All the kings horses

L  I  L  A  H     S  A  K  A  H

A flash of recognition lit up his eyes like a clap of lightning. Just as soon as it had illuminated his dark sapphire gaze, it was gone. Lilah would begin to question wether it was really there at all to begin with. Did she only imagine it because that’s what she came to expect? A sour taste welled up within her insides as he snarled back at her. He had not the faintest whisper of who she was. If he had, he simply hadn’t cared at all. This man was no longer the same boy that she had known. The boy who she grew up with, the one that brought laughter and happiness into her life. The one who played games of chase and caught bullfrogs nestled among the reeds. The one who was torn from her world mere days before her father’s execution.

This was a stranger staring back at her now. She’d quickly silence her thoughts, catching herself before the disappointment would curve down her features. This was a guard. A warrior. A brainless sniveling mongrel of the king. She no longer had any ties to him. Her lips straightened into a hard line, the thoughts lingering behind her cold eyes made impenetrable. “That's it, you're coming with me. Let's go,"

Humorless laughter almost escaped her mouth at his demands. In accompaniment would have been a snide remark about his destroyed vessel, the complete lack of man power he had, as well as no availability for a place of temporary imprisonment. She almost allowed her impatient tongue to slip, yet the onyx girl remained uncharacteristically quiet. Even more so unlike herself, she found herself complying. Straightening her legs and lifting herself off the rough bed of sand, her head spun for a moment, but she caught herself. Striding forward easily now that her blood was traversing her body properly, her paws carried her just adjacent to her masculine companion. Amusement hung upon her thoughts, notions of actually laughing at him when he was admittedly without plan. She had been looking forward to that would-be confession.

The closeness in their proximity had revealed a very vital piece of information that could very well sway things in the girl’s favor. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it was there before her now, glowing like a neon sign. Metallic notes of blood caused her nostrils to flare as the woman realized that the telltale scent had been emanating from the man. Her paw steps halted abruptly, the whisper of an advantage bringing her senses to high alert. “Did you— hit your head?”

Like a large red apple, primed to be plucked from its branch upon the tree, Lilah seized the potential opportunity hastily. Amnesia, or at the very least, a prominent episode of confusion. That would possibly explain most of his questionable behavior. If she had happened to be wrong in her assumptions, it’s not like he had anywhere to take her to anyway. Was he planning on strolling along the beach, silhouetted by the sunrise until he thought of a better plan?

“How confused are you? Is that why you’ve been so off?” Furrowing her brows, she nodded her muzzle toward the ear that was closest to her. Forming at the base was a small trickle of rusty sanguine liquid that had streamed down the side of his face and matted the dark fur beneath it. Gesturing with her tail to follow, she opted to grasp at straws and build a wild tale cherry picked from their surroundings.

Beginning to take a few tentative steps in front of him, Lilah aimed herself toward the waters edge. She strolled along the bodies that were lost to the sea, eyeing each one carefully before she found one bloated cadaver that mildly resembled the she wolf herself. The image made her sick. Not because it had been a deceased wolf left to rot in the warmth of the sun and lolling lifelessly in the ocean’s caress, but because the image itself was a precursor. This sad sap’s fate could have been that of her own. In a strange way, she had owed her life to the storm that had capsized their vessel. Swallowing down the unease and bile that had arisen within her throat, that same feigned confidence returned as she outstretched a paw.

It would have been suspicious for her to stop at a random body unless it had meaning. Maybe whatever had struck him really had hit him hard enough that he would be open to the persuasion of a switcharoo scenario. “There. That was the wolf that you were hunting.” Perhaps the colors would ring some vague bell of recognition. Fortunate for her, black and copper were relatively common among her homelands. Pressing it into the sandy banking below, she placed her paw back down and bore her serpentine gaze into the man who stood behind her. “And you dragged me on this intrepid little bounty hunt of yours because you’re my—” She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “Guard.” The way she gritted her teeth after she said the word was entirely genuine.

She was completely talking out of her ass now. Betting her soul that he would buy what she was selling and start drinking her koolaid. Training with the mob had aided in many undercover pursuits. Skills of manipulation and social evasion were among them, however she had never attempted such a thing on a member of the king’s guard. Especially not one struck down with amnesia. A certain degree of brainwashing occurred when young pups were stolen from their families and pledged to the ranks of the king. They were starved, isolated, and fed a monologue of lies for seasons on end. Stripped down until there was nothing left. Only then were they ripe for the picking for the king. There was a good chance that this man’s mind was already too far gone, too warped to be pushed to any other limits. However, that wouldn’t stop the viper from making all the attempts in the world to out maneuver him.

Before he could speak and offer some sort of challenge or protest, Lilah would take a proverbial sidestep. Her brows knit together and her ears crooked backwards only a subtly. Concern framed her face with the appearance of a worried woman. “Are you okay? Is any of this ringing a bell?” She paced one step toward him, her large eyes scanning his for any infinitesimal hints of compliance. Had she snared the rabbit?

| minor pp okayed by skelle <3 |