The young princess lay curled between her mother's paws as the three females sat in the shade of the gardens. Most days Johari was too exhausted to even think of going out, birthing thirteen cubs having taken one hell of a toll on her. The rest of the children were sleeping under the care of Kimya and the other nannies, but Johari and Meilin had set out to see to their duties as usual. The main reason Maa-nefer was with them was the fact that she was already up and about and Johari had been hoping to avoid the little one waking up her many sisters and brothers.
So, here they were gathered now, just conversing a bit before going on about their business as usual.
"And I thought that birthing seven was tiring. I still can't imagine how you even carried thirteen." The pale female quipped, watching the gold-coated lioness idly entertain her cub with her paws.
"With much help from the healers and Kainda, I can assure you." Johari confided with a tired chuckle. Thinking back... yes, it had been an exhausting experience, but to have all of the cubs born healthy, if not small, worth every day of recovery after. So many little girls, and the boys weren't in short supply either, this time!
The Royal God was in a cheerful mood, he was restoring himself once more. He could feel the subtle tingle of his powers returning to him. Despite the extra energy he did not bother to shield his appearance, there was no need he felt. The land around him was warm and sandy but a strong presence made him remain. He was curious and though a day spent relaxing in the haven of the Gods sounded pleasant, the thrum of royal blood called to him with a thousand times more force.
He folded his great golden wings along his side and pushed his cloak aside as he slipped in among and overgrown area. The sights around him made him curious and his ears perked to flicker against his crown as he heard voices. His dark blue eyes slowly slid over the area and he moved forward with confidence. This was a place he felt he strangely belonged to, this was a place he had to see, here he could feel it...royalty. It would be remiss of him not to offer his protection or at the least see these royals with his own eyes.
"We were quite surprised, though."
The grin made it clear that it had been a pleasant one,
"I'm just glad that all the girls stayed with us... Soa has really been looking forward to being a big sister, and even with the nannies we'd have been overrun if not for Tesni..."
Johari purred softly, the rumbling sound soothing Nefer further into a restful state, but not putting her quite to sleep yet either.
"I do hope we'll see more new blood though. It wouldn't do to have half the pride related to royal blood."
"Hmm, no, certainly not. It almost happened to the Firekin, all of that inbreeding would be a real problem. But with seventeen princes and princesses..."
"Well, we--"
Johari paused, looking back into the lush gardens as someone's approach became audible. No mortals could sneak up in a place like this, not when the journey into the lands was so deadly, and they were surrounded by open desert, but gods were regular visitors, especially with all the patrons they had.
"A great one perhaps...?" Johari and Meilin both waited to see who their guest would be.
Seventeen! Had his ears captured the number correctly? Seventeen princes and princesses. His heart almost skipped a beat in pure exhilaration, rich royal blood flowing through almost impossible to destroy a lineage such as that! If he had hesitated for even a moment to see if it was worth investigating this royal family all trace of hesitation was gone. He slipped into view with natural ease curious to see what great queen had delivered such an astounding number of cubs with success.
He was clearly indeed one of the highly respected immortals, as the queen had suspected. If she had not a half-sleeping little one at her paws Johari would have stood to present a more respectful greeting, but as she did, the best she could do without disturbing the little one was to dip her head forward and down with a deep bow.
"Great lord, it's an honor to be in your presence. Welcome to the land of the Tuait'Tekem!"
She was no high priestess, and she had never been alone in the presence of one of the gods before, not without Muroki present, so she couldn't help worrying a bit, perhaps, that she may be doing something wrong. She hoped not, though, and at least she had the confidence that years at Muroki's side, in this position, had given her. Beside her Meilin just so managed to mimic the bow, clearly stunned. Her husband had a personal encounter with a goddess once, but she'd never met one herself before now!
Normally Anupu would have been pleased to see the bows, but in this case he felt it was to this queen that he should bow to. If it was true, if she had created such a lineage...royal blood that could be carried on and on. He felt hope, real surging hope alive within him at the thought. He dipped his head in a return greeting and smiled softly at first one female and then the other. His eyes rested curiously for a long moment on Meilin, there was faint twinge there, but the true thrum came from Johari and the cub that lay over her paws.
"Your welcome is greatly appreciated, I am Anupu God of Royalty...I found myself drawn here...and if my ears did correctly catch a bit of your conversation..." He smiled and slowly sat down. "You will forgive me of course for eavesdropping, but did I hear correctly that you have birthed seventeen royal cubs?"
Royalty? There truly did seem to be a god for everything! Not that she doubted this. Indeed, the Dawnwalkers list of known gods, both greater and lesser, was indeed quite long. She took heart in the fact he did not seem offended, though she felt a bit embarrassed suddenly to be wearing her jewelry pieces, clearly indicating her rank. It seemed that even after all this time, being indicated as such -could- still put her a bit on the spot.
"Y-yes... four daughters nearly two years this little one's elders... and six sons and seven daughters just recently."
God of royalty? Who knew there was such a being? It was hard enough accepting that gods were real, after all the hardships in her sister's life, but of course, she'd had hard evidence of such for some while now. She herself didn't have much place in this conversation currently though, so she hoped he wouldn't begrudge her presence.
Four, and thirteen...his eyes trailed over her amazed she looked hale and healthy. He slowly moved to lay down across from the females and smiled at the cub. "You are a credit to me, may I request your name dear lady?"
He smiled softly at the small princess already he could feel it, that subtle warmth that enveloped him when he began to let himself feel for a royal line. It was subtle in the back of his mind though he knew with time his powers would return and then he would not need to ask for names or guess at which mortal was royal or not. Once he had been able to name and pinpoint every royal mortal, once he had loved and protected and seen to their needs...until they had aged...and died...and died...until a royal family he had cared for so deeply was gone.
