A Biography of a Human

Chapter Thirty-Six:

“Air of Tension"

“I saw him! Well, I think I did…not sure, but I feel like that human I saw standing beside Her Highness was the same human whose recent arrival in our Sovereign Alpha's harem made some waves in the court circles. It's said that he was carried into the palace under the cloak of night by order of her Imperial Highness herself, and all the while under the snout of Her Highness, the Alpha Dowager!"

“Some minor secretary who was fortunately awake at that hour of night and whose dwelling was on the one of the main routes to the palace, said he saw this from his study on the second floor. Did not hear this from said wolf himself but I heard it from others."

“Another thing which I heard from others is the background of this human, not much mind you, but that his name is Iskander and that he is the former human of late Gernan Koff and most tellingly that he has been favored by our current Alpha when he was a princeling under the tutelage of Gernan as a friend."

“I predict a meteoric rise!"

“Now, if I could somehow get into contact with this Iskander, I could surely rise with him! For too long have Prime Beta Titus and his arrogant clique dominated the Alphate! You should have seen Her Highness's blatant favoritism during the ceremony, it was outrageous! She even made an insulting remark about my birth!"

“Other than that, I am faring as well as I can, dear brother. With what little I am paid due to my current position in the government, I am just barely making it by here in the capital. I hope you are doing better than I am in that regard. The central government is not what it's harked up to be when you are a lowly bureaucrat like myself!"

“Send my love to our mother and do sens me news on your mate's litter, I eagerly await news of my sister-in-law giving birth and that by the grace of the Lupa she remains healthy."

“Saab Quong."

That new year's ceremony by Gao'ao left me feeling a bit uneasy inside. It reeked of such frivolous folly and I knew if it was anyone else they would receive the harshest of reprimands for such a blatant display of familial favoritism. That's not to say Gao'ao was not given any form of scolding, she did, from the office of the Grand Auditor, that body which monitored and processed power to admonish, impeach, and outright give censor to the entire central government.

Neither the Alpha or his family are immune from words of warning from this office though, of course, they more often put it to them in the lightest possible way lest they encroach too close to being insulting to the Alphate's regal honor.

Gao'ao's mother and uncle both received a suspension of monthly payment for the sole act of accepting the Imperial Mate's gifts. In the words of the Grand Auditor's indictment: “It sows the sense of breaking of rank and thus gives the feeling of not needing to obey the rightful system ranking due to one's merits and is an affront to pack order." Gao'ao, meanwhile, was counseled to study the Analects of the First Wolf, Ysengrimus, and the Rites of the Pack.

This was a task that Her Majesty took with the littlest of heed. The stacks of these books were left in her chamber for well over a month before they were finally returned to the Imperial Library. I took the chance to read them myself, despite the often blatant anti-human sentiment, mostly in the part of the work of First High Alpha Ysengrim; there was still wisdom in the words written in these canonical books of the wolven order of the world.

Nonetheless the whole thing left me feeling uneasy with it all. I was still worried about everything, I felt as if any wrong move would spell my down fall so I kept on playing cautiously.

Finally, a week after that event, some good tidings came to me. News that Neith, Rena, and their families were alive and had returned to the capital, word of this had been sent by way of Elyk through Maria, whose very placement, having both access to the secluded harem and the outside word, gave her the ability to ferry letters back and forth.

I wondered when they must have first heard that not only had our father was recalled from exile and was now not of this world any longer. I sincerely cursed my new prison of the harem for I was unable to be there to welcome them and to find comfort in out mutual sorrow, and to talk and speak of memories of our dearly departed. I wished to tell of them how I protected Gernan and stood with him through it all despite me having both every right and every chance to escape into the world at large.

Maria immediately carried a letter which I had quickly dashed out without much care for how it looked, I knew they would have not heard about me in the news of everything. What envoy would speak of me when he had information such as that Gernan was returned from exile and that he was clearly mortally ill.

They must have thought I truly did abandon him, died, or outright forgot me. I do not know, all I knew was I needed to contact them right away and so after whipping down a few frenzied words on cheap, flimsy paper; I had it rushed to the palace laundry with instruction for Maria to deliver it to who ever it was, be it Elyk or another so that it could be within the paws of one of the sisters. It did not matter which it happened to be, as I said previously, not much care was put into my message, just the desire to establish contact was in mind as the most important.

