The family elephant, by Pigeon

"Baron Susa!"

The herald called my grandfather who is Susa's name; the court and other waiting barons and okloi shifted with various degrees of curiosity or disappointment that they weren't next; and my grandfather himself strode forwards and bowed before the king's throne with his usual air of importance. But he didn't start stating his business. He simply stood there, looking rather like Ion does when the king has asked him to do three contradictory things at once, one of which the queen disapproves of.

He didn't actually have that problem today. The queen was still delegating all afternoon court sessions to be heard by the king, and devoting herself to the royal twins instead. I gathered from Phresine's vigorous scolding of Chloe that it was improper to say 'feeding them,' at least where there were any men around.

The throne room was packed with men, all starting to grow increasingly interested in Baron Susa's case – for still nothing was said. The king, lounging on his throne, continued to stare at my grandfather through half-closed eyes; Susa continued to stand there, unspeaking. His back had grown a little more rigid, as if in defence against the dozens of staring eyes. One of his foot shifted slightly on the marble tiles, and my own bad leg twitched, as if in sympathy. After all the riding of the Great Mede War, it was far more resilient to these long spells of standing, but sometimes –

I shifted slightly myself, trying not to draw anyone's gaze. Ion beside me didn't look down, but his fingers brushed against my coat sleeve. Ion and I. It still seemed strange to think that we were the only two left of the king's attendants from before the War, as strange as to think that Ion had known a before before that –

The king spoke across my spiral of thoughts. "The birthday gift..."

Susa inclined his head. "Yes, Your Majesty?" he said, sounding slightly apprehensive.

It had been the king's birthday two weeks before, marked with the usual parade of dignitaries and presentations and endlessly bowing barons he so disliked. Apart from Heiro and her father presenting a new set of earrings, to the king's obvious delight, I had to confess I had not really registered who had given what.

The king, apparently, had. He stared more intently at Susa. "It was not your usual type of gift."

My grandfather winced, visibly.

"Two wooden elephant statuettes? With brass detailing? One a Mede original of some antiquity, the other a hastily produced copy. They are too big to be paper weights and too small to be doorstops, and they would be too light for either function, anyway." The king raised one eyebrow. "Can you explain?"

He didn't add the words 'how they could possibly be an acceptable royal gift?' He didn't need to. The words rang loudly in the silent stares of the surrounding court, all bearing down on the back of my grandfather. He didn't shift, but his face reddened.

A gift that didn't even have gold detailing?

He cleared his throat, once, then twice. "Your Majesty, the Mede elephant statue has been in the Susa family's possession since my grandfather's-"

"Time of accepting payment from the Medes," the king cut in, sounding bored.

Various people winced. My grandfather cleared his throat again. "Its origins are, erm – regrettable," he conceded. "But as an ornament it was never highly valued-"

"Too politically difficult to put on display?"

"It was most valued by the youngest members of the family," Susa ploughed on, growing yet redder in the face and neck. "At functions and feasts where their presence was required within the more formal apartments of the main villa. My father and his brothers were all in turn allowed to amuse themselves with it. I- I-"

He broke off, and cast a half glance to either side, clearly reluctant to continue with this account in the middle of such a listening crowd. The king, firmly unsympathetic to such baronial niceties, peered pointedly to each side my grandfather had glanced at, then raised one eyebrow again. "You...?" he prompted.

If my grandfather's back had been stiff before, it became like a slab of marble now. "I remember it with some fondness myself," he ground out. "My sons likewise, and their sons."

The king turned, and looked at me. I shook my head. I had never been asked to functions and feasts at the Susa estates, I don't think even Marina or Juridius had, and my father was certainly not the kind of man to tell me stories of what toys he had played with as an infant.

My grandfather took a deep breath, loud enough to regain the king's attention. "Some of their sons," he corrected himself. "With the late coinciding of the Mede battle elephants coming into Your Majesty's possession, and Your and Her Majesty's happy blessing of an heir, I simply thought Your Majesty might appreciate it for the same purpose."

He bowed. The king closed his eyes and blinked slowly, once, then twice.

"And the reason for including a copy of this treasured heirloom of the Susas?"

Some reserve finally cracked in my grandfather. "Your Majesty!" he wailed. "You have twins!"

~:~:~

A/N: So, so, so. As you can probably tell, much of my output of fanfic for the last few years has been as 'gifts' for friend's birthdays, hence the theme!