can i use you as a warning sign - Nayl, Lior, Castile

Nayl had been curious as to how Djinni survived the pregnancy and the delivery. She had briefly flickered across the Queen’s mind after she herself had delivered her son. When her eyes settled on Castile for the first time a wave of relief crossed her. It was a relief that he had been born healthy and strong, and that she no longer had the additional weight.

Djinni must have felt the same way.

Their paths cross again just as they always do. The genie relaxes on the shoreline while her colt splashes in the shallow surf. It doesn’t take long for Nayl to reach her with Castile shadowing her. A smile, genuine and warmer with every reunion, plays across her velvet lips as the distance between them closes. ”It’s funny how our children are the same color,” had her child been a smoky black tobiano, too, if she had coupled with Stillwater instead of Lior? The question hovers non-threateningly in the forefront of her mind before retracting back into the dark corridors where it belongs. There is something more – something greater – that Lior offers to Nayl. They aren’t nearly as dangerous together, but they are powerful. Their child is the product and proof of that.

”What’s his name?” She asks as her fiery eyes follow the boy splashing before tracing back to look at her own son. ”You can play if you want,” but it likely won’t be long until he is beckoned again to truly meet Djinni. He lurches forward, hesitant at first then excitable, and he splashes along with Ivar with a broad, childish smile. For a moment, Nayl simply watches the children until her gaze drifts back to her friend. ”Castile, the prince of Nerine,” and she chuckles lightly because how amusing the title is for two reasons: she is a Queen and mother of a prince, and he is a prince of a matriarchal society which won’t get him far in life.