"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
the secret of walking on water is knowing where the rocks lie
She’s been looking to the south-east every so often in the past months, and has caught herself doing it even more in the last days. Ghaul had come to Nerine claiming Lilli had told him a monster resided there, or had targeted them. This at least confirmed where Lilliana had gone, though she’d had the suspicion for a while. The chestnut could be impulsive; if she has caused her own capture, Wen could honestly not say she was very surprised.
Now, Eurwen wasn’t sure if said monster had truly targeted Nerine, or maybe Neverwhere only, or if it was made up at all, but the fact remained that the silver dappled mare had not shown her face just yet - not since autumn. It might be any moment now, or she might have been killed, or maybe she did not care about ruling any more. Whatever the case, it was up to the pink-marked mare to keep this running in the moment; not that she minded. She’s done so for longer than today; it was just that people would start to ask questions she had no answer to. Unfortunately for Wen, Brazen wasn’t exactly a diplomat either, though her cousin was very helpful in her own way; and so Eurwen travels south in hopes of finding at least one of those missing mares.
It’s a long trek for the dotted hybrid, as she has no use of wings; and honestly it’s too long a trek to carry herself around on a stone plateau, too; plus it would just attract eyes she didn’t need. Still, she knows how to make herself an easy path between the rocks of Nerine, the mountains of Hyaline and the Mountain itself. She takes regular breaks, too - she’s not really in a hurry for this conversation, which might turn into a confrontation depending on the red mare’s mood.
After all, she had decided along the way, that she wasn’t going to get herself into the mess of saving her - she could, and should, take care of herself for a while.
05-21-2020, 03:31 PM (This post was last modified: 05-21-2020, 03:38 PM by lilliana.)
The months have eaten away at her.
They show themselves in the notches of her ribs. They appear on the edges of her too-thin hips. It manifests in the haunted shade of blue her eyes have taken, a sharp-edge of fear that flashes to any horse that approaches.
Lilliana keeps herself to the canyons. In the beginning, she had her eyes turned towards the North. In those early days of her captivity, she had fully expected the spotted yet cautious diplomat, Eurwen. She could see the image of armored Brazen charging the border, ready for another round of challenging Ghaul (but then where would that leave her boys? Who would keep them safe?).
The copper mare had prepared herself for a few days - Neverwhere would have no problem leaving Lilliana to her own devices. Perhaps not for a full year but the Taigan had whole-heartedly believed that her friend wouldn’t have let her sit in Pangea for a full sentence without making sure that the Diplomat was at least unharmed. Never could be many things - obstinate, unmoving, unwilling - but never intentionally unkind.
The days had passed to weeks and the only thing that came were the whispers, the rumors; the Nerinian queen had gone missing. Taiga was unrooted. It had been the first part that had nearly undone her and Lilliana had blurred lost amounts of time at the western border, begging the horizon for some word of her dappled Queen. Of her boys. Of Elaina and Brazen and Eurwen.
The chestnut mainly keeps to the canyons on the eastern side of the kingdom - where she believes herself out of the way of Draco - and rarely comes to this horizon anymore. It was safer there, away from the Pangeans. And really, with the marks that have flawed the outside of her and a visible pregnancy, when she is a prisoner, she has no desire that anyone see her.
Not now. Not like this.
When the Taigan slips from the mouth of one canyon, the mountains of Hyaline call in the distance. The home of Kagerus and Solace, once. The former home of her sole-remaining family member, Elaina. She approaches them - wondering if she might feel some comfort the larger they grew.
It’s not comfort she finds but something far, far better.
"@[Eurwen]!” the chestnut mare calls, her slow walk suddenly picking up to a brisk trot and Lilliana throws whatever diplomatic poise and protocol she might have otherwise had to the wind. When she abruptly stops in front of the Nerinian mare, Lilli (much as she had with Ghaul) cuts to the heart of the matter. "Neverwhere? Please tell me you have word of Nev. My boys? And Brazen?”
The months have eaten away at her and the wan expression that fixates on her fellow diplomat is a starving one - half-afraid, half-relieved at the sight of her.
the secret of walking on water is knowing where the rocks lie
Perhaps if she knew beforehand what she was going to find, and what hopes she would go about crushing, she might not have come at all. Or come sooner. Either would have been better.
