“What do you fear, lady?' he asked. 'A cage,' she said.”; All Kingdom

[Kreios]

kreios don't you tame your demons, but always keep them on a leash Once, long ago when I was barely more than a weanling, my mother had told me about ruling a kingdom. She had loved it; that much was clear. It was something she had always wanted, something she had spent her entire life achieving, and once she had it, she worked even more, determined to best those that had come before her. I had never been possessed of those same desires (something that, I think, was even more a disappointment to my parents than my disability), and since that day hadn’t thought of ruling until Texas had brought it up again. I’ve spent long months thinking about it now, wondering exactly what it was that the bay stallion saw in me that my own parents did not. Ygritte’s quip about the old man having an agenda rings starkly true; perhaps he had only wanted someone to take the burden from him. Perhaps I was just a placeholder until someone better came along. Ygritte though…she is no placeholder. She will make a fine queen, I know. She is gentle, but there is the same iron spirit inside of her that had fascinated me when I glimpsed it in Texas. This kingdom has always been a small one, but perhaps Ygritte can change that. Perhaps I can change it too. “I think that it does not matter how I feel,” I reply with a smile that is more than a little wry. “I think that the old man’s planned his disappearance well. I think it’s time whether we want it to be or not.” Had I known how different she felt, I’d have wondered at the lack of change in myself. I feel the same as I did an hour ago. Confused, concerned, but certain that something needed to change, and that I should probably be the one to change it. No…we. We should be the ones to change it. Ygritte and I. We will change the Falls.