A Biography of a Human

Chapter Nineteen:

“Gathering Clouds"

It seemed to me that as I aged and started to sprout into adulthood over the past years, the Imperial court declined into stagnation. Rotting like a swamp, the Alpha similar to a decaying tree trunk and the court sycophants akin to mosquitoes emerging from the murky pools that surround it, and not forgetting Jao, he would be the crocodile that lies in wait beneath the dark water's surface.

I'm going to say here now, with an admittedly biased view towards that of the memory of my beloved master, but I know no other way to say it and I must say it for myself in my own thinking that it is true to me: my Master was the only good figure in this increasingly decaying government.

Those words 'decaying government' must make it sound shocking and make one think the Empire was falling apart but it was not like that at all. It was the kind of rot that gives the appearance that all is well on the surface, but beneath the facade of the court itself, the rot makes itself apparent in the form of corruption and indolence that was increasing slowly over the years I became a young man.

Thankfully, this rot was only confined to the imperial court within the capital, the rest of the Empire was stable. If anything could be blamed on this I would have to say it began with the Alpha becoming more and more slothful over the period with his duties as Alpha, postponing or outright canceling his court audiences and letting his personal palace deputies do the work.

This is where I come from when I say that my master was the only good figure at this period of time. Though he could not stamp out all forms of corruption, especially in the lower levels of the government, he did keep an even keel over this period of time when the Alpha was slowly declining in his political activities.

The countless provinces of the Empire were governed by competent governors, a lot of whom were appointed by my master himself, and the army garrisons of the distant Eastern Protectorates were headed by battled hardened Generals who would ensure the stable flow of trade and tribute from the Dog Kingdoms and the subject tribal packs that were under the Alphate's sway.

I even heard that the Alpha was losing his fur on his body and that his tail was now completely devoid of fur so that it looks like a rat's tail and that he had resorted to pasting on patches of fur onto his bald spots and taken the habit of hiding his tail in the leg of his under-trousers, but this was just a rumor I heard around Lupercal as I did small deeds here and there.

The rumors were abound everywhere, which was no surprise since Wuffrim II was becoming more and more reclusive over the past six lunar years. Absence fuels speculation, they say, and it was true. But his decline was slow enough that to the average chimera or human it seemed like nothing was going on, but as it dragged on it was becoming more and more talked about. Even Gernan and Pantaleon often talked about it together.

“I can't believe Wuffrim was not there to hand his new daughter-in-law to his own child and now he missed this month's court session as well!"

“I heard that he is too busy drinking vast amounts of berry wine in the imperial bed chamber trying stop the pain," Pantaleon piped coyly as he helped Gernan remove his master's cumbersome crimson and black court robes as he paced the fore-room of the Tutor's Hall.

Gernan froze at the words of his devoted servant, his tail becoming like a stiff rod as he shot Pantaleon an angered look with those piercing yellow eyes.

“Don't you speak of that again! We don't talk about that, you hear!?" immediately, the fox looked down in fear, tail tucked in between his legs quivering.

“Forgive me, master! I should keep my muzzle shut on such things! Forgive me!"

“You better! That is dangerous talk!"

“I-I am starting fear the Alpha now more and more and if such words were to get bac-! He is changing…he is no longer the wolf I once knew…" this was the few times I heard fear in my master's voice. Its moments like these that stand out to me now.

It was now in this tense time that the Alpha called for an imperial retreat to the Imperial Hunting Steppes located in the Eastern province of Krasnodar, which also happened to be near Nutag, the old Capital of the Alphate before the imperial system was created under Alpha Lycan and his father Wuffrim I, and was still quite a populous city in the Empire, despite being downgraded to the secondary eastern capital.

This caused quite a surprise since Alpha Wuffrim had not had an imperial hunting tour in many years, the last one was in his early reign, a few years before I arrived in the capital as a slave in the year 3066.

