Lion Head Mesa And which is to remain unknowable and unremembered

Aventus hadn't thought of Evien in some time, but the distant smell of flowers in the chambers he paced brought the deceased medic to mind. It was both a fond and sorrowful memory. Despite being the bringer of his death via the bear, Aventus had never wanted Evien to die. He was commanded, he still believed, and thus did not blame himself, but still mourned the loss of a great wolf. The man had saved his life. Twice, without his knowing of the first.

What would Evien have done and said in these circumstances? He knew the medic would not balk at a fight with the Saints. The man would be here with them now, if not for the will of the bear. Aventus wished he could channel the levelheadedness of the former advisor and Bruin-leaf and steer his family the correct way, but he was still only a boy. Rage and grief boiled in him and it was all he could do to keep himself from flying off the handle, let alone the others.

Here in unfamiliar lands, among unfamiliar wolves, it was somehow easier to keep his head. He turned a corner in the chambers, unwittingly drawing near the sickbed of one of Akashingo's who had also suffered Nyra's wrath.

maggie still had not stirred. ramesses had long since given up hope that she would. his day to day thought did not now always entertain the poor scrap of white fur lying maimed and silent upon what would be her deathbed.
and still he visited from time to time, dampened and fragrant from his baths. it was one such hour. pharaoh leaned over the woman and smelled the sickly sweet creeping of her rotting, half-stitched wounds.
outside the entrance was a flicker of black fur. thinking only that it was dutiful crowfeather, ramesses raised his head. "enter, physician." a command, as most of his speakings were these days.

The command from within the room pried Aventus from his thoughts. He tilted back his ears, perplexed. Of course Akashingo would have its own leader, but no one informed the Bruin-jaw he would be expected to heed any but his father for the duration of their stay here. The very notion of obeying anyone but Merrick and Astara — her name crossed his mind with a sickening wrench — was ludicrous to him.

Aventus peeked around the corner all the same, fixing silver eyes to the one they called Pharaoh. The man reminded him at once of the girl in the north, damnably so. The golden highlights of her coat were very subtle, but enough to catch an interested boy's eye. Ramesses was gilded in a more blatant manner, and yet it was Phaedra he thought of, and struggled to keep a scowl concealed.

This was a man, however, and Aventus was not moved in the same manner by men. He let his eyes drop to the scrap of wasting white fur in the center of the room, blinking once at the sight of a wolf still alive who looked so very dead. Interesting. I am no physician, he announced, only a watcher and a walker. Aventus had no idea what they were even doing here, much less what his role was to be, but physician? Even if he had been thinking of Evien and wishing he could be more like the late healer just now, it was not his calling in the slightest.

it was not crowfeather at all. ramesses lifted his head and regarded the dark young wolf who spoke to him in such a way.
where the royal physician was careful and hesitant, this watcher and walker bore the stamp of wildness. silvercoin eyes and finely made features decorated the hard body.
he did not belong to them, and would have not been allowed in the palace was he not affiliated in some way. "you are one of ursus." ramesses set his stare upon the stranger's pretty face, gauging him for a sign that the assumption was incorrect.
"well then, watcher, come and see. walk here and look at what the saints have done."
pharaoh lightly peeled back the dressing of cobwebs and herbs, exposing the ooze of the hairline. a yellow reek entered the air. maggie's breath had become a rattle. 
"nyra mauled her. i was before her and she chose to crack the skull-pan of a woman so small instead." it was not grief in the royal's voice, but restrained anger.

Yes, he confirmed, stepping quietly out of the doorway and into Pharaoh’s scrutinizing gaze. The rotting stench of Maggie’s flesh was evident even before the dressing was removed, but it filled the air when her wound was exposed. Aventus was used to the reek of death and did not outwardly react, but inwardly, he cringed to know she lived still.

Aventus of Ursus, he introduced himself as he rounded Maggie’s other side and stood across her body from the leader of Akashingo. Pharaoh was perfumed with the scent of flowers and his followers, pretty enough, if one was inclined in that fashion. It was a scent he found unpleasant, but did not wrinkle his nose at it. Ramesses’ eyes were lapis lazuli, almost as deep and vibrant as Astara’s had been, and he averted his gaze as much from grief as common courtesy.