He had wanted to be gone as well, and he had slept so deeply he might as well have died. He felt so ashamed of it now, now knowing that there were still precious royal families, cubs and adults alike who needed him to help them, to guide them.
Even when he could not offer them greater assistance, he liked to think it comforted them to know that he cared weather they lived or died, ruled, or lived as commoners.
"With all respect, high one," Her ears lowered a little, a light bit of embarassment in her tone as she "blushed". "I believe that credit more likely goes to my husband, the Pharoh..." Large litters certainly didn't run on her side of the family, not that large, and more so-- she certainly couldn't have done it without her mate. Just the thought of him put a loving look in her eyes and restored her confidence and comfort once again. She smiled. "Johari, and this is Maa-nefer."
As though cued the little one finally had opened her eyes and her ears to what was going on around her. No longer were the voices distant and fuzzy, but slowly more clear. She slowly lifted her head from between her paws where it had been resting against her mother's leg, and when she spotted the winged male her eyes widened with a small gasp. Johari felt when her body tensed up, and Maa-nefer saw her mother's green gaze focusing in on her with a reassuring purr. The child calmed a bit from her start. "M... mom... who is that...?" She whispered.
"He is one of the gods that you've been learning about, Nefer... this is Anupu, he's the god of royalty. Won't you greet him properly?"
Oh, she was clearly very shy about it, swallowing nervously but standing up and moving from beneath her mother's chin to bow, never taking her eyes off of him for all her awestruck wonder.
"Indeed, your devotion is clear, no doubt your husband is a most fortunate and worthy Pharoh. I should like to meet him someday, it would be my honor to bestow my blessing upon his line." He smiled at both the queen and then at the little princess as she began to rouse.
He smiled as the cub stood to bow and in return he dipped his own head in a return greeting for her. "Come closer little princess, tell me your name." He watched her delighted by how healthy she looked. His scaled tail slowly slid along the sandy ground as he waited for her to approach. He had no desire to be a father, yet seeing this small cub brought such distant memories, helping to train and advise long ago small royal cubs who grew into great kings and queens or exiled royals who needed him there to keep their spirits from falling low.
Johari saw Maa glance back at her uncertainly and in answer she smiled and nodded to her daughter, showing quite a bit of trust, all things considered. Beside her, Meilin remained quiet but continued to observe.
"It's Maa-nefer..." She spoke up, somewhere just above a whisper as she drew closer until she stood at the god's paws, tail low, out of shyness. "It means 'to see beauty'...... I-I think."
She tried to remember her lessons well, but they were young yet, and even memorizing the basics with the attention spans that young cubs tended to have could be challenging-- especially when there was so much to do and so many siblings to play with.
Anupu lowered his head until it rested on his paws not wanting the small princess to feel nervous. His ears perked as he listened to her and he slowly smiled. "It's a very pretty name for a very pretty princess, and do you see beauty as well in the things around you?" He asked her curiously, he raised his eyes a moment to smile at Johari already feeling charmed by the two of the family he had met.
His eyes darted for a moment to Meilin, well three but there was something distant, hard to grasp about Meilin. It was enough for him to focus on the queen and princess, though his curiosity about the rest of the family had now been piqued.
He certainly knew he wanted to meet the Pharoh and form a better bond, this was a family worth watching.
"Thank you..." Though shy, she couldn't help but smile at the compliment, offering a childish purr, however quiet. "I try to, but I don't really know what it means yet. Momma and papa said when I get older I will."
Johari wished that Muroki could be here for this, hoping that he would have the chance to meet Anupu as well. It seemed more fitting, only fitting, and she imagined that if a chance presented itself, so should the other children young and grown. Especially Tesni, as the crown princess. Anupu's words continued to ring in her mind, about giving his blessing. What a wonderful thing that would be, surely!
"Ahh, I know you will, it's a very special gift to really be able to see the beauty in something, in things that others take for granted or never look at. I'm sure you'll come to appreciate a great many things, and you'll be very very clever." He smiled and then lifted his head and smiled at Johari.
"Your daughter is very beautiful, a credit to you and your husband." He slowly sat up his wings giving only a slight rustle. "I should like to visit again if I would be welcome? Your family would do me a great honor if I may meet each of them, meet your husband...and perhaps be able to someday call him friend." Anupu felt worried for a brief moment, what was he doing? Yet this was right, this was what he was supposed to do, protect and be there for the royals. He wanted to befriend this family, he wanted to keep them safe, but even as he looked at Nefer he knew in his heart how it would pain him to see her grow, have cubs of her own, and someday pass on. At least he could be there, to ensure their royal line lived on, he had to be strong this time, he couldn't fail again.
To think she almost slept through this meeting! She felt rather encouraged by the confidence he showed in her, and happily she returned to her mother, pawing at her arm as if to say "Did you hear that? Did you see? Did you hear that mom??"-- though the words never actually left her mouth. Remembering herself then she hurriedly ducked down by Johari's side with a sheepish little smile, staying between the queen and Meilin.
"You are indeed welcome, I should certainly tell Muroki that I've had the honor of speaking with you. I'm certain that he will be delighted to meet with you as well, as would our other children." Johari reasoned with a low rumbling purr.
"Then I shall return, it was a pleasure to meet you all." He stood and his tail flicked out once more. Strange how sad it felt to leave, why he would prefer to lay in the sand with mortals instead of mingling among the haven of immortals with other Gods and Goddesses...
Strange, yet comforting, to know that he had not lost all ability, all empathy. Best of all he still had a purpose, and that would give him power. He had started to feel whole once more, for that he would be forever greatful to this family, he would indeed return. With a small smile and tip of his head to Nefer he winked and vanished.
