Her leg, she had treated, lounging in the rivers that branched along the thick territory, she allowed the cleansing current to debride the wound and after a few days and an tense amount of patience, the dame was free of the infection. It had formed granulation tissue and had healed. A faint pink scar upon her leg that was swiftly covered by her fur. It had stopped hurting a few days prior and now the dame waited. Waited for the command to serve Seracia in any way her King so wished. She had given him her word, her knowledge, her story, he owned her as far as she was concerned and she would do whatever needed to be done. She had settled amongst the pack, neither choosing a den apart or in the center. Just a small cavern amongst them that did enough to shield her from the elements.

Jaws splayed wide, a yawn bringing a small high pitched noise from her larynx before she fell silent once more. With a huff, she folded her legs beneath her and sprawled out on one of the boulders. She rested her cranium on her front paws, golden eyes flickering about the land before her. It was a beautiful Kingdom, stunning in its layout, it contained about every piece of game and prey one could wish for, along with wolves eager to fine tune skills, whether in battle or herbs. This place intrigued her, she yearned to know more about its citizens, about its leader, but for now she was content upon her boulder, basking in the warmth of the mornings sun.

Her audits would swivel as the sound of claws scraping against the stones would reach her ears. Her golden eyes flickered towards the direction of the noise, but she would not move. She awaited whomever found her interesting enough to approach. A friend? An ally? An enemy? She was ready for anything, face set into a cold mask of indifference. She would treat whoever with as much or as minimal respect as they offered her. She was a puppet no longer.


Speech!

Bodice slithered without a purpose through the territory. He was finding his life to be quite different than he'd imagined it being. The realization that in two seasons he would be married to Chrysanthe was only just now reaching him. He was set to marry her, to live with her the rest of his life, and to somehow try to love her and bring forth heirs with her. The thought almost made him sick. He knew that Chrysanthe was probably a lovely girl, and would be fitting for him had he not already fallen hopelessly in love with her sister. He knew the minute he saw her he would never be able to forget her tie to Epiphron. He would never be able to separate the two of them in his mind. He knew his father wanted this to happen, and he knew he would never outwardly refuse him, but part of him wished he could somehow wriggle free of this burden. That's certainly no way to think about it, Mav. He would inwardly chastise himself for thinking of it that way. He had to make positive correlations with this, he had to make himself believe that this would be a good thing. He had to.

Tail flickered behind him nervously, restlessly, as he tried to forget the burden that had been laid upon his shoulders. On top of knowing that one day he would rule Seracia, he now had to rule it with a foreign wife at his side. A foreign Queen. What thoughts would she bring to the table, what ideas would she lay at his paws to consider? Would she be demanding, manipulative? Or would she be sweet and tolerant like her sister? Epiphron. Somehow he knew he would always think of her. He'd have to find a way to forget, have to break things off with her so that he could begin anew, begin preparing himself for Chrysanthe. Do it now, now! Maverick pivoted, making his way to leave the territory. He would have to walk nearly all the way across Seracia to leave, as he was stationed near the farthest point from the borders. The ocean bid him goodbye as he made his way, not knowing what his plan was. He couldn't go to Valhalla, and he and Epiphron weren't due to meet for some time. But he couldn't very well wait too long to tell her. What if she found out and decided to be done with him for good?

He didn't know what to do. Life had been so simple a few days ago, it had been so easy before he'd known his fate. He thought loving Epiphron made things complicated, that had only been the beginning. This was the complicated part. He was to marry her sister. The words ceaselessly chanted in his mind, over and over, never giving him any peace. Just how would he explain himself to her, how would he ever make things work now? He'd sworn to figure out how to make her his, and now he would have to give her up, or become like a polygamous bigot and take her as his mate too. Not that he had a chance in hell of that happening. A woman came into his view, and for a moment he was shocked - unaware that he had even been in motion. His paws had obediently carried him without his mind's consent. He had skirted through Seracia, and now found a blackened woman lying in a heap. Her eyes were of gold, glittering in the sunlight, and for a moment he gazed at her. She was truly beautiful, unique in a sense. The boy shook his head, knowing that he should not be oogling her when he had a fianc? and a mistress to deal with already. Hello. He would utter in an awkward - yet polite - tone. Voice had deepened considerably in the past few weeks, and already he felt more a man than he had ever been. Perhaps the new fianc? had attributed to his sudden advancement in age and maturity. Maybe one good thing would come out of this mess that had become his life.

