The royal den was quiet save for the howling wind that could be heard outside of the main mouth of it.
All were silent as they tended to their duties, even Barafu-taji, who typically held his head up and proud had his lowered, almost dejectedly. It worried the lady-in-waiting to see the council and royal attendants this way. They were the queen's sunshine when the sky would not give her the sun, how could they support her if they were the grey clouds. As the head lady walked with her chin up and her tail low, just hovering above the ground, she passed by the guard captain. His posture left much to be desired and his appearance was something she would likely scold him on later, despite her lower ranking. He was an ear to the queen and a trusted adviser, he needed to act it even though no one else did. Silently, she kept her words to herself and made her way towards the queen's den.
None had known of the queen's status at the time of Eduard's attack. She had been pregnant by Batabata, the queen's consort. In fact, she had nearly been to term, but the trauma induced her labor early. Somehow not only the entire colony, but also Elisheba missed this fact and had dismissed her weight gain as just packing on extra pounds for the harsh time of the year. Of course no one would tell her though. A litter of relatively healthy children had been born not long after the pelt giving and had never left the safety of the den and their guards.
"Elisheba?" Noir called out, her voice hushed but gentle.
The queen's head raised from it's protective place atop the heads of her beloved children. Noir's voice was a familiar one from her own childhood. Wordlessly she nodded her head turned downward to look at her sleeping cubs before back to the lady-in-waiting. "Noir...how do the others fair?"
Of course the queen's first concern would be about her people and now about her own failing health. The attack, the wounds, the pregnancy and the stressful delivery... All of it had left the queen in poor health that was slowly declining. Elisheba hadn't even been able to get up for more than a few minutes at a time for the last few weeks and hadn't been seen among those of the colony since Eduard's attack. Eduard. Just thinking the b*****d's name made Noir's stomach clench and twist. If the queen's health took a dive...no, he wouldn't be king. The children tucked up against Elisheba's side would make sure of that.
"They miss their queen, your majesty." She finally responded as she approached Elisheba, offering her a comforting nuzzle before laying down on the other side of the cubs. The furs could only do so much to keep them warm without the proper heat from their mother and Elisheba's body was in no position to give such warmth. "It seems Suk'tamu also had a little around the same time as you."
"No Noir..." The queen knew exactly where this conversation was going. Noir wanted Elisheba's to nurse from another female in the colony. It was something that she had considered, but didn't think it possible or even something she'd want to do if she had the option to nurse them herself.
"Your majesty, you know your body is in no condition to nurse them children, even just one. You need all of your strength for recovering!" Noir's voice broke mid-sentence. After the last word fell into the silent air between the two of them, the black leopard's head fell as did her eyes. "M-my apologies. That was beyond me.."
"No, you're concerned and you're my best friend as well. I appreciate your counsel, but I want to nurse my own children if I can." The corners of Elisheba's mouth curved into a gentle smile as she looked down to find a pair of pink eyes staring back up at her. Jumping slightly, her own pair of pink eyes widened in surprise. "How long have you been awake, Ann?" She asked, giving her eldest daughter an affectionate lick atop of her head.
"A little, momma." The little leotah chirped in reply, pressing upward just as the flat tongue lifted off of her head to nudge under Elisheba's chin. "Dunno what you're talking about though."
"Don't know," Speaking properly was something she would have to instill in all of her children, but their vocabulary was still small. She would need to give it time, but starting early was always good. "It's nothing important dear, just boring stuff that you don't have to worry about until you're older." Glancing up, Elisheba spotted a familiar white hovering atop of a small log that had been brought up Umsindisi just for Lori to perch on while inside the den. "It seems everyone is here that needs to be here." Her attention turned back to Ann with a smile. It was genuine, but weak, though she tried to keep it wide to keep face for her daughter. "We're going to be having a party soon, just for you and your siblings."
