At the girl’s sass, Magnus laughs and shake his heavy-jawed head. “My apologies. Of course you smell like it.” He glances up at the mother, not quite picking up on her discomfort but somewhat sensing it. She had nothing to worry about though; not with Magnus. Even if Taiga’s line of questioning went down the path to disrespectful, it was unlikely that he would reprimand or lash out at her. It wasn’t his nature.
As she moves back to her mother and Eira begins to question him, he settles into position, cocking his back leg and letting his muscles relax slightly. His tail flicked against his haunches and his mouth lifted into a crooked smile. “It’s a large island. It’s not surprising to hear that you’ve not seen anyone.”
Tephra was growing and remained fairly active, but it wasn’t a hugely bustling kingdom. Most of its own residents kept to themselves for the most part, except the few meetings held sporadically. He enjoyed the quiet independence that grew here, the way it was easy for others to find their own way. If someone wanted companionship, they could hunt for it, but if they didn’t, they were afforded their own privacy.
“I would be happy to tell you whatever you wanted to know,” he answered quietly, giving her a small grin. He figures she doesn’t recognize him as the leader of the land, but he doesn’t offer that tiny bit of information. Magnus doesn’t often view himself as the official leader and certainly not a King. He was just the guardian of the place, not its ruler. “Do you have any questions in particular?”
For a moment, he glanced back toward the little child by her mother’s side and offered her a smile before turning his attention back to Eira and waiting patiently for whatever questions she may have of him.
out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know
I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll
![[Image: gqYjsHr.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/KjqNDKxc/gqYjsHr.png)