Then came the wait, which lasted a few days. Though it was less than a week it felt to me at the time like months! The waiting for something like that is always the hardest and this time was no different than all those other times before and since. The factors of Maria finding a chance and a good excuse to depart from her own section of the palace for supplies, its exchange to Elyk, his searching out and finding one of the sisters; it all took time and this was just for my letter, theirs would go through the same.

But finally, I received word back and I did not waste time ripping it open so that my eyes would be cast upon the words of a familiar person who was now legally my kin despite the different race. It was a brief message, but still big in impact despite its brevity.

“We had thought you long gone or dead! Knowing you are still alive is a small but dear comfort for us in this time. Father loved you dearly and to find out you repaid his love with such loyalty in times of such dire hopelessness fills me with warmth and gladness I have not felt in such a long time. Faithful Elyk gave me a short summery of what you and departed Father went through."

“Knowing this, I am not surprised he adopted you legally as a pup. You are a wolf in virtues and I wish to state it here and now that I am glad you are now a brother in all terms of the word minus blood. You are a Koff."

“Lady Rena."

I found myself crying, the words touched me to the core and filled me with a determined desire to meet them again face to muzzle and this was where me being legally a Koff clan member made itself useful.

The palace allowed for kin visits for members of the harems of rank such as I was at the time. As one got higher the idea of having non-kin visitors was not was strange, but the fact I was of the Koff clan legally I could rightfully request a visit from Rena and Neith and I desired so. Of course, like most wolf things, it was a bureaucratic process but my proximity to the Imperial Mate herself, Head of the Harem made this speed along faster.

If I was happy, she was happy, and that was her goal for me since I was her secret weapon, and by that time I was aware of it and was seeing ways I could exploit her need of me. She would not risk upsetting me in any way, shape or form. So, when I brought up my wish to have the two she-wolves make an official visit to the inner sanctum, she gladly waved her paw and ordered Nara to deal with it by going to the necessary offices to arrange it with urgency.

Also the fact that New Years had just passed it was a good excuse to be requesting kin to pay a visit, I was not the only person in the harem who got to meet with their clan relations for the holiday season so what I was doing was not out of place.

The day of their scheduled visit was set and the waiting for the day itself drew along with the anguish of growing impatience. I wished I could have been with Ulric so that those days would not have felt so long and arduous to me, but he was dealing with the court, mainly being ceremonial Alpha while Uncle Titus played real Alpha.

The day came and like most excited at something long looked forward to, woke up very early and if the past days before were long the waiting for the hour felt even longer. I helped light all the lanterns and lamps within my plain chamber so that were would be more light than usual, that took my mind off of it as well as taking a short bath in a tiny tub I helped Yosef carry in. It was so small that when I used it I had to sit with my knees to my chest.

This reminds me again of how Dowager Nu made a mention on my lack of smooth skin which I feel will be apt mentioned here. My body hair was always light but the removal of human body hair on the arms, legs and chest was de rigueur of the harem humans. So, I had it removed by myself since I was not going to let some stranger do it for me.

So, a few days after that meeting with that Nu, I cleaned myself up. Quite simple, a bottle of a foul smelling solution to rub upon my body, which I did at great initial reluctance considering how putrid the scent of it was, and one half of a clam shell to scrap the hair off once the liquid had set into the skin. My body itched for a day after that but the feeling of this would subside with every use.

I bring this up since not often are the daily lives and mundane things of the Alpha's harem such this are written down. I knew nothing of such things before coming here like I was then.

After drying myself off and dressing in the colorful but plain-cut garb assigned to my rank, I sat on a cushioned bench that extended along the side wall of my chamber and just waited. Yosef sat beside me and offered idle talk as well as continuing my help with his wolven speaking which, by this point, was very good and minor faults in pronouncing certain inflections were the only issues with him.

The hot coals placed within the iron brazier near us as we sat waiting glowed as it burned, giving the confined chamber needed warmth in the chilly Lupercal cold during the winters like these. The wolf New Year might mark the beginning of spring but the cold would still often linger on for a while.

