Silver Creek ithaca

Though the Queen had yet to signal her return, Korinna flitted in and out of the den like a frantic moth. To the nearby woodlands, she carried heaps of old, dry leaves and debris in her mouth. The den, long since dug under the shelter of solid rock and boughs of cedar by beings other than she, was the only one of appropriate size to serve a Queen—and a potential consort, but Korinna pushed that thought from her mind for the moment.

@Thalassa had not seen fit to take her with her on her latest journey. Instead, Korinna had been entrusted with the care of their home. Oh, but it was a mess! Unacceptable! Inexcusable!

The weight of the task sent her dainty paws scurrying back and forth, until she bumped into another furry shape. Korinna yelped and dropped the clump of leaves and dirt she was carrying.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

The Queen's absence weighed heavily on the Prince. This time it was not only for the fact that he had been sworn to her protection; this time he had the bitter advantage of past experience to warn him that more ill could come of this than her death. Only once before had she abandoned her post so brazenly. Then, she had returned with a commoner for a husband. Orestes.

They had all thought him dead, though it hadn't been a certainty. Now Makhai was not so sure. Now he cursed himself for wishing that it had been a certainty, that he'd seen it with his own eyes. Cruel of him to wish it on his sister, yet it would have been easier that way. He held no true grudge against Orestes. The man was simply... ill-advised; a detriment to their hopes for the future. Weakblooded and unworthy.

Makhai was bristling when he returned to check the Queen's new den for perhaps the dozenth time that day. He went still, though, at the soft impact of Korinna's slight figure against him. It seemed he wasn't the only one left with frayed nerves.

Keeping busy, hmm? He bent to scoop up some of the fallen supplies, realizing he wasn't sure at all how to address her. The lack of general reason for them to speak meant that even this bordered on inappropriate; she was only a servant, and not even his own. But The Queen and her watchdog were absent for now. It was only the two of them.

Her eyes went wide with horror when she realized just who she’d bumped into. The Queen’s own brother, the Prince! He towered over her—well, he wasn’t all that much taller than her, but to Korinna he seemed so grand, so distant. She knew him, of course, but they had scarcely ever spoken. Korinna, who kept to the company of her fellow servants and her Queen, hardly knew how to speak to him either. Her ears went flat as she averted her gaze. Her fur prickled hot with embarrassment, and she wished the cool earth would swallow her up.

But then he started picking up the debris, and that absolutely would not do. Korinna stared.

“No, no, I can do it,” she stammered. She moved to yank the litter out of his jaws, only to realize what she was doing halfway through. “D-don’t sully yourself with a servant’s work, Your Highness!”

It quickly became clear that he'd said the wrong thing — or done the wrong thing, or perhaps both. Makhai's ears went flat as he reluctantly surrendered what he'd picked up to Korinna, and he took a step back, straightening a little. For a moment he was quiet, at a loss.

Right. Ah, my apologies, he finally managed in a low, gruff voice. I can secure the area, at least. The Prince turned on his heel without another word, hurrying away from the scene of the crime for a quick perimeter check. He intended to be gone only a few minutes, no more; enough time for the servant to finish cleaning up the mess, and for him to regain his bearings.

Oh, no. Had she offended the Prince? What if he never spoke to her again? …It wouldn’t be all that different from before, truthfully, but she would upset Thalassa! Then Makhai was gone. Korinna blinked a few times as she tried to rein in her scrambling thoughts.

She resumed cleaning up, hurrying off to some woody shrubs she’d designated as the Trash Bush. The debris disposed under its low-lying branches, she made a detour to grab some bluebells before returning to the den.

She placed the bluebells at the den’s entrance, and looked around uncertainly.

Um…Prince Makhai? Everything is clean now, Korinna called out. The Queen’s den is ready, too…um…

Normally, she would ask another, older servant to review her work. The Queen’s brother seemed a logical substitute.