[Matriarch] Maintain

The next step in their schedule was to help the Matriarch. With everyone's effort, she was slowly breaking free, but being stuck for so long still brought some complications, and she still needed some help eating. There was a line of food waiting to be given to the Matriarch, some for sustenance and some in celebration of the latest breach. Her tail was more visible now, and her forearms were freed. The excavation was clearly going well. 

Wolf followed Eva and Sin. This time, Sin was guiding them with her nose, but she wanted to eat the food herself. This was a constant source of bickering between the two sisters as they pushed through the crowd. Eva always reminded Sin that the food was for the Matriarch, and Sin would try to talk Eva into letting her taste just a little bit. Wolf was quiet as they argued with each other in quick and quiet voices. 

“Perfect,” Cailu said, “Wolf, over here!”

Wolf looked over to the caregiver, who was waving frantically. Eva and Sin turned and looked between the two. They were new and hadn’t met Cailu before, but Wolf wasn’t confident in his voice to explain. Luckily, he didn’t have to. Cailu approached them and introduced himself. When the introductions had finished, Cailu moved on to talk about what they needed to do. 

“We’re going to feed the Matriarch,” Cailu gestured to the line of food. 

The three vayrons already knew this is what they were going to do, it was their intention when they approached, so they just nodded. 

“All you have to do is bring the food closer to her, or put it in her mouth,” Cailu said with a smile, “it should be easy enough.”

“Can I eat some?” Sin piped up. 

Eva stepped on her toes as she hissed, “No, Sin. It’s for the Matriarch.”

Sin hissed back, “It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

Wolf and Cailu smiled at the pair, but Cailu said, “There will be a feast for the helpers later.”

Sin huffed, but she was appeased. 

Cailu led the three vayrons close to the Matriarch’s mouth. There was a pile of food, each individual piece wrapped in various fabrics. Their first task was to unwrap the foods to see what was delivered and whether anything needed to be cooked first before they gave it to the Matriarch. Cailu directed each vayron to their own pile. 

Wolf stood in front of a small pile. He carefully pulled a small package away so he could peel away the leather wrapped around it. Inside were apples and some berries. Wolf flattened the leather and then moved it aside. He pulled another package, this one larger than the last, but when he opened it, it was just a larger batch of fruit. He put all the fruit together in a new pile, on the largest piece of leather. Then he moved on to the next. 

Eva wanted to help Sin, but Cailu insisted he could help her sister. So she stood by her own pile. Eva separated out anything wrapped in silk or satin. She decided to open the more delicate packages first. As she opened them, she organized them into the meat and fish piles because that was all she seemed to find. 

Sin and Cailu worked together to bring the piles of food closer to the Matriarch. Sin was pleasantly surprised at how well he guided Sin around. With Cailu helping, he insisted that they could feed the Matriarch right away without waiting like the others. Cailu plucked a package and opened it to find a large roast. Sin took it and immediately placed it in the Matriarch’s open and waiting mouth. The pair continued like this until there was a small pile of food on the Matriarch’s tongue. Cailu would then tap her snout and she would chew. 

“Are you guys ready?” Cailu asked, turning towards Eva and Wolf. 

“Ready!” Eva nodded eagerly as Sin moved to the side. 

Wolf silently nodded.

Cailu looked over each pile to see what to feed the Matriarch first. He decided it would be Eva’s pile of meat. Wolf and Eva helped move the meat and fish closer to the Matriarch. Then Sin would pile the food on the Matriarch’s tongue and Cailu would tap her massive snout to indicate she could eat. The large teeth, that looked like crystals, closed around the small pieces of food. The four reoseans watched as the massive haedian chewed her food and swallowed. 

The Matriarch opened her mouth again and waited. Wolf’s pile was last and with all the little pieces of fruit rolling around, it was a bit more of a challenge to put it all in the Matriarch’s mouth. The four reoseans struggled, but eventually they managed to balance the fruits on her tongue. Cailu tapped her mouth for the third time and she went through the motions. 

“Thank you for the help,” Cailu said, turning away from the mouth. 

Wolf nodded, while Eva and Sin replied, “Happy to help.”

[842]