Soon, by mid-morning, a shuffling sound was heard drawing near, footsteps and the swaying of cloth and low whispers. I knew it was them straight away, led by a palace usher no doubt lecturing them of protocol and manners of the palace.

Shadows of snouted figures glided past the papered windows of the chamber, moving to the door that would give access to my room.

First entering the room was the she-wolf, Nara, who gestured her paw inward into my chamber's threshold, “Lady Neith and Lady Rena have arrived."

Not hesitating, but slightly anxious, I responded without delay, “Let them in! Let them in!" maybe I was too eager and my voice too raised, but I could not contain my emotions for wishing to gaze on their familiar faces again.

Two she-wolves stepped inside while Nara withdrew, leaving only two humans on one end of the chamber and two female wolves on the other in total silence as we eyed one another from our places. I must have looked like I was in a state of shock since I felt Yosef tap me on the shoulder. I gestured that I was fine, with my eyes watering slightly and finding no words, reached out my hands for them to draw near and quickly.

It was them, the same two wolves who that forever ago bought me to serve as their fathers's pet and who had become their father's trusted associate and protector in exile. They looked older, faces and muzzles sagging slightly with wear from the harsh world of the Urals clear on them.

Rena, always the more mature of the two, holding a bearing of that of a fine stateswolf. Neith was shortly behind her sister as they drew closer towards me, emotion clear in both of their faces as they looked at me, having not seen me in almost a decade.

Compared to seeing Elyk again, seeing the two sisters was deeply moving. They were the offspring of my wolf father, his blood ran through their veins and his features were in their faces mixed with those of their mother. It was like seeing an aspect of Gernan himself before me and that is why I felt so jarred from reality.

When words finally came to my mouth, now having stood up from my seat, I was almost shaking. my blood having drained from the surface of my skin.

“Rena, Neith," I whispered dramatically, the process of speaking having returned me to my senses and back to reality. Almost rushing forward, giving the two of them slight shock, I bowed reverently as I spoke further, “Elder Sisters, please take my seat!"

They were my elder kin and I was overcome with a need to show them that decorous familial deference instilled in the core of the wolven way of life. I was the human son of Gernan and I was now the younger sibling of Rena and Neith and I just felt like I needed to do this act of familial piety before them.

Yosef must have looked on with bewilderment at this bizarre scene I was putting on. Oh, how I put him through much in those early days. Not only was he still new to this wolf world but now watching his friend act all strange!

Rena was taken aback by this action, she rushed over and clasped my folded arms, preventing me from fully bending over in a deep, bow-like curtsy that I was in the in midst of doing. Her finger and palm pads touched my forearms, betraying the hardships they endured. They were rough and cracked, scratching the skin of my arms as they held them.

“Please, dear, you don't have to do that," Rena voiced in slight distress marked by embarrassment. “If anything we should be bowing to you! You kept our father alive through his exile and were there for him when we could not!"

“How can you say that!? I failed, I was unable to do anything to save him from dying like that!" my voice cracked along with my control over my emotions. It was like I was using every bit of control I had left inside me to prevent me from instantly dropping on the floor in a heap of tears and whimpers.

“Hush! Hush! Don't say that! You did good, you did good, Iskander!" Rena consoled as she went on to say that we all should sit down as she and Yosef guided me back to my seat where I collected myself and dried my eyes with a napkin Yosef pulled from his sleeve and gave to me.

As I collected myself, I quickly introduced them to Yosef, saying, “If I was the one that was there for father, he was here for me," I did not want them to think he was some random human or servant or the like.

Once I was dry-eyed and the sniffling subsided we spoke on together about everything! All I went through and then listened to all that they went through.

The hardships they endured, while Gernan and I suffered with heat bearing down upon us, the sisters and their close kin received the harsh cold. The farther they drew away from the orderly Imperial cities the colder and more desolate it got for them. Then came the trek around the Ural Mountains themselves. Hard paths, full of dangers of slipping and torrents of snow and wind and this they went through all alone with no help but a meager guide to ensure they arrived at their place of exile. They managed safely past that wall of rocks and hills and once they did the guide left them to their fates.

