The winter's cold bit into the dark woman, but she did not feel it as harshly as she might have without her gift from Siv and a thick pelt wrapped around her shoulders, as well. There was finally a bright dusting of snow on the ground, and the buckskin horse beneath her plodded through it, his breath rising before him in a silver mist. He did not seem bothered by the cold, and neither did the sable-shaded woman atop his back. She might carry some coyote blood, but she was built like a wolf, and her winter's thick pelt attested to that. Her pregnancy had caused her to gain weight, as well, and this provided the dark woman with added insulation against the bite of the cold season.
She followed her Boss without doubt and without words, remaining quiet for much of this journey. Eris had nothing to fear with Sirius beside her; there was not a Luperci in the world who might challenge his supremacy. She wished to see the far coast -- she had heard of it, but never actually came this far north herself. It was more a whim journey than anything, but perhaps the man had ulterior motives. She no longer desired him with the fervent need she had before, but this was not due to a decrease in attractiveness.
Rather, Eris's novation of deeper love of Larkspur kept her from staring too long at his backside. That she thought she might try monogamy with Larkspur did not mean she would be so foolish as to reject her Boss's advances, either. She was obligated to provide such services for him, as she saw it, regardless of her own wishes -- and really, who was she trying to fool? She would enjoy romping with Sirius no less for her supposed new attempt monogamy with her mate. And when she returned to Salsola, too, it would be as if nothing had changed. She would not speak of it, and she would carry on her daily life with Larkspur and Basilaris and their daughters as she thus far.
The forest around them was a dull shade of green even with the frost and cold. Snow clung to the evergreen boughs and turned them frosted white, glittering in the evening's light. Eris had thought late afternoon an odd time to depart, but inhaling the air here -- even she could smell just why they'd left so belatedly in the day. A concentration of wolves lingered heavily in the air, so thick even Eris could smell it. She dared not voice her concerns to Sirius, for there was no doubt in the dark woman's mind he smelled it, too, and he would be just as wary and wishful of silence as she.
The cold wind wrapped long, icy fingers about them both, but apart from pulling his bearhide cloak tighter about him, Sirius' grim expression gave no sign of any hindrance. As Eris, his mixed blood provided a plush pelt, although not as warm as some of his fullblooded cousins. When topped with the heavy skin and dense fur of the mountain bear, the wind could do little but moan and gnash its chilly teeth.
His breath was exhaled in a puff of steam. The white mist curled from the nose of his mare, too. The horse was picking its way through the frozen ground - The further North the pair ventured, the keener the weather became. It seemed that Winter originated from the snowcapped peaks of Halcyon itself; Sirius eyes these white jagged lines with the heavy scowl that foreboded deep thought.
As it was, the Boss was relatively unaware of the thoughts of his Auxiliary. Eris had accompanied him on this day because it suited her whimsy - Although he had requested her company, the tall, dark monarch had given up on high expectations of her activeness. Eris travelled where Eris wished, be it business of pleasure. She ruled with ministrations he could barely comprehend; Some form of kindness that one might go so far as to call loving. It pleased him that the dark woman took the Family into her heart with such fondness - Perhaps she could make up for the lack of love the Thistle King felt for all things. He could, however, regard pack members with some level of fondness, and if that was comparable to love, then Eris, her mate and her oldest daughter ranked highest in his affections.
He and the ebony woman had always had a somewhat bizarre relationship. He had despised her weaknesses, ridiculed her for them, but she had surprised him by requesting his help in banishing them. That was the day that Sirius had become a teacher - And, in doing so, a leader. It had awoken the voracious hunger for power within him; There was not so large a gap between leader and King. Boss, they called him, those in the Family. Boss. But the Revlis man had many names, not all of them favorable. His reputation spread, as hers did, on a wave of dissent. Growing whispers circulated about the cruelty of Salsola, and as they breached eager ears seeking to right such wrongdoings, Sirius grew ever suspicious of those who lingered beyond his thistle borders.
