Silver Queens

[Walker Saint]

It was snowing. Saint stood, letting the flakes settle on his skin. They melted, turning to water, but not dissipating. Wetness sticking to his skin, keeping their shape without running or seeping into his skin. Stretching out his arms, Saint looked down their lengths, watching the snowflakes take shape along them. Or reshape on them.

In. He breathed in, deep into his chest until it swelled, lifting up his shoulders and arms. Lips rounding, Saint breathed down the space between his arms. The water on his arm ran downward, turning his palms up, he let them be filled. Droplets circling his wrists to pool in the cups formed by his palm.

"Who?" He asked, a swift twist dumping the water out. It fell and formed a frozen pool at his feet. Stepping over it, Saint walked on. Deeper into the kingdom. Tall, brittle trees taunting him. Pale hair. Bright eyes. Trouble. Swift coming trouble. Releasing the craft, SAint left the frozen land behind and entered a warmer but wetter one. The rains had started.

He knew where to go. Up. Out of his cave. Long legs seeing him up the hill. At its top a tumble of stone. The beginning of an aborted city. A new coven reaching farther than they had the power to hold. They, and the first finished floor of their city had been destroyed. All that was left were the foundation stones that never were tread by a seneschal.

And old blood.

"Lady." He greeted, ears swiveling forward and back, unsure if he should be eager or wary. "Welcome to Tigrelan. I am Walker Saint." He swallowed, nails extending and then retracting, all but the one. The tendon that drew it back severed in battle. Bitter, bitter draught. But he said it anyway. "How may I serve?"

[Eydis Greenstone]

Rumors had a way of reaching Glacia early. Their business of transporting products and people put them in a good position to hear the conversations going on across the realm. One of the most recent suggested that people with cat like ears and fur covered tails had been spotted at the junction of a lake and river in the far south of Scelt. A place that Eydis knew by maps, and perhaps a few ill advised rides on the Wind.

As a girl she had always wanted to travel. To see the world, or even just all of Glacia. But duty came first. Especially when you held a Jewel and caste combination like Red and Queen. It had been too dangerous until her Virgin Night. Too vital she stay and convince her City to love her more than they feared her. The work carrying on well after her Offering had settled. Always work in the way.

Until she learned the hard way that if you didn’t take time to enjoy life, it would pass you right by. So on occasion, when no one would miss her for an hour or two- Eydis did. The Ebon-Gray could get her far, fast. Then back again, as long as she was careful. Eydis was always careful. Even in the impractical act of watching the moon set, or the sun rise in foreign lands. Uninvited, but eyes so eager to drink it in how could she refuse herself this one joy?

This time, however, her excursion had a purpose. And while she anticipated being a surprise, she was greeted no sooner than she landed. The Prince that hosted her welcome a sleek young man with half a tail and hands full of claws. He seemed very uncertain, but also expectant. She turned towards him on the ancient landing web. So worn by time and disuse that it seemed a safe place to choose. ”Eydis of Glacia. A pleasure to meet you, Prince,” She said back softly, head tipping towards him in a short nod of appreciation. Experience with the Cervini gave her a shred of confidence in dealing with Blood of a different sort. Clasping her hands at the center of her waist Eydis blinked at him kindly as she finally addressed his question. ”In whatever ways you choose, thank you for asking. I’m here primarily to ask a few questions, and perhaps answer a few.”

”A beautiful land you have here. It has a very old soul.” She commented, head swiveling to take in the tall trees. Clean, without the feeding of Queens nearby. Untainted, though, it did not pull at her in desperation. If she had to choose a word she would call it virginal. Which brought her around to the point of her visit. Niceties first, of course. ”What is you prefer to be called? Personally, and as a people, if I may ask.” Prince Walker Saint seemed a bit heavy on the tongue. And she would be damned before she’d be rude enough to just assume the people were called Tigrelanders.

[Walker Saint]

Glacia. Saint did not know where Glacia was, exactly. At their border was Scelt, and all around the sea. Northward, he knew, from the pirates. Beyond Scelt and the sea. It snowed there. Fitting that a queen of theirs should be so pale. Hair a vibrant splash of snow against the damp green of Tigrelan. Even the rocks grew moss and mold in the winter.