Nyra, he repeated in a quiet tone. She boasts like a warrior but you will find no bigger coward. She targets those smaller and weaker than herself. He could not keep himself from sneering at the thought of her. Of course she would go for a smaller wolf when a larger threat presented itself. Pathetic. She attacked me once. I was only four months old.

ramesses mercifully lay maggie's shroud back over the addled features. his silken ears tilted toward the boy with the moon for eyes with a definite interest at this piece of news. "until this moment i had not known why ursus and the saints were ever at war. i only knew that they had moved to follow you. i was one of them for a time. she loathed me."
the sharp white teeth shone in a diamondback grin. "if she is willing to attack children and those without her height and bulk, then she is more mad than i believed possible."
ramesses rounded the end of maggie's charnel bed and stood before the darkfeather wolf. "merrick is your father?" he asked, believing it so. "she attacked his son and has killed his wife. he must want for a fitting vengeance."
the one-eyed prophet was crazed and addled. this wolf of ursus spoke in clearer words. perhaps ramesses might use him to pry out merrick's purpose.

They were our allies once, or so they claimed, said Aventus. He had not liked the Saints from first meeting. Now he knew it was their inevitable deceit he was sensing as a boy. His arrogance was in believing that he could sense these things at all, for he was mistaken about his sister, and yet he believed her a traitor from the moment she came to visit him in Evien's ward. They came to Ursus at my father's invitation. Nyra disrespected my queen mother on our very doorstep.

Then she came again to our border with false apologies. I knew it to be a lie and did not accept it. She showed her true character then. In hindsight, it was Aventus' fault for targeting Nyra, but even then, it took a special sort of unhinged wolf to slam a child into the ground that way. She could easily have evaded his teeth and scruffed him. Instead, she showed them all the coward she was, and single-handedly destroyed the alliance.

We demanded her head. They would not comply. The alliance ended, and we moved on from that. He snorted. They did not. Now they have killed my mother, and your wolf as well. He indicated Maggie. The woman might breathe still, but death couldn't be far from her now. Nyra was there. She always wanted my mother's flesh. He couldn't prove it, but he believed the white fur at the scene was damning evidence enough. Even if Nyra wasn't actually there, he was content to blame her anyway.

She was sick. She would have killed Nyra if she was well, he shared. Another cowardly move by Nyra, targeting a sick wolf who would otherwise have effortlessly carved the throat of the winter bitch. Perhaps it was unwise to tell Pharaoh all this, but they were allies for now, were they not? He did not trust this gilded serpent-tongue king, but he did not feel the same immediate aversion he had when meeting Donovan. That had to count for something. He wasn't in his right mind, either, mired in his own hidden grief as he was. My father deserves to take her head more than anyone, he said, and believed it wholly.

aventus of ursus spoke steadily and openly. he detailed the history unknown to pharaoh before this time. he detailed the portrait of nyra that ramesses had already sketched during his time in the strath. a false ally. a disrespectful ally. a woman who mauled children. 
and the sick.
anger festered far below pharaoh's cool surface. how long had nyra been allowed to roam in this way? the saints were powerful. the packs he did not yet know had not stopped their advance.
"we will stamp them out," ramesses said, his voice a hardened plinth of iron. "save for her head, which belongs to ursus."
he looked at maggie again. "you might have enjoyed her, aventus. she was charming. sharp-tongued. skilled. fearless."
he wanted to leave the sickroom now, and stepped toward the door with the expectation that the ursus wolf might follow.

Ramesses' resolve was the clang of a forging hammer as it met the anvil, the decisiveness of which struck a chord in Aventus as well. The Saints had overplayed their hand this time and picked battles on too many fronts, and now their demise was imminent. While he could feel very little in the wake of his mother's murder, Aventus was bolstered by Pharaoh's confidence.

Ah, said the boy, glancing once at the felled Maggie before moving to follow. He felt warmth in his cheeks at the thought of certain similar women, and his voice stuck a little in his throat. I cannot say I enjoy sharp-tongued, fearless women much.

