Lion Head Mesa Peína

Cold would mean that they needed to stock meats, even the Greek knew this. All he had seen were the lavish foods that the Pharaoh had filled their storerooms with, the berries and fruits, the small number of reserves. Arsenio did not know what they planned for the winter months, but he did not imagine that helping to stock prey was a poor idea.

When Satsu had gone to study with Crowfeather, Arsenio informed her that he would bring her dinner and would work to fill a cold weather cache with meats. The queen had not appeared bothered by this, so the auburn mercenary stepped from his post at her side and vanished into the mesa grounds.

The misthofóros breathed deep, filling his lungs with autumn air. A brisk trot set his limbs working as he aimed himself for the far reaches of Akashingo where he might be able to hunt.

In theory, Nephele knew there was someone new in Akashingo. Several someones, really, besides the bearwolves. A Queen’s Guard, whispered the rumor, a Greek like she had been once.

So, when a crimson specter appeared in her peripherals, the Captain raised her head from the investigation of a hole in the ground, twisting her skull to face it. Was that supposed to be him? Or someone else?

It couldn’t hurt to talk to him.

Χαλάζι!

She hoped this wasn’t about to be awkward.

A woman’s voice called out to him, beckoning him in the tongue of his people. Arsenio turned sharply, the cold blue of his eyes falling on a rather dark figure.

Chairetísmata, the misthofóros returned to her in a graveled voice, rough as it left his lips. He had not believed that he’d met this woman before, but she did seem familiar to him – someone he had seen hanging around the lady Satsu. The Greek man was unbothered by her presence and the queen had not seemed perturbed, so she hadn’t been of much concern to him.

Eíste polý makriá apó ta nerá tis Elládas. Arsenio smiled, somewhere between the daft fool’s grin that he had shown to the Pharaoh and the careful smirk that he had revealed to Tamar.

He greeted her in her language, and she smiled to hear it. It had been such a long time, so long since she’d heard her mother tongue.

To ídio kai esý, katakókkinos ántras She dipped her head, ears facing the taller man with noticeable curiosity.

Sabah, kapetánios tis frourás. Ákousa mésa apó to ampéli óti eísai állos fýlakas.

Arsénio, he corrected her, finding that he would rather have the woman call him by his name than to be dubbed crimson man of Akashingo. The Greek was much more than that. More than a streak of red against a grey sky, he was a hired fang who had been assigned a single task. Nothing else mattered, not even what this woman spoke.

Captain of the Guard, Arsenio sneered softly at this and chuckled. When he fixed his icy gaze on the woman again, he cast a casual shrug of his shoulders. Truth be told, he did not wish to be included in the common man’s rabble. Arsenio was not a wolf to be commanded by this Captain, whoever she was. It did not matter if she was Greek, not to him. He was a demigod, bound for Elysium.

I am the personal guard of the lady Satsu. Assigned to her and only her, Arsenio informed the dark woman with a curt nod. It was clear by the tone in his voice, the way he abandoned their mother tongue so that he could address her in the common language. I am not a member of your guard, Captain. I am not for you to command. 

He held the posture of someone she knew well. It brought a bucket of ice water to her mirth, and sharpened her smile from friendly to calculating.

He was the very thing she fought against so long ago. 

No matter. She held the high ground.

I’m glad to see she has a guard. We are friends, and to have anything happen to her would not be well for Akashingo. He was not hers to command, but he only had one thing tying him here. Perhaps arrogance, or pride, or a misplaced crush. Nephele did not care. All her eyes were on was her job, the pack, and the war bearing pearly teeth coming their way.

The sharp ice of his gaze did not miss the woman’s slight shift in expression. She would watch him closer, he realized, but that didn’t matter.

When the woman spoke again, it was to say that the lady Satsu’s life was important, that she was a friend, that her death or harm would not bode well for Akashingo. Arsenio nodded his head in understanding. It was his understanding that the queen Satsu was a wolf who was admired by her followers, a kind lady in a field of rogues.

For me, her safety is my only task. I will bare fang and claw to ensure her survival and protection in these times of warfare, the auburn male spoke gravely.

Difficult as he was, Arsenio did not shirk his responsibilities. He was a man bound by his work, dutiful to the trials that he accepted. Germanicus had hired him for one thing, to protect the lady of Akashingo, and to report anything back to the Roman. Nothing else mattered, not even finding another Greek.