Hiding his hands behind his back, Saint sketched her a bow. Jewel and hair swinging forward as he bent in the middle. A dozen more charms and talismans swaying from his neck to shroud his Sapphire. "Whatever the lady requires." Who was he to deny a queen with such strength at her back. Lips parting as he scented the air and slipped probes along the ground. Stronger than he, in caste and Jewel. The details no more important than that.

Hands clasped behind his back, Saint looked where the queen looked. "Thank you." He accepted the praise, though in truth Saint had little to do with the lie of the land. Its soul, on the other hand, he liked to think himself the caretaker of. Holding it down so it did not float away and forget. The rains did not wash everything away. And their queens had surely forgotten. Thinking only of their tall trees and high walls.

"I am The Walker, Lady." Lips tight to keep from baring his teeth in what might be mistaken as a smile. Or a threat. Though threat it very well could have been. "As a people we are Tigers." He circled her. Four steps to the left, where the curve of her throat was exposed by the shift of her hair. Stopping, Saint was closer than before, though only slightly. Head tilting, Saint studied her. "That could not have been the extent of your questions. Too simple for such a long trip."

[Eydis Greenstone]

Gaze slipping from the frothy shades of green above to the prince Eydis ignored his grimacing. There was no way to guess his emotion or motivations. The thin line his lips formed could have a hundred reasons for existing. ”How unique.” She said, since it would be a lie to say ‘I see’. The Walker seemed to be some sort of title. Discrete probes said he was a rare, dual caste male. She could only believe the two connected.

He prowled around her, warily. Eydis was not a stranger to being examined- or hunted. This felt like a medium between the two. Weaknesses and openings sought after. Perhaps in case she proved dangerous. That was why she looked back. Following the line of shoulder to spine to tail as his steps made the margin between them fractionally smaller. ”Tigers, very fitting to your appearance. The stripes are quite fascinating. Not that the ears and tails are less so to someone like me.” She mused aloud.

Glance sidelong she grinned at his commentary. ”Quite right. I have several more, and counting. This is a very interesting land. to the point, however, I came to ask about Virgin Nights.” Did this man know the Ceremonies of his people? Would he lead her to someone that did, if he did not? She watched his face, reading the expressions that collected in the lay of his browline and mouth.

”Though discussions of trade are also in my purview to have.” She admitted. Fingers spread and palm down she closed the space between them. Hand stopping just short of actually touching, to see if he would offer his arm. He did not appear to her a male with training in the typical social graces of an escort. Wasteful, in her opinion. Strong, dual casted, and a Prince. Exactly the type she found the most desirable for courtly inclusion. ”Show me a little more of the land while I have time, and I’ll explain further.”

Eydis knew they were not in distance of a proper community or settlement. She was eager to know about the people and culture. But for now, seeing the wild places would sate her curiosity. ” In my care is a young woman born to a Tiger father, who was born to a Tiger father, so on and so forth.” She told the Walker, careful to keep as much an eye on him as she did the scenery. ”As the first female born to their line in living memory, if special care is needed to see her Virgin Night through, the rules have been forgotten. I would not send her blindly into bed.” Danger had asked, the clever boy, and once it posed to her Eydis realized the question needed a proper answer.

[Walker Saint]

”Not so much. There have been many before me, and there will be many after if the Darkness wills it.” He would be the Walker while he lived, but Saint would not live forever. One day he would be old and weak and his replacement would come. The title passed down by blood on the muzzle rather than blood in the veins. Saint did not think that day would come for a very long time, however.

The snow queen looked at him. Her fearless gaze making Saint hesitant to come any closer. It did not feel like bravado, as he had witnessed with many women who came down among the men for various reasons. This was something else that made his tail twitch and be still. ”Someone like you? Are you hiding a set of your own?” It would be interesting to find out. There people had left to fight for Witch a hundred years ago. Not all had returned. Maybe not all had died.

”Surely you’ve had yours already, lady Eydis.” She was a mature woman, far past the age of losing her girlhood. And she did not have that same sense of vulnerability around the edges of her psyche. The kind that put Saint on edge and made both his tail and spear tense. Letting her come close, Saint looked at the hand she offered him. There was expectation in the gesture he did not know how to meet. Looking at at her strange, round eyes, Saint fit his hand into hers, thumb stroking a knuckle. Nostrils wide while he breathed her in, lips parting and drawing back over his teeth as he opened his mouth to taste her too.