Thus, the cause for this expedition; There were murmurs of many loners to the North. It had suited Sirius to fulfill Eris' natural curiosity for the place and his own suspicion for those who lingered in it, simultaneously. The pair rode in relative silence, but for the occasional remark from the handsome ebony woman, and the rarer grunt of assent from the man she followed.
Her company was pleasant enough, for she was well accustomed to his ways, and knew what triggered his unreliable temper. Her company could have been pleasant for another reason - She had been a willing and skilled bedmate, with a lust he had not known she felt for him - But riding and the frigid cold dampened any semblance of arousal he might have had at the prospect of getting her alone. Although he would often have preferred to make such a trip as this solitary, the Eternity woman had her own kind of value with strangers and the like. If they ran into anyone, Eris would deal with them; If they were beyond her capabilities, Sirius would end them. His mood dictated such brutality - This day, the King was not in the mood for light banter.
They neared a territory he had not traversed before. It was further North than the trading path from Salsola to Freetown, and thus beyond his relative knowledge. The ground was moist here, in spite of the frost that sought to harden their southward territory. He pulled Luna to a halt, and the silver mare snorted, unhappy with the thick scent of wolves, and the dappled forest that could have held them from view. The monarch held his hand up to signal silence and stillness, and then he dismounted fluidly, crouching to examine a print frozen into the ground and then disappearing momentarily into the nearby trees. He returned shortly, shaking his handsome dark locks in dismay. "We are alone for the moment," Came the succulent, tenor voice, growly with his current mood, "They seem to have headed further east than this." That was poorer news, still - While he and Eris had travelled around the back of the mountain, it seemed this gathering of wolves had headed back to the other side of it. The mountain was all that kept them from the slope to Salsola.
Sirius had never tried to own Eris. Neither had Larkspur, for that matter, but it was more important that Sirius had never tried such a thing. Eris would not tolerate being owned by a man -- or a woman, for that matter. She served the Boss, as she served Salsola, but she was owned by neither. Eris could leave at any time she pleased, and though she could never return if she did, the coyote woman would not be tied so wholly and completely to a place as to be its slave. No, what kept her in Salsola was love, pure and simple. She loved Sirius, she loved the rest of her pack, and she loved the life they crafted there together.
Even if the dark man ahead of her had never tried to own her, he might have, all the same, in the way that Larkspur owned her as mate. Much as she balked at the idea, mateship was a form of ownership, and Sirius would have dominated her as easily as she had taken Larkspur. Though she might not own his soul, she owned its physical embodiment. This much was clear from the way he bowed to her and kept his place. He could have taken her and torn her in two pieces, if he so desired. Instead, her dark made had chosen subservience to her, and this was no less than Eris expected. Sirius had never seemed particularly interested in such things as mateship, at least not with Eris, anyway, and the sable-hued woman thought that was just fine.
The man before her pulled his horse to a stop, and Eris watched with glittering chartreuse eyes as he peered around, motioning with his hand. Though she did not know the precise meaning of the signal, its meaning was clear enough, and she kept her mouth shut, putting one hand on Trader's neck to sooth the gelding. He rarely needed soothing, being so calm and even of temperament, and Eris remained quiet as Sirius bent to the earth, moving into the trees shortly thereafter. For her part, Eris peered around from the horse's back, trying to see what she could from her higher vantage. It was fruitless, however, as the sable she-wolf knew better than anyone Sirius would discern more in one second than she could in ten minutes about this land and the strangers within it.
He returned to her with a sour look upon his face, and the woman peered at him inquisitively, her ears perking to hear his words. His announcement brought Eris's own sour look to her face, and the woman sighed heavily, looking at the ground a moment. Her piercing gaze looked to Sirius, then, though they never met his apple-hued eyes. What shall we do? she inquired, the look of worry plain across her face. Salsola had been in its own corner when they'd selected this land of Drifter Bay. Now, Ichika, Inferni, and this novation hemmed them into a corner. It made Eris nervous, and she hoped her anxiety did not show as plainly on her face as she felt it in her bones.