A bunch of noble-born wolves striped of all their rank, abandoned and expected to fend for themselves. The comparison to what Gernan and I experienced was the same, recalling that first day we were on our own and how it left such a sense of desolation in the soul. That was the same for them and not only that, Rena had pups! Thankfully not infants but still too young to endure such a fate.

The only groups of others beyond the Urals were the trade post garrisons that were the links in the long chains that led to the many Dog Kingdoms of the Orient in that distant land of Chin-na with their inbreed upperclassman so ridiculed by the wolves. Other than that, only small hamlets of sedentary wolves and lynxes dotted near the outposts while tribal and nomadic packs and clans of the same lay, those who swore fealty to the Imperial Alpha and were kept in check by the garrisons of Imperial wolves that lay afar in the vast steeps.

They rightfully feared being enslaved by those types, the nomads and tribes, since they had no qualms with such actions and being persona non grata no one would lift a claw to prevent it. So, they stayed near the cites full of traders coming and going in both directions and the garrison troops.

The worst part was finding out that Rena's mate Daidu perished in this climate! I found myself quickly asking upon the health of her pups and I was assured to hear they were in good health. Adapting to their harsh place of exile where their father fell to the vastly different elements, “Daidu was never adapted to the colder climate," Rena said of her mate's passing.

That was just within the year of their exile and so the two she-wolves and Rena's pups had to make do all on their own. Fortunately, they were strong she-wolves and held their own. I found myself asking what they planed on next.

Rena said she did not plan on taking on another mate. She spoke of her idea to gain some position in the government, perhaps a posting in a nearby city within the peninsula of Kaimea.

Neith seemed to be at a loss of what to do, she was nearing her late thirties like her sister and littermate but that was of no concern since wolf females can bear pups well past their fifties unlike human females. A question for the experts on the bodies of man and beast but not for me.

The day drew into evening and a clerk came speaking of how it was getting near the time for palace closing up for the night, no doubt with the drummers of the palace city's gate beginning its drum roll warnings of impending closure of the palace.

Saying goodbye was hard, but seeing the two was some form of closure in this whole matter. The whole household was accounted for from what remains of its surviving members. From servants to members of the Koff Clan.

It was a form of resolution of this gigantic tragedy.

Finally, I was allowed to meet with Ulric alone. It took much to let the two of us be together outside of the watching eyes of my mistress who often used Ulric's more frequent sojourns to her compound to entice him into fulfilling his mately obligation to her. This benefited her since it deprived her rivals, both human and wolf, from his presence. Siao was only visited once in the past month and only for a New Years dinner, which was customary for the first month of the new year for every high ranking member of the Inner Den, from his mother first then down. I was too lowly to get such an honor thus-far.

Gao'ao was having issues with her heat cycle and when her mother came to call it was of frequent discussion. Gao'ao was in a near panic talking about the lack of anything in her body coming to fruit like others, “Mother, you have told me when its near to the time the lips of the spade swell, and blood leaks from within, I have never had that!" her mother would reassure along the lines of, “The late blooming flower is the most majestic of the tree," and how it surely means that when she does go into heat she will be most fertile.

“The Ysengrim's mother was in her sixtieth year when she had him, you are only in your thirties pup, you have plenty of time," Gao'ao was given slight hope but not much since it was in contrast with the reality

“Yes mother, I am aware of that but she has a pups already. If I only gave birth to a litter when I reach sixty, hers will be of full age next to mine!" again her mother assured her of the fact that the offspring of the Imperial Mate is always more high ranking to the litter of the secondary mates. Often her mother would depart, promising to bring some herb or remedy to help her fertility.

It was in this environment that the chance to meet with Ulric alone for once came. Ulric was the one who initiated, asking directly to have me come and tidy his bed before he went to slumber, this was not a visit of intimate capacity, but such things can still happen though. For all intents and purposes I was just to merely tuck the Alpha in tonight.

The order came as Gao'ao was sitting in a bath of some odd concoction of herbs and spices which were ascribed fertility boosting properties. It was said to be pricy and acquired through the means of some tiger expatriate who said that it was used by the tiger's dhole subjects to encourage heat. Being busy with soaking in this she waved her paw saying I should be on my way and thus the chance to be with Ulric away from her watch was arranged.