Lilli seems on the edge of her ability. The mare is underfed, though very pregnant, a combination she herself has thankfully not had to overcome. No, this is unlike Eyas, unlike Eurwen herself; this is not caused by an inner demon, but an outer one. Any one of these Pangeans might have seen fit to punish the mare in some way, but if all of them denied it then surely the true culprit might never be pinpointed - one word against many others.
While politically it had been best to wait for the storm to calm down, it had not been a good idea in retrospect, for her friend’s well-being.
”Lilli, I’m so sorry.” she greets her with a short nose bump and eyeing the desperate look of her, the state of her body in general. ”I didn’t even know you were expecting.” she adds, though she avoids the question of who’s child this might be. It might be a topic related to the state of her, the scars on her body; or an emotional trauma from being with someone and then entering this hellhole, never to see her lover again. Neither would be good for Lilliana right now.
”I haven’t seen Nev since last autumn either, Lilli.” she takes a deep breath before continuing. ”I’ve tried to keep Nerine from falling apart, but Taiga took a few bumps as well. As far as I know, your boys are alright, at least.” But she can’t be everywhere at once. She just can’t. Whatever it is Eyas wanted her to do, whatever she believed Eurwen was capable of, when your trusted companions aren’t around to help but trapped in hell or just plain missing, the story changes completely. Perhaps Nerine as a kingdom is falling apart, a small voice in the back of her mind asks her. Perhaps it’s better to step back and let it be. Perhaps it can’t be saved.
Just like she can’t save Lilliana now. Stealing her back as a representative of Nerine would gain back all eyes on the north once more. Another might - a neutral party. But not her. Not now.
05-23-2020, 08:55 PM (This post was last modified: 05-25-2020, 09:17 PM by lilliana.)
Lilliana closes her eyes and reaches tentatively out for @[Eurwen], relishing the way that she smells of the wild wind of the North. The spotted mare carries the scents of brine and ledges and freedom with her and it is so close that Lilliana can taste it on her tongue. When she opens her eyes, she gives her head a firm shake as she takes a step back.
"Don’t be,” the Taigan mare says too sharply.
And then there is no time to consider anything else because the roar of Nerinian surf is crashing in her auburn ears.
"Nev-,”oh, Gods. The pair had their differences (and their disagreements) - Lilliana always dreaming and Neverwhere ever pragmatic - but the bald-faced mare had been her first friend in Beqanna and much like the idols of her youth, the Nerinian Queen had taken on an infallible sheen in her mind. The dappled mare was as much a part of the North as the gray cliffs were. She couldn’t be gone or hurt or-
Her mind simply couldn't comprehend that. Not Nev.
The copper mare has to bury the sob that wretches in her throat. She’s already learned that once she starts, there is no stopping the way her walls come crumbling (weeping) down.
Instead, she goes hollow-eyed and hoarse-voiced. "I asked Ghaul to go North.” Lilliana tentatively asks, "Did … did he find anything?” The chestnut mare hasn’t seen him and has kept herself mainly to the eastern side of his canyon kingdom, doing her best to avoid anyone at all. Until today.
Until now.
"We need a plan, Wen.” And by the way she says this, it’s clear that Lilliana doesn’t mean her release from Pangea. She’ll broker it herself, somehow. But there is a steady rise of anger that gives her words an iron edge, "There can be no more of this.” A missing queen. A razed island. Division in Taiga.
There are many things they need to do if the North is ever going to be as it should. But first, the most important, "Your father?” the blue-eyed mare inquiries. "Do you think he could be persuaded to lead a search for Neverwhere if she isn’t found by the time you return?” Neither Lilliana or Eurwen have wings; there is no horse she can recall in Nerine that is capable of flight. A dragon soaring through Beqanna’s skies would be able to cover more ground than any grounded equine could.
"I sent a message with another captive that was released,” Lilliana says. "I need to discuss it with Lethia when I return to Taiga but I mean to offer our support in moving the kingdom seat to the Isle.” She stops before saying more, holding her breath and the rest of her words. Waiting.
LILLIANA
if i ever get to heaven i've got a long list of questions
this is a bit all over the place so i'm sorry but wanted to get something up for ya!
the secret of walking on water is knowing where the rocks lie
There is a moment in which Eurwen believes she’s broken Lilliana’s last straw - buried her last hope, and for the first time ever she thinks that Lilli might not be able to carry the weight of the world that is on her shoulders. That it is too much, that it will be her end, and that this message of hers might be the very last thing that breaks her. Not her imprisonment, not her torturers here would do it, would break her, but a friend - someone soft-spoken to tell her that everything is over and can’t be fixed.
