Lion Head Mesa silver

the queen was dead. the pharaoh was sundered. akashingo lay in mourning.

for thirty days and nights the palace would mourn the passing of satsu. soldiers from mereo would come to further their investigation. 

and after, she did not know. tavina walked quietly down the hallways, bearing a sleeping potion for the restless, anguished pharaoh.

chihuahuas are a breed notorious for the full-body shaking they tend to fall victim to for a laundry list of reasons, chief among them cold, excitement, hypoglycemia and, yes, - tremendous fear.

gucci looked as if he'd recently licked an electric socket; uncharacteristically unkept, and shivering with each step. he kept so close to the redstone walls he dragged his side along them. his dark eyes were rimmed by bloodshot whites, and the lack of pep in his step had finally quieted his noisy collar.

his gaze was distant, unfocused, and so it was that he didn't even see the sesh until her slender black legs came into view.

he reacted by instantly throwing his head back, spine curved and tail tucked. just a day ago he would've leapt away as if hit, but deep exhaustion made him almost accepting of death's sweet embrace.

but no, it was just tavina. dear, miss tavina.

"oh. ah- um -apologies." his attempt at a laugh came out a choked sound. "a-ah thought fo' sure y'was... uh... nevah'mind." 

he shook his head, which was enough to make him stumble like a drunkard, forward towards the sesh's legs.

"who-wee, guess sleep's still got a hold on lil' ol' me!" the smile on the neb's muzzle was as tired as he.

gucci was worn and skittish. tavina looked gravely down toward him as he inched toward her. there was nothing to fear in akashingo, she felt, not for one who was not born of the royal line. it was the children who were in jeopardy, siptah foremost.

that was how these ugly things worked, after all.

"neb gucci," she greeted in a weary voice, setting aside the carefully mixed portion of medicine. "no one is sleeping, it looks like." she gestured toward her herbs. "i can make you something. you'll be blearier than this in the morning but you will sleep like the d —"

poor choice of words. she closed her eyes and sank down beside him.

her offer was compassionate, and her poor choice of words surprisingly humorous - in a dark sort of way. he managed a sensible nasal exhale.

gucci sat and laid his back against the cool redstone wall. for a while, he did not speak (albeit he still shook). the silence in the company of one he trusted was more claiming than any spoken reassurances could be, he found. he could almost forget the cause of his frayed nerves.

from somewhere far above, came a howl. it moved trough the mesa like a wraith on an agenda, filling every crevice. the neb shivered, more strongly again.

"the pharaoh's heartbroken." the teacup man stated. it was as dispassionate an observation as any. "you was gon' see 'im?" he chined towards her laid-aside medicine. "he still got you runnin' errands?" that ain't right.

gucci was shaking. tavina moved closer, offering the brush of her thicker fur. even her warm-season pelt would afford more heat to him than his own small body. "he doesn't decide what i do," the sesh said with a sardonic tilt to her mouth. "but yes, i am taking this to him. he needs to sleep. he will be of no worth to akashingo if he does not."

tavina blinked. "i know we have another prince but what you might consider is offering yourself as an advisor to ramesses. he is brash. headstrong."

she had no right to arrange such things. and yet she would.

it was not the temperature which so rattled his frame, but gucci was grateful for the offer of plush, warm wolfcoat all he same. as she'd said what her business for the gold-caped man was, he buried his face in her side - whatever he could reach at his diminutive height - and exhaled.

"mabbe he needs akashingo more than th' other way 'round." gucci pulled out his snout and set his lower jaw on his friend's fur, looking up. "mebbe we failed 'im, n his queen too. between you n me-" he adjusted his position. "- they was both a lil' demandin', their lil' ones too, but ain't nobody ever well earned such tragedy."

gucci would've been content to close his eyes and enjoy the moment as long as it lasted, but then tavina said something that had his head raising and his batty ears turning.

