"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
He'd followed her, surprisingly enough. They'd flown in tense silence away from the others, coming to land in the foothills that separated Sylva from the common lands. Intentional neutral ground. Now she whirled to face the tall stallion, mare stare in full effect. She couldn't stop moving. Instead, she paced before him, her carefully manicured composure rendered useless by his presence.
"What do you think you're doing, Klaudius? You have your little family on Ischia, twisted as it is. Why can't you let me have mine?" She paused her pacing to kick at a rock that looked at her wrong. They hadn't spoken in a year. Had it really been that long? She sighed deeply, finally looking at him properly. The fire in her eyes dulled into a soft burn. She had enough going on with her kingdom. Domestic dispute waa just another weight on her shoulders, one she was getting tired of.
Kwartz was their child, and the time for that fact to become known was getting closer and closer. She had been doing all she could to stave it off. It was a conversation she wasn't looking forward to, mainly due to the complicated nature of the boy and his half siblings. Perhaps it was time for all parties involved to get on the same page.
Their exit from the meeting had been swift. He was sure the shock of his presence was enough to put her on edge but when Kwartz acknowledged him in knowing, it stung even worse. All grins at that point, he winked to the boy and turned to follow her through the canopy...
Having grown up in the forest, he had learn to take flight through the meshed web of branch and leaf. They tugged at his wings but soon he broke free and was soaring in the open skies. His eyes spotted her easily, how could they not. Her pelt nearly glittered in the light of day and the blazing streaks of tendrils were hard to miss.
Another few beats of his large wings and he was caught up to her. She seemed to be in a hurry but he wasn't. Enjoying his view from behind her. It wasn't long and they were descending onto an open patch of neutral land. He nearly chuckles out loud. As soon as his lavender hooves it the earth, she has already twisted into a tizzy. He simply stood square and watched her squirm. It was quite entertaining to say the least...
It wasn't long before she starts drilling him with why's and 'what the hells'. Bringing up Krone and their twins. He shakes the smirk from his lips, "They have nothing to do with this Sabra... Kwartz should at least know who his father is. He deserves that. Let him decide if he wants to know me... Cuz I'd like to know him." His entertained mannerisms turn serious temporarily.
With a sigh, she seems to relax slightly and he reaches towards her with his muzzle. Wanting to touch the warmth of her flesh again. His memories serve him well, that at one time they had enjoyed each other's embrace. He didn't fully understand why she refused him so. She had her kingdom, thats all she ever really wanted anyhow...wasn't it?
She stepped back, deflecting his touch. If he started with that, she'd forget what she wanted to talk about, and it was too important for that. This needed to be put to bed.
"I think they're very important to this. Kwartz doesn't need that knowledge, that his father is a... a... an incestuous rapist." There, she'd said it. "Maybe Krone has chosen to forget, but I haven't. What do her children even call you? Are you father or uncle?" Was it really so far fetched, that she didn't want that kind of influence in her son's life? She had found a home, and had the power to say what did or didn't happen within it. If that wasn't enough to protect her son from her own mistakes, then there really was no justice in the world.
But Kwartz was growing older, looking more like his father every day. Klaudius had a point, much as she hated to admit it. It wasn't fair to the boy. She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply, bracing herself to say what she was about to. Opening them again, she faced him straight on. "If Kwartz wants to know you, he may. Though it would seem you've taken that into your own control already. But Klaudius? Don't you dare hurt him. He is a good, kind boy and I will never forgive you if you change that." She had stepped closer with each phrase until her face was scant inches from his. Her voice was low and clear, intended to be heard only by the man currently in front of her.
Ever fiber of her being reacted to him, negatively or positively. He had crawled inside her mind and now... damn. He smelled like salt and sandalwood and the island he lived on, threaded through with his own personal musk. She'd forgotten just how attractive he was. She was standing too close, had gotten carried away. Worse, she had just given him permission to be in her life again.