Before I could leave, Nara was ordered to prepare me, dressings of course, nothing simple but in the terms of the makeup that's where it was more than normal. The whole of my face was caked with white paint on top of which from the top of my cheeks to the jawline was brushed on a bright pinkish-red blush that against the white made it even more garish. It was so layered that if I even moved one muscle I could feel cracks form on the whole of it all.

This was claimed to be the popular thing by Nara, mentioning how human skin was ideal for decorating. I half wonder if this was done by her to make my attraction less but I digress. All I knew was I looked like a mime from festivals on Safehaven. It was atrocious, not surprising considering a wolf applied it.

Thus, finally, I was sent on my way escorted by Nara as far as the walls that surround the residential hall of the Alpha, The Hall of the Reclining Lupine. From there, I was left to make the rest of the trek being handed off to the ursine, Dillian, who remained aloof hulking beside me the rest of the way.

Honestly, the thought of the act of intercourse was not within mind of me. All I thought was of being in the company of my Little Wolf again to speak with him, to share comfort, and to hold each other and say that we are together. Though I will not lie, the idea of sex with the now grown and quite handsome wolf was something I did not dislike, far from it.

If I was thinking of that, it was not for long, for in my idleness I collided face-first into the thick ursine arm of Dillian, who, having stopped abruptly, threw it to the side with the full intent to stop me. Shocked, I gazed to him, not knowing what exactly was happening. All he did was look at me with a deep suspicion.

“Whats your game?" he grunted shortly at my baffled form as I struggled to understand his meaning. “You're here now, which board are you from? Titus, Jao or Nu?" further even more coldly than before as my befuddlement grew on.

Apparently, I didn't even have to answer, for the look on my face caused his countenance of extreme suspicion and coldness to falter into that of astonished amazement, “I was convinced you were here for yourself! I don't know whether to laugh or to cry for you!" after this rather bewildering interruption I was guided on my way without a single further word spoken between us. Not that it was needed since my mind was already pondering what exactly occurred.

After that, I was ushered into the darkened interior of the hall and, catching my breath, looked around to see where I was to go. The answer was in the form of a glowing aura in one of the deep, dark recesses of the structure I therein found myself.

I approached the light in the darkened interior, full well knowing that's where my little wolf was residing and spending his evening. His wolfish silhouette was thrown against a thin cloth screen, his muzzle parallel to me as subtle movements were discernible in the strobing flicker of the light that accompanied him in his solitary repose.

Reaching him closer, I gazed around the screen and found Ulric, seated at on an extremely low lacquered couch, so much that it looked like he was on the floor. In front of him was a low desk upon which documents and papers abound all strewn about. From my vantage, I was behind him, standing nearly over him.

My Little Wolf's head was downcast and I heard a low sigh emit from his parted muzzle as he raised a paw to hid face and rubbed the side of his head, flattening one ear in the process of doing so.

He had not noticed me. The senses which wolves, and for that matter most chimera, boast upon as being superior, are not always exact and this was one of those moments. Parting my lips, that were quite dry now from that colored balm that was insisted onto me, a single breath came out as I tried to gather my thoughts to make an utterance. This was loud enough that the Imperial Wolf's ears twitched backward and the fur on the back of his hunched neck stiffened. In the same moment, Ulric yelped out like a puppy, showing his youth despite his age, and twisted around frantically to see my face in the semi-dim lighting.

“GHOST! GHOST!" Ulric shrieked as he scrambled away from me, knocking over the table in front of him and sending everything atop it along with it. I, for one, found the scene so amusing that I burst into a fit of laughter at the sight of the Imperial Alpha of the Great Kutlar Alphate becoming a figure with a puffed-up pelt, pin-prick pupils, and maw agape.

Relief washed over Ulric face when finally recognized who I was, his very own Xan. “What in Canis' name did they do to your face?!" was his first line of greetings to me besides calling me a ghost.

“Her Majesty, The Imperial Mate. She said I needed to look proper to be revived into your presence. Just visiting you in an unofficial capacity like this was a bureaucratic affair in itself. Also, your Imperial Majesty, you requested me to visit you like this! You should have know I would be the only human here," I mock-scolded the little wolf like in his puphood days.