"advisor?!" he was baffled, and looked at the sesh with mouth agape, eyes wide and brows furrowed. "lil' me?! wha', so he can chew on me when ponderin' politiks?!" the chihuahua shuffled backwards, shaking his head. "miss tavinah, ah hope y' comprehend ahm jus' a dag, fly-small too, n ah don't rightly think any input o' mine would amount t' more than a buzz in his howliness's ears."

it was her turn to snort in amusement, though she did not do more than that. it occurred to her belatedly that gucci was quite shaken. she was unused to the trembling. but slowly their mutual energies warmed more than the air. 

she shifted.

"a fly-small dog with an eye for details and slow to wrath," the sesh murmured. "and no, they didn't earn it. but now ramesses will look for it, and take all of us with him." she exhaled slowly. "just consider it. he has no one near him who doesn't fawn over his every whim. we need a pharaoh, not a spoiled boy."

siptah could be taught to respect gucci also, which bode well for the future of the palace. but tavina would not press.

he had a rather childish expression on his face, brows furrowed and lips tightened, not with sternest but with attempt to nullify a bashful smile that would otherwise melt the displeased look right off his features.

the offer, no matter how clear-sky-thunder sudden, unpredicted and likely not thought trough, made him feel... appreciated. as if in all his months of nibbling on raw meat and disturbing the harmony of akashingo with his tinkling dogtag and squaky barking, he somehow managed to leave enough of a positive mark to be even considered for such a position.

his tail beat against the ground, and gucci adjusted his thigh as to sit on it.

"well, 's nice the offer is, ahm concerned that ah wouldn't be much besides a handsome figurehead, miss tavinah."

a pause.

"...y' know what a parrot is? 's a pretty bird tha' can be taught t' sit on its owner's shoulder n repeat any phrase it's heard. unfortunately, it cannot learn any new words on its own." gucci gave tavina a look. "would th' godly king evah think mah unique thoughts worth his hearin'?"

"well, i think it will be more than a bit of an uphill battle. but i think that in itself will distinguish you from the others. pharaoh is unused to having more than servants and yes-men around him. be that voice and i believe the rest will follow."

tavina expected gucci's hesitance to continue. she grinned at the description of a parrot, shaking her head slightly. "i've never heard that. but that's essentially what it's like to be favored at court. you are always agreeing with the opinion of the person above you."

she examined two cracked claws on her right forepaw and sighed. "is it bad i'd like another servant or two around? just someone to maybe train."

gucci's brows were once more drawn, this time in thoughtful consideration. 

he was satisfied with his position and life in akashingo so far - minus the disaster of a royal murder. there was no need for him to climb higher, no greed or at least ambition. and yet, he saw now that he was threatened by stagnation. 

it wasn't the same kind of feeling he had while still a cherished pet, that carefree attitude and laziness. here, there was no soft-handed giantess to teach and protect him, the world beyond his door wasn't incomprehensibly complex and disinterested in his words and workings. his actions actually had weight to them, and the serenity he'd tried to imagine protected him could so easily be shattered like most delicate porcelain.

gucci looked back up at tavina.

"ah shall consider it." he said with a serious nod.

then, he noticed he'd stopped shaking.

the chihuahua let himself relax, laying down again, curled tail at ease and wrapped about his thigh.

"nawt th' least. th' fell-ah-heen're fine, but 's obvious we need a few more. t' keep things runnin' smooth." he stretched his forelegs, feeling them make satisfying pops. "y' think we could, uh, start some kinda apprenticeship program? we got allies, yea? we ask 'em t' send their kids over n we teach 'em 'bout life n manners n housekeepin'."

tavina nodded. "that would be good. i imagine that the pharaoh might extend the offer to brecheliant. but no other pack i know of keeps servants."

her tone was musing. akashingo did not hold slaves, though to outward appearance it might seem so. "pharaoh wants all of us to teach his kids. i wonder what they'll come to you for, what do you think?"

tavina wanted to hear his voice again; she wanted to put away any talk of the dead queen.