"A party? What's that?" The little heir asked, looking between the two adults that surrounded her in confusion. She was young, not even a month old and hadn't even been outside of the royal den yet. There was still so much she needed to learn, and maybe today's lessons would start with learning what a party was.
"It's a time when everyone gets together and eats!" Lori squawked in reply, her feathers fluffing as she shifted slightly on her wooden perch. It was hard at times, not being able to go over, but she hated the cold, rocky floor. The distance was better than the stone on her feet. "Dancing too, meeting people, and lots of food." If anyone didn't know Lori liked food, they'd obviously hadn't met her.
"Dancing?" Ann's attention was grabbed by the talking raven before either of the leopards could get a word in. "What's dancing?" The raven was silent with a reply, causing her to look towards the other two leopards for a reply. A party was already sounding like a lot of fun if there would be others there and food too! Though right now, food was just milk, but she saw her momma eat some red, squishy stuff. Maybe that's what adults ate.
"It's an emotional movement of the body," Noir replied to the crown princess' second question. Oh my, this little girl had some kind of inquisitive nature, that could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing. Only time would tell on exactly which it would be. For now, it was up to everyone to educate her, though the lady-in-waiting knew Elisheba would only let certain individuals actually formally teach her eldest child in fear of the wrong ideas being put in Ann's head while she's so easily impressed upon.
Just as Noir's last word left her mouth, Lori took to the air and began to spin and dive, performing all sorts of small feats while the three felines looked. "Something like this, Ann! Just a little more...elegant." She called out, throwing in a few loops for good measure before taking roost on one of the branches sticking out from her log. Hopping around to face the three, the raven seemed to be grinning.
"And with paws too!" Ann added on with a giggle as she tipped her head to the raven. "We don't have wings like you do, Lori, but if dancing is anything like that...I can't wait for this party!"
The queen smiled at her daughter's willingness to learn and those who supported her by helping teach her. "It won't be for some time now, but..." Elisheba glanced upward to lock eye contact with her lady. "Preparations should be starting for it here soon. I hear there's even a few cubs that you might be able to meet at it too." The sentence ended and with it so did the eye contact as she looked back down towards Ann who looked up at her mother with seemingly sparkling pink eyes to which Elisheba just laughed.
"Of course. I'm personally seeing to it that your first party will be the grandest one, unless your wedding of course." A royal wedding was always the grandest, especially since it would be the marriage of the current heir. Oh how Noir did like to plan these sorts of things and luckily she had the power within the colony to do just that.
"A wedding that is in the distant future," Elisheba added, tossing her lady-in-waiting a small glare before turning her attention to the currently silent raven. "Lori, do you think you could help Noir here with the preparations while you're not looking after my daughter? You're definitely good at directing others and I know you'll have Ann's best interest at heart." It was amazing the other cubs had slept through all this noise, maybe they were just really tired. Cubs did seem to sleep a lot.
This train of thought was emphasized by a sudden yawn from Ann. "Momma, I'm tired." The little leotah mumbled, trying to press up against the queen's belly a little further, but it was hard when surrounded by so many siblings. Competing for space was hard, attention wasn't. She knew she was special, they all were, but apparently there was just something special about her being born first, or what's what the others seemed to whisper about. Adults were so silly.
"Hush then, little one. Close your eyes and go to sleep." Elisheba murmured, pressing the side of her head against Ann's cheek. The entire royal family seemed to be extremely tired, but at least the cubs had a reason. The queen's reasoning was just...she was tired. Some would think it to be a recovery, failing health and maybe they were right, but she felt fine, just tired.
Without needing any more encouragement, Ann curled up against the warm bodies of her family and the furs underneath them, quickly falling asleep as young children often do.
Smiling down at her brood, Elisheba looked back up to find Noir and Lori already leaving the den, chattering about something, likely color choice for any rare flowers to decorate with. Hopefully her daughter's first public appearance to the colony would be a smooth one. Those were the queen's last thoughts as she laid her head to sleep with her children curled close to her.
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