[private] give me hope in the darkness; Neverwhere/Lilliana

[Brennen]

so give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'cause oh that gave me such a fright

It doesn’t seem right, to leave Nerine immediately after introducing himself, so the magician lingers, reminding himself of the sights and sounds of the land he has promised again to protect. That’s why he isn’t already home safe, with Nihlus, on their island. It’s sheer bad luck. But since he’s here, he’s lingered with his grandson, wanting every detail of Jesper’s life. He should check in more often, he knows, and vows to do better as he always does. When the other stallion appears, intent on stealing them away, Brennen is quick to face off with him, a snarl already on his face and ears pinned; but when Lilliana and then the Queen appear, his attention is torn.

That’s all it takes. Something sneaky, something built into Beqanna that prevents his whiplash of protective magic from enveloping Jesper even as he wraps it around the mares, something that doesn’t answer exclusively to the fact that he is a magician who should not be so easily thwarted. In the confusion of the moment, he is left with two names and a location: Wolfbane, Lepis, and Loess. “That’s my grandson,” he says darkly to Neverwhere, in a voice that makes it clear that the crime of taking his family dwarfs any political implications in his mind. “I’m not leaving him a captive of anyone, ever again.” There’s a history there, and a boiling anger growing under his skin. The last time Jesper was kidnapped he was tortured, and two of Brennen’s adolescent daughters murdered. But he also doesn’t want to go into any situation blind. “Why would Loess steal from you? Is there anything I need to know before I go get him?”

His words are blunt, because he thinks after their first meeting she’d prefer that; but his meaning is clear underneath: I’m going to raise hell, do you have anything to say about it? Brennen clearly isn’t planning to wait long, but he has a moment of courtesy to listen to the newest woman he has promised to serve in some capacity.

but I will hold, as long as you like
just promise me we'll be alright

BrenneN

@[Neverwhere] @[lilliana] anyone have anything to say to B before he goes to unleash his temper in Loess? 0_0

[Neverwhere]

It didn't surprise her to find Wolfbane in Nerine, and it didn't surprise her, either, that Loess would try to steal Brennen away, though Jesper's involvement befuddles her. She knows him so poorly, only as the leader of the silent, frozen Isle and Brennen's grandson. Perhaps that relation is reason enough, family is so often a vulnerability.

He was almost successful, too. She cannot say if it was the distraction provided by herself and Lilliana, happening on the scene furious and defiant, or some other trick of Beqanna or the Fairies, but Brennen is able to break free, able to protect himself and them, but not his grandson. Lilliana's scowl as she attempts to block the cursed stallion from leaving with his prize surprises her and she wishes that it did not. That he would work for Loess surprises her as well. He is chaos, she thinks darkly, as the strange pair disappear into the dust and fog of the distant Taigan forest. She had joked when she told Lepis that she wouldn't put setting a curse on Nerinian soil past her, but it was not because she didn't believe the Loessian Cleric capable of attempting the maneuver. She had doubted her ability to make Wolfbane listen, though. What is he playing at? She wonders if he will still be wearing his own skin when he returns, and what his welcome will be.

Lilliana is red fury beside her, and Brennen, cold. She tosses her head, flipping the messy tendrils of her pale mane out of her face so that she can see more clearly, eyes narrowed as he questions her.

"Not me, Nerine. They don't care two wits about me." she glances back to the pegasus, tearing her eyes from the middle distance that no longer holds the silhouettes of Wolfbane and Jesper, "Heartfire and Lepis both have more pride than sense. They've prodded Castile onto a path to claim Taiga as his own."

The dragon will not be turned away, she suspects. Not easily, at any rate.

"Brennen--" there is a thawing to the coldness of her voice, she spares a glance at Lilliana. Does she know about the curse? "Be careful. Nerine is going to need you, and Wolfbane is... not himself. He is going to be a problem."

Neverwhere

...

@[Brennen] @[lilliana]

[lilliana]

She isn’t sure if it is rage or magic that sends a prickling sensation down her spine.

(Does it matter? Both are as unfamiliar to her as the scent of ice and snow that had clung to the black stallion and as Brennen is to her. Her mind is spinning and turning and in the odyssey that her soul travels, the only thing that Lilliana can feel is a black swirling anger that she could drown in.)

Her blue eyes - normally a bright, luminous shade of open sky - remain trained on a single white vein in the granite stone beneath her hooves. Lilliana - normally so courteous and so polite - can’t bring herself to look at the Magician though she had felt his magic wrap around her certainly enough. Had this been any other conversation, that alone would have intrigued her.

But as it is, her head looks down and her curling forelock affords her a moment of privacy as she tries to reel in all that anger.

It doesn’t work.

The stallion taken is Brennen’s grandson. There is a fury simmering beneath his bay coat that is reactive and it charges the storm warring in her chest and the chestnut loses her battle. It comes bursting out when Lilliana suddenly glances up with sharp, seething rage. "Loess,” she says, "can sink to the bottom of the damn ocean.” It can do many, many more things but she manages to curb her tongue on that particular subject.

Lilliana swallows the stone of emotion lodged in her throat, one she blatantly refuses to acknowledge and one that forces her to listen instead. The Nerinian queen is deft at explaining the current situation between Nerine and Loess that involves her redwood home. The Taigan mare feels oddly detached as Neverwhere explains that Heartfire and Lepis have done their part escalating a conflict that has been teetering on one edge or another for the past four years.

Her ears move, catching the outlines of the remaining words exchanged but the chestnut woman is already gone. Her gaze returns to Brennen, her thoughts only present enough to wish him, ”Fair winds, Magician.” A glance is exchanged with Neverwhere and Lilliana merely nods to her leader, "If you’ll excuse me, my lady.”

And then with a turn, she goes.

ooc - she literally has nothing to add that but wanted to throw something up for you both.

@[Brennen] @[Neverwhere]