The Family Business [M]

[DragonSong]

"Cleaned up?" She sniffed haughtily. "I am a epitome of grace and sophistication, thank you very much."

She stood and theatrically brushed at the travel dust on the hem of her tunic--which also covered just about every visible inch of her.

[MadEmperor]

He snorted, smirking. "I think you missed a spot, m'lady."

Then his attention drifted to his collection of travel detritus. "Well, I'm in need of a bath, whether you are or not."

[DragonSong]

Shyla chuckled and waved him off before heading for the communal baths, which were essentially a half-indoor mountain hot spring.

Pretty much everyone who had been in the trek up from the war camp seemed to have the same idea, so there was a bit of jostling for room, but she scrubbed quickly before slipping back out and up two flights of stairs to the Alpha's family quarters.

She hadn't been in her room in months; the air was stale, disused, but familiar. Not a thing had been touched in her absence.

She dressed herself in "festival" clothes: a bone-white tunic and soft gray breeches, all picked out in silver embroidery—courtesy of Realta.

As she emerged from her room, her sister-in-law noted as she coaxed Wyn out in his own finery, "It looks good on you."

Shyla half-smiled in her direction. "I'll take your word for it." She didn't bother asking to borrow Rea's eyes as a mirror; she trusted the older woman's aesthetic sensibilities more than her own.

[MadEmperor]

"She looks like a ghost," Wyn observed with the brutal honesty of a child.

From inside the master bedroom, Aeris barked a laugh and called out, "I told you she needed darker colors!"

[DragonSong]

Shyla laughed, unoffended. "Maybe I want to look like a ghost," she told them, playfully defiant.

Realta huffed and rolled her eyes. "Not a ghost, but...perhaps a bit ethereal."

"That is a lovely way of spinning it, thanks, Rae," Shyla chuckled, rolling her own eyes. She didn't particularly care what she looked like, she was at least properly clean for the first time in...too long.

[MadEmperor]

Aeris had never been entirely comfortable showing off the perks of his position. It was only due to Rea's encouragement that he donned his finer attire. Being in human form, at least, made wearing it seem less unnecessary.

He stepped out in his very best outfit, freshly modified to fit his human form. The outfit consisted of an embroidered silver tunic over a pale gold undershirt, pale gold trousers, fine fur boots, a leather belt with a silver and gold clasp adorned with moonstones, and a fine red cloak clasped at the shoulder with a silver brooch shaped like a wolf's head. The Alpha wasn't any kind of lord or king, but he looked the part more than ever.

"Well? How do I look?" he asked.

[DragonSong]

Rea smiled and moved in to wrap one arm around his waist lightly, her other hand smoothing up to fiddle with the clasp of his cloak, making sure it lay flat. "Like a prince out of a storybook that I would have been wildly infatuated with," she told him.

Shyla screwed up her face dramatically. "Okay, ick. And on that note, I'm gonna head down! Leave you two to...whatever this is." She gestured at them vaguely.

[MadEmperor]

"Would have been?" Aeris asked with a confident smirk as he pressed his forehead to hers. He was, rather transparently, angling for a kiss.

Wyn looked at Shyla imploringly and whispered, "Take me with you."

[DragonSong]

"Mmm..." Rea smiled and tilted her head to meet him easily in the kiss he was clearly aiming for.

Shyla chuckled and held a hand down in the direction of her nephews voice. "We are leaving you here," she announced loudly to her brother and his mate, who were still locked in an embrace.

With a smile for Wyn, she started back down the hall and asked, "Are you excited to see the other kids?"

Most people with children as young as Wyn hung back in the keep when the Ulfars made a war camp—not all, but most. It had been just Wyn and a boy called Dieren this last trip, and that was only because Realta refused to stay behind or to let her son out of her sight...and both Dieren's parents had fallen to the curse in just the last month. They'd still been trying to figure out who could best care for him.

Shyla shook the dragging pinch of despair from her mind, though not the grief.

Never again. It would never happen again.