But in the winter of 3073 he decreed an imperial hunting tour was to happen in the summer of the next year and that preparations should be made for the massive amount of work it would take to move the entire court, all of its members, its retainers, hanger-ons and just about anyone who played any kind of role in the Imperial court's daily life.

It is a massive feat, moving the entire government and bureaucracy like this and was a display of great power as well as a way of paying homage to the wolfkind's past nomadic tribal ways.

Great Alpha Lycan was known to have one every year incredibly, but he was a frugal wolf known for keeping his court bureaucracy small and un-extravagant, only taking his Beta's Council and other important wolves with him out on excursions.

My form began to rumble as the single axle carriage started to move. I sat in-between two foxes, sandwiched on both sides by Pantaleon and Eylk.

Leaning over the older foxes' laps, occasionally bumping the top of my head into Pantaleon's muzzle, much to his annoyance; I pulled open the cloth flap, exposing my face to the summer light as it poured in.

“We're leaving," I said as I saw the outermost perimeter walls of the palace starts inching by us slowly until the sight of the main Imperial Gate of the Palace came into view out of the corner of my eye in the far right.

“Finally!" I heard Elyk exclaim with moody angst behind me.

“I thought we would never start moving! We have been sitting here, what? Since before the sun rose?" following this I heard a smack, followed by a yelp as I continued to look outside at the incredibly slow progress of the court servant's and retainer's carriages in front and no doubt behind us as well.

“Shut that trap, young tod! Your mother and I did not raise to you be so whiny!"

“Ow! What was that for!?" the foxen youth cried out as his father just ignored him as he turned to pull back the cloth flap to gaze at the slow progress.

“Hmm, looks like the Imperial train is moving out now," Pantaleon pondered out loud.

“Panta, does that mean we are all heading out of the capital now?" I asked politely to which the fox turned his face towards me.

“See, Elyk! That's how you should be acting! Courteous and nice! You should model yourself on Iskander more," Elyk groaned as he started to slouch in the cramped seat.

“But to answer you, Iskander, yes this means the everything is now ready. Once the Imperial train starts heading down the southern main road more we will move in behind them, following to leave the capital via the East Gate."

Hearing this made me feel quite relieved as I was getting to the point where soon I was going to start getting antsy to move out. Gernan was not with us but accompanying the Alpha's massive and luxurious carriage on horse back along with the other important court ministers and militarily officials.

I caught sight of the thing when we passed by it and the carriages for the Alpha's family that were arrayed in front of the main palace gate being readied to be boarded by servants of various races scurrying around with their basket-like lanterns in the twilight dawn like fireflies.

It looked like a little multi-roomed house on four large wheels fitted with gold fixtures! A very luxurious house complete with lacquered doors, paper windows and topped with a gabled roof! It was jaw dropping to a human youth like me, who came from such a backwater place like Safehaven where the only impressive thing was the steeple of the village church, and that was nothing compared to this!

Oh, how I felt bad for master having to be in charge of all of this, the sheer logistics of it all could make even the most calm person want to pull their hair out!

Being parted from Gernan was quite a disappointment to me for numerous reasons, even though I knew well beforehand that he was not going to be with us: one, he was a comfort; and two, he could tell me stories of his exploits to ease the time waiting for the damn bureaucracy of the Alphate to start moving out. I heard that they started setting everything up by supper of the previous day! I bet there were quite a few sleep deprived servants by the time everything was ready.

As for our own of mode of travel, that was another thing! Even if Gernan did go with us I would have loved to have seen him try and fit in with us all in the first place. Thank Canis, Iahel decided to say back at the Koff Clan Manor or else I would title this chapter of my memoir of mine, “One Human, Three Foxes Inside One Tiny Cart," and that sounds like a title of a debauched erotic pamphlet peddled out by sordid foxes with scabies in the red-light district!

The cart, which was enclosed within a light framework and topped with a cloth cover, was meant for two occupants. We should have asked for another cart, but Pantaleon was in no mood to haggle with the Overseer of the Imperial Carriage House, who would probably make an excuse first saying how its too late before finally relenting and notifying his superior, who would in turn notify his superior, who would then report to the Overseer of Palace Affairs, who would then consult the Sigma wolf under the wing of the Beta Sigma, who was also in charge of transportation and could give permission for a second cart to be procured for our use.

