Sea Salt & Sugar; Warrick

[Tangerine]

Tangerine

In the middle of the night, I go walking in my sleep

Gently, she reassures him with her touch as he threatens to crumble. Tang runs her muzzle along the line of his jaw, appreciating the strength, admiring the curve of his brow with half-lidded eyes. She lets him feel, but only for a moment - too much will not do.

"You are strong," with her voice full of faith and hope she interrupts his brooding.  It had taken her a year to put her life back together after Carnage had shattered her world - but as a King, he did not have that luxury and she tries her best to bring him back.  "When I dream I see your line stretching out into the stars forever, each generation with a glowing crown on their brow. You have made yourself into your own man, and your children speak of their father with pride in their voices. Carnage's blood has burned away; they will never know of this." She hopes he understands her, she hopes that she can repay him for the way he had carried her back to sanity not so long ago. She will keep his secret, just as he has kept so many of hers. 

"There is something else, my love." She pauses for a sigh as she thinks back on a single dream which had not been as pleasant as her dreams of their children. Her voice once again takes on a heat that is unusual to hear. "The purple stallion, he is a traitor. He seeks to overthrow you, and he hides from you while he lays a trap. When I see him in my dreams, nothing good comes from his actions, and misfortune of his own creation follows him." Her blood boils at the thought - as she puts what she had seen into words. Knowing that Warrick, in his quest to be good and just, had allowed their family into Tephra only to be wounded this way. 

"I saw you two together on the great, clay plain. The autumn sun hung heavy overhead and both of you were drenched in the sweat of battle. I believe he will challenge you soon." 

As she expected, worry has found its way into the deepening line across his brow, but instead of comforting him once again, a sly smile creeps across her face.  Tang whisks her dark tail against his hocks, and she nips gently at his whiskered chin before continuing.

"Shh, don't fret too much about it." She says, leaving him in suspense for a moment longer. "I saw him defeated and broken. And I saw your heir growing strong and noble in the shadow of the volcano this spring." 

At just that moment Sibly decided that she has waited long enough and she gallops towards them just in time to catch her mothers last few words. Wiggling her way between her parents, she looks up into her father's dark face. "Papa, what's an Heir?"