[MadEmperor]

"Yeah!" Wyn grinned eagerly. "War camp was so boring. Momma wouldn't let me do anything and Da was never around."

The frustration was understandable. He had parents who fought tooth and claw for him to be able to be just a kid while simultaneously being so protective that he couldn't. He didn't understand the danger he had been in.

[DragonSong]

Ignoring the slight pang in her chest, Shyla squeezed his hand as they started heading down the enclosed stairs toward the main hall. "Well, we're having a big celebration tonight," she told him with a small smile. "I but your Mum and Da will be more than happy to let you play with your friends--maybe even passed bedtime, if you're lucky."

The chatter and laughter of the preparations for the feast reached them just halfway down the stairs--as did the smell of food, which made Shyla's stomach sit up and beg in a decidedly canine fashion.

[MadEmperor]

One of the cooks spied the pale girl and quickly excused herself to excitedly approach the pair. "Oh. My. Gods. You both look so adorable!" Hilda, a girl no older than Shyla, squealed. She was one of the few non-blood girls Shyla's age, so being friends was a natural fit.

[DragonSong]

Shyla groaned theatrically, but extended her free arm to accept the hug Hilda always insisted on giving. "Adorable," she huffed. "Fantastic."

Kneeling, she took Wyn's shoulders in her hands and told him firmly, "If you promise to behave yourself, you're free to go and play, alright?" She smiled and ruffled his hair before she stood again to face Hilda.

"How're things going down here?" She needed to figure out how long she had to follow her brother's advice... She really should try to talk to Fell before the whole party started.

[MadEmperor]

Hilda watched Wyn run off with a warm smile before turning her attention back to Shyla. "Between the feast preparations, all the emergency tailoring, and getting distracted by all the cute Ulfar boys... Busy."

"Seriously. If I knew there was such eye-candy under all that wolf, I wouldn't have taken nearly as long to get over my dad marrying an Ulfar and making me move into a snowy fortress."

[DragonSong]

Shyla snorted and rolled her eyes heavily. "I'll take your word for it," she chuckled. Her packmates' appearances had never much matter to her—for perhaps the obvious reason, but even when she used her Sight she couldn't say she'd ever given it that much thought.

"I suppose you'll be trying to find a proper mate for yourself then?" she sighed, leaning theatrically back against a wall. "Moon save me, I'll be the only spinster in the pack at this rate."

[MadEmperor]

"Don't say that," Hilda chided, joining her against the wall in solidarity. "If I had a boy look at me the way Fell looks at you, I'd already have someone. Besides, now that your brother has all but guaranteed his position for life, boys are going to be lining up to court you."

She sighed dreamily. "Lucky. I wish Hrothgar would notice me."

[DragonSong]

Gods, had everyone but her noticed?!

Shyla huffed again. "Lucky," she repeated, with significantly more sarcasm. "Far as I'm concerned, Hilda, you can have them."

She elbowed the other girl gently and added with a lopsided smile, "If you're that interested in him, make sure he knows who cooked the shepherd's pie--if anyone can be motivated by food, it's Hrothgar."

[MadEmperor]

Hilda laughed. "Gotta be jealous of that shifter metabolism. That boy can eat. If we ate like that, we'd be gigantic."

The head cook stepped out of the kitchen to glare at Hilda. The girl sighed. "Looks like my three minutes is up. We'll talk more later."

[DragonSong]

"Later," Shyla agreed with a smile and a nod.

As Hilda sauntered back into the kitchen, she sighed and shrugged away from the wall. Well. No more putting it off then.

Feeling like she was about to head into battle, she started making her way toward the infirmary; now that they were back home, they had a much more permanent and proper set-up than the simple medical tent. And while Fell had actually been recovering quite well--as far as she knew--he was still technically on bedrest.

[MadEmperor]

She entered as the healers finished changing his bandage. She, of course, couldn't see this, but she could smell the fresh medicine they had applied.

Fell, in the form of a handsome human teenager with golden eyes and sandy brown locks, smiled as he noticed her. "I was... starting to think you'd forgotten about me."