It was a common occurrence, and one that the Saiho braced himself against each and every morning. Sion hardly knew the meaning of the word “rest”. It seemed to be a foreign word in his realm of understanding. When propositioned with the word, the king would often stare at whomever had dared to speak the word into being as if they were beings from beyond the veil. At times, it seemed the word was an enigma to him. He would tilt his head, furrow his brow, or outright pretend to have misheard the speaker. There was always a report to listen to, a border to flesh out, a new member to welcome, or some other task to keep him from his own private chambers. The queen, of course, was perhaps the most irritated by this. How many nights had she retired to her den only to find a cold, empty bed? Far too often. Of course, Sion was often times found passed out over his work, paws sprawled out over crudely scribbled hides or stones he had been stacking for the purposes of counting members, goods, or some other resource.
Vilhelm, ever vigilant, stood guard outside of the king’s private study chamber. It was a nice little nook in the face of the cliffs over-looking the king’s territory with a large crack in the stone that offered natural lighting as well as a fresh breeze now and then. A zebra’s pelt had been strung up above the door to offer some privacy for the events within. Vilhelm was posted to ensure that privacy was enforced and information exchanged met with only the ears it was intended for.
As the Saiho passed, the guards lion dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement. Only the king stood higher than the Saiho and Vilhelm well knew it. Anyone else would have been met with resistance.
Brushing the zebra’s pelt aside, Kennard heaved a silent sigh. As expected, his Ou was laying on his side, his paws still laying atop a few freshly tanned thin-hides with careful lines drawn out over them. Ken could only assume that it was the latest mock-up of the border agreements. The three regional Ou’s were set to meet to officially agree on their borders and post guards according to each border and its needs. The more intimidating of the guards would be posted on the outside of the territory as a whole. Those that were less intimidating and more knowledgeable were reserved for the interior borders between kingdoms. The kingdoms were currently in a state of peace but it was a measure to ensure that things remained as such.
With soft, silent paws, Kaze-Ki stepped beside Sion and slowly reached out for the latest parchment. His claws carefully found the dried, crisp edge of the tanned skin and gave it the faintest of tugs. Sion’s paw came down upon the parchment with all the wrath of a thunder-god. He growled and slowly lifted one of his eyes. Exhaustion was overshadowed by a quiet outrage that quickly died away. Moaning something that might have been an apology, the other male brushed some of the silvery mane from his face and sat himself up.
Ken stood back, his paws perfectly positioned beside themselves and his brows raised.
“You did it again.”
“Not now, Kaze-Ki.” Sion fussed his mane back into place and rose to all four paws.
“Sire-”
“It’s far too early to listen to another one of your lectures. Yes, yes, I know that the queen will be- or is- most unhappy.”
“Sire-”
“I did make a mess.” He looked around himself and sighed. Parchment here and there, counting stones scattered from where they’d been originally, and several of his writing feathers had been blown off to the far wall.
“Sir.”
Sighing, Sion turned to the Saiho. “Yes, Kennard?”
Kennard, rather than outright saying it, pointed to the lion’s head. Sion turned his head slightly, not understanding. Rolling his eyes, Ken instead pointed to his own head and made a pinching and flicking motion. Sion reached up and touched the top of his mane with a careful paw. He slowly seized the offending oddity and drew it away, pulling some more of his mane out of place.
One of his many scattered writing feathers.
He half-sighed and half-laughed. “Well. One point for you. Next time I’ll put up with your lecture.”
“Only if you’ll do me the honor.” Ken said dryly.
Sion offered a sharp smirk in return and began gathering up his writing feathers to replace them in the small clay bowl that had been holding his parchment in place against the cross-breeze of the room. Ken let him work in silence, allowing him to clear his head from his impromptu nap and whatever mental burnout that had led him to such a state. Once everything was back in order, neatly stacked or tucked away, Sion took a seat on the pelt of a gazelle seated at the head of a raised stone structure in the center of the room. A table of sorts. Crude- but it served its purpose.
“Alright.” He took a deep breath and waved a paw.
“There was a stranger found at the border. A Taiho.”
Sion’s brows raised. “Oh?”
“Yes, a young female. She was accompanied by a youma. A jackal.”
“I trust you saw her to the appropriate place?”
“I did. Paol accompanied me.”
Sion nodded shortly. “That is good. Seems the gods see fit to allow us more Taiho in the event that we expand further.”
“Seems that way.”
“Anything else?”
Ken winced but gave a short nod.
“Go on.”
“There was another… a cheetah. A newcomer.”
“Oh?” Cheetahs weren’t uncommon here but they certainly were not in the majority. Most didn’t actively seek out prides of larger predators or colonies. In his experience, they were loaners.
“He… claimed to be an entertainer. He wished to enter the kingdom and have formal permission to take his performances where he and his fellows wished without having to go through the formality of actually aligning with any one kingdom. In…his words… “The stage shouldn’t be kept behind any one border.”
Sion snorted. “I’m sure you took his statement well?”
“I said I would bring his concern to you personally.”
“That rattled, are we?”
Ken’s lips quirked.
“Very well. I’ll see him personally. If he means trouble, I think that a cheetah wouldn’t prove too much of a challenge for me-” He and Ken both turned their heads at a muffled snort from the hall. “…or my guardsmen.”
“Certainly not. The walls have ears, sir.”
Word Count
1,100