”I can speak of both these things with you.” He admitted, eyes darting over her face and hair. Down her body and to their linked hands. He liked that feeling, and held her tighter for it. A sudden urge to fall on her like a beast rising up and being put down just as suddenly made him slow to react to all of it. ”Very well, but you will get wet, lady, prepare yourself.”

Saint could fashion a shield above their heads to direct the rain away, but he could do nothing about the wet ground. Water clinging to the revitalized grass. Soon it would begin to bubble back up from the earth until the land could drink no more and the water rose instead of sinking. And the men would go among the women. Making such a shield, Saint lead her down the southern side of the hill. There was a part in the trees not far where she would be able to view the queen’s city.

Saint’s hands were eager to help her over the places where the moss was treacherous. Or the tree roots rose to make twisted walkways over the ground. The gaps between inviting traps. ”Up, never down.” He cautioned her, hand at her side, he spanned her ribs, and tucked his thumb beneath the swell of her breast because he could. And he listened, because he could not, breath hissing between his teeth and smile violently murdered. It gleamed from his eyes, however.

”So we can mate with outsiders.” Handing her down off the roots, Saint gave her a good sniff in passing. He knew the smell of snow from his walking, but this was different. Pointing her toward the place they were seeking, Saint fell in step with her again. ”She will need what all virgin’s need. A man with control. Our people are violent, and even our weakest are deadly.” In the green light filtering through the canopy, Saint spread his hand before them and unsheathed his claws.

”We use brews, mostly. But sometimes the Seneschals must hold the girl’s hands, or bind them, to that they do not maim or kill their lover in the throws of passion or fear.” They went up, ground slick beneath their feet. Or hers, with their boots. Saint went barefoot, callouses keeping him place. ”What is she, this far away daughter of Tigers?” Did she walk the earth or live on high as well? Perhaps there was hope for their people on all fronts and not just one.

”That is the queen’s city.” Saint told her when they had settled at the top. Stone and tree twisting upward together. ”She had her covens live there.” He explained in a voice devoid of emotion or interest. As if he read the words from a book he’d read a dozen times over and knew by rote without caring. ”Will you bring her to us?” He asked boldly, turning to face the snow queen, hand petting her as he wished to be pet.

[Eydis Greenstone]

”Some time ago, yes.” Eydis chuckled heartily. Nearly half a century. Time was such a fickle mistress. Passing by so slowly until it had slipped away entirely without your notice. Clearly the Walker knew that it was not her own she had questions about. Which made his comment either snide or amusingly sincere in its curiosity. She graciously chose to believe the latter. It did seem the typical social courtesies were slightly askew for this male. The hand she held out taken by his own rather than place on an arm.

Smile deeper in the corners of her mouth Eydis did not laugh. Not at the way he pet her hand or the way his lips curled in his sniffing. Exactly like way the cats of the wilds scented flavors from the air. Did he have that ability too? Iskra had never mentioned. Perhaps the mixing of their races had dulled the sense for the queenling, or she had mastered the reaction.

When he had finished adjusting to the touch- another sign she thought mildly strange- they began to walk. And talk. ”Very good.” She praised, as if the duty of being knowledgeable and capable were entirely by choice. The squeeze of fingers tight between her own made Eydis pat the the back of his hand instinctively. Too familiar an instance to be ignored with a strange male. His words made her assume it was anxiousness that made him cling. ”Don’t fret, a warm wet is much more pleasant than the icy wet back home.” She reassured.

He seemed in great need of that reassurance. Subtle, but there, the hints that he was not a man much exposed to her caste. Years of experience made Eydis attuned to the small gestures that suggested he was a wanting male. Some were born to service, some trained, some denied before they even knew they were suited to it. Which, if any, Saint Walker was Eydis did not have time to determine in one meeting. As she spoke they walked.

Hands helpful but possessive in their support of the queen and her theory that he was not much around them. Through a maze of trees he led her downhill. Rain kept from her head by his shield. Grip eager at her ribcage. She held the depth of her Ebon-gray at the ready. Just in case he planned to plant his claws there too. The bottom of her traveling cloak turned murky in the wet flora they passed over. Slick mosses unlike the wooly sort in Glacia covered all the roots that bridged the ground. He gave her strange, seriously spoken advice. It made her eyes turn to him in question. The tight angles of his face, around his glinting eyes especially, concerned her mildly.

