lady, runnin' away to the riptide

taken away to the dark side

She had taken a few days to settle in after her tour with Scorch, and been happy to have Sochi seem to get along quite well with Scorch’s daughter Philomena. And it is peaceful here, with the constant sound of waves on the rocky shore, even now in the dead of winter. The caves offer plenty of shelter, and the grasses atop the dunes are somehow both salty and sweet. She hasn’t met anyone else yet, though she has smiled at a few from a distance, like ships passing in the night.

But enough time has passed, that she thinks it is time to seek the Queen, as Scorch had suggested. And the grulla mare knows her new friend was right; if she is to be happy, to find a purpose here, she must let the Queen know of all of her skills, and put them to use. So she leaves Sochi to play with her friend, and goes looking for the black queen with the green eyes (which is all she knows of Hestia, this description she has gotten).

So she leaves her cave, hooves nearly silent even over the rocks, and slips along the cliff face in the sand, up to the dunes, and then further, seeking high vantage points to look at the Kingdom spread out below her – but then always down into a valley or a nook between cliffs, and then another climb. Finally upon one high point, she spots her quarry and changes directions, approaching the Queen with a polite nicker. Not for the first time, Sloene wishes her winter coat weren’t so…fluffy. It’s nice because she’s not cold, but even the most thorough grooming routines don’t prevent her from looking a little shabby.

But she stretches to her full (not very tall) height, and gives a nod of her head before meeting the mare’s green eyes with her own silver. “Queen Hestia?” she offers, and waits for confirmation from the other mare before continuing. “My name is Sloene. I’ve recently been brought to live here by Scorch, and she recommended I seek you out, to discuss my role in Nerine,” her voice is pleasant, almost lyrical, and she waits for a response before she considers disclosing what talents have led Scorch to suggest she introduce herself to the Queen.

SLOENE

I've got a lump in my throat

cause you're gonna sing the words wrong

lady, runnin' away to the riptide

taken away to the dark side

She is glad that her first instinct is to like Hestia; she liked Scorch a lot, and so she wanted to trust the people Scorch trusted, but to be honest her trust is weird. She instinctively trusts some, but others have to work extra hard for it, if her first instinct is to be uncertain. “Not much to tell, I’m afraid,” she answers with a little expression that might be called a smile if you’re quite generous, but is much too lonely to be a real smile. “I was an orphan, raised in a herd by two lovely mares who were making it their job to train children to serve Kingdoms in whatever capacity they were best suited to.” what she doesn’t say, rarely says, is how lonely it was to be the only ordinary child amongst a sea of rainbow-colored and magic-talented Carnage babies that had been so plentiful those few seasons. Branka had loved them and Nera had trained them, but no mare can raise twenty something babies and make them feel as loved as a mare raising one or two. “I was just about to find a Kingdom to serve when the world fell apart, and so I went wandering instead outside of Beqanna. I’ve recently returned. Scorch brought me and my daughter to Nerine from the field, and I’ve been pleased by what I find here.”

And what whiplash that was! To find the world so changed. She hesitates after Hestia mentions special roles, and then plunges ahead. If she doesn’t tell her now, trust Scorch’s judgement, maybe she never will. So, now or never. “They trained me to be a spy. I was good at it, so I learned well. Since then I have also been gifted with magic that will make me even better at it. First, I am immortal but not like most. If I am killed, I will come back immediately in a new body. A body nobody knows.” she hasn’t given herself time to think about what it will be like, to die, because she has only let herself think about the benefit to her profession. “More recently, I became able to hypnotize others, which will make it easier to get information. If there is a need for someone to gather information for Nerine, I would like to volunteer.”

SLOENE

I've got a lump in my throat

cause you're gonna sing the words wrong