I was expecting him to playfully retort but, contrary to my thoughts, he ended up looking dejected and sullen.

“Sure, sure! Speak to me like my Uncle, I hear it enough as it is, why not from you as well?" the words took me aback as I was not expecting such a sting from the former pup who was so carefree, though a bit pompous when I last left him so many years ago.

“Ulric…Little Wolf…whats wrong?"

“Nothing! It's nothing!" of course, I was unconvinced and gave him a look which broke down his stubborn pretense. “I'm Alpha but I do nothing! Everyone speaks to me as if I were a dimwit, even you, I see!" I was annoyed at this being placed on me. Ulric always was a bit fickle like this under stress or depression.

“Ulric," I spoke, sternly speaking his name like I were his parent. This instantly caused him to jerk his face to me, looking rather shocked and maybe a bit scared of having unleashed some kind of fury in me. If I was taken aback by his new sulking phase, it must be said he was taken aback by my new boldness and confidence.

Feeling guilty for scaring him like this, I toned down my voice, speaking softly.

“Sorry I spoke like that. But Ulric, you know me, I don't think that way at all and you should think before you place accusations on me like that! It makes me feel like you don't trust me!" I was reminded of the time he lashed out at me as a pup before and like then, he looked devastated at the thought he deeply hurt me.

Before he could utter an apology, I took a seat next to him with a warm smile, assuring him he had not lost me, “Ulric, I love you. I mean that and you should know that a simple short remark is not going to make me leave you"

Sighing, I apologized for my ignorance of the events that have now clearly affected him since the years apart from each other.

“Ulric, I am sorry I did not know you were having issues like not being taken seriously. I should have known that you might be feeling this way, I had a feeling your Uncle was being…" I was struggling to find the polite words for such a description and failing.

“Controlling?" Ulric answered for me but before I could respond he further went on with a trail of synonyms.

“Domineering?"

“Oppressive?

“Despotic?"

“Suffocating?"

“Iron-pawed?"

“Unyielding?"

“Forceful?"

“Autocratic?" he would have gone on further if I did not interject to stop him from droning on with all the words he could think of to describe his predicament. “Ulric, you don't need to go further, I see what you are describing clearly. No need to list every wolven word for a pushy bully."

I continued, attempting to advocate for the other side, saying how it could not be as bad he was saying. Funny of me to think that since I detested Titus even back then, but still, I wanted to add some light to this whole matter since I was still truly unaware of sheer extent of Titus' managerial control over the vital organs of the Alphate's system of government.

Ulric shot me a rather miffed look as if I was not taking him seriously. I blurted out how Titus was that way, pretty much making my whole point before for nothing. Then came the stories of his Uncle's behavior which was my first time hearing them.

“Every audience is me sitting on my throne like a statue, silent and still for all of it. Uncle Titus does all of the speaking. The only time I managed to do something of my own was sticking with my repeated requests to go and find you and Gernan!" this was new to me and the expression on my face, even in the dim confines of the chamber, told him I wished to know more.

“Yes, it took me a year of asking to finally get him to relent and allow an expedition. He always gave excuses about Father's mourning or the seas are too rough for it, or how the lions were rowdy this period of time and even outright saying that it would be a wasted effort!" if my expression before was one of curiosity, the one I found forming upon my face now was that of shock and full awareness of not only the extent of Titus' control but the idea he had been stonewalling an effort to look for us. My thoughts ran wild in the space of that moment upon hearing that revelation.

“Why!? Why!? Why!? Maybe this is just an exaggeration, I mean the part about the lions being active is surely right I mean, Aha'hor…Titus is an awful wolf but surely he's not the type that would abandon his friend like that!" I then came upon the thought that maybe he was aware that Jao would make a strike against Gernan and did this all to prevent it from happening. Clearly Titus was going to only fetch us when Jao was dealt with? It was a painful thought, I do say, since it gave me an impression that Gernan could have been saved if one thing was different.