”Indeed. There have been rumors since before I was born. Iskra quite proves the rumors are well founded. However, if there are any intricacies to the actual mating, I cannot say. Your males have certainly been making children with Glacian women, however.” Their shoulders brushed as he helped down a long step. Help that Eydis was still too fit to need. It pleased him so she complied without any grudge. Kindness was often shirked off as dominating behavior by the younger generation. She tried to set a better example for her own apprentices.

Following the direction of his finger Eydis let him have his turn to speak. There was nothing veiled about his warning this time. Claws sliding from the tip of each finger in a manner that made the queen’s fingertips ache in sympathy. ”I see.” Even the weakest could be deadly. The Runner would need to be warned.

Brews were standard. She was not surprised to hear they used them. The idea of young women being held down was another matter. Lip folding in over her teeth she nodded. Scratches were a common ailment of sex in general. What would mark one man a capable lover could spill another's spine on the floor. Iskra would have to decide if she wanted to tell Peregrine, or if Eydis should speak to him beforehand. He was strong enough to prevent injury to himself, she was sure, but only if he knew to be cautious of it. ”We use brews as well. The man chosen to guide her through is a master of the art. His methods for dealing with Black Widows may suffice as long he knows to mind her claws.”


Iskra had always been a fierce little Hell cat. She was soft hearted, though. Hurting another would leave her full of remorse. Another apprentice with Virgin Night regrets wouldn’t do. As if he were reading her thoughts he asked about the girl. ”She is wildness embodied. Clever and fiercely independent.” Eydis said, knowing that it was her caste he wanted answer about. Since the risk to Iskra was minimal she was not afraid to say. She did worry it would put a pining in this queen starved man’s heart, however. ”A healer foremost, a queen second.”

Before she could ask of the state of the caste in Tigrelan he pointed again. A city rose up out of the jungle, just for the jungle to rise up out of its center. Earth that turned to stone that turned to a tree larger than any she had ever seen. It was quite breathtaking through the mist. Again, his words concerned Eydis. ”Her coven? What about her triangle?” Head tilting slightly she looked across her shoulder at the Tigerman. Who had put on the air of someone very unconcerned. Having raised several young men she thought he was practicing a bit of affectation. Any sympathy in her expression turned rigid at his blunt question set her teeth on edge. Protective instincts of her own rising up behind her barriers. She pet his arm to keep them both calm.

”Only Iskra can decide to come. Though you, or any people you should choose to send, are welcome to visit us. State your case, if there is one for why she should abandon her homeland for the one of her ancestors.” 

[Walker Saint]

Iskra. Saint tucked the name away. Iskra. Iskra. He wondered if the mingling of races helped balance the scales of the sexes. But then remembered she was the first daughter of a long line of sons, and despaired. Still, if they could not make more daughters to grow to be mothers, at least they could go out and find more mothers with which to make daughters. Eyeing the Glacian queen, Saint decided that she was probably past the age for child bearing.

"From what I have observed of traders, our males so not vary by much, physically." He looked her over again. Eyes lingering at breasts and hips. "I cannot say the same for the women." He had never seen women of other races naked. Or at all. Neither had he shared a bed with a Tiger woman from up top. All his partners having been Seneschals, and as such, something both more and less. At least he knew they had sense. Or at least most of them did.

The Glacian queen did not quail at the sight of his claws, but they did make her think. Saint prepared to chase if her she wished to run away, but she stayed at his side. Making mental notes as well, he assumed, very much pleased by the idea. "You have chosen well then. I am sure it will be fine. Tigers are very strong." And this girl of lost people was a Tiger, whether she knew it or not. Her soul would always belong to them. And, Saint hoped, the rest of her would too.

Saint chuckled. "So, a Tiger!" Even their foolish women were fierce. Just confused from living away from the world. The land flooded, but it did not die. They forgot, though, how to survive without building walls. Saint squeezed the lady's hand, waiting impatiently for her to tell him what he really wished to know. Her answer striking him to his soul. "An auspicious mingling of castes." He said sagely, while gleefully screaming within. A healer and a queen!

