Can You Withstand Her Gaze?

[magnus]

you and I both know that the house is haunted
and you and I both know that the ghost is me

Winter was indeed settling into Beqanna. It made the usually bustling noise of the field somehow more muffled, each noise quiet and smothered beneath the frigid air. As he touched down on the edge of the land, he took a deep breath, the exhale pluming in front of him. There was something peaceful about coming to the field when it was like this, and he felt his pulse slowing to a steady rhythm. The ground beneath him was not yet frozen, but he could feel the frost crunching beneath his hooves, and he could feel the slick areas where ice was beginning to form. In time, the frost would claim the rest of the green.

Smiling down at it, he glanced up in time to see the mare and Daey approach shortly after. His first encounter with the red-eyed stallion had not gone smoothly, but it had appeared that Daey was trying to make amends by the end of it, so Magnus did not harbor any ill-will. Still, he thought it would be worth checking in on him—and meeting the newest mare to come into the field seemed like a bonus.

Moving quietly toward them, he approached with his handsome head held slightly down, his scarred lips pulling into a ghost of a smile. “Hello to you both,” his voice was husky, throaty, and well-worn. He had long since lost the rust from years of disuse. “My name is Magnus,” he directed to the mare, before he turned to Daey. Watching him for a few beats, he nodded. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Daey.” There was a hint of steel in his words, not exactly a warning, but caution sign that could easily be missed. And then he fell silent, waiting for Paralyzer to answer the question—wondering what the answer would be.

MAGNUS

once general. once lord. once king.