"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
appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
Rezza doesn’t necessarily believe in fate or destiny, but she does clearly believe that sometimes they are set on a certain path. She was. It was her choice to follow that path though. Her parents couldn’t force her to do what she was told, Rezza chose to. They didn’t force her to become advisor, but Rezza chose to follow the option they set before her. She isn’t sorry about her choices, but still, she cannot help but wonder what life might have been like had she picked a different path. What might life have been like without the same level of responsibility, without the need to see everything in light of what benefit it could bring to Baltia. In the same vein, she wonders what life would be like without the Great War, though she will never know that. She cannot change the past, cannot bring back the dead. They are gone, and all she can do is move forward.
“Oh?” she says, her interest perking a bit as he mentions that one of the kingdoms is his. “Does it have a name? What’s it like?” Land is still rather fascinating to her, after all. The vast majority of her life has been spent underwater, and Beqanna feels a little like a gift that keeps giving. Well, she hopes it will prove to be a gift, but the unknown element of it still has her on edge. She cannot help the constant calculation between benefit and risk of anything that comes their way. It is her job, and something her Queen will look to her for.
He asks his own question though, and she nods with an amused smile. “I’d hardly call that dreadfully boring, but,” her grin widens just slightly, “I imagine Baltia might be of interest to you. From what I have learned of Beqanna, some things are the same. We have a Queen, Tsilutsuli, though you are highly unlikely to see her outside the water. If you ever do though, you cannot mistake her with her two heads.” Her grin grows just a little bit more mischievous, imagining that two heads is uncommon even amongst the interesting traits she’s seen in Beqanna. “We have a rank system. Our General is Helice, our Advisor is myself. Where I think we may be different is our culture. We are kingdom-first, though with a high emphasis on family. Families stay together for a long time, and we naturally live long lives even without the aid of traits and magic. How old do you think I am? I promise, you won’t offend me.” She eyes him slightly, a playful challenge there. Never guess a woman’s age, right?
For all that he loves to talk, he almost never says anything truly significant about himself. It’s not self-consciousness that stops him, nor even a strong sense of privacy. Reave had learned from a very young age that knowledge contains a great deal of power, and he had never been keen on giving others power over him.
It has become almost second nature for him to brush off prying questions with a quick grin and vague response. It’s rare anyone tries to delve deeper, and even rarer still that anyone cares. Reave has long attributed this to the inherent selfishness of equine nature, a number he is not ashamed to count himself among.
Reave also knows he is not the only creature to have recognized this. As a diplomat, she must know how to lead conversations, so he had not expected her to be put off so easily by his non-committal response. It did, however, set the stage quite nicely.
He grins at her rapid succession of questions, eyes glinting as he peers steadily at her. “It does,” he replies easily. “Nerine. The weather tends to be… dramatic. Lots of cliffs and open space, but the views are unparalleled.”
The bone-armored stallion only laughs when she denies his assertions of boredom, though it dies quickly when she begins speaking of Baltia. He listens with interest as she offers a brief description of their hierarchical structure. He can’t say he had ever seen anyone here with two heads, but he had stopped being surprised by the variety of strange appearances one could stumble across at a very young age. She tells him more of the Baltians unique physiology. Their ability to age well doesn’t surprise him, but her question does bring a smirk to his lips. She couldn’t possibly know just how good he is at guessing things like that. But then, there are a lot of things he shouldn’t know, yet does. He wouldn’t be surprised if she could see more than he has shared with her.
“I don’t have to guess to know it’s far older than you appear.” A charming grin flashes across his lips. “The decades have been kind to you.” He is silent for a few paces before continuing. “So Advisor, huh? Does that mean you’re here to learn what advice to give your queen about us?”
appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
Of course she knows that knowledge is power. This is the entire purpose of her job, but she has found that sometimes in order to gain knowledge, you have to be willing to share it. The key is simply to know what knowledge you can afford to share, what knowledge sounds like you are giving something away even when you are not. There are times, of course, that this is easier than others depending on the person on the receiving end. Some are simply gullible or stupid, if she’s being perfectly honest. It’s not even a game then and she almost feels bad in those sorts of conversations. Reave though - Reave is fun. He is certainly not gullible or stupid, and she appreciates someone that feels like an equal in conversation.
”So if I manage to find this Nerine one day, could I see these unparalleled views?” Yes, she wants to start seeing the kingdoms for a variety of reasons, but selfishly, she also just wants to see what the land has to offer. It is so different that she wonders what sort of view one could see from a cliff. Underwater cliff’s were probably not quite the same.
As it turns out, she can indeed hear more than he has shared, though she perhaps doesn’t use her mind reading as often as she should. It’s always on, to some degree or another, so she doesn’t miss anything particularly important, but at the same time, she rather enjoys the conversation. Besides that, it’s not a skill she advertises, and as such, she always has to be careful as to how she uses it.