There was little to be said about Sirius' feelings of ownership. He was an arrogant being, right to his wicked heart - Had Eris asked him directly, he might have told her that he owned her. It was different, though, than the restrictions the word held. One could own a dagger, or a horse, or a slave - Sirius' sense of ownership went broader than that, much more like a term of responsibility. If anything happened to Eris, or her children, or her mate, he would be responsible for that - As her owner, in a sense. That he felt she and her kin belonged to him was a different thing entirely; More like some twisted manner of deeming them family. Such was how he viewed the world of familial relationships.
Mateship was another thing entirely. There was a clear reason that Sirius had not yet taken a mate, and that was for the sole excuse that he had found nobody yet worthy to give birth to his progeny. The idea of fatherhood in itself was, although exhilarating, also terrifying. The ownership and responsibility he felt for all the members of Salsola was hardly comparable to that which he would feel for his own offspring. Perhaps Eris might have been a candidate, but she did not fit his template for the dam of his children, not really. She held that magic he so detested, and her womb was better put to Larkspur's children, his soldiers.
Mateship had nothing to do with the vulgar and erotic carnal pleasures he took from women, anyway. As King, he could have those without the strings of mateship. It was owed him, really. Rape had never been particularly tasteful to the monarch - There was something to be said of a man's skill in seduction if he reduced himself to raping a woman - But, in the manner of Eris' thinking, it would mean little for him to demand it of some of his more willing subjects. But since the bachelor days in London, where whores had willingly opened their legs for whatever other skills he could provide, Sirius had been more mature and reserved about such things. Self-control was the basis for everything, and it begun by denying all desires, all temptations. He took what he wanted, but only when necessary. Physical gluttony was never good for a ruler.
Eris had remained mounted, just as he had indicated. She had little tracking skill, and might have messed up trails if he had let her get down and wander around. But more than that, it was unsafe for her to be unprotected in this area - She was too valuable to be allowed such freedom here. He could not risk her being hurt by the strangers, for their intentions were unknown to the Thistle King, and thus assumed to be sinister.
At her question her paused a moment to think, dark eyes resting on her in a brooding directness which, by ancient and instinctual law, the dark woman could not return without invitation. By her expression she, too, was anxious about these newcomers - Eris had never been good at hiding such things from him. The scowl over his eyes deepened, and he absently patted his mare's glossy, arched neck. Although ignorant of most political advances, it seemed Eris was perceptive to the problem this potential new pack posed - It would fence them in. If he showed his own anxiety over this now, it would surely cement her own feelings of unease, and so Sirius was careful to replace such an emotion with a look of irritable nonchalance. "So long as they remain banded, we shall keep an eye on them. We are well defended, and they are few," The thistle King shrugged loosely, his dark hair falling about his moody expression, "If they pose a problem to us, then perhaps they will need to be removed." His voice held enough intent to fill the gap in meaning.
Having secured their immediate area, Sirius allowed his gaze to wander again. "If you would like to look around, we may, else we could press on?" Having gathered the information he had come here to accomplish, the Revlis man was compliant, willing to allow his Auxiliary to sate her own curiosity with the land here.
Of her few skills, among them was not the ability to resist temptation. On the contrary, Eris was no good whatsoever at remaining strong against that which drew her forard -- she leapt and frothed and raged at her chain when there was something she could not have. Or, alternatively, she promptly forgot entirely why she wanted whatever it was she'd been denied in the first place, beautiful and flawless execution of cognitive dissonance at its finest. So it had been with Itachi, and thus, part of his downfall, too. One did not spurn The Auxiliary without consequence, and Eris had seen to that.
Her boss spoke, and the dark woman twisted coal ears toward him to listen to the low growl of his voice, chartreuse eyes glued to his clawed feet. Even they were fine to look upon, and she suppressed a small smile at the thought. Her face remained grave, funny as she thought it was that she'd find her Boss's feet attractive. Yes, my dearest King, she said, murmuring her assent. Salsola could not destroy this novation without provocation -- it was likely these wolves emerged from packs of this area, and it was more likely they still had friends and family to mourn their deaths, if so.