Fearless, maybe, but those descriptors only made him think of Phaedra once more. She made his blood run hot, but he couldn't say it was enjoyable. Infuriating, more like. He blinked in the gloom of the chamber and peered past Pharaoh's shoulder, curious where they might be headed. They are troublesome, he elaborated, and hoped it was not clear that he had been teased and embarrassed once or twice by such a woman.

ramesses looked at the impertinent boy with the odd tastes. "from the look of your father one would think he had begotten you all with his beloved bears. perhaps you prefer their women." it was a cruel tease, but he meant it amusingly. the ursus wolves were savage heathens, or so he had thought before this meeting.
"the most troublesome women bring the greatest level of pleasure. you would know this to be true had you known one such as maggie."
they drifted toward his throne room. ramesses gave a soft order aloud that a meal be brought. it seemed his words would only hang in the air, but they had been heard. "you are your father's heir?" he inquired conversationally, wondering what sort of titles the son of a prophet might have.

Aventus failed to find the humour in the man's joke. Bruins were large and imposing, but lumbering and lazy. The sows were the wild ones, unpredictable and quick to anger when cubs were about. He remained silent and impassive while the punchline sailed right over his shadowed brow.

He understood the meaning of the rest well enough, if not from experience. He didn't want to admit to a man whose whole life seemed steeped in pleasures that he had never had a woman and would not know. He only knew that the thought of a mouthy one beneath him stirred something wild in him, but their cheek and sass stripping him of his masculinity was enough to make the very idea unpleasant. Better a meek one to bend and obey his every command, or so he thought, but he knew little of pleasures.

The only one I have met like Maggie made me feel like a little boy, he said, without meaning to admit that at all. Damn his wandering mind. He had not been right with himself since witnessing Astara's shredded corpse. They entered a spacious room and Aventus watched shadows flit away at the corners at Pharaoh's command. He wondered what it must be like to command that level of respect. It was enchanting, and unsettling, to think of servants.

I try to be so, said Aventus, settling down on his stomach. The stone was pleasantly warm. I think he would prefer my sister, however. But it is I who stands at his side now.

"you are far from a boy, aventus," ramesses assured. 
in accordance with his command, there were two piles of the fermented berries and a pair of legs from a hare, laid out upon a piece of pelt.
the young wolf flowed with tidbits, all of which were delightful to pharaoh. first to know that the mad bearman prized a girl over his impressive and handsome son. she must have been quite the wild oracle to command merrick's attention. interesting to note that ursus did not seem to be a patriarchy, despite what he had assumed.
pharaoh reclined smoothly upon one hip, chewing a piece of meat. "while you are here, you are my guest. akashingo has its own ways of welcoming a guest."
he paused to observe aventus.

It took a great deal of care to conceal his wariness while he looked over the presented meal. Aventus was fortunate then that his gift was in controlling his features and showing only what he wished to. The rabbit haunch appeared untainted, but it was hard to tell under the berries.

He was just as careful to not appear suspicious, but it was only after Pharaoh indulged that Aventus scooped the haunch toward him. It said something about the lavish state of Akashingo that they could spare this food for those camped at their outskirts, especially berries, favoured by bears. Did Ramesses know that?

He failed to catch the man's meaning, instead believing he referred to the meal. Bruin-jaw dropped his head low over the meat in an effort to appear gracious. The bear thanks you for the hospitality you show to his followers. It is not our way to be generous, and more than we would expect of others. Surely there would be a price to pay for this, but maybe all they wanted was Saints blood.

It might be more than Ursus was willing to pay otherwise.

the bear, the bear, the bear.
ramesses was intrigued and annoyed by this handsome young barbarian.
"i do not know your god. but i will accept your thanks, aventus."
after a time he summoned jawahir with a chuff of his nostrils. the fellahin stood close at hand, though their eyes lingered with open interest on the ursine wolf.
"the jewel of akashingo." ramesses smiled, seeking the younger man's gaze. "perhaps you might be toured while you are here. to the wellspring." a pause. "to our honeycombing of caves. there might be sweeter fare to be had in that place."
pharaoh was amused, anticipatory as he awaited aventus' dawning awareness, which he felt might surely come now.