The lady Eydis of Glacia did not know the favor she did him. Or the goodness of her news. Saint did not tell her however, just as he would not be rushing off to tell anyone else. He had use for this information. Or would. He was sure of it.

Eager now, he lead them swiftly to the pinnacle of viewing. Watching as she was properly impressed with the queen's city. Saint did not fully agree with the separation of their people. It was doing strange things to their queens, but that did nothing to detraction from the amazing sight of their spires. Pleased by the lady's appreciation, Saint was confused by the worry in her voice. And her question itself. "I do not know what a triangle is, lady. If a queen rules, she is served by the covens. If one does not, the covens rule themselves. They are one in the same." He explained gently.

What good was a queen who could not piece together the possibilities of the futures? Or read the intricacies of the past? He leaned into her touch. So very different from the way lovers stroked his arms or back. Skin to skin, and while she did not have the stirring whorls of a Tiger, it was the same. Person to person touch. But more. It made him come closer. It didn't matter that she denied him. Saint was very good at circumventing queens. And this one touched him without fear or repulsion.

"I will walk on it." He decided. Now that he knew of her, he would be able to find the path that would lead to their rejoining. That there should and would be one, he did not doubt. A healer queen would be invaluable to Tigrelan, even though she was not a black widow as well. "She should know where she comes from, though, don't you think? It must be very lonely to be a Tiger among..." Saint had to cull the word sheep from his tongue. "Blood." Looking at this queen, Saint thought sheep might not be the right word at all.

"Did you have other questions lady? It is not safe for me to take you to the city, not this day." Maybe another time when he had laid plans for introducing outsiders and foreign queens to the people. Especially if he could bring a prize like this Iskra child.

[Eydis Greenstone]

Pale brows lifting at the bold and blatant path his eyes took Eydis tucked a laugh away. Not prepared to judge an entire race on one example. But sure, nonetheless, that there was something strange afoot. His words leading her opinion point by point. ”Do you not see women traders?” As far as she knew there were little outward differences between Iskra and any other Blood female. Except the obvious, of course. Generations of dilution and unfamiliarity with any other Tigers meant she could not be sure, however. ”If there are few differences between the men, I doubt there are with the women.”

That just seemed to make sense. As neither Walker Saint or Eydis were healers, however, it how could they really know? What she really needed were the facts from an expert. Which it seemed there would not be any of. If this man had never seen a foreign woman, why would their healers have? The knowledge was simply not there. Trusting in Peregrine Runner seemed a wholly foolish idea, but she trusted Hennrich unshakably. His faith in his boy would have to suffice. ”It will be fine. He is quite versed in the art. And I can’t speak to all of your people, but Iskra is certainly strong willed.” She said with a warm laugh.

”And good thing, too, since she seems to be attracting strong males.” She would need every ounce of that willpower to keep the danger prince. And he would need all of his good sense. Fingers squeezed tight she explained on. Watching his face for a reaction. Queens were queens no matter what your race or species. Men could feel possessive over even those they had never met. He seemed very pleased by the revelation. Taming Eydis’ urges to brag on the girl. ”She is torn between them often, but she is young. Wholeness will come- with the right teachers to guide her.”

Eydis. Eydis was the right teacher and this man could not have her until Iskra asked to be had.

He said nothing else on the matter, however. Only leading her more quickly to the point he wanted her to see. A grand view. Sullied only by the man’s confusion over how a proper court should function. Frowning at his explanation she fiddled with the setting of her Red. Turning the ring around and around on her finger while she thought. ”A triangle is the name for the 3 males dedicated to serving a queen. The Consort or First Escort, the Master of the Guard, and the Steward. They are dearly important to the functioning of a court. At least, that is how it is… well, everywhere else that I know of.” The Tigers had survived all this time, in seclusion even, so perhaps there were other ways.

She just couldn’t fathom them for herself. And she would certainly not be teaching them to her apprentices. Self reliance was important but no one was a wall. You needed the advice and counsel of your people, it was why there was a triangle and coven both. Balance and counterbalance. They were both quiet while they reflected on these differences. Until he stirred the air with his interest in Iskra. The subject was not put to bed as easily as she had hoped. Closing the space between them Saint spoke of walking on the idea as if that would help him think. To decide. It was not his decision, however, of that Eydis and her Ebon-gray were sure.

