Midwinter is not a time during which much socialization occurs, but Texas has placed himself in the center of the kingdom regardless. There is a little frost hanging at the ends of his mane and tail, and it catches the light much like the grey hairs that hide between the black. The only hoof prints in the wide meadow beside the waterfall are his own, and while he suspects that the other residents of the kingdom are taking refuge from the winter winds, he is tired of being alone.

He doesn’t want conversation – he’d rather his company be mute it at all possible - but the absence of both the queen (who he knows is ill) and the king in the past few weeks are concerning. Below is about somewhere, as are Nixie and Cymbalta, and he hopes that nothing has befallen Hoku. Piety has disappeared, and Eld has been gone for years. Chezter hasn’t been seen in months, Texas has heard rumors that the stallion was captured by the Chamber. Perhaps he’ll learn something there.

Raising his head, the bay stallion calls those within earshot, summoning them to the waterfall.

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The bay stallion had long ago abandoned any linger amount of self-doubt, and has always felt himself better for it. He does what he can, when he can, when he feels so inclined – the rest of the world can do as it pleases.

The only response to his call is the lone hoot of an owl, and so he returns to his grazing. He kicks away the last vestiges of snow in search for green grass, but the ice and mud are thick and he is soon exasperated. He glances up, expecting to see only the empty field around him, but it seems that the whistling wind had muffled the sound of Shatter Me’s footsteps. He doesn’t smile, though there is a brief wrinkling of the skin around is eyes that suggests that he might have started to do so. The silver queen is battered and thin, but she is free of visible injuries. The winter has been unkind to her, he thinks, or perhaps the loss of her king.

“Better than you, I think.” He replies in his low drawl, and his words are not as cutting as they might have been. He has always liked the silver mare; she is a mare but not entirely useless, and he has had more overbearing monarchs before. He notices that she is not pregnant this spring, and wonders if perhaps that had been a choice she and Tiberios had made, or if perhaps she had lost a child. Teas has always been prone to ensuring that his paramours are at some stage of mothering (be it heavy with foal or with a child at their side) – it is better insurance that they will not have a plethora of free time to use bothering him.

Texas wonders then, briefly, if Hoku has had her foal. Eld has been long gone, and has taken their son with her. His penchant for wooing the mares of the Waterfall has never extended to Shatter Me, though it is not because he finds her displeasing. She is simply too silver, with eyes that are brown and gentle and remind him of things that he would rather forget. Best to find satisfaction outside the Falls and avoid entrapment, he has always thought.

“What are your plans?” Texas asks, and he might mean for the day, or perhaps for the kingdom in general. He doesn’t clarify – though he means the latter, and it doesn’t occur to him that perhaps it is too soon to ask her such things. He only knows that their already weak kingdom is now without a king, and there are plenty of vultures that are likely to come circling soon.

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He’s not surprised she’s pensive – those with softer hearts often tend to be. So he waits, somewhat curious, with his dark ears pricked in the direction of the silver queen., She speaks of Chezter, and for the first time Texas thinks of the chestnut stallion and his sentence in the Chamber. He knows that the other horse had lost his battle with a Chamber mare, but had’nt thought of him since he had left. He had not been a vital member of the kingdom, and Texas has not missed him.

Perhaps he should have, if Shatter Me is giving him this responsibility.

Perhaps his time of not-caring has come to an end.

The bay stallion doesn’t disagree as she speaks, but only because she is speaking the truth, not because he wants her to wallow. No mare is ever cut out for ruling alone, and the repetitious destruction of the Amazons is more proof of that than any other event. She wants Tyrna to rule beside him and he can only assume that she has seen her daughter more frequently in the last five years than Texas has. He knows that he could say no, and that Shatter Me would respect his choice, but he has at least a little faith that she knows what she is doing, and simply nods his acquiescence.

Then she asks him what he will do, turning the question that he has just asked her around. Their roles are switched, and though Texas feels as though he’s been put on the spot, he is also ready.

“Recruit. Build the kingdom. Even if we have no army me need to be large enough to discourage our enemies.” All residents of the kingdom will fight if they have to; they do not need a title to do so. That is something that a century of experience has taught Texas. “Will you be staying?” He asks, and while it is not a heartfelt admission of loyalty and friendship like the one Shatter Me had given, his general concern about her well-being and location are far more than he’s wondered- let alone asked – about anyone else in years.

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“We need to find out where we stand with the other kingdoms,” He says, and the thought of having to deal with them himself is rather bothersome. “What ties did Tiberios make while he was king?” Texas assumes that Shatter Me will know these things, but adds that: “He told the Gates we would support them in war if they convinced the Deserts, Amazons, or Dale to join them, but I’ve no intention of keeping that promise.” Texas had not agreed with the King’s pledge of support to Kronk, but he can’t change the past. Fortunately –for himself at least – he doesn’t mind breaking promises.

“I’d like to secure an alliance with the Dale and the Tundra.” They have one with the Dale already, but Texas is unaware of it. When pacts are made in the world of the undead and not communicated to kingdom members, it is hard to know anything at all. “Perhaps you could go to the Dale and see what their thoguhts are? And where they intend to stand if the Gates does take on the Chamber?”

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