In any case, the sable hybrid had no interest in stirring trouble, and she was glad to hear Sirius agreed. So long as these wolves remained on their side of the mountain and did not harry Salsola's perimeter, nothing changed. This pleased Eris, and she considered his question with a faint smile. Yes, I would like to see the north coast very much. This wintry land puts fire in my blood, she said, thinking such a remark could be taken just as Sirius wished. If he took it as a come-on, that was fine; if he dismissed it, that was just as fine.
Her smile revealed nothing, and the hybrid smiled coyly at her leader, the falsely innocent glance she spared to his chest the highest her eyes dared travel. Perhaps we might ride a bit further, away from this group's stink, and walk the beaches together, she suggested, open to whatever alternatives her Boss had in mind.
There was a danger to Eris that he could never quite perceive, nor understand. Since the foundation of their relationship, he had always been the dominant of the two - Sirius genuinely believed that he had little to fear for her loyalty, or for any desire to usurp him. He had given her a rightful position of power, and she had taken to it well - the dark woman's flaws complemented his own in many ways. However, even now, that sense of bizarre danger lingered about her still.
The Revlis man placed it as his own unease toward her dark magics. He had felt them, the day she had made the ritual sacrifice on the pack's now-sacred altar - Dare think it, he had fled from the scene, unable to withstand nor accompany the sentiments she had brought forth that day. His resilience, the center of his very wickedness, came from the King's ability to fashion himself into his own mortal deity; If he could blame no higher god for the wrongs and rights within his life and realm, then no such being held any power over him, and he truly was his own master. But he was unable to deny the spiritual whiff that clung to the ebony mater's pelt, that damnable scent of otherworldliness, like a crack had opened up where her blackness loomed and allowed spirits to seep into this plane of existence.
Intelligent though he was, these were not thoughts Sirius could fully comprehend, or mull over. They were fleeting sensations that raised the hair along the back of his neck - A concept grasped, only briefly, before habit and self returned to take control.
His allowance was gifted a faint smile, charming on her midnight maw. Although not a traditional beauty, there was indeed something to be said for Eris' voluptuous appearance. Her weight appealed to a primitive part of him, the beast within that saw wealth in fat. There was a brief stirring of warmth within his cold reptilian blood as she spoke, so innocently, and yet in words that brought heady memories to the back of his mind. He had felt the fire in her blood, once, and although his need was not overly great (for it had been temporarily sated by the wench, Isabella, and her sumptuous skills), some form of lust resided within him still.
However, consciously, he saw no seduction in her tone, in the angles and language of her body, and thus the king allowed his own to slide. "If it pleases you, woman, then we may," he replied mildly, of a mood to humor his Auxiliary's wishes. She might have asked for anything at that moment - The conflict of worry and anger at this newest pack had dulled the monarch's senses to a bland pleasantness, with the knowledge that he could only deal with such hazards as they arose. Plus, her company seemed to provide a balm that added to Sirius' rare bouts of generosity. Eris had always been favored by the brooding man, and it was highly likely that she knew such a thing - Although he had never gone out of his way to make it clear, it was common knowledge to the King himself.
He mounted fluidly, settling heavily on Luna's strong back until the silvery mare stilled her jostling and fidgeting. Then, with a candidness that spoke of deep inner thought, he gestured for her to lead the way.
Her boss spoke his agreement to her idea, and the dark-hued woman smiled her thanks, displaying teeth that had once been blindingly white. Now, they were beginning to be tinged by the yellowing of age. She would be five years old come summer, and though Eris still felt very much a child, her body had begun to show signs and marks of its age. She was not yet haggard, but there were these small signs of growing years -- the slightly yellower hue of her teeth, perhaps a lightened hair here and there, fur which would become lighter and lighter with each molting. Eris might never be the patchy black of Larkspur, but she would not retain solid black hues through all her years, of course. Even the darkest-hued wolf eventually grew gray around the muzzle, and Eris was no exception.