But it is not the end. Lilli bounces back like a willow branch, bent over double and ready to fling itself in anyone’s face. Reckless, a word that so far has never befitted the red mare, comes to Eurwen’s mind. Yet it seems to suit her - this is Lilliana activated, so to say. And the spotted mare can’t help but smile at her warmly.
She might be a beaver after all - and Lilli just gave her a very large branch to work with.
”Ghaul did visit. I guess he was disappointed that there was no monster present, and neither was Neverwhere. I suggested to him that one might be where the other was, and he took off after that.” Frankly, Wen was glad that he was going after this monster, though, she very much believed he only did it because Nerine was, so to say, his prey. The fact that he hadn’t returned to boast his victory, told her enough for now. This monster wasn't easily found or caught.
She thinks that Lilliana already knows this, however, so it’s not something she wants to in-depth discuss.
It is her own father that they do discuss instead, and she tilts her head at Lilli, then nods. ”I’ll ask. He’s never really been one to recognize authority, so I doubt it’d be out of loyalty to the Queen, but he’s reasonable enough for some sort of deal.” She could offer her services, she supposes - build some stone shelters, ferry horses across the canal or towards other lands. It’d drain her, but it would help. Somehow she doesn’t think offering him to hunt and graze in Nerine would be enough.
It’s the next phrase however that catches Eurwen off-guard, and she stares at the chestnut for a while before finally snapping her jaw shut. ”Nerine’s never had a King before.” she offers in a murmur while her brain takes every turn it can. It seemed impossible, or at least improbable. Her father hadn’t been the sort she’d easily place on a throne - it always seemed to her that the brain cells he had, he used for fooling around and upsetting people instead of forging alliances. Then again, he wasn’t the man he was when he’d raised her, and perhaps that worked in his favour now. It was true that the Isle seemed stronger than Nerine itself, at least right now with the bunch of horses he’d gathered there. And Taiga… maybe it could use the idea of a dragon overseeing it, if only to stop outside predators from eyeing it like it was an easy piece of meat.
So, she doesn’t have to ask why, or even why now - Neverwhere might be hurt or missing, and if that went on much longer, others might start to notice - something Eurwen would not like to see the result of. If the dappled mare returned as strong as she was before, though… ”She’s not going to be happy about this.” she comments at last. Then, her dark eyes look to the chestnut mare once more. She'd thought herself neutral, but if she truly thinks it over - the way Lilliana probably had for months now - she knows she can agree. She is not ready for the alternative - she likes operating from the shadows much better, like she does now, and doesn't feel like taking the crown for herself.”If you and Izora both think it’s better, if it gains Taiga’s trust and encourages its residents to feel more like Northlings…” she nods silently. ”Doing nothing might be worse.”
She moves her pink-toned tail, the metallic gleam catching the low sun, her ears attempting to catch sounds that aren't really there as she worries over their situation. Neverwhere hadn't been in Nerine since sometime last autumn, about the time Lilliana was captured as well - and as she mulls it over, she concludes that a full year would be too long to wait. "Do you want me to talk to Lethia in your stead?"
05-24-2020, 08:52 PM (This post was last modified: 05-24-2020, 09:06 PM by lilliana.)
She might have broken if Eurwen told her that there was nothing to be done; Lilliana might have finally fallen apart into wracking sobs. (She’s been there before. That point of no return and the world goes dark. She’s been at that edge of the world before when there is no going back and everything just falls apart. Her family had fallen apart because she had. Her fault. Something else that is her fault.)
Lilliana comes alive because the only alternative is to fall apart and she has promised herself that she will never do that again. Not when it is her boys on the line.
It’s hard, though, to listen that Ghaul went North. He had gone to Nerine and found nothing, including Nev. The emotion twisting in her chest is an odd one - a year ago, the Pangean leader had been their prisoner. He had been the one to test the iron mettle of Nerine and Lilliana had thought that a year's stay was a fitting punishment for stripping the Iron Ledges of two of her sisters.
For the theft of Craft and Anatomy, that had brought a kindling rage to an inferno because they had been the last security afforded to Nashua and Yanhua.
Ghaul went North and despite how skewed his motivations might have been, his name becomes added to a list that she has been mentally keeping. A favor is his, should the Pangean ever ask one. (What a tangled, tangled web Beqanna weaves.) Lilliana nods - almost absent-mindedly - because what else is there to say? Ghaul went North and found no monster. Neverwhere was already gone. Too little, too late.