"well, lis'en 'ere, we don't need t' say they're servants, git it?" he wagged his brows. "we jus' say, bring us your kids, we gon' teach 'em some manners n proper domesticity, n th' parents agree coz what child don't need be taught some proper behavin'?" he continued the brow-wagging, his suggestions obviously humorous.

ah, the royal brood. handsome babes, but obviously a tad spoiled by their... well, everyone.

"hmmm, if ah had t' make some educated guesses, ah'd say advanced self-groomin', sprint-talkin' n inherent handsomeness." the dog raised his chin with a haughty expression.

then giggled to himself, kicking a hindleg.

"ahhh, fer serious tho', ah do think all ahve t' offer t' such non-dog children's some learnin' 'bout knowin' your position. confidence when big n important, but awareness o' who's bigger n importanter than you in th' room. saved mah butt on a few occasions, tell ya that."

tavina let the sound of gucci's drawling humour tug her a little, bit by bit, back toward some semblance of self herself. she could not help but laugh. "are you advocating child labour, sir gucci? say it isn't so." but her dark violet eyes were filled with amusement. "we could market akashingo as a finishing school," the sesh whispered conspiratorially.

advanced self-grooming, sprint-talking, and inherent handsomeness. that last one provoked a little twitch of her lips. "i agree with all your areas of expertise," tavina said dryly.

the seriousness also gleaned a look of solidarity. "pharaoh's children must learn to be wiser than him. their childhood will not any easier than it is now."

gucci gathered his forelegs close to his chest, miming how a human man would offendedly place a hand upon his breast.

"miss tavinah, what kinna man ya take me for!" he said with mock insult.

then, he joined in on his friend's whispering. "yes, yes. send us your young ladies n gents, n 'fter a bit o' janitorial work, they'll be ready t' be most pristine spouses this side o' the mountains."

he nodded in reply, returning to sobriety. 

"ah fear ahm nawt sure wha' kinna future's there fer 'em. akashingo's so unlike any stories o' wolf society ahv heard. what kindsa duties shall they have until their father... perishes?" the last word was spoken with uncertainty, aware that talk of dead royals so close to another's murder would be a sensitive topic.

"janitorial work," tavina chuckled in spite of herself and this and really everything that had gone on. it was good to find even a moment like this. "well, when his daughters are old enough, he'll presumably marry them off in whatever way benefits him best. his son will busy himself with studies and training and endlessly fighting off the younger brothers who want to kill him."

and just like that their discourse was dark again. she closed her eyes. "and if ramesses lives out his life, siptah will be a man in his prime when he is made pharaoh. and if he does not, then the prince will be a small boy on a throne too large for him." there was no childhood for any three of them.

gucci made.. a face... at the casual mention of fratricide and child kings.

he imagined more politiks and social training and brattiness for the three of them, not... that.

he bit his lip. "do- ... do y' think akashingo'd persist if that happened? if we had a boy on th' throne?" 

he thought of the plots of all the shows and movies he'd watched from the crook of his Ma's arm. wars and conspiracies. heirs paying to see their cousins and brothers killed. horrible things that happen to those caught in the crossfire, no matter their innocence.

gucci's look of shock was so piercing that tavina found herself laughing once more.

"a boy on the throne means a more easily controlled king. then the fight would be to see who got to operate siptah like a puppet."

she drew a breath. "i need to get to pharaoh." her voice was apologetic as she stood to her paws. but tavina lingered, regretful to pull away from him. "i'm glad you're here."

he still worried, but her laugh rung in his ears. it was a good sound. made the palace seem less bleak, no matter the inappropriateness.

"well, ah hope there'll be if nawt no more, then a lil' less misery for th' kids."

tavinah had to be on her way. gucci likewise rose, adjusting his flattened plumage.

her words brought him a smile. "likewise." the teacup man drawled.

"a friend like you's worth a thousand akashingos."