She chuckles at his answer about her age. “How diplomatic,” she replies, without giving her actual age since the point was made well enough. Not that she even knows it anymore. Her age has become the number of decades and centuries that have passed, rather than a truly specific number. Eventually, it stops mattering. Her laugh reappears with that mischievous grin at his next question. ”In theory, of course. In reality, my Queen has simply decided that we should avoid the land.” Rezza, on the other hand, rather liked it and was doing a poor job of listening.
It’s always the way of this game they play. A give and take, push and pull. So very like the tides that had brought her to land. Young as he is in comparison to her much more advanced age, he understands this well enough. Understands that one cannot simply take and take and take. There must be a give too. A fine line to tread.
He has never been particularly good at treading fine lines however.
He grins at her question, eyes slipping to her. “Only if you will do the same for me in Baltia,” he replies, his pithy tone edged with sardonic humor. “Should I ever learn to breathe underwater.”
That would be the day, wouldn’t it? But he had long ago learned never to say never.
They are quite the pair, the two of them. Each with their secrets even as they boldly attempt to pry. He too could dig deeper if he wished, just as she could. A memory for a thought. A selfish temptation they both skirt the edges of.
“I have my moments,” he teases wryly in response to her accusation of diplomacy. Reave of course hasn’t lived long enough to count his age in decades rather than years, but his grasp of the future is firm enough that he can understand the sentiment, fleeting as it might be. Her denial of his question brings his attention fully back around to her however, eyes bright with undisguised curiosity. “And yet here you are.” He smirks, head tilting slightly. “Defying your queen. Aren’t you full of surprises?”
appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.
She grins as he asks for the same treatment in Baltia. ”There’s a plant we have that will allow you to breathe underwater, should you so wish. Though I can only promise you that I will do my best to show you around, but I can make no promises that Tsilutsuli will not eat you or, should the Queen not eat you, that our general will not kill you.” She says this with a bit of a smirk but with some seriousness as well. They actually might kill him. She’s not entirely sure yet how they are going to respond to visitors, though the reality of it is inevitable. Rezza’s already met one such earth stallion that could breathe underwater all on his own so surely there must be more. ”That said, it is nearly time for the tithe in Baltia, which is also a time of feasting and merriment for us. You may find yourself with an opportunity to visit sooner than you ever thought possible.”
She hasn’t even thought of the tithe with all that has happened, but they cannot miss it. It is tradition, and again, Tsilutsuli would eat them all for failing to carry it through even if her son would be the host this year. Ah, how fun. It would be Rezza’s job to explain that one. Regardless, it’s hardly the first time their Queen has declined to show either of her faces and it would likely not be the last.
For now, she doesn’t dwell on it as the conversation shifts to her blatant disregard for the Queen’s orders. Tsilutsuli and Rezza do not always see eye to eye. It’s a small miracle really that Rezza hasn’t been eaten, but really, the fact that she does not always listen is much of what makes her good at her job. She cannot advise anyone properly without information, and even the Queen knows this to be true. Even if the vast majority of Baltia was staying put, Rezza could not. They needed information and while Helice’s scouts could certainly gather information on the land and possible dangers, they were not nearly so well trained in gaining information from actual living beings. ”I am full of surprises,” she agrees with a pleased smile. ”But I’m guessing you did not get your title by listening to everything you were told either.”
Reave tips his head in open curiosity at her admission. He had never paid a great deal of attention to plants outside the carnivorous garden he tends in his home, but it does not surprise him to learn such a plant exists. There are many strange and wondrous things in this magical home of theirs. A faint grin tugs at the corners of his lips when she offers her warning though. “A kind warning,” he replies drolly, blue eyes twinkling. “Fortunately I am excellent at surviving.”
He might be young, but he is hardly daft. There are any number of risks in which the rewards are not worth it. Her insinuation tickles at the edges of his thoughts however, planting the seeds of so many futures. But he keeps his counsel, instead choosing to offer her only a flashing grin in response. Reave had recognized the hint of an invitation in those words, but until he had decided what to make of it, he would instead keep his inclinations to himself.
As she continues, he chuckles, the hue of his irises deepening with his amusement. He can sympathize with her desire to ferret out information herself. He too has that desire deeply rooted into the marrow of his bones. There are some things one could determine only by seeing it with their own eyes.
“You guess correctly,” he agrees, his gaze belieing the mildness of his tone. “Another surprise to add to the growing heap, but I must admit I’m terrible at taking orders.”
His gaze sweeping across the widening river, Reave slows his step, head tipping slightly as though listening to something, before returning his attention to newfound companion. “Your company has been a delight, Rezza, but I must leave you here.” With a faintly wicked grin, he turns to depart, only pausing to add, “I do hope you will accept my invitation and pay me a visit in Nerine.”
reave
@Rezza I figured we should wrap this up and catch up timelines <3