”She comes from Glacia. It’s her motherland, even if her father’s father’s father came from here.” She watched him, scenting the air for any rise in his temper. Careful to promise nothing while denying him even less. She was not afraid, she could escape if she needed to escape. But the more she knew the better. New places were new enterprises. Odense would reap the benefits without risking their tailed queen if she played her hand smartly. Lips lifting in a playful smile she teased him. ”As you said, the Blood and Tigers do not seem very different. Why should she be lonely in the place her father’s people decided was better than the one from whence they came?”

”Well, now I must ask why it would be unsafe? Are you not from the city?” A thousand other questions that were unwise to ask so soon into a first meeting. Petting his arm again she blinked across the distance at the spires that rose up out of the trees. ”There is something unusual here. I can feel it in the earth. An imbalance of energies. If your people are in need, Odense is strong. And Glacia as a whole is stronger.”

[Walker Saint]

Saint laughed. The sound rolling up from his chest to part his lips over his teeth, cuspids exposed in an amused snarl. Women, trading? "No just the men." Pulling his lips back down over his amusement, he toyed with the necklaces at his chest in thought. "Maybe so." Eyes tipping over her once more. "Maybe so." He would still like to see.

The knowledge didn't really matter. The girl would be had in either place, it was nature, and necessary, to secure her webs against assault. "If she breaks, we have many Black Widows who can heal her. Even my apprentice is skilled in these." A shocking feat that Solomon be skilled in anything. Saint had his doubts, but the Walking never lied. It was in the kitten's blood, to be a walker as well.

He just couldn't walk.

"Does she?" Ah. He could have smiled if not for the woman in his presence. Saint fingered his mauled ear instead. A queen with men. That did not happen here until she was taking them for bed. Things were different elsewhere. Maybe this Iskra went down to the earth too, and knew her people and her land. But living with Tiger men was not the same as living with these tame Blood males that made up the rest of the world.

Queen lead to the place she wanted to see. Knowledge given at a safe distance. Could they feel her from their stone spires? Queen and spiders at the top, the slow, steady trickle of males filling up the bottom. Could they sense the dark power just a few miles away? "We have Covens and Coalitions. Tigreland queens have a ground full of males to serve them. So many more than three they don't even know their names." Palm down and fingers spread, he circled the earth in front of them. Encompassing all of Tigrelan.

"Because it is her fatherland! Ha!" Well pleased with his word play, Saint snorted. "No one has ever been hurt by possessing more knowledge. The girl should know." And Saint wanted to know. They needed healers. And they needed queens who understood the land. How to live on it. To cherish it. "On the outside. The inside is a little different." Arm stroked into submission. Saint clicked his molars together, sharp teeth sliding past one another.

"The coven or the city would no be prepared for you. Tigers are fierce, like their claws. Confusion easily leads to violence." Everything lead easily to violence. Saint shrugged and pet the hand that pet him. "Do not be afraid, I can protect you." He was beyond petty assault and machinations. He was The Walker. "Every man is from a city and no man lives in one. Up is for women, and down for men." Face bent to her, he nodded, ears curving toward her wise, wise words. "I know. I walk it every day."

This woman could not know stairs. She was too grounded. Well pleased with her, Saint squeezed her hand and stood a little closer, tail twitching willfully against her skirts. "You have maps? Mine are old." Saint bit the inside of his lower lip. "Soon my land will drown, I will show you someplace safe to meet for when you come again." He tugged her away from the view. Not a long walk, but an arduous one. A waystation used by the seneschals. A little stone hut with a high peaked roof atop a hill.

"There is my cave." He told her, pointing in its direction. The actual place invisible behind trees and dipping terrain. "I can come to this place in a handful of minutes. Can you come here, or do you need the landing stone?" Perhaps it could be moved. Saint rattled his necklaces. He thought it could be. From here he could see much of Tigrelan. All of it under his eye. Sighing, he jabbed a sharp nail across it.

"When the rains shut up and you listen hard, you can hear all across Tigrelan, cough, cough, cough." Teeth bared, he should his shoulders. Muscles spinning the gesture down his spine and out the blunt tip of his tail. "Soon the men will go up, and what will they take with them? Spears, of course. Maybe some will make children. But they will take their coughing with them too."

And how could children grow in bellies of dying women?