The chestnut mare doesn’t hide her disappointment when Eurwen mentions ‘deal’ in exchange for a search. She shouldn’t be surprised - Beqanna always seems to operate this way. Quid pro quo. Lilliana has had ample time to consider what Taiga might offer and is prepared to share it now. "On top of our support, Taiga may be willing to offer… incentives to those in our ranks who wish to join his raiding. We’d offer the obvious things as well. The meadow grass is there for the grazing and should anyone from the Isle wish a respite, they are welcome to what we have.”
There are other ideas too; thoughts about how kingdoms who partake in unfriendly steals and challenges could be met with sentences on the Isle. How they might work to shorten it by raiding with Leilan and his marauders at the benefit of the North.
"About time to change things up then, wouldn’t you say?” Lilliana says this softly and tries to smile though it doesn’t quite reach her eyes when she looks up to Eurwen. Her mind goes to a day in the Forest when two mares had teased about magic and curses and plagues beneath the trees."Nev would still hold Nerine,” the Taigan mare replies. "Just anybody who wants to piss the North off would have to deal with dragonfire before Neverwhere’s scowl.”
Lilliana tries to joke but it hurts. Her mind (and her heart) keep imagining different things; the angry ledges of Nerine with Nev’s glower and a new bereft emptiness of them if it was absent. The latter keeps pushing her towards that inevitable breaking point and the red woman struggles to keep her mind on the current conversation. Please let her be okay, the copper mare prays to her old gods - to Legado.
"We need time to heal,” the chestnut whispers. "That won’t happen if we are constantly provoked.” This plan isn’t meant to last forever; just until the day that Nerine stands upon her own cliffs again. Maybe even reaching for those unattainable heights that Lilliana once dreamt that the Amazons of old had wished for.
Something about the way Eurwen moves makes her cautious and Lilli looks past the mare, casting a wary glance over her spotted shoulder and to the looming landscape behind her. Nothing. Nothing but shadows. She shivers and gives her head a slight shake, trying to turn her uneasy attention back to the Nerinian diplomat. "Yes, please. Let her know what we’ve discussed and get her thoughts on them.”
"@[Eurwen],” the chestnut hesitates before adding, "tell Lethia to encourage the Taigans to keep as close to Nerine as they can. It’ll be easier for those doing patrols if they don’t have to venture so far south.” It might leave some of Taiga’s borders vulnerable but it saved them horsepower and gave them the advantage of more easily protecting their own. Elio would be the best one to lead those patrols, she realizes. Apart from herself and Lethia, there was no other horse who knew the misty forest better. Skeleton Ghoul, a newcomer but welcomed addition might be another help. Then remembering her uncle’s murder, "and nobody should be patrolling alone.”
Things that she was sure Izora Lethia already knew but it gives her some feeling of control to say these things out loud. Her world hasn’t stopped reeling for such a very, very long time but speaking these ideas gives her a moment of stability, like gravity temporarily righted.
"Tell me if I sound crazy,” the Taigan mare half-jokes as she struggles to keep her thoughts present. "I feel like I’ve been out of my mind for a long time.”
LILLIANA
if i ever get to heaven i've got a long list of questions
the secret of walking on water is knowing where the rocks lie
She’s been there before - the point of no return. Passed it, if not for someone who reached beyond the line and dug their claws into her, telling her they wouldn’t let her go, and would stay there until a hurt and tired Eurwen was pulled back from that ridge.
It seemed a lifetime ago, but she knew it like yesterday.
Lilliana’s face changes with the story of Ghaul. It probably had been a deal, Eurwen realizes - one that perhaps explained why the copper mare had not escaped yet or fought off her attackers like the fiery mare she knew, or even a promise of something else. To learn it had been for nothing... ”Perhaps he’s still searching,” she shrugs a little. One could never know what went on in that head of his, anyway.
She tilts her head at Lilli’a offers, nodding. ”I’ll tell him that if he accepts the change, it will be part of his responsibility.” For a search party, a kingdom seat was really all she needed to offer. ”But if you have other ideas for collaboration, I think those are great ideas. It would make the North more of a whole.” Like she’d always tried and hoped, she might add, but the red mare already knows that this is one of Wen’s deepest wishes. What else is the use of a kingdom and territories?
She giggles a bit at Lilli’s description regarding Neverwhere. ”Ice, I think - like Fechín? But yes. A buffer would be nice.” she agrees - and following up on that, she simply nods to the agreement to talk to Lethia.