Speech!

Golden orbs would flicker, gazing about the territory with seemingly disinterest. She often lost herself to the silence, preferring instead to keep her thoughts contained within her skull rather than spilling them out into the open. Not everything needed to be spoken, not everything needed to be flooded with pain and misery. Memories often taunted her, but no longer did they consume, they no longer defined her. Her coat of mixed colors, a symbol of her ugliness, of her tainted heart would always be a source of vile reminders. She would never deem herself pretty, she was a monstrosity amongst men, always had been. Teased, ridiculed, damned, for the mere color of her coat, it was no wonder she often remained so silent. Seracia was a lovely kingdom, it had nearly every terrain one could think of aside from mountains and desert. The ocean, the beaches, the forest the rivers and lakes... it was a utopia if only she would embrace it, she almost snorted at the obscenity of her thoughts. She doubted she would be sitting in a circle holding paws and singing kumbaya anytime soon.

She adjusted herself, repositioning herself upon the rock, letting her darker pelt absorb the suns heat like a sponge. She would lose herself in memories, not the horrid ones, no... she had stopped letting them haunt her, she had ceased their torture of her mind. She thought of the only glimmering beacon she had ever had the only wolf of ivory that had ever taken pause and offered her the time of day. Galinda... or as she was now, Glinda. The dame had been a drop dead beauty, the exact opposite of Elphaba herself, of course Glinda had never called her Elphaba. Elphapa is too harsh of a word! It falls off the tongue with too vicious a bite! Try Elphie!... Elphie! Oh my gosh that's adorable! Elphie! Elphie is your new name! She, to this day, was the only one who called her as such, no matter how much she struggled for everyone else to begin calling her the derivative. She often forgot that the rest of the pack detested Elphie. Glinda, despite her vain and selfish tendencies, absolutely adored her. Despite herself, Elphaba missed her, the sparkle, the gleam in her eyes when she used her brain and not her body, the easy laugh that was rich in abundance. Glinda had made her hesitate, for a brief moment she had considered staying. The source of reticule and damnation, if only to keep Glinda, but they raped her, abused her, beat her, and she could bite her tongue no longer. She had said the most cleverly disguised goodbye as she was able and vanished. She doubted she would ever see her only friend ever again.

The scent of a male snapped her from her musings and so lost in dreams from the past she almost stood up to retreat, in her old pack the less she was seen, the less they remembered to beat her, but quickly reality flooded back to her. She wasn't in the kingdom of Oz... not any longer, she was in Seracia, a completely different spit of land. One that, hopefully, would not damn her for sunbathing. She would watch with grave curiosity as the male turned the corner. Emerald eyes would glimmer like beacons, glazed and lost in whatever thoughts ailed him. His coat pattern was bizarre, unique, different. A source of unworth, at least according to her true home, Elphaba was beginning to think that difference was a source of strength and power, but perhaps it was merely her own troubled past that had crafted her in such a way. She would watch as he approached her, content to watch him pass if that was what he so desired. When once he noticed her, he paused, starring at her. She was accustomed to it, she didn't think on it twice. he spoke to her a brief word and nothing more and her audits swiveled to catch the rough pitch of his tone. She shifted upon the rock. Pulling herself sternal and curling her legs beneath her, ready to abandon her boulder at the drop of a hat. Friend or foe, commander or peasant, she would respond to his demands, if he had any for her. "Hello... you seem distracted." She would speak as though discussing the weather. She would not demand his problems, if he wished to speak of them he could and if he wished to blow her off and continue about his way he was more than welcome to do that too. Elphaba merely sat and calmly awaited his response.


Speech!

The blackened woman was foreign to him, but he swore he'd seen her at the meeting. He could remember not her name, but that was no surprise to him. Heck, in a situation like this he would not be surprised if he forgot his own name. It wasn't every day the Prince had such a lofty burden to carry. The weight pressed on his shoulders, invisible but to his own eyes. Some days he was sure it might crush him. Some days he wanted it to. But other days, other days he would imagine it being chiseled away, slowly lifted from his pelt until it was no more, and life was easy again. He supposed it was foolish to think that way, as there was no one willing to take this burden from him, but it was the only thing keeping him anchored to this earth - so he couldn't give up on it yet.

