[private] on laugh-silvered wings

[Lepis]

staring at the ceiling in the dark same old empty feeling in your heart The patter of hooves draws her attention away from the reunion, and she is not surprised to see Leilan. It’s been a decade since their first meeting, and while there are some things she cannot forget, his assistance in the safe return of her Prince makes quite a difference in her general attitude toward the golden-haired stallion. It’s clear he knows Oceane, and perhaps rather well, for the three of them have an inside joke about a princess and a shoe. Her attention is not on them for long though, as Castile’s recent habit of being exceptionally large is seemingly not consistent. “You never learn your lesson, do you?” She asks with a faint shake of her head and a laugh. His somberness is not so different from when the fairies had done the opposite, she thinks, when he had been deprived of his dragon-self rather than his horse-self. She imagines he is distracted too, glad to see his child safely returned but constrained by the presence of outside eyes. “I will leave you to your reunion,” she tells the gathered family, then just Alcinder. “I’ll try to save you some prickly pear, but no promises.” The lightness in her voice remains even when she addresses Castile before leaving, though her blue-grey eyes are less jovial. “We will meet soon,” Lepis tells the King, “To decide how to prevent this from happening again.” Castile will agree, she knows; this is not acceptable and will not stand. With a last smile and a silent [Give him an extra hug for me] to Oceane, the dun mare leaves the gathering. @[Leilan] LEPIS staring at the bottom of your glass-- hoping one day you’ll make a dream last but dreams come slow and they go so fast