As expected, he reaches and she retracts. There was a slight hesitation of second thinking but her purpose takes control. More harsh words are spit in his face and he covers his pain with a chuckle, "Ouch!... You really know how to kick a man when he's down." He didn't truly care what she thought of him or his family. He was their father and nothing she said would change that.
Silver-hazel eyes watch her curiously as she has a moment of thought before she is moving towards him again. Inch by inch she nears and his nares fill with her sweet fragrance. Ears twist to hear her words but his hooves remain still. He wasn't threatened by her invasion of his personal space. It was almost welcomed. When she finishes with more threatening words, his head lowers with a defined arch to his neck. Meeting hers, he seductively whispers in her ear, "I would never..." His lips reach to brush along her pearlescent flesh.
Her words has stung him, though he tries to hide it behind his normal joking manner. Is it wrong that it gives her satisfaction? And then they are close, so close. His breath against the delicate skin of her neck is a clear indication that he has no intention of listening to her.
"You would never what?" She growled low in her throat. He was impossible, truly. There were no rules when he was present, except for his own. It made him infuriating to be around. But then his lips touch her skin, and then she remembers why she had liked him before. Everything in her life was tightly controlled, strictly organized, and that was how she wanted it. But Klaudius introduced an element of chaos. He took control and filled whatever space he occupied. Filled it very well.
She couldn't move away, even if she wanted to. Slow, traitorous heat spread from the point he touched, flowed along her veins with delicious deliberation. It gathered in her belly, and deeper. Damn him. She sighed and leaned into the touch, knowing she'd hate herself tomorrow. The gemstone queen could live with that.
A grin curls the corners of his lips as he bends his muzzle to meet her flesh. Dismissing her question for now as he feels it was asked in desperation to continue small talk, instead of acting. She enjoyed fighting but eventually it grew tiresome. Now, as she leans into his trailing lips down the arch of her neck, is one of those times that giving in was easier than resisting.
Enjoying the slow lingering of his flesh on hers, he does not rush. Seduction was an art he hadn't mastered entirely, but practicing made perfection. At least that's what he heard. With a single step forward and the extension of his neck, he moves along her shoulder blade. Nipping gently every so often as his lips wandered down her velvet hide. Following the edge of her blade and down to her breast. A soft whicker vibrates quietly in his windpipe as again, his pale lips trail down her. Finding the crisp edges of her forelimb easy to trace along and even more sensitive to his gentle nibbles. He awaits her reaction before moving any farther...
The heat that filled her drained away as quickly as it had come, leaving her cold inside. Was this really how she wanted to spend the rest of her life? Avoiding each other, fighting, fucking, rinse and repeat? No. No. "NO!" She shouted, pulling away violently. The pale woman backed away, chest heaving with emotion. "I will not do this with you again, Klaudius. I can't."
He was dangerous. In every way possible. And she was done with his game. "You can spend time with Kwartz. Get to know him, knock yourself out. But we are finished. We are his parents, and that is the extent of our relationship from this point forward. Do you understand?" Every muscle was tight as she watched him. Her back would not be turned, not on him. The void was watching, and she would not fall into it. Not again.
Just as his advances had lingered for reaction, he had gotten one. The opal mare is retreating with shouted words. He hears them and with a lift of his head, he looks upon her. Silver-hazel eyes catch the anger and fear that plague her aqua eyes. His grin had faded and in place were thin lines but soon that's replaced with a softer smile as she finishes speaking. His eyes remaining fixed on hers as he steps towards her. Muzzle reaching to place a single gentle kiss at her cheek.
As quickly as it begins, it ends. He is moving away from her. Noting her rigid stance and fighting position, he simply nods in understanding. "If that's what you wish Love, than so be it. Tell Kwartz I'll return soon. I'd hope by then you'll have told him the truth..." His head turns north to his island. He had been gone much too long. Long limbs turn him as his wings unfurl and he is taking to the skies once more.