For a short time, the boy enjoyed his meal in silence, but his thoughts never left the cost of all this. He would have to repay these Akashingo wolves someday for feeding Ursus, at the very least. The floral fragrance of their tunnels rendered him noseblind, and their keen eyes on him made his pelt prickle, but for all his distrust, Ramesses and his lot were generous. If the roles were reversed, Aventus was certain they would have been made to camp outside Silvertip Mountain and provide their own food.

Soon he would learn of the pleasure palace that was Akashingo, in truth. Ramesses beckoned forth a small creature, and only then did Aventus realize the servants were in fact coyotes. Intrigue and disgust alike curled in his throat as he pinned his eyes on Jawahir. He thought it must be due to the flowers that he couldn't tell by scent whether Jawahir was a male or female, but assumed from Ramesses' suggestive tone that she must be a woman. A woman he meant Aventus to ... engage?

But she was a coyote. On several occasions he had killed coyotes for the lesser creatures they were, and felt open disdain for them, despite the way their blood made his body feel. That same confusion swirled in him now, stoked by the temptation Ramesses subtly offered. All it took was a mere suggestion and he could feel heat pooling in his belly with an insistence that made him shift in place. It was wrong, wasn't it? And yet ...

Are all your jewels coyotes? he wondered, ignoring the way his ears grew warm with Jawahir's steady eyes on him.

"most of them." pharaoh thought of tamar, how she was both. she did not belong to him and yet she did, she would. 
ramesses studied the boy for a long moment, one gravid with knowing. "we have an accord, i and they. they serve me. and they serve those to whom i give my favour."
aventus, surely, understood the ramifications of pharaoh's voice by now. ramesses smirked and pushed away what remained of his meal, now not so so hungry for that.
"consider my offer confirmation of akashingo's alliance with ursus."
the lapis eyes gleamed.
"be a good emissary for your bear god."

They were only coyotes, he supposed. Anything that happened here would mean nothing, not that there was any reason for him to hesitate for that reason. Phaedra's stubborn eyes drifted across his mind again, followed confusingly by Arielle's. Part of him felt guilty when he met Jawahir's eye and both faces curled away like smoke on a breeze.

His meal was forgotten as well. Silence yawned between him and Ramesses. He licked his lips quickly, hoping to hide the eagerness from the pair of them. Eager, and disgusted with himself. Grief and stress had their claws in him, breaking down the restraint he might otherwise have shown. They left him with an emptiness he was desperate to fill with some other distraction. That was originally what made him wander in the halls.

His tongue rasped against the roof of his dry mouth. A tour, he agreed hoarsely. Yes. I should like that. What would Ramesses think of Aventus if he roughed up his precious jewel, or any of the servants? It would be all too easy to lose himself and thrash a coyote, confusing lust and aggression as he did with their kind ... he prayed he could keep hold himself and seize the distraction without any accompanying destruction.

But if he did lose control ... Well, they were only coyotes.

ramesses gave an indulgent smile. there was a series of cracks now in the bear-boy's veneer. jawahir would pry them farther apart. then let pharaoh see the true face of the ursus wolf.
he waved the jewel closer with a movement of his head. the harlot's slim muzzle skimmed his own ear, and then intrigued, alluring movements carried the fellahin closer to the bruinwolf.
"treat him well. show him everything."
his eyes would follow the pair as they left his throne room, and then he would call another of his servants forward: an ouroboros of lust that fed upon each sated energy within the palace.

This was a mistake. He knew that in his bones, just as he knew he must not speak of this to anyone. The thought that he should turn away and return to his own kin was fleeting. Aventus could not trust Ramesses to keep this secret. It would become something for pharaoh to hold over his head, and Ursus as a whole.

He knew all this, but his head felt muzzy and his legs moved of their own accord. Jawahir's hips went side-to-side as she led him from the throne room with a pair of silver eyes following like a pendulum. He let himself be pulled away to the pleasure rooms as surely as if he had a ring in his nose with a tether to Jawahir's tail. He couldn't stop himself if he tried, despite the shame he might feel later.

His ten second virgin performance was rather unimpressive, but at least it was quiet, and he managed not to wring the coyote's neck to boot.