All said and done, if we had done that I am pretty sure we would be still waiting for a second cart a week later! It was not worth the hassle!

Somehow, we managed to squeeze in after a few attempts trying to work out our positions so they would be somewhat comfortable for everyone. One had me sit on Pantaleon's lap, but that was scrapped quickly as Pantaleon's thighs would be murdered in a long bumpy ride with a human sitting on his lap the whole time.

Then Elyk had the 'bright' idea of having me lay on the floor while they sit on the seats.

“What a brilliant idea, Elyk! You are so clever!" he put on a proud expression and was about to say something aggrandizing when I gave him a hard kick to his shin which produced a pained gekker from the tod as he hopped on his good leg, clutching his other in pain.

Poor Pantaleon! He looked so stressed and was gazing up at the sky as if he were asking the heavens what he did to deserve having to deal with the two of us.

I was the one that compromised so that we would get somewhere. When we all piled in with myself in the middle, I said it was comfortable even thought it was not. I mean, it was better that the other contortions we tried, but it would have to do.

And now that we were really moving now, finally having turned onto the main road after the main train had already gotten a good head start. We sped up just a tad as I craned my head back to take one last look at the monumental palace gate with its forward-jutting towers framing the gate like the wings of a bird of prey about to swoop down on its prey.

Horns blew out with deep whirling wails from the shoulders of the teams of wolves that it took to carry the two meter long things, while cymbals were also sending out sharp claps. All were sounds that gave the impression that a divine offspring of the heavens was on the move, accompanied with thunder.

As we rounded the Forum of the Moon and its satellite structures, turning east-wards, everyone was prostrate and then came the howls! Oh, it was like the entire city was howling! And I think it was, or at least most of it.

This was all otherworldly! It was as though the Alpha commanded everything under the skies! It was no wonder wolves are often referred to as lords of the horizon by their subjects.

Such a sight like this must really make an impression on any foreign ambassadors coming to visit this center of the world as it felt like to a little country bumpkin human such myself. And by this point I had seen a lot already but there was always something that was bigger just waiting to amaze me despite what I had already heard and seen so far.

I was fourteen years of age then and this world of wolves still managed to put me in sheer awe of its pomp and imperious majesty.

“Truly these wolves can lay claim to being masters of the known world!"

Our progress across the land was slow, no wonder since this was a massive endeavor, but ancient smooth roads were of good help and made sure that we stayed at a constant speed as we traveled towards the east tip of Kaimea.

It took a few days until we reached the sea, every night we would stop and setup camp and Gernan would arrive to check up on us.

That was also when homesickness started to sink in. I missed Lupercal, what a thought! The city of the wolves was now my home and I was pining for it, but I also missed my friend Robert. I liked having another human to talk with as some human issues just go over a chimera's head. Puberty is a good example of one, I am so glad I had Robert to explain it to me as when I told Master Gernan about the changes I was going through, like the hair sprouting on parts of my body and the changes in my voice he flew into a panic thinking I had a disease and me, being none the wiser, thought so too!

I remember how he brought a wolven Doctor who specialized in humans to examine me, he was the same doctor that was employed by the palace for checking up on the human concubines in the Western Harem.

It was then that I first heard the term puberty and how it was different from what wolves normally went through and how Gernan should not worry, as it was a natural thing.

After this, I went and talked to Robert and I was so grateful for helping me with it all. First thing he did was drag me to a store in the human sector where he proceeded to throw me a pair of small, iron ax-like curved blades.

“What is this!? Will I be needing to go into battle with this puberty!?" I asked, bewildered by the use of such things.

“No, silly! Do you want to grow a ratty-looking beard?"

“A-a beard!?" I knew what a beard was, I mean, I saw men back in Safehaven with them but I just thought that getting a beard was a choice you could make or you rubbed some kind of cream on your face and a beard would grow! How naive I was!

