the darkest nights produce the brightest stars
Fennick had explored bits and pieces of the Valley. A tree here, a patch of scrubs there. Eventually, he would know the entirety of it. He did not imagine that he would ever know all the people. Even if there were only a handful so far. Somethings were just unknowable. Fennick didn’t mind the unknowable, as long as they are also predictable. The setting of the sun, the changing of the seasons. All that was appealing. It made sense, and it could be counted on. Useful, is what it was.
The problem lay with the combination of unknowable and unpredictable. People were like that. They could never be counted on to do what you expected, and that just didn’t sit well with Fennick. It was very hard to plan your day around something that may or may not do as you expected and made no sense at all the majority of the time.
He saw the girl and didn’t recognize her. That was a little strange, for while Fennick knew hardly any names he did recognize most of the faces. For a brief, flickering moment, he thought that perhaps he should go over and see what she wanted. Surely, that was expected of a kingdom resident? He hesitated, then realized he wasn’t in the diplomat caste so surely it wasn’t his responsibility. If she did anything nefarious he could rough her up a bit, but that was the extent of his responsibilities. Besides, a mare who he did recognize had landed and was talking to the stranger. There, problem solved.
Feeling as if he had accomplished something, Fennick moved to walk away from the gathering mares. He was happy enough to wash his hands of the whole thing, when the snippets of conversation floated to his ears. I had heard of how great the Valley is/was but my interpretation has been quite different. Fennick snorted loudly, and laughed to himself.
“How fortunate for us then, that our self worth is not based on your good opinion.” He froze in his tracks. Shit. Had he said that out loud? Yes, yes it had. Slowly, Fennick turned to face the mares and smiled as if he tasted something bitter.
Oh well, there was no avoiding it now.