So caught up in these thoughts, I was oblivious to the fact I was now crying, creating much fright in my Little Wolf, who reacted in almost a panicked frenzy as if I were sick or injured. The pain was still fresh and only time would heal my devastation that I felt. My third ruination haunted me like a looming spectator of death that was now hovering over my Ulric, about to inflict my forth and send me cascading back into the depth of oblivion.

“Am I a wandering curse upon all those I love?" again, that awful thought returned to my mental frame of mind, tormenting me with the fact that every life I have been apart of has burst suddenly into flames before my very eyes and before in this state of mine I hallucinated that Ulric himself was bursting into flames right in front of me.

I found myself lunging at the figure of Ulric, spreading my arms wide and embracing the form of the wolf as to snuff out the flames I saw engulfing his figure. I thought I even smelled the scent of burned fur in my mad state.

In an instant, reality returned, the heat, the smell and the sight of fire vanished and I was left sobbing while clutching the frighted form of my Ulric, “Whats wrong!? Whats wrong!?" he shouted. “Should I get the Doctors!? Dillian!?" he was about to call out for his trusty ursine companion when I hushed him, saying I was fine, knowing full-well I would have to explain this.

As I pulled away I saw I left my entire face imprinted on Ulric's robed shoulder, the tears were making what was left of the paint of my face melt into long streams of black, white, and red. I knew I looked like a total mess.

“I don't want to lose you, Ulric! I can't lose you! You are all I have left, I can't…" I was about to continue on with my rambling but was stopped by Ulric. “Shhhh. Shhh. I am not going anywhere, I promise. Now, lets get that awful paint washed off your face," almost picking me up, he led me across the chamber with most of my weight leaning on his solid form.

“He has really grown up," I thought to myself, recalling in astonishment how I once was able to catch him years back when first met in Gernan's garden. “If I tried that now I would break my back," the tiny mention of Gernan in this pondering did not help me at all and only served to make my fears return.

Ulric led me over to a wash basin and helped me wash the caked-on layers of white face powder and copious amounts of blush that was forced upon me before I could leave Gao'ao's presence. This mundane task took much of my worries and fears out, as if they were being washed off my face along with the absurd make up.

“You really thought I was a ghost, Ulric?" I asked Little Wolf after a while of this, desiring to change the subject and feeling much better after that panic. Ulric nodded his head, embarrassed a little.

“Yes…" he started while rubbing his ears, “I thought you were the spirit of Consort Yaya…"

“Consort Yaya?" I had not heard that name before.

“Consort Yaya was my Grandfather's human favorite. When he was a young wolf helping to secure the Kutlar Alphate, he picked up Yaya on his travels and when he deposed Great Grandfather Wuffrim the First, bestowed him with high honor," Ulric then said how this Yaya was a good human who got on well with Lycan's Imperial Mate Tuoba, recounting how Yaya and Tuoba worked in unison were instrumental in helping Lycan numerous times.

“What happened to him…" I dared asking, since I knew full well that Lycan's rule was known for the plots and schemes to topple the new order of the Imperial system.

“Well, he was seriously asthmatic. He suffered from a sudden affliction of it and died in this very hall in the presence of Alpha Lycan himself who allowed him to stay here, during the illness. Even the Imperial Mate Tuoba herself came and tended to Yaya."

“You act like he has appeared to you before, Little Wolf!" I bemusedly teased as the wolf looked to the side sheepishly.

“Well, I have thought I heard the sounds of ghostly wheezing in the middle of the night before. So, you cannot blame me for turning around and mistaking you in that painted face as some specter!"

We both laughed and spent the night together, the talk of ghosts kind of made it so that both of us rather be together than alone. Everyone says we mated that night, claiming that this was the moment we first were tied together, that he took me. That was not the case, we were still getting to know each other after a long time and the matter did not even come to both of our minds.

No, our first time was later, within the new year, which was sure to bring big changes as will be very clear in the coming accounts. It was made all more special and was like a union of not only our bodies of fur and flesh but our very souls themselves.

I performed my duties as I was tasked to, fetching out the ledger books of the individual palaces and recording all the major going-ons from them in the main palace ledger, before handing them off to my superior, Gao'ao.

Now, normally this would be it. But in this simple task, I clearly noticed a rivalry. More often than not the first person at my threshold requesting it was not the envoy of Gao'ao but of Alpha Dowager Nu. Soon, I noticed a competition growing, a race you can say. The envoys of each, racing to be the earliest to get the books to be viewed first by their respective mistresses.

