After all her time spent worrying the plague would catch her it is something unforeseen which grinds her down. The pregnancy which should have been the easiest of them all was taking an unforgiving toll on her body.
Soon, smiling through her pain was too much. And the fear that her next move would be the one to end the life of her unborn child was enough to drive the queen into seclusion.
Tangerine had appeared the next day, travel-worn and uncharacteristically solemn, to warn Solace and Kagerus of complications with the pregnancy. With a kiss to her aging dam's cheek, Solace had heeded her seer-mother's words for once. The message echoed what she had already felt to be true, and Solace removed herself from the daily matters - the mundane - from everything except her children and her mate.
Her body remained quiet, and though she complained heartily of her prison she was glad for the rest. Months past and the pegasus slept far more than any healthy creature should. But while she rested her mind was active, and it spun dreams of the future beyond The East and the responsibility she no longer wished to carry.
Maybe it was the return of @[Amet] which set the wheels in motion, or maybe it was simply the weight of a decade under the crown. But there was a symmetry to it, and Solace knew she was no longer as necessary as she had been for the first six years of her reign. Amet had trusted her with his prized Kingdom and now she felt her watch was over.
She was hesitant at first to whisper these things to her wife - although she should not have been - but they came out easily in their dreams. They spoke long over the matter, walking hand in hand in their dreamscape where she was not limited by the frailty of her body. And they agreed, they wholeheartedly agreed.
Soon, the pregnant mare's weariness lifted and despite the misery of her current confinement, there was nearly always a smile on her lips when she spoke. Solace was planning, plotting, and dreaming of a future where they were free.
But there is one more hurdle to cross - two if you count childbirth - and Solace summons her strength to stand beside Kagerus and address her people one last time.
Her mate speaks first as they agreed, and Solace takes the opportunity to watch the faces which have gathered as they watch her warrior queen. The words she hears trigger a tightness in her throat, but she remains poised and still. A gentle touch to her hip and she steps forward with a slight flutter of her pale wings and the whisper of frost in her mane and tail.
"Thank you," she says with a voice deceivingly strong. "Thank you for welcoming others even when it wasn't the most glamorous thing to do, thank you for helping us keep this sanctuary floating when others tried to split her apart. Whether you have been here for a matter of weeks or years, you are still apart of that, and I will forever appreciate everyone who contributed to her heath - even in the smallest of ways. "
Her pale gaze scans the few or the many, finally landing on Ilma. "We will not be naming a successor as we plan to leave these lands for a time and believe that decision should be left to those who will remain. But I will hope you all consider the years and efforts that Ilma has contributed to The Sanctuary and at least acknowledge her wisdom while you deliberate." With a small step back, gentle and slow as not to disrupt the fragile burden she carries in her belly, Solace presses herself to the side of her lover again. A wistful smile crosses her lips as she does, softening her crystalline eyes as thinks of what is just beyond the horizon.
"We are confident in your abilities to carry on the ideals of The Sanctuary, and it has been an honor to serve alongside you all for all these years. I can not say it enough - thank you."
we are the ever-living ghost of what once was
