face for her husband and his gift. "arsenio. i want to find something to give the matrona."

Tamar smiled to him and approached. She wished to find a gift for the Imperator’s wife. Arsenio thought it curious, but he did not argue against it. The man only tilted his head slightly and grinned.

A gift, yes, what would you like for her, my love? Something special, hm?

The redstone figure stepped into the room and pressed his nose to her cheek. This was important to her, so he did not want to brush it aside. It had been the first thing she’d mentioned, after all. Arsenio wondered how long she had been thinking about the lady Ruenna. He had not spent very much time with her, but he knew that she was important to Tamar. Arsenio was agreeable with anything his wife desired.

tamar kissed him back.

"well. she is practical." she paused, humming lightly.

"but, she is going to be a mother." tamar blinked.

"i would like to find a pretty bird and take the featherskin to her. something large enough to be used, but lovely enough to be a decoration."

her teeth glimmered in a smile. "it is quite a demand. what do you think, zawji?" her face faded then; tamar had not spoken in this way since speaking with jawahir, or she could not recall.

Tamar had given it some thought. She wanted to gift the Matrona with a large, feathered bird, something that could be both practical and pleasant to the eye. Arsenio thought it was sweet of her, wanting to do something for the Imperator’s wife. When Tamar turned to ask what he thought, he sucked in a mouthful of air and then exhaled it slowly.

I think that my wife is thoughtful and kind.

Then, Arsenio chuckled softly to her. The word she had used was unfamiliar, but he did not mind it – not when she looked at him that way.

I will be your champion! Which bird is most fitting for the lady Imperator? Arsenio would hunt it down and would be sure to leave its feathers in a fine state.

"you are indeed my champion."

and he had always been this to her. 

tamar frisked beside him for a thoughtful moment. "i saw mountain bluebirds some mornings ago. perhaps we might find their nest. they are a bit small, however."

she winked slyly. "i will have to take more than one for my plans. are you prepared to climb quite high today, soldier?"

The man beamed at her confirmation, pleased to be considered a champion to her. Pleased, still, by the loving light of her gaze as she considered her plans. Arsenio gravitated toward her, drawn by her words and her fragrance.

Perhaps the bluebirds for the lady’s children? Small gifts for small treasures, he thought aloud, canting his head this way and that in wait for her thoughts. The bluebirds could make for nice items for puppies. Arsenio thought that he could get a larger bird’s cloak for the lady Imperator. A gold-red hawk’s feathers would compliment the blue.

Bluebirds for babies and… a hawk for the lady mother? Arsenio nudged Tamar softly. I will soar to the peak and back again, my love.

"small gifts for small treasures." 

tamar said it aloud and chuckled. her husband was filled with such gems of speaking. "yes. i think that is best." her eyes sparkled. "but how will the soldier of mereo find a hawk?"

she looked up and up, lifting a paw to shield her eyes from the sun.

"how high he means to fly! is he not afraid of catching fire?" she laughed again.

The man’s tail flagged, pleased to hear that she liked his idea, that he could help. Her gold-warm features shifted up to search the sky. She shielded her face from the light of the sun. Arsenio could not pull his gaze from her, even then. Tamar was radiant, she was everything, and she made him whole.

Icarus was a fool, the Greek man said with an impish smile.

I have seen hawks hunting, diving from the top of the canyon to the floor for prey. If I must, I will wait for them to strike and I will strike in the same moment. Arsenio shifted his gaze to the ridges of the canyon walls, thoughtful. Or, perhaps, we could take a climb.

Back to Tamar, the cool blue in his gaze rested upon her features.

I will shower you in kisses while we watch the sun set.

icarus. she grinned. 

arsenio was swift in mind as well as body. and tongue, she recalled with a vivid and shy shiver.

tamar pressed against him as he spoke. "i will climb with you. i must earn these kisses," she declared, dashing off in the following moment.

she would wait for him at the base of a path, pulling playfully at his nape with her teeth as they wended higher.

Pressed to his side and then fluttering away, Tamar was gone before he could breathe her in. The man followed without hesitation. If asked, he would have said that she had earned a lifetime of kisses and a sea of adoration. For what she had endured before her arrival in Mereo, he did not imagine she deserved anything less.

At the base of the path, he nudged her cheek, taking his turn to dart ahead of her. The man wanted to show off for his wife, to make her pleased. He took a risk and leapt a gap in the rock, wagging his tail when he landed on the other side. There was a path that would allow for easier access. Arsenio simply could not shake the energy from his limbs. He waited until she had crossed to where he stood.

I know the lady Imperator is your friend and she is good to you. What of the others? Aquene? Towhee? He wanted to know that Tamar had relationships in Mereo. He wanted her to feel loved by all who met her.

she watched him with adoration.

arsenio was strong. he moved with grace and an ease she had not seen in him during the time at the palace. those months seemed so long ago now, and yet sometimes when she woke in the night, she knew she was back inside the stone cloisters of the pleasure-dens.

but she was not.

tamar was here. "aquene is my friend. towhee is also my friend. but i think aquene and i — maybe it is different. she is younger." but tamar was the youngest of this four. "i like them all."

Arsenio grinned to her. It made his heart light to hear that she had made friends with several of the other women in Mereo, that she had found others who were gentle and good. He listened as his wife spoke of Aquene and nodded his head gently.

Aquene is a good woman. She is kind and she is caring. She has the heart of a healer and the spirit of a fighter. It makes me very happy to hear that you like them, Tamar. It makes me happy… Just to know that she was away from the pits of Akashingo and the gaze of its sharp-tongued ruler. Arsenio would never have imagined that their lives would have carried them there, together. He could only thank the gods for the fortunes he had been shown.

I like Towhee. She is fiery and unexpected. The redstone wolf chuckled warmly. He had grown to like a number of the Mereo wolves. They were something of a family to him.

the former servant laughed at the mention of towhee.

"she is very funny! and she is strong but she does not speak so formally. she is a woman but she is rough like a soldier." tamar chuffed and nipped at the fur of his nape, running in a small semi-circle around arsenio.

being with him made her feel free.

arsenio provided her with a feeling that even mereo had yet to bestow.