Now that he'd spoken, the Prince knew it would be unbecoming to simply stride off, particularly without even getting a name from the lass, or offering his own. If she was new here - which is what the boy suspected - it was his job to become acquainted with her, and offer her any assistance she might need. She too seemed lost in thought, and for a moment the boy was glad for it. Perhaps she wouldn't notice his off-kilter demeanor. Perhaps she wouldn't notice the ache in his chest.

But notice she did.

"Ah yes, forgive me. I've a lot on my mind." A lot indeed. He hoped that it might serve as some sort of excuse, even the semblance of one. But it was high time he gave his name, and his rank as was custom. "Where are my manners! I'm Maverick, Prince of Seracia." A faint smile glittered on unhinged jaws momentarily as he waved his tail and then rocked onto his dappled haunches. Allowing himself into a sitting position would certainly put her at ease, and perhaps serve to start a conversation. Gods knew he needed a distraction from his life. "I don't think I've seen you around before, are you new here?" Of course that wasn't entirely true, he had seen her at the meeting, but that had been a brief glimpse. This was by far their first actual encounter. Curiosity brimmed in lime eyes as he focused them upon her, eager to learn who she was and where she'd come from. Anything to keep his mind off of his own problems.


"Speech!"

She would stare at the figure of uniqueness before her. She was so accustomed to seeing naught but the gleaming ivory coats of perfection that he seemed an enigma,,, then again most everyone here was colored with vibrance. She was no longer raped for being a different shade, teeth tore no pound of flesh from her side... it was odd, feeling no physical pain. She wasn't used to feeling complete. Golden eyes were trained upon the male, he had her full attention at least for the moment, ears careened forward, body posture was alert and ready, head tilted down to gaze upon him from her place above upon the rocks. He seemed troubled and perhaps a bit lost, but she would not pressure him to speak. She would reveal nothing of herself , she wouldn't make him share his darkness.

She did not mind the solitude she had found within the pack. None had approached her aside from Gerhardt, but she was accustomed to being approached only when someone wished to ease a frustration. It was helping her adjust, not being bombarded all at once. It was probably for the better, when Gerhardt had spoken her name she had frozen, seemingly falling as still and as motionless as a statue. She hated attention. Attention upon her meant bad things. She had not said anything, nor would she hold such a senseless grudge against the king, she had not told him all of her wretched past but she had spoken enough, she had merely nodded her head accepting the apology. He had spoken in good faith, to make her feel included, she could hold nothing but respect for the man.

"There is nothing to forgive..." Stoic but respectful the words would fall stern from her lips, brokering no argument, languidly she stretched, hind end rising up in the air while her front paws dug into the stones beneath her, clawing at the stones before she slithered from her perch, colliding with a dull thump upon the ground, she moved to stand before the male. "Your emotions are your own, if they trouble you, it tis of no offense to me." She would finish just as quietly, almost afraid if she spoke any louder that he would hurt her. She didn't seem fearful, but perhaps caution was a better term. She dipped her head out of respect as he offered his title. Golden eyes sliding shut before they reopened sharply.

"Tis an honor to make your acquaintance Prince Maverick, I am titled quite plainly Elphaba, but you may call me whatever derivative of the name you deem fit." Her tones would come in a soft, deep voice, soothing upon the ears. She fell back to rest upon her haunches, dark tail coiling around her before falling still, she seemed to have perfect control even over the languid appendage. "The King admitted my presence a scarce few weeks ago. I apologize if my lack of interaction has offended." Elphaba had kept to herself to learn and study the ways of others that resided here, but perhaps that had been a bad choice. She wondered what punishment she might receive for not introducing herself sooner.



Speech!

She seemed not entirely put off by his distracted demeanor, and this pleased the boy. He needed others to stop expecting perfection from him, and she seemed like she wasn't the type to do that. It was strange, how he was already making assumptions about this woman he had only just met. Maverick liked to think he was good at reading others, and hoped that he would not be wrong in her case. She spoke, dismissing his apology and stating that there was nothing she needed to forgive. He dipped his head thankfully, happy to be able to relax - if only slightly - in her presence. She stood shorter than he, and smaller in general, but she was still a decently sized wolf. As she dipped her head respectfully, the boy was happy to see someone was getting into the spirit of Seracia. Some loathed the courtesies that the Kingdom thrived upon, but Maverick quite enjoyed them. "I am glad to hear that." It was all he need offer her to end the line of speech on that subject. His emotions - he hoped - would not be further investigated for the time being.

