"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
The sun hangs high in the sky as the hour of mid-day arrives. She can feel the scorching heat on her skin as she pushes away from the shadows of the kingdom’s border. Her hooves sink into the golden sands as she moves forward. A sense of comfort and relief exhale through her lips as she sighs deeply. Her eyes casually cross over the land, a grin spreading wide from ear to ear as if this was the first time she was seeing the sandy kingdom. It wasn’t though. This was her home.
A home she had left.
Lucrezia regrets ever making that decision, but given the time and events of her life she needed to. While she should’ve stayed around those she knew could help her through her grief, she could not. She had to find her own peace and acceptance of what had become of her life and what she had known. There had to be a way to forgive her family regardless of their broken promises and corrupted hunger for personal gain. Lucrezia has convinced herself that she must forgive them but in her heart she does not feel that way. She still feels a hatred towards her sister and father and the false hope they have given her all her life.
The thought of them does not matter though, she has found her way back home. A home that did not send her away but always welcomed her back with open arms. This was the difference between the Chamber, her birthplace, and the Deserts, which once felt like a prison to her.
Lucrezia now has made her way across the kingdom, passing over several dunes. She is close to reaching the familiar oasis that lies within the center of the kingdom – a place she is sure to find someone. However, she stops atop of the dune before it curves down into the heart of the deserts. She lets her eyes take in the picture and a smile spreads across her lips once more.
Why did I ever leave? She thinks, but is only glad she is now back.
kreios don't you tame your demons, but always keep them on a leash
The trip from the Orange Country to the Deserts is not a long one, but a year of travel from one place to the other has begun to weigh on me. It keeps me in shape, that is certain, but I lose hours each day on the way. It has occurred to me that I might do better to choose simply one place to devote myself to, but I had brushed that thought away as soon as it had appeared. Abandoning a kingdom is a shameful thing; that much at least my father had taught me. And I fear that I might too easily grow bored in a herd, or worse – too wild. I’d seen the other stallions in the Field, feral things that collect mares the same way magpies collect shiny stones. I’ve no desire to become a creature like that, and too much time spent in a primitive place might render me primitive as well.
If I had wings like that horse on the dune, it might be easier, I think as my gaze travels past the silhouetted figure. I could simply fly from one place to the other in a fraction of the time. Perhaps Camrynn might be willing to exchange my horns for a more useful trait.
It’s only the second time that my eyes roam toward the distant horse that I actually recognize her. It’s been a long time – years – since I’d last seen the sabino mare. She’d been a participant in the competition but no one had seen her since – at least from what I had gathered. Excited, I leave my place in the shade and trot towards her, calling out her name as I do. “Lucrezia!”
I stop some distance away, realizing suddenly that I’m not sure how to greet her. While I’m openly affectionate with the mares of my herd and have no qualms with pulling them close in greeting, I am hesitant with Lucrezia. I was still a boy when we had last spoken, shy and awkward beneath the harsh black gaze of my father. The crush that I had on her made it no easier to be relaxed in her presence. I still feel more than friendship toward her, I realize as I stand in front of her, but the idea of acting on it seems somehow foreign.
“Where have you been?” I ask, knowing that that at least is a safe topic. I smile, because I am glad to see her, and decide there’s no harm in telling her that either. “Are you back to stay? I’ve missed you.”
Her eyes are still absorbed by the heart of the kingdom, taking in every detail of the oasis. She wonders what has become of this place. It does not appear much has changed but she has been gone for several years now and knows anything could happen in an instant. Lucrezia hopes at least she will recognize an old friendly face – no doubt she will since she can smell the old scents of the Desert members. However, she hopes Yael is somewhere around and maybe the two queens. She has to see them eventually but it seemed now would not be the time.
“Lucrezia!” She hears her name being called. It has been a long time since she has heard her name being called except for strangers she has met but never kept too long at their side. The mare never had plans for staying away from her homeland, so she never found a reason to make long-lasting relations with outsiders. Her nutmeg eyes draw towards the familiar, ram horned stallion. A smile draws across her lips as he comes closer to her on top of the dune.
It has been years since she has seen the boy, but he is no longer a boy anymore Lucrezia notices as she takes in the tall stallion before her now. Kreios and her have been friends since they were but tiny foals. Sometimes it strange for her to think how long she has known the awkward and shy boy - Is he even still the boy I remember? She wonders but doesn’t press too much on the matter because she is glad to see him.
“I’ve been a lot of places,” she admits. Lucrezia didn’t bother to stay in one place or another that long. “Not too far from Beqanna though. I could never leave here forever.” When he mentions that he misses her, she smiles again. “Of course, I am here to stay, Kreios. This is my home.” It is where she belongs, a place she could never leave. Lucrezia has always needed to feel a place to belong. It would be out of her to simply pack up and never return.
She pauses for a moment. “I’ve missed you too.” She says softly, though truly unsure why she even needed to think before saying the words. Lucrezia indeed did think of her friend while she was gone and how well he was doing. She knows a lot had happened before she left, especially the death of his father, but she wonders if Kreios misses the late black king. “How are you? What have you been doing?”
kreios don't you tame your demons, but always keep them on a leash
The idea of travelling, while appealing, is not as desirable a thing as it had once been. A long time ago – before Lucrezia had left – I had wanted to see the world, to explore every crevice of Beqanna as well as the world beyond. These days my entire world is within my line of sight and I cannot imagine wanting to be anywhere else for long.
When she says that she is here to stay I cannot help but smile even wider. I have missed her; she is a reminder of the more pleasant parts of my childhood. If she stays, perhaps I will have more time to spend on those memories rather than rushing through with the ever-growing responsibilities that I have been taking on each year. I’m so pleased to see her that I don’t notice her hesitation on the second part of her response.
“I’ve been good,” I tell her honestly, “Really good. I got promoted to Sergeant, and I have a herd in Orange Country.” The two are equally exciting to me, something that’s evident in the tone of my voice.
Her childhood is also filled with good and bad memories. However, it seems that she often has fixated more on the bad memories from her past than anything else. It is the betrayal of family and love given to her that has made her heart a little harder and colder than it once had been before. Lucrezia finds that she is not as trusting of others as much and accepts the word of someone else to be the truth. If anything she is more skeptical and less optimistic of this world than she was as a child. Her vision of this world had been shattered. And in all honesty, it was perhaps the best thing that happened to her.
She as well considers Kreios to be a good memory from her childhood. In truth, a blessing she has been given. There is something about the company of the ram horned stallion that has always brought a smile to her and made her heart filled with warmth. Maybe it was that she could forget about her troubles and feel naïve and childish like she used to. She could return to her childhood days to when things were much simpler with him. Perhaps that was too reckless of her to even feel, but she needed that feeling to survive, to be reminded that this world was still good in some ways.
“I’m glad to hear things are going well for you, Kreios.” Yet, Lucrezia is a little shocked to hear the news of him leading his own herd. It seemed to be a level step down from what her father always told her to strive for. The idea of being something and someone in a kingdom had been engrained into her mind too well. She simply does not see herself be something outside of the kingdom life – it was all she has ever known, truthfully. “What is the herd life like? Do you watch over many mares?” She would not be surprised if he did. Kreios was a cute boy, Lucrezia admits, and he has turned into quite a handsome stallion.