Since I was not the only Talent dealing with this work of recording of the weekly going-ons, I believe there was a wolfess Talent but I did not have much interaction at that point with her, this made it so that often mine would be fetched by Gao'ao and the other one managed to be taken by Nu.

Gao'ao was FUMING over this usurpation of her primary duties. Yes, it was pretty much looking over date books but it was the prerogative of the Imperial Mate as the Den Maker of the Empire. Often when receiving the assembled books and noticing that a portion was missing she would sit there knowing full-well the missing books were in the paws of dearest mother-in-law and sit there on her throne looking like she was stuck by lightning with her fur all puffed up.

Everyone knew to quietly withdraw from her presence during that. As an attendant said to me during my first experience with this, “It's best to let the pot simmer down before stirring it again." Wise words from a servant in how to deal with a spoiled noble wolfess.

In the midst of all of this, Yosef, wishing to practice his wolven speech desired to assist me in collecting the ledger books from the palaces I was assigned to overseeing, which included the Armpit Palace. I agreed and sent him off on his way with a permission slip since the Armpit Palace was auxiliary, thus being outside of the palace city walls.

When he finally game back with a heap of books, he spared no time setting them down to deliver some information he overheard regarding Jao, which he found amusing and since he was fully aware of my animosity to Jao wished to eagerly tell it to me.

It was of Jao being served his full comeuppance.

After Yosef retrieved Jao's book, which had a large amount of fertilizer purchased and nothing much else, for his garden, I figured; he was about to leave when he lost balance on a worn-out paving stone, the whole tray of books he collected fell over onto the ground.

As he was picking the books up, a decree bearing wolfess walked into Jao's humble compound and read aloud a sacred decree from her Imperial Matronly Majesty Alpha Dowager Nu herself. I happen to have an archived copy, the original was destroyed in later events.

The main parts of concern were thus:

“Her Sacred Highness, the most Imperial Matron of the Kutlar Alphate, the Wise and Compassionate, the Keeper of the Den of her Pup the Imperial Alpha. Alpha Dowager Nu, commands upon, Consort Dowager Jao the following honor:"

“Consort Dowager Jao, he served my Mate to his fullest extent, providing him much companionship when I was unable to. Such a service gives me awe and much respect for his station and being. Never before has there been a more loyal bed companion than he."

“Therefore in respect to this service, Jao shall be grated the honor of serving Departed Wuffrim's soul. He shall, on the date of good choosing within the year, depart to Wuffrim's Mortuary Palace and continue his role to the spirit form of Alpha Wuffrim II until his last days. After which, he shall thus be interred in his own tumulus near that of the Imperial Mausoleum."

Yosef could scarcely believe the words he was hearing and the long silence which followed was deafening to him, since he knew full-well the anger that was simmering behind it until the bearer of this order left.

“THE FUCKING BITCH! She thinks she can have me sent away even further! THE FUCKING WHORE! Who does she think she is? All she did was pop out an Alpha and that's it!" Jao screamed with a fury the likes unheard of before.

“Consort Dowager, sooth your anger!" Jao in a fury was even more enraged as this minor servant tried to calm him down “HOW DARE YOU CALL ME BY THAT TITLE!?" Yosef heard a loud crash next. Clearly, he had pushed the servant over and the sounds of loud slaps were heard followed painful cries. Jao was personally whipping the poor human and taking his rage out on him. Yosef told me he was so stuck with fear of being caught just standing out of view but could not move since he was entranced by this whole scene's sound.

Then, Yosef said he heard the familiar voice of Beshir thumping over to calm Jao, giving out utterances of soothing words, “Be patient, our humiliation will not be forever!"

Jao followed with a stumbling of words along the lines of, “She want to dig me out and cast me into the weed heap. Cut off all my roots and leave me defenseless!"

By this time, Yosef, not wishing to look too suspicious, stated moving slowly along the alleyways of the Armpit Palace.

“We have to do it!"

“We just have too!" those were the last words of Jao, that Yosef heard until they became only unintelligible murmuring.