tangerine
face to the sun
As Amet speaks Tang listens intently, this is her first diplomatic visit and she would rather be too quiet than too loud. He is a King and she was little more than a companion on this journey - a wanderer at heart. She knows he has important matters to discuss with whoever happens to be leading this hilly land at the moment, so she is completely taken aback when the hot topic appears to be her name.
Tangerine’s head turns to the first mare, her eyes round and inquisitive, as she hears an abrupt question from her. Her mouth opens to answer the question (which almost seemed to be an aside from the main conversation of the rulers), the soft look of the peace-maker she had always been resting naturally on her features. She had not taken the red mares tone and mannerism to heart, she was ready to provide her name and more, but as the queen speaks over her with an icy tone Tang’s smile dies on her lips.
In surprise Tang's gaze immediately returns to the rust and navy creature, the way this mare looks down her nose at Tang makes and pin her ears before she can even think to stop herself - even her word choice is condescending. Tang is hurt, but ready to forgive it all, until...
The self-proclaimed queen’s blank stare turns bitchy.
Tang had been trying to give Amet the room to address them. She had come along for the sake of the journey and to be a shoulder to lean of for him. She had not come to be treated as a mouse before a queen. She can feel frustration balling up in her chest, she can feel the blood rushing to her face and ears, but not in shame… In anger.
“Well Heda,” She says with more venom then she has ever mustard for a non-sibling “Last time I saw you, you were hunting around for pebbles in Queen Corta’s games.” She thinks back to the gathering before the competitions countdown… tremors of anxiety quaking every bone in your body Tang doesn’t add out loud. No matter how mad she gets, she had never truly wanted to wound another horse. Her tail flicks in agitation as she lifts her head and returns her own defiant gaze. “But I’m not surprised you don’t remember me, an outsider so far below one such as yourself” Tang doesn’t realize that this may not be so much of an insult as she imagines it to be. Where she grew up acceptance and understanding were the core values which were taught and modeled, and even now as she carries her own children in her belly the lessons of her beloved plains dwellers are still engrained in her fiber.
Warm amber eyes of a lioness replace the soft honey orbs which she had greeted them with and Tang turns her address back to the red and black mare. “My name is Mahal.” Her voice comes out young and strong, without a flicker of doubt. "And what is yours?" She can not muster the same animosity for the ebony mare - she claims no crown, she claims no responsibility.
Maybe it was her blooming pregnancy, or the cruelty she had too recently been dealt, but Tangerine was pretty sure she had just failed her first diplomatic encounter and she didn’t regret it in the least. Tangerine was probably about to find out if this -queen- was actually powerful, but the heat in her blood would not allow her to feel afraid.
But she didn’t let herself look to Amet, she didn’t want to see the disappointment in his face.
I'm not used to writing her mad, so this is good for me! Sorry if it slows down diplomat talk. It is her first pregnancy but even with all the hormones her big -burn- is "you're rude!" lmao