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In truth, Yue was quite entranced with these new lands. Heaven's Mercy was woefully untraveled, for one who shouldered entire worlds. There were only two places she had ever been – her birth clan, and the one she had been married into – which was now made three places, then four, then five.
She had once dreamed of adventure. She managed to find adventure within the confines of her role as Empress quite easily, despite almost never leaving her silken palace. Now somewhat of an expert in all types of terrain, it was now clear why the morass of the west had not suited her – how could she live amongst mud, when firm earth felt so good beneath one’s paws?
Such things, most wolves likely already knew about themselves.
This was not the only thing that was different. Advisors, translators, entertainers, servants, they had all come to her – but now, she came to them. The rules of the dynasty were being rewritten in her every footstep, as much as the Empress wished to maintain the status quo. She was often alone now; something she never been before. Her thoughts, her mind, were no longer her only private space.
She now had much private space, and some to spare. Miles and miles of it.
Even this strange encampment, the smear of tan against a milieu of verdant, emerald green. Yue crept closer, no longer willing to trust the true state of her dynasty to that of a third-party. She must lay witness to it all, this corner of hides, and this man who sat amongst them. Quite uncharacteristically, she noticed him far too late, and her interest in his homestead was far too evident.
He sang, and the tongue was familiar but the lyrics were foreign. The words, and the man who spoke them, did not seem of these lands.
"I regret to disturb you," the orchid lamented. She didn’t know him. It was such a strange thing, to meet someone unfamiliar – and stranger yet, perhaps he did not know her. The Empress’s breath ran smooth in her throat, in long drawn, silken inhales and exhales. She recalled that he had traveled with them from Queen’s Rest, and now she noticed that his scent was mingled with others she knew well. Royal family, he was not.
What a strange thing, indeed.
She had once dreamed of adventure. She managed to find adventure within the confines of her role as Empress quite easily, despite almost never leaving her silken palace. Now somewhat of an expert in all types of terrain, it was now clear why the morass of the west had not suited her – how could she live amongst mud, when firm earth felt so good beneath one’s paws?
Such things, most wolves likely already knew about themselves.
This was not the only thing that was different. Advisors, translators, entertainers, servants, they had all come to her – but now, she came to them. The rules of the dynasty were being rewritten in her every footstep, as much as the Empress wished to maintain the status quo. She was often alone now; something she never been before. Her thoughts, her mind, were no longer her only private space.
She now had much private space, and some to spare. Miles and miles of it.
Even this strange encampment, the smear of tan against a milieu of verdant, emerald green. Yue crept closer, no longer willing to trust the true state of her dynasty to that of a third-party. She must lay witness to it all, this corner of hides, and this man who sat amongst them. Quite uncharacteristically, she noticed him far too late, and her interest in his homestead was far too evident.
He sang, and the tongue was familiar but the lyrics were foreign. The words, and the man who spoke them, did not seem of these lands.
"I regret to disturb you," the orchid lamented. She didn’t know him. It was such a strange thing, to meet someone unfamiliar – and stranger yet, perhaps he did not know her. The Empress’s breath ran smooth in her throat, in long drawn, silken inhales and exhales. She recalled that he had traveled with them from Queen’s Rest, and now she noticed that his scent was mingled with others she knew well. Royal family, he was not.
What a strange thing, indeed.
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