Then comes a proposition to guard the northern border, and in pairs, and she frowns. Nerine is not the threat to Taiga, they both know. So what is it? ”Is this about the monster? Because you do start to sound crazy.”
Dark orbs search the light ones - the frown not completely leaving her spotted face. ”Tell me about the monster, please. I don’t know what we’re up against.” Neither Lilliana nor Neverwhere had ever given her details - if anything - and with one mare nearly broken and the other missing, Eurwen felt a responsibility coming her way that she knew nothing useful about.
05-25-2020, 06:48 PM (This post was last modified: 05-25-2020, 07:09 PM by ghaul.)
GHAUL
And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire
His young have grown independent, as shown by Yadigar taking his first life and Asphyxea successfully ripping her brother’s eye out. Now he sunbathes atop the cliffs with his chin resting on his talons. It’s difficult to tell if he is awake or asleep, what with the lack of eyes. But his ears occasionally turn this way and that in response to various noises – including any voices nearby. Ghaul wonders why Draco and the aliens let Eurwen cross into their borders but they do so enjoy a show. Gradually, the stars across his horns grow brighter until its clear his attention has been piqued.
The monster slowly rises until he is standing with his wings spread wide. With one flap, he glides easily down to them and lands with a thud. He’s a curious creature, circling them as he gibbers softly to himself with excitement.
“If I caught Gospel or Atrox plotting against me, I would have their heads, even though I love them so,” he remarks with a laugh. But the north is not as united as the eastern region, he has learned. They do not share one goal and protect one another when they can remain unaffected. “Perhaps instead of trying to scramble for someone to stand against me, you should use your words. Did I not come to your aid when you asked me, Lilliana?”
His wings tuck across his back as he comes to a stop facing them.
“I enjoy Neverwhere. She tolerates my games with minimal complaint,” he explains with a grin. He thinks for a moment more before he continues on. “Pangea will come to her aid should anyone reach for her crown.”
Ghaul shifts his weight, watching them closely. Despite his delusions and his appetite for chaos, he doesn’t believe himself to be entirely unreasonable. He’s curious to see if they pout or if they will try to sway his favor.
05-25-2020, 09:45 PM (This post was last modified: 05-25-2020, 09:54 PM by lilliana.)
"Maybe,” Lilliana considers thoughtfully. She hasn’t seen the horned stallion recently but then, she hasn’t seen much of anyone. She's made sure of that.
There are other things to discuss.
"I have plenty of ideas,” the chestnut mare says. With a rueful smile, she adds, "I think that’s half my problem.” A dreamer and as such, she gets too many ideas. She’s prone to the whimsical and the fanciful. She dreams too big and broad. "Speak with Lethia and Leilan and Neverwhere.” Lilliana pauses, "I think that the North should operate much of the way that I had thought for Taiga. Kingdom, territory, herd - the names should matter little if we can work together. A group of collective voices.” But those voices need to come together.
A trinity forms in her mind; Taiga could be as it once was, for family. It could foster. Nerine could be for the sisters and the Isle could be for the brothers. Not the Jungle or the Tundra - those lands had been casted away by the Mountain - but perhaps some semblance of those lands from the Beqanna of old.
And then there is no time to explain her requests, to explain the monster because Ghaul lands into her view.
The buckskin stallion circles them and Lilliana follows him with her eyes, never releasing the Pangean leader from her sight. Her brow furrows slightly. Plotting? A discussion about the future of the North, yes. Those same ideas that she has harbored for some time now - before her captivity in Pangea - and while the full scope of them hadn’t been imagined yet, there had been statements between herself and Neverwhere that something had to change.
They both had known that much.
"It’s been sometime since we last spoke,” she says with a brief glance at Eurwen before looking up to Ghaul. "So I’ll use them now. Thank you.” She assumes that he has his own motivations for going to Nerine and he reveals it; he enjoys Neverwhere and had Lilliana not been so tense, she might have smiled at that.
"Your games have been,” Lilliana searches for the right word, "interesting.” The theft of Brine and Brinly (and then she had played along, hadn’t she? Stealing him?). Challenging Taiga and then deciding to take only Craft and Anatomy. He hadn’t been responsible for her theft but the reputation that Pangea builds for itself is chaos. What is one missing Taigan against the grand scheme of Beqanna? "You’ve had word of her?” Lilliana suddenly asks, brightening. Hoping that Ghaul wouldn’t say these things if the Nerinian Queen was still missing. What would be the point? The expression on her face is certainly that - hopeful.