"Elphaba," he smiled as the word rolled off of his tongue. "It's a pretty name." It was unique, and tasted weird when he said it, but was pretty all the same. He knew he would enjoy trying to remember it. Her blackened hues were certainly mesmerizing enough, the name suited them well. "Of course not," he would say when she mentioned her lack of interaction may have offended. "No offense taken. It takes a while for new members to get settled, and they often don't start socializing until a few weeks after they join." She still looked tense, as if she worried he might assert his power on her. Maverick tried to relax his frame, even lowering his head a bit to show he meant nothing but kindness. The smile remained on his mask as he inquired of her. "Since you're new here, is there anything I can assist you with?" It was only polite to offer his assistance, but beyond that - the Prince really did love helping newcomers. It would give him a chance to think about anything else but his predicament. He continued to sit, eyes traveling placidly between her own and the land beyond her. He was a fidgety guy by nature, and if his eyes did not wander, some other part of him would. He'd attributed this trait so far to his youth, but he'd yet to grow out of it.


"Speech!"

She did not, nor would she ever expect perfection from a higher ranked wolf, she had grown up in a society where belief was based off of a color. A representation of fur, the physical, she had refused to believe that she was a demonic entity solely because her fur was a different shade and at the end of the day, when she finally had had enough and met them with tooth and claw, her King had bled just the same, at the end of days every living creature was the same. They all bled, they all died, they all rotted to bones and ash amongst the ground, some merely gained respect and power, a society needed figures of strength and power, those to look up too, those to deem leaders, but that did not make them immortal Gods, they were only wolves, they made mistakes, it restored a touch of Elphaba's belief in them, it proved they were wolves just like everyone else. She would not hold his seeming distraction against him, in fact she admired him for it, it proved that he was capable of thought, not just brushing things aside because he was or wasn't of noble blood. She would keep her musings silent, her views were strange bizarre, rarely met with enthusiasm, but the two toned creature had always been a source of strangeness, out casted from very early on, she was attempting not to do as such here. She would dip her head, silently accepting his thanks, no more need be said about his thoughts unless he wished to share them.

He would speak her name, tasting it, it was a bizarre string of syllables, this she knew. Its meaning he did not need to know, she was named for disgrace and dishonor the moment she slid from her mother's womb, she had been lucky that they had not simply killed her. He said that it was pretty and she froze, muscles locking down and face failing to display any true emotions. Compliments never came her way, compliments were not cast in her direction. Not then, not ever. She forced herself to relax, her muscles to release there tension as she mimicked him, sliding back to rest upon her haunches while her mind screamed deception. She forced it to shut up. He was speaking with her, the future King and she would be even more the fool not to listen. God damn her father for what he had done to her. Damn him for making her so untrusting.

A tiny, barely noticeable smile would crack her mask of indifference, a soft chuckle pulling itself from her larynx. Her tones with just a hint of teasing would fall. "It probably hadn't helped they we moved a short few days after I joined." Her tones were a soft drawl, she wasn't going to be punished, she would take the blessing in stride. His question would surprise her, stun her a bit and set her off her place of confidence. Did she need help? She had learned long ago never to rely on anyone, the more she did the more they tore her apart, but he was offering and she had no desire to be rude... she noticed his posture change, lowering himself, in an effort, more than likely, to calm her, it did not go unnoticed nor unappreciated. "No... I believe I am adjusting fairly enough to the ideals of the pack. I find it intriguing how the King manages to rule and recognize the desires of his people, tis unfamiliar to me. Forgive my tenseness, where I come from, torture and humiliation was commonplace, we only saw those with noble blood when a punishment needed fulfillment. Seracia is quite the utopia in comparison." She would complement the land and attempt to explain her distant behavior. She didn't particularly want to speak a second time of her past but if he desired to know it was his right to take such information from her, one day she would serve him and he had every right that his father now possessed.



Speech!