Firefly Glen [PHE] sweet grain

"who's that?" the young brecheliant woman asked of no one in particular. her children had run off to join another group of young ones, near the moonglow camp. and it was in that direction chickadee had gone.
fanfare and organized marchers marked the second day. she watched in open admiration as the retinue of royals disembarked, her eyes drawn to a tall figure of dark marble who gave certain orders. more were given by his counterpart, a woman who resonated with so powerful a beauty that chickadee was suddenly self-conscious.
yet unable to keep her curiosity from announcing itself, she stole forward, tongue tying in her mouth as one of the group seemed to turn toward her.

Akashingo, Killdeer answered her query, being the closest to hear it. Specifically, I'm not sure. Looks like one of them must be the Pharaoh, which is what they call their leader.

They'd brought a sizable contingent with them, so their numbers must be strong. Killer would never forget his brief time in the red chambers. He had never before experienced anything like the mesa, and perhaps never would again.

He turned to the young woman, smiling at the sight of her. How are you, Chickadee? It's been a little while since we've spoken. She was as kind and sweet as both of her parents; his heart ached a little to think of Eljay and Maia, and he silently, fervently wished them well.

akashingo.
"have you been there?" she asked, searching among them for this pharaoh. but the moonthorn was only curious up until killdeer turned the spotlight on her. "oh! well, we've been good. brecheliant is quiet and the kids are growing up so fast," chickadee sighed. "mama is auspex again and daddy, well. he's teaching me medical stuff," she said, though her face might suggest a wistful aspect to this bit of information.

I have, Killdeer replied, but then the conversation flipped to Brecheliant. I'm glad to hear it. I was sorry to leave y'all, but Daddy duty called. 

For most of his time in Moonspear, he hadn't regretted that decision. He still didn't, for the most part; the myriad children gave him great joy and purpose. But Sialuk's standoffish nature regarding their relationship had soured his attitude somewhat, and it had him wondering 'what if?' on several sleepless nights.

He sighed quietly, and noted the odd tone in Chickadee's voice as she spoke of Eljay. Maybe they both had things they were grappling with.

There's nothing quite like Akashingo, he said, switching topics once more. I was there for a bit as a guardian, during my time in Mereo. There was an alliance, and trouble in the pack. Lots of politics—but lots of pleasure, too.

It was altogether too complicated a place for Killdeer long-term, but he hadn't minded dipping his toe into the maelstrom for at least a little while.

"and i can't blame you very well for that, can i?" she asked in jest, eyes shining. their words moved back to akashingo and she found herself quite interested. "politics? what kind of politics? and mereo —?" she asked, trying to think if she'd ever heard any of these things.
perhaps she had only forgotten! but killdeer here was now to jog her memory, and she looked forward to hearing tastier details of the rich nation.

He always forgot Chickadee was a year his junior, mature as she was for her age. She had been just a child during the events described, and so he made a noise of apology and began to go mentally back, trying to sort through it all. He was pretty young himself when it had all gone down.

Some sort of conflict, Killer started off, a bit vague. Oh, Mereo was a pack in the mountains—very warlike. We trained to be soldiers. And they had an alliance with Akashingo—that's what I mean by politics, he added. Akashingo has a lot of connections and allies. They're also a kingdom, so there's always things happening as far as, you know, who's in power and all that.

Again. . .a little beyond his scope. He preferred the simplicity of traditional wolf hierarchy, where you always knew where you stood. Intriguing as the palace had been, he did not much yearn to return.

I'm sure they've got some juicy stuff happening even now, he added, chuckling.