"Nobody is taking Neverwhere’s crown,” the chestnut firmly states (though her concept of titles and diadems is somewhat blurred - does Ghaul truly carry more weight than the support of his pillars?). They move the focal point, that’s all. "Nerine keeps her Khaleesi. The North gains the advantage of dragonfire for their capital.” The copper mare turns her head to look at @[Eurwen], seeing if the spotted mare has anything to add.
Perhaps she lacks the tact (and tongue) expected of a diplomat for speaking so plainly with @[ghaul] but Lilliana is so utterly tired of her secrets.
LILLIANA
if i ever get to heaven i've got a long list of questions
the secret of walking on water is knowing where the rocks lie
They’re about finished up by the time a third body joins them, his heavy weight on the stony floors of Pangea no stranger to the spotted mare; in fact that is how she recognizes him at first, long before he arrives. He immediately starts about them plotting, assuming things left and right, and he receives a stony glare from her - not that he’d notice, she realizes just after the fact, and she smoothes her face. Her tail moves behind her impatiently - this was never about them being or doing anything against Neverwhere, and the fact that he assumes it is, irritates her. That they knew Nev wouldn’t like it doesn’t mean the mare wouldn’t agree with it if presented with their opinions - the dappled mare was smart enough to draw her own conclusions about their situation, and Ghaul certainly didn’t need to babysit.
The facts are, she had received a huge hit, and maybe that had suited Ghaul himself, or even Pangea, as it made them look like an easy picking - but it hadn’t suited the kingdom, nor its residents. They needed the three lands to act more as one entity instead of three, whether that was with Neverwhere being the one steering, giving orders, or making sure the workers did their job - a captain was nowhere without their first mate and quartermaster, in fact nowhere without a crew. The support of Northerners either carried or broke a crown. Apparently Pangea worked differently, Ghaul sitting almost literally on top of it all just now, and the two kingdoms don’t seem to understand one another all that well. Yet.
She ignores most of Ghauls threats then, as she doesn’t honestly know what she could or should tell him - nothing would change his mind and most of what she can think of would make it worse. ”I’ll talk to Nev, if I can find her, and then the others, see what they want. It’s time we stuck our heads together anyway.” she tells Lillli. And honestly, there is nothing more to say. Ghaul talks about games, and she lets him. Lilli answers and Eurwen doesn’t feel inclined to respond beyond that. Honestly, she could do without any of it.
Wasn’t he getting bored yet? Same target over and over? Or perhaps that’s why he helps one day and reaps the other - just to see how they respond. Her dark gaze finally finds the male’s body, assessing him - it’s like she’s facing a child, she thinks, one with teeth and no manners, who is incredibly bored.
”I assume your being here indicates she is home safely? Or did you give up?” she asks Ghaul then. If Nev isn’t home, then perhaps his usefulness is expiring, and if Lilli indeed made a deal, it becomes questionable if he delivered, pending the wording of their agreement. ”Speaking of games, your player two is in need of some more sustenance. You might want to see to it before you end up with no player at all.” she indicates to Lilli’s shape, clearly sticks and bones, only plump from carrying a child. She wouldn’t survive nursing in this state, Wen believes. She loves the chestnut mare, but harsh words like these might shake her up a little - hopefully she’ll realize she needs to act! - where soft ones don’t. She can only remotely hope to prompt Ghaul to make sure his “property”, however temporary it might be, didn’t go dying on him, but can’t be sure if it works.
For now, that is all she can do. She’d hoped to let things die out, become boring, but apparently striking the same kingdom again and again was still fun. Or maybe it was because Lilli had kept playing. She eyes the red woman, mesmerizing, but doesn’t feel like adding the words. Perhaps calling her a player just now was enough.
”Anyway, you do you.” It works for either horse present, and she doesn’t feel like pinpointing one or the other when she practically meant both. Eurwen turns to leave, dust from the Pangean floor adding into her coat and thickening into a stone skin similar to Brazen’s while she does - she has nothing more to say to them, but she will carry their messages: both the semi-threat and the proposal that the three remaining leaders should decide on.
For a brief moment, she wonders what her mother would have made of all this - and remembers how miserably she has failed as Nerine’s supposed heir after Heartfire. A princess saving the world but not her own kingdom.
