Lion Head Mesa Lord of honey

It took Atreus two weeks just to get his bearings inside the palace. Actually, he still didn’t know his way around very well—and he’d gotten lost countless times—but he was starting to get the lay of the land. He met a lot of folks wandering the halls and began to understand the hierarchy, though that was a work in progress too. Life here was so different, it would take Atreus a while longer to adjust.

But so far, so good. He ventured through the archway to head outside today for some fresh air and sunlight, although there wasn’t much of that; it was a cloudy day. He found himself striding along the shore of Serpent Lake and thinking of Amalia. He still wanted to go see her, though it felt too soon to ask for leave from Akashingo.

On that note, his mind turned to @Makono. Now that he’d lived among her peoples, in her palace, for many days, he had gotten a better sense of the young pharaoh’s influence. He wondered how someone so young held such power. She fascinated him and Atreus wished he could get to know her better.

Tag is an invitation, not an obligation. This is open to anyone! :)

she welcomed the sight of him at the edge of the lake. a man who had familiarized himself with her lands. good. it meant he did truly intend to work and today she came to him — with a task.

first she would give words of honey.

have you been enjoying akashingo? a purring voice as her features were warm and radiant.

Maybe she had superpowers, which would explain why she appeared only moments later, as if she’d read his mind. It still felt a little strange to bow down to someone his own age, though not in a bad way. It was just different. Atreus dipped his head, his heart suddenly beating a little faster.

Yes. It’s very… He paused, swirling a paw limply in the air as he tried to find the right word. Opulent? Atreus paused again. Anyway, I’m definitely ready to serve, whenever you have a task for me.

He glanced at her from beneath his eyelids, catching a glimpse of her indigo eyes smudged in kohl. They were strikingly pretty. He wondered just how old she was, though he didn’t know if it was his place to ask. Probably not. But maybe if they had a chance to get to know each other a bit better today, he would suss out that information.

opulent.

she laughed, but it was light and bubbly. charmed by him! why had mereo hid this one from her? perhaps germanicus had known how sharply she might sink her claws into him, but his words mattered no more.

after all, he still had not come.

what packs do you know in the area? i am organizing a...scouting mission of great lengths, but i must find out where you will fit.

she motioned for him to join her in recline on a clearing near the edge of the lake.

The cogs in his mind whirred to life at her question. He didn’t know how wide she cast her net, though Atreus could simply tell her everything he knew about the local packs.

I know of Brecheliant, pretty much next door, he said, sure she knew the place. Then there’s Epoch and Paleo in the mountains, near where Mereo used to be. East of the mountains, there’s Swiftcurrent Creek, Kvarsheim and Riverclan.

He felt a little pang when he thought of Amalia and Inkeri, though he quickly put them both from his mind. He needed to make a good impression here in Akashingo, specifically with Makono, and that meant prioritizing whatever task she ended up assigning him.

The Imperator used to talk about big scouting missions, though we never went on one, he mused, wondering now what she meant by “great lengths.” Will you tell me more about it?

Perhaps together they could come up with where Atreus would fit. He still hoped she would tell him a bit more about herself too, though for the moment, he was focused entirely on the possibility of this mission.

he truly was a well of knowledge — and perhaps that was why the roman had kept him from her sights.

i intend to reinforce the relations that akashingo holds, especially with my new rise to pharaoh. she flashed a warm grin, full of the teeth of Sobek. i mean to send a medjay with gifts to those we already know with the news of pharaoh's changing. then i will send another to scout and make contact, perhaps now with the ones you have told me of. was that gratefulness in her voice?

maybe i will send you far in another direction, to sniff out more and come whisper to me their intents.

He recalled hearing whispers of Makono’s recent rise to the throne, though Atreus had tried not to eavesdrop and didn’t know the details. It made sense that she was new to the role and that she would want to inform her allies of the change.

Which packs does Akashingo already have a relationship with? he wondered. I’m happy to do whatever you ask, though I don’t think I’m the best ambassador. That had always been Tierra’s bag. I’m not the greatest spy either, though I’d be happy to work on either one. You just might want to send someone more experienced along with me.

