Ea
Of course she knew of her siblings. The older ones, at least; once Ea had left the Jungle, she had mostly stayed out of contact with her parents. She had never met the older siblings - there were so many of them - but Scorch had told her of them briefly. Noori and Kaida - her first born, twin girls who had fled the Jungle at a young age and bore the red slash of a traitor. Scorch didn’t like to speak of them - it was obvious, even when Ea was so young, that Scorch regretted the way she had raised them. Simeon - her first son, gentlemanly and, frankly in Ea’s eyes, weak. Content with the mediocrity of herd life. Shahrizai - loving, relaxed. He loved Scorch and Hestoni and visited them often. Ea had seen him several times in the Jungle - he was easy to spot without a tail - but she had never bothered to officially meet him. Meeting new people, even her siblings, was of no interest to her.
But she comes when she is called - one of the many new duties she has had to take on as queen. Sela is not quite as willing to follow her mother as Ea was Scorch. Scorch had already begun training Ea at Sela’s age, but Ea wouldn’t do the same for her daughter. She would, however, keep her close to her side. Or at least try.
She sees her tailless brother first. He smells strongly of the Desert, and she wonders briefly if he is here on a diplomatic visit before she sees another. A red and white tree-girl, with flowers trailing behind her. “Sela!” She calls as the young girl begins to wander off in another direction. “MOM,” Sela whines, trotting back to her side. “I NEVER GET TO HAVE ANY FUN.” Ea ignores her, only nudging her daughter closer to her side before they set off towards the pair.
Ea reaches them, and soon realizes it was the tree-girl who called for her. She smells vaguely of different places – the Valley, the Desert, the Dale most noticeably. “Hello,” she says, calmly, “welcome to the Dale. I’m Ea, but you must have known that when you called.” It was meant to sound like a joke, but instead comes out forced and egotistical. “This is my daughter, Sela,” she says as Sela lies down and plants herself in a huff next to her mother. Ea continues to ignore her protest. She looks between them, expecting an explanation for why they’re here.
ea
now you're staring at a queen.