Bored. She's bored.
The Deserts are too quiet. Hell, all the world seems a little bit too quiet. Other than the Chamber running around poking other kingdoms in the eye, and the Gates quietly burning under the heat of their almost-random fury, the rest of the world is…sleeping.
And perhaps she's been sleeping too. She finds herself wandering sometimes, slipping in and out of reality in a way she hasn't for many years. It seems so much harder to tie herself to the here and now, to tether herself to the Deserts, to make herself the good steward she should be. By the time she makes it to the field, sometimes months have elapsed since she first identified a prospect, and by then they're long gone.
It's the downside of magic: it's so easy to get distracted.
The wind sings across the vast expanse of sand, but the tune only reminds her of just how empty their home has become. She doesn't try to blame anyone else; she knows it's her fault. She can't even blame Pevensie; the mare may be long gone (she knows it, they all know it, her name attached to the Deserts is a convenient figurehead) but that doesn't give Cam an excuse. She should do better.
But today she can't seem to bring herself to do better. Today she is lost in nostalgia, remembering times before this one, times when the Deserts was bustling, active. Times when others came calling to the pink sands. Times when strange stallions showed up and turned into squirrels.
She chuckles. Tarnished had been good company. With a thought she follows his activities since he'd last left, her mind zipping birdlike through time and space to land – at a meeting in the Tundra? She wrinkles her nose. It's so cold there. She does notice in passing that there's no Errant (another one bites the dust, and she'd never even met him, pity) but she is more immediately focused on the contest for who might replace him. Tarnished's name is in the hat, as are several others, but all of them seem about as qualified as she would be. Except Hurricane. She makes a mental note to go visit him. She is partially responsible for his child, after all.
She snorts, and in that moment, decides that being in the Tundra is a very boring thing, and Tarnished would be far happier here in the Desert. She doesn't feel the need to consult him on this.
Her magic darts out, invisible, unseen and unfelt, and swoops him away. He disappears with no warning, no pomp, and no circumstance. There is nothing obvious to link the act to the Deserts queen, and it's a good thing too. She really shouldn't be in the business of kidnapping would-be Tundra kings. But she can't help it; the memories of their squirrely bliss (because truly, their time in the meadow had been glorious) are just far too enticing.
She waits patiently for him to appear, and is surprised when he does not. She pokes and prods a little bit more, and quickly bumps up against the wall that is the Tundra's magic. She frowns, snorting in dismay. Apparently the Tundra is reluctant to let go of its almost-brother. And unfortunately enough for her, the kingdom magics are probably the one thing in Beqanna that she would never, ever, ever dare to cross. She tries to tug at her own magic, to release Tarnished and see if she can let the Tundra have its way.
She tugs. And tugs. But…well, he's stuck. A little magical quagmire. Only if she and the Tundra could somehow reverse their spells at just the same time could he maybe – maybe – pop back out. She sighs again, out of annoyance more than anything else. She isn't used to being denied her prizes, and without him she's doomed to boredom again.
It doesn't really matter to her that Tarnished is now stuck in a kind of magical limbo. She doesn't really care about the potential impact it would have on him. In fact, one more sigh and she's entirely stopped caring. The Tundra would probably figure it out eventually. Or he'd be trapped forever. It can't be too bad in there.
Probably.
Either way, not her problem. Not anymore. She smiles to herself. He's bound to pop out someday. And when he does, she'll just come snag him again. And this time, hopefully the kingdom magic won't decide to cockblock her.
@[tarnished]