It had been Liam who claimed to have been born with all the luck.

He heard it from the gentle teasing of his numerous family members several times. Liam - his twin brother - had claimed that he had been fortuitous since birth; he had been born the second son and so the mantle of Guardian wouldn't pass to him. That particular weight would rest solely on Tarian's young shoulders.

And so while Liam half-listened through the lessons that Valerio taught (though he always seemed to reserve special attention for their granddam, fabled story-weaver Aletta), Tarian tried to fiercely memorize each word until he could recall his grandfather's facial expressions with almost-clear clarity. He had been the Young Prince and from a young age, Tarian had always considered himself lucky to know his exact place in the world. First, heir and then eventually, Guardian.

The silver-white pegasus tries not to curse in the dark but as he trips over another boulder, he wonders if his brother might have been right. There had been the loss of Paraiso (but that hadn't just impacted Tarian - there had been many who had been displaced by the disappearance of the golden valley) and then his years in Liridon with his stint in an aerial guard that dissolved and finally the years operating with a group that was more vigilante justice than anything else.

Then had come Beqanna.

As he stumbles through this supernatural night, he can't help but wonder about the timing of it. He's spent a year in Pangea doing nothing but keeping quiet and biding his time until his release. It finally comes and so does this eclipse that hangs above all their heads, a haloed-reminder that all their lives hang in the balance below it. The journey back to Loess takes him longer for this reason (and another: a blue-eyed palomino that perturbed Tarian had detained him) but eventually, the canyon country falls behind him, and the rolling foothills of Loess lie ahead. Each one that he travels is like a supple greeting and even if he can't fully see them, each knoll feels likes another homecoming.

Tarian presses his wings against his pale sides, tempted with the idea of taking flight. There are things on the ground, he's learned. The silver pegasus has heard them crooning to each other like lovers in the dark. It had sent a prickling of fear up his spine when he'd heard them. He'd almost flown away then but then the idea had popped into his head of what would happen if he took flight? Could they fly as well?

Flight would make him a direct target and he had no wishes to be torn apart so shortly after his release.

The sound of approaching steps on the sandstone makes the winged stallion want to flare his wings in threat. But he refrains and waits until he catches her opalescent coloring in the dim light that has remained. It was @[Oceane], Queen of the South. "Lady," Tarian greets her by way of a deep whicker. He dips his head but there is a slight smile on his face when it lifts. "Thank you."

His mind reflects with what to ask, what to say. He should apologize for only advancing it to the second round of Alliance (Lepis certainly deserved better). How had Loess fared in his year away? What of the Queen herself? Tarian decides on this while he adjusts his wings neatly against his barrel which hides most of his scars from the recent tournament: "Will you tell me of Loess?"

If the shadows permitted to read her facial expression (or if he knew her better), Tarian might have seen the way that they cast across her opalescent face; the way her face briefly parted like she left room for doubt between the cracks. There are two emotions there that conflict and then intertwine and the silver pegasus can manage a guess of the maelstrom of thoughts that might linger beneath her blue-sheened coat.

He has had a whole year to contemplate why no word came from Loess.

There is no anger within Tarian (at least not at Oceane, none of this had been her fault). There are not many horses within Loess and their precious numbers couldn't be put at risk for just one. Not while they were rebuilding, not while the South was still healing from the fires that Pangea had inflicted on them. If there is blame to be laid anywhere, the gray pegasus has left it with canyons and ravines that cut across the Wasteland.

(Perhaps in his youth - when his temper had been immature and volatile - this might have been a different story. But now, Tarian is merely glad to be home.)

Tarian lifts his proud head to meet his eyes with hers, finally allowing himself to relax within the borders of his kingdom. His wings settle comfortably at his sides and the older stallion studies the remaining Loessian queen. There is a moment that he considers telling her No, that he will not accept her apology because she has nothing to apologize for; but the gray pegasus is quiet because she is a monarch and it is not his place to tell her what to do. It is his place to listen - as he remembers from his etiquette lessons all those years ago - and he does with his light-colored ears flicked forward in her direction.

"My lady, I no more hold you accountable for my captivity than I would think you responsible for breaking the sun," Tarian tells her. It's an attempt at humor (black humor for dark times) but he hopes to ease the sadness that he hears in the quiet of her voice. The boyish smile quirks again - the one that makes him look like his father, Malachi - and he shares with her that his time in Pangea was not wasted. Hesitantly, he tells of the events that occurred during his time there. The rise of one leader - Straia - and then he explains that the Magic had turned on her; the ground itself opening and dragging her into the pits of Hell. Carnage (a God? A Magician?) had come, full of ominous warnings that made Tarian glad to leave.

The pegasus listens as the Queen of the South tells him of the year that had passed in Loess. He learns of her trip to the Mountain and the barter she made with the Fae. He learns that she had stolen the Eastern monarch and some part of Tarian feels a prideful tug of retribution at the admission; he hopes as she does though that it will end the tensions between the two kingdoms.

(It reminds him of when he first met Lepis, patrolling the borders of her kingdom instead of leaving the duty to a sentry. The Southlands and their Queens are certainly things to be admired.)

Despite their current trials, Tarian feels as Oceane does. The winds of Fate might start to blow in a different direction, one finally in their favor. He gives another small nod of his head when she says this before she catches the stallion off-guard. Him? Champion of Loess? He dips his head lower. "If you think it fitting," he murmurs from the back of his throat. "I would serve you and Loess to the highest regard."