Characters: Parisa, Liuhe (early adol)
Word Count: 1357
It was late in the night, long after most of the family had dispersed from the royal den. The only ones still left were the king, the queen, and their eldest son.. All common homebodies of late. Shangyue was outside the den, though not far. Liuhe, though, was sleeping peacefully (and snoring loudly), as if he had not a care in the world. His mother stood over him for a few moments, pondering how her cubs had been growing like weeds. If they had been anything but royalty, they would be just about ready to begin work. And here her eldest was, laying about.
It was not an unjustified concern that Shangyue's heir would follow the same path his father did, but looking at the situation now, it seemed they had nothing to worry about. Surprisingly, Parisa found herself irritated by her son's indifference. With that in mind, she gave him a kick- gentle at first and followed with more force. Liuhe snorted in surprise and opened his bleary eyes, rolling over onto his back to see who was by his side-- starting when he realized it was his mother and that she didn't look especially happy. He turned himself over and sat upright at once. He opened his mouth to greet her but only a yawn came out.
"Having a good sleep?" she asked.
"Mhmm-mmph," he mumbled, giving himself a shake as he really woke up, "Am I missing something important?"
He didn't think anything important was going on, there rarely was. Unless it was something unexpected, but that never seemed to happen either.
"No, I just thought you might want to go out and do something meaningful with your time," Parisa answered sternly, "Haven't you gotten enough sleep?"
Liuhe grinned, barely put off by his mother's tone.
"Sleep is important," he said, offering a shrug at the look he got for it, "There isn't anything I really need to be doing tonight, anyway."
"There's always something you can be doing, Liuhe," Parisa said, her tone unchanged, "When was your last lesson with one of the priests?"
"Uhhhh.."
"Who was king before your father?" she asked suddenly.
"Thoth, but he was really a consort to Khathelela," Liuhe recited with a barely controlled roll of his eyes, "She was father's grandmother. Before her was Queen Alcmene and her consort, Fafnir. She was Grandmother's niece but had no heir when she died. Her father was Unyezi, now Slave Father, the only reigning monarch in living memory who isn't dead. Something something Miezi something Ubalamwezi."
It was almost an impressive (if obnoxious) answer until he trailed off at the end. Still, Parisa was satisfied he knew enough of his history for now and Liuhe was only glad that was where she started. He found history, especially the names, interesting. Other than that, he wasn't so proficient. Nor was he lucky, for his mother wasn't done.
"Which patrols are on duty tonight?" she asked.
"Uhhh.."
"Do you know the name of the slave who last brought your food here?"
Names! He was good at that! But.. not this time. Had it been a slave? He hadn't been paying attention, he was hungry. That wasn't a fair question!
"How does the king decide if a rogue is fit to join our pride?" she asked, "How do you know who is sincere in their devotion?"
"Um, father is a good judge of character?"
There was a pause. Parisa stared down at her son but he only stared blankly back at her.
"When was the last time you sat with your father when a rogue petitioned to join us?" she asked.
"There was that guy, uh.. big hair, long tail," Liuhe stammered, bringing his paws up and putting them over his face, "Eyes bigger than my paws..."
He lowered his feet and saw the look he was being given and started, giving an unconvincing chuckle.
"I'm joking," he said, offering a sheepish smile, "Nobody has petitioned to join lately, it's a trick question."
Parisa's expression didn't change. Both were good guesses, there were few rogues seeking them out lately and if any came, they were, as lions, in possession of 'big hair' and 'long tails'. But he wasn't right.
"Are you sure about that?" she asked.
"Yes."
He wasn't but if he had to lie, he would commit to it. That was half the battle, wasn't it? You could pretty much go anywhere or do anything if you acted like you were supposed to be there or doing that. So was his experience, one he didn't even think to credit his rank for. His mother was hard to beat but it never really stopped him from trying, and though she acted otherwise, Parisa was glad.
"Would it make you feel better if I made a point of attending the next time someone joins?" he said, "I'll watch from start to finish, the whole thing."
Inside, Liuhe was cringing. He didn't want to do that much work, even if it was a relatively easy project to tackle. He was never going to be a nurse, he didn't need to know much about that. He wasn't even sure he needed to watch his father talk to strangers, it seemed an obvious task. Did they believe in the Great Lion, or want to learn about Him? Would they be a nuisance as a slave? Great! Welcome aboard.
Right?
"It would," Parisa finally answered after a long pause. He clearly thought he had all the time in the world to prepare, it would seem unlikely that he would succeed his father any time soon.. Neither of his parents were so sure. Shangyue was plagued with paranoia, but it made him as happy to let his son's ambition idle as to prepare him in the event someone else did him in. Parisa was more realistic. She would do anything for her mate, to help them both keep the power they had seized.. but she was happy to have a backup plan. She would support her son just as much, if it came to it.
"No more laying around tonight," she said sternly, "If you don't want to shadow your father or a priest, go find your grandfather. He'll put you to work."
Liuhe stared quietly at his mother, weighing his options. None sounded interesting, but he wasn't going to get any peace by openly refusing. Still, he stayed where he was.
"What about you?" he asked boldly, bringing to attention that Parisa hardly seemed to be in the midst of anything important, "You're the queen, don't you have something important to be doing? Why don't I shadow you?"
His mother glared at him. He was pushing his luck suggesting she was idle so he ought to be as well.
"Are you going to be a King or a consort?" she responded in a stern tone, "Raising a practical, reliable future king is the responsibility of the queen."
Liuhe opened his mouth to snark back at his mother but he thought better of it. He closed his mouth and stared back at her, knowing she was going to win. If she was going to diminish her role to being solely responsible for him, what she really meant was he wasn't going to weasel his way out of doing what she told him. So, finally, the prince pushed himself to his feet.
"Very well, mother," he said, shaking the dust from his fur and dialling up the formality to make a point, "I'll go make good use of my time like a proper prince would, even though this is a beautiful night to spend in peace and quiet at home. Such are the sacrifices of kings."
With an exaggerated wistful sigh, he drifted past his mother and hoped she wouldn't stop him to demand to know exactly what his princely plans were. He would figure that out later.
Parisa didn't question him, simply followed him and he strutted away from the den and shaking her head. At least Shangyue had no reason to fear his son's ambition, she wasn't yet sure Liuhe had any. Perhaps it was for the best.
Fin.
