must have been the wind; leilan

[lilliana]

He deems her easy?

Good.

When has anything ever good come out of being interesting? Far better to slip between the cracks, far easier to be dismissed when all someone sees is a kind face and an easy smile. Lilliana's might be a little harder to find at the beginning of winter but she wears it all the same, weak or beaming; it is her armor and she dons it. It has been her shield before and she wears it now to protect herself from the inclement weather as she does from the rest of the world.

Apologetic because despite how much Leilan's... icy exterior brings back memories, as much as it raises her guard, he has done nothing to her and she won't allow herself to cast judgment on him from acts of an Artic demon. While she finds no beauty in winter, she reminds herself of the ultimate magic, of the beauty that is found at the other side of the season: that life awakens and emerges from the frozen ground.

So Lilliana extends a greeting, offers an apology because whatever shadows she has, she will not cast them outward. 

She doesn't miss the twinkle in his eye - if there is one thing Lilliana knows, it is this. The weariness in her expression fades momentarily and the smile turns more into a grin, "I'll try not to keep you long then." If he has no pressing business in Taiga, if there isn't something he needs or is seeking, best that the larger stallion gets on his way she thinks. She dips her head in greeting, "I'm Lilliana, one of Taiga's diplomats. Is there something I can help you with?" Is there a reason why you are on the northern border? she wonders but won't say out loud. "Anybody you're looking for?"

The next words he says causes the breath to hitch in her throat. He reeks of Hyaline and that smell brings forward so many memories.

He tilts his head and Lilliana quips back by angling her chestnut head upward to the towering redwoods, "What gave it away?"

But as she brings it back down, her expression sobers. "One of Kensa's delegates is my cousin." Was, part of her echoes. Lilli feels her chest tighten and her heart aches, railing against the emptiness that Elaina's disappearance has left behind. Worry flickers behind those blue eyes, breaking through like rays of sun against an overcast sky. "Elaina." She shouldn't hope, but she does. "Do you know her?"

@[Leilan]