“Yep! That's where these come into play. Just wet your face and scrape along your skin, make sure to use warm or hot water and make sure to be careful with those things!" I stood there, assessing this information that I had never even known about.

“Oh, and also Xander! These are made of really cheap iron, so you have to make sure to keep them oiled and covered up or they will rust."

“Also don't forget to get a vial of oil for you face after you shave! Or else you will be in a world of pain, my friend!"

It was awhile before I got the hang of it once I started noticing I was growing hairs on face but I mastered it in no time and made sure to bring them along on this trip to make sure I looked my best, as anthros consider human males with face-fur, as they like to term it, a sign of poverty and I did not want anyone to think my master was not providing for his own human! That would look bad for him.

Once we arrived at the shores we were greeted by a fleet of barges that were capable of transporting all of the carriages across the channel. The very feat of getting all of them loaded on to the ships took a whole day in and of itself.

It was not a long voyage, just about a full day, but being on the sea again did bring up distressing memories of the last time I was on a ship but I managed to bury it all.

Once everything was unloaded, which again took a whole day to disembark everything, we were now on the open plains and on the last leg of the journey.

The rest of the trip was not much to talk about, just a few more days of traveling which I will not go into here.

The Imperial hunting grounds were located in a flat steppe near a small mountain ridge, close to a small lake and sparsely forested areas by the mountains. There were no palaces, structures, buildings or anything at all, just a flat plain of emerald grassland as far as the eye could see.

Wolfkind considers such lands to be ingrained in their history, it was in places this that packs of wolves would ride across the plains hunting, migrating and occasionally fighting with other packs for dominance. When Alphas were as numerous as the stars in the night sky, with each one hoping to be elected to be High Alpha through feats of strength.

But that was before the war and many Alphas banded together under one Alpha to create the new order. Though the wolves beyond the Caspian Sea in the East disagree and compare the their Western kin's big-sleeved robes of silk and their sprawling cities to the inbreeding that the Dog Kingdoms of the East.

It was here in this place that we were going to spend the entire summer and early fall. It was hard to imagine spending so many months in such a place considering how empty it was but that soon changed rapidly as the Ursine workers setup a good-sized perimeter wall of fine, blue cloth hung from gold-leafed poles and began assembling the frameworks of the dwellings we were all going to use.

One could say it was almost like a miniature Lupercal in tent form. The Alpha's carriage was stationed right in the center of the perimeter circle and it was in front of his carriage that his magnificent yurt of embroidered silk and cloth of gold was set up, along with tents for the various consorts and concubines he brought with him and were walled off in their area away from prying eyes behind the Alpha's.

No doubt Jao was there, his head churning with plots and schemes to bring down his foes.

I really didn't pay too much attention to all the activity going about with setting up everything in camp. I was too busy impatiently waiting for Gernan's tent to be setup so I could finally sleep decently for once on something that was not the ground.

Sleep-deprived, hungry and aching are the words best used to describe me right then and there. Sleep-deprived for obvious reasons, it's not easy trying to go to sleep in a new environment that changed every day; hungry because all we had was dried meat, and aching from that damned cart! I was on edge and practically feeling like I could bite off anyone's head if they dared to provoke me in such a state.

Then there was the looming threat of the Prince. I knew he was going to come and try to find me the first chance he gets and I was terrified and wanted to make damn sure I had enough sleep to endure what he was going to do with me! Just one night of good sleep would be enough to keep me sane from the little wolf Prince!

Pony-riding and bow practice were some of the things I guessed I would be brought along with by Ulric so he could try and show off to me. I knew how to do neither of those. I was really feeling like I should've never come and just stayed back at Lupercal and took it easy with Iahel back at the Koff Manor.

Thank Canis and all the gods in heaven I went! Things would've gone so much more differently if I had not gone.

We were all but prey and our collective foot was treading on the spring of a trap that would soon dig its metal teeth into our flesh.