Solace
Her wings settle, rustling lightly as they fall into place, tucked neatly along her golden top line as they amble towards the lake. The young Queen takes Wound's words with gratitude, nodding her acknowledgment as Tephra's diplomat tells her what she had hoped to hear. A short silence grows between them, but Solace's mind is too preoccupied to feel it's pressure.
"Hyaline was a subkingdom once," she begins, as she assembles the ideas which had taken up so much of her thoughts and energy over the last year, but which she had never fully articulated to anyone before. "With that history in mind and our reputation as a sanctuary to uphold, I am hesitant to form military alliances because of their steep cost. I will not commit my subjects as 'soldiers in the wings' for other kingdoms whose rulers may be eager for power or war." Her cerulean gaze stays cast out towards the lake as they walk, as the thoughts in her mind each compete for attention.
Despite the awkwardness of their initial greeting, Solace feels comfortable while speaking with Wound. The trust her father has already placed in this woman is enough to allow her to drop some of the formality which often protects her while addressing political matters. Her distant gaze clears as she turns her pale face towards Wound with a new intensity in her voice.
"Tephra would be the exception - not because of the blood I share with your King, but because of my unshakable trust in Warrick. I know he would never call us unless utterly necessary, and that is a risk I'm willing to take for the immense value of knowing that the might of Tephra is ours in a crisis."
caretaker of hyaline