He paused, suddenly wondering if he was speaking too frankly. Atreus thought he would’ve spoken the same way to Germanicus. As much as Atreus fancied the idea of roguery, he was candid to a fault. He had always spoken honestly with his comrades in Mereo, save of course for his name…

brecheliant — and once upon a time, mereo.

and there were plenty of contacts that were supposed to be made, when her father still sat on a throne. perhaps it was for the best that it had been drawn out by a deadly political dance.

if i, say, send you to the sea and you find a pack there, what do you say to them? how do you introduce yourself?

and she looked for honesty now as she stared at him with bright lapis eyes.

He hadn’t expected a role-playing game. Atreus pondered the question, thinking on how he’d introduced himself to other packs in times past. A thought came to him.

I’ve gone to packs in the past and lied about who I was and why I was there. I wasn’t great it, so I could use the practice. Or, he said in the next breath, I could tell them the truth. I would say whatever you wanted me to say to them.

That was the honest truth, though he hoped it also won him some favor. He wanted Makono to like him, not just because she was his leader. She was also a very pretty and powerful lady. Atreus found in himself a strong desire to please her.

and here he spilled plenty of truth. even if it was not the kind she wished to hear. if he was willing to show weakness, she would not turn it away.

practice with me, repeat after me. a slight exhale and soft tip of her chin upward. atreus, emissary of akashingo. she purred these words for him. a title given to him if he listened closely! i have come to deliver a message from the pharaoh.

now you.

If she liked his answer, she didn’t show it. Atreus chewed at the inside of his cheek and paid close attention as she addressed him in turn. She told him what she wanted him to say, so he eagerly rose to the occasion.

Atreus, emissary of Akashingo, he repeated in his usual frank tone, injecting a little bit of imperiousness into it because it really did sound cool. I have come to deliver a message from the pharaoh.

That made him think of the various titles he’d heard for Makono. She had quite a few of them, some very long and hard to remember. If she insisted he memorize any of them, Atreus would do it. And that also gave him another thought.

I feel like only giving a first name sounds sort of informal, he posited, but I don’t have a surname.

Well, his parents had given him Bearclaw, though it wasn’t like Atreus would want to associate with it anymore. He wondered if he could just pick one out of thin air. Or maybe someone like Makono could assign one to him, like Germanicus had done with Icarus.

a boy without a surname!

she wondered at once where he had come from. a bastard born into mereo? surely not, otherwise she would know him! which meant he must have come from somewhere beyond.

one can be made, you know. her eyes twinkled warmly upon his softer features. the high priest who came to you that first day, he knows many names. i can tell him to look and find one for you.

did he fancy the idea or would he rather be his own namemaker?

Yeah, he agreed slowly, alright. That sounds like a plan. What’s his name, by the way? I never caught it…

They’d reached a natural lull in the conversation, meaning Atreus could nudge it in a new direction. He peered up at the gunmetal gray sky for a moment, wondering if it might rain. They could always chat about the weather, he mused with a sardonic tilt to his mouth.

So, how did you become the pharaoh? Atreus instead voiced the question that had been on his mind since the start. If you don’t mind me asking, he thought to add, hoping he wasn’t committing some faux pas.

senmut. her teeth were exposed in a trained smile. but he might like you more if you say hem. a piece of advice for his willingness to work with her here.

although truthfully, she was content to let them sort it among themselves. as long as no one took a grand offesne.

my father was pharaoh before me, his father before him. so on and so forth, her tone conveyed. i was the crown prince, set for the throne and trained to become pharaoh one day. so when his time came, i was the one to ascend to pharaoh.

how horribly minced it was! yet she'd rather hear him ask things then bear down a million things he would not understand.

there is more things, but i do not wish to overwhelm you.

she dared a wolfish wink his way.

The rank passed down from one generation to the next. Makono said it all casually, then winked at him, so Atreus didn’t fully comprehend what that meant until a moment later. When it clicked, his face scrunched.

Does that mean your dad…? he questioned. What about your mom?

He let out a breath. In a manner of speaking, Atreus had lost his own parents. But if he ever wanted to see Aventus, all he had to do was go back to Redtail Rise. He didn’t miss Arielle, since he had no memory of her at all. But he did feel a strange stirring in his chest when he thought of his father, not to mention Ancelin.