Beyond this small exchange, Sirius did not speak. He mounted his horse silently, and upon their movement, he seemed to fall deep into introspection. Or perhaps it was less self-reflection and more practical thoughts -- Eris pondered, wishing she had a looking glass to peer directly into the mottled wolf's mind. What knowledge she could glean from him, then! Education through the traditional means, through hard work and persevering and learning, would be a slow chore compared to what she might pick up simply from watching his thought turn from one subject to the next. Eris would never have the same ability to analyze and think as Sirius and other intellectuals, but she might gain some small improvements if she could only see Sirius's thought processes.
For her part, the dark-hued woman was content to remain as quiet as her Boss, pondering in her simpler way the implications of this new group. Though she was excited to see these northern lands, her excitement had not completely blotted out the rise of this new group and what it might hold for Salsola in the future. They had claimed Drifter Bay in simpler times, it seemed. There had been few packs to these northlands -- they needed only contend with Inferni. Although Eris had not been pleased with the prospect of settling quite so close to the coyotes, she considered it might have been worse. With the change of guard in Inferni, too, it might also mean she would be less disliked: Ezekiel would not remember her as Gabriel would have, though there was no doubt in Eris's mind the poison Kaena had spewed. Leave it to the old witch to spoil whatever favor the new Inferni Aquila might have had for his half-aunt.
The gelding beneath her made his way around a particularly thick tangle of trees and brambles. Eris found their twisting branches and sharp thorns just bonny, reminding her immediately of their thistle kingdom. She guided the horse clumsily, and luckily for her, the old horse was quite used to inexperienced riders. His temperament was good for a rider such as herself, one completely uncomfortable on horseback. Despite her discomfort, Eris was determined to learn, and it was because of this the dark-hued woman had taken it upon herself to take Trader whenever possible. Unfortunately for her, it was his evenness of temperament which now proved her downfall: as he was quite adept at interpreting her clumsily executed commands, Eris was gaining no skill in riding, and would find a horse hotter of blood entirely foreign.
The dark woman cocked her head to the side, listening. She heard the ocean -- having lived by it most of her life, such sounds were unmistakable to her. The Pacific coast of Eterne was entirely different from these cold northerly waters, but the water had the same heart, she thought. The world maps of the humans said all the oceans touched one another, and perhaps most rivers and lakes, too. They emerged from the thickest trees and out onto a long, low beach. This beach was far sandier and less rocky than her Salsola coast, and the coyote peered upon it with surprise. Such sand and such dunes were rarely seen along the coasts she was familiar with; it was very much like they'd stepped into another world entirely, one that began where the pines ended.
The crash of the ocean was far more audible now without the barrier of pines to deaden the sound, and the woman breathed the salty scent of the air. Even this smelled different than the air she was used to within Salsola, as if the salt itself had taken on a different scent just for their pack. The waves roared against shadowy offshore lumps, surely islands. In the dark, the coyote could not see so far as to be certain, but if the coast here did bear any similarity to Drifter Bay, it would also possess a few small islands, barely large enough to be called such. "Rocks" seemed far more appropriate for most of the islands on the bay coast, Eris thought. Even their Borgata Mayate was not large enough to support more than birds, Eris thought. It was to be lamented -- Khirot could fish, but he still required land-meat from time to time.
Trader came to a slow stop at the shadow-furred woman's command, standing without so much of a twitch of his tail as he awaited his mistress's command. For her part, Eris remained primarily still in the saddle, surveying what she could see with a sharp eye. She would have liked to see this coast during the daylight hours, but she supposed it was too dangerous to come all this way with the new group occupying the territory nearby. Though the dark woman was not displeased with what she'd found, she turned to Sirius indifferently, half of a smile on her muzzle. I prefer our thistle coast, of course, she began, gesturing back toward Salsola with one hand. But this is not a terrible place, is it? she inquired, curious to know her Boss's opinion before offering her own. It would not do to disagree with him, after all.
