It is a homecoming, of a kind, though not the one he’d hoped for (but then, what ever was? his dreams seemed such delicate things; they could never hold up to the light of day). Still he feels something like a sunrise to see them all gathering, Israel and Atreus and Fiona, his Champions and Warden of a drowned and battered kingdom.
And a kingdom overrun, too - for the gophers do not seem patient guests. Asterion’s curiosity turns to something more like bemusement as he watches them, and Cirrus, sensing the worry that builds beneath his skin, circles from the sky and settles on his shoulders, turning a dark eye on all those gathered.
But they do not hold the king’s attention for long; when Theodosia asks for his help he steps forward, carefully lifting the creature from her back. A pointed glance from the bay has a bystander hurrying forward, unwrapping a scarf from their neck to use as a makeshift blanket. It’s onto this that he helps lower the sleepy gopher, and Cirrus flutters from his back to inspect it, too.
When the grey stranger asks for a healer, Asterion’s gaze touches on Atreus and Fiona before returning to the mare. Dusk had healers enough - though most were in Denocte or in the hospitals themselves, having worked themselves to exhaustion. But none of them specialized in rodents.
“How was he found? Do we know any of what's wrong with him?” he asks, his attention shifting back to the gopher, but the king only half expects an answer. Easy fixes weren’t the way this sort of thing worked, gods help them. And Asterion is no healer himself. Still —
“Does anyone have any coca leaf?” He knows the plant is commonly used as a stimulant and energy-boost throughout Novus, and he looks up again at the gathered crowd, his dark-eyed gaze half pleading, half commanding. It’s then that he notices the change in behavior of their other guests - a flash of yellow teeth, a low-throated growl, a few tunnels begun.
Someone, at last, is stepping forward and pulling a few sprigs of coca from their satchel to offer to the creature - but Asterion is as worried for his court as he is for the gopher, and when he looks at Israfel he can feel his heart racing as though he were the one who swallowed the stimulant.
Oh, how he wishes for Florentine then! His sister might know how to handle this situation. But the bay thinks only that the kingdom newly set across his shoulders is about to collapse into mud and rodent holes.
if you'll be my star*
