"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
Now that she thinks on it, she hasn’t actually been to any of the other kingdoms, besides the Amazons and the Valley. For a horse that’s lived in Beqanna for over twelve years, it’s a little pathetic. She chastises herself as she makes her way towards the Falls, rather embarrassed by her overall performance in the kingdom so far. She really needs to step up - she had made that promise, so long ago, that she would make the kingdom proud. And so far she has failed to live up to that promise.
At least heading off on a kingdom visit will go a long way to setting her on the right path.
She reaches the border at midday, when the sun is high in the sky overhead. She’s glad for any extra little bit of warmth - as a long time member of the Jungle, she’s unused to the cold winters that many of the other kingdoms experience. Finding a nice little clearing by the border, she settles in to wait, both for the other sister supposed to be joining her, and for the Falls diplomats that she is sure will arrive soon. She shuffles quietly as she stands there, trying to keep warm. Damn this blasted snow!
He’s walking the border, enjoying the midafternoon sun on his back as he patrols. There is little chance that his efforts are worthwhile – war is still many months away and the Falls is a peaceful kingdom – but he does it out of habit. It is high time that he test his mettle in an actual battle, but he’s told himself that today Is too cold. Maybe tomorrow, or in the spring. Maybe later.
The chill in the air has heightened his senses, and he sees movement from the corner of his eye, a shifting of a large body. They’re on the far side of the border, whomever they are, and since they’ve not called out Texas is certain that it’s a diplomat from some kingdom, likely waiting for their companion to arrive before calling for the residents of the Falls.
Fortunately for them, Texas is already on his way over, and calling won’t be needed.
He usually has a smile for the visiting politicians, a warm expression that never quite turns his brown gaze truly warm. But his drawl is charming and his manners otherwise soothing, and to his knowledge he’s never unsettled anyone enough to complain. That smile is present on his face as he picks his way through the snow, the bay stallion winding through the trees until he can see the visitor. The smile fades in far less time than it had taken to put it into place; that is entirely understandable given that the mare is an Amazon.
“Here to take over again?” He asks wryly. It hadn’t been terribly long since their last attempt (barely 50 years, wasn’t it?) and Texas clearly finds himself amusing if the genuine humor in his eyes is to be believed. Though the kingdom is small – himself and what, three others? – that is an advantage, what with their resources. There are only four horses than can work the magical waterfall, and each is all the more valuable for that. “Or are you here for something else?”
She waits for quite a while, but no one seems to be joining her. Had no one actually volunteered to join her on this visit? She hadn’t really paid much attention … whoops!
As time wears on, it becomes more apparent that she’s on her own on this one. She’s preparing to bite the bullet and call out for Falls diplomats, when the crunching of snow alerts her to the approach of another horse. It appears that they have beaten her to the punch.
Her ears flick forward attentively, and she inclines her head respectfully when the newcomer - a stallion - appears. She eyes him as he approaches, taking in the grey around his muzzle, and the cheeky twinkle in his eye. She has a suspicion that this fellow is going to be an amusing old fart.
Her suspicion is immediately confirmed when he opens his mouth. She always appreciates a little humour. She grins, and lets out a mock gasp. “Oh no, I’ve been found out!” Really though, the Jungle would be foolish to try and make one horse take over a kingdom, let alone herself. She’d probably accidentally set lighting to half the kingdom by mistake. “Actually I’ve come to extend the offer of an alliance, if your queen would be at all interested.” Internally, she has to confess she’s not entirely sure why her sisters had decided to vote to ally with the Falls. While they do have the healing falls, they aren’t a particularly strong kingdom, and their current treaty still gives them access to the healing waters when they need them. But in the end, it’s not up to her. Her sisters and her queen had all agreed. Now it just depends on whether Queen Shatter Me agrees as well.
The respectful nod goes rather farther with Texas than it might with another horse. He doesn’t return it of course, but appreciates in nonetheless. Though for the most part he’s content to dwell in anonymity, he takes what he can get to tide him over.
He’d come to terms several months past that he’s no longer a striking young stallion, but enough hours staring in the still pools in the granite of the waterfall have confirmed that he is still attractive –albeit in as a silver fox. That’s acceptable (he’ll spare time the pleasure of killing him of old age if he ever becomes truly decrepit), and he’s content.
The bay stallion has also come to terms with the fact that the majority of the pretty mares are probably his own descendants and has, for the most part, avoided any sort of untoward flirtation. This mare, while certainly one of the more interestingly colored creatures that he’s come across, is probably some great granddaughter; hell, she’s probably the result of Vain’s prolific tendencies and has inherited her insanity from Prague.
As we all know, joining the Amazons is a certifiable sign of madness and general mental instability. They’re fun for a quick roll in the sack, but ask them to do any sort of logical thinking and they start shouting obscenities and threatening you with the ‘Might of the Sisterhood’. (Texas doesn’t speak much with the mothers of his children anymore).
So he’s pleasantly surprised when the grullo mare plays along rather than become offended, and Texas nods his grizzled head pleasantly. Perhaps this Amazon is having a good day. “She might be,” he tells the spotted mare, turning away momentarily to call for the silver queen. She’ll be best able to answer the question after all, even if Texas is personally biased against the female kingdom.
“What does an alliance with the Jungle entail these days?” He asks as they wait, knowing that Shatter Me will likely be along shortly. “Friendly steals, challenges, and the like? Aid in war?” The Falls has no army to speak of other than himself and Tyrna, but he’s well aware that the rest of the kingdoms know that. They also know that only the Falls has healing water, and that is enough to keep them more than protected. “I assume you know that we’ve recently decided to preserve our resources and offer the healing waters only to kingdoms that we are allied with. The treaties that we held with other kingdoms still stand in terms of peace, but not access to the water.”
06-09-2015, 02:15 PM (This post was last modified: 06-09-2015, 02:16 PM by Lyris.)
Well, so far this diplomatic venture is going off without a hitch. She and the bay stallion seem to be getting along relatively well, and there seems to be not much opposition from him towards the idea of an alliance. The only hitch in the visit so far is the absence of the queen, who has the final say on whether the alliance happens or not. But, the bay stallion has called for her already, and hopefully she will be along to join them soon.
“Yup, the usual.” The Jungle is not looking for anything more in this alliance, at least that’s the impression she got from the secret meeting. The only kingdom they generally form deeper ties with (in the form of foal exchanges) is the Jungle, though it will be interesting to see how their deal with the Dale turns out.
“Ah, I will confess I did not know that. But I have just returned from a bit of an absence, so I’m a bit behind on the news.” Admitting that will probably make her look like a poor diplomat, but she doesn’t particularly care. Especially since she is a bit of a poor diplomat. At least she now knows why her sisters had voted to ally the Jungle with the Falls. Trying to keep the connection to the healing waters makes a lot of sense, especially with a kingdom that so often gets embroiled in wars.
She’s struck with the sudden realization that she hasn’t even introduced herself. Oops! “Oh! I’m Lyris by the way.” Some diplomat she is.
Lyris
I’ll burn this whole city down
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Ugh, I had trouble with this one for some reason. :(
They’d waited a rather long time, and while Texas is not by nature a patient creature, he is able to pass as one fairly well. Being distracted by the Amazon diplomat has been helpful, but there’s only so long they can wait for Shatter Me’s arrival without it seeming suspicious. Texas will have to hunt her down after he sends Lyris home, he realizes, already having ended the conversation between them in his mind even though the grullo mare is still speaking. His shift in mood, from pleasantly teasing to iiritable happens rather quickly, but it does not show in his tone or expression.
He turns his attention back to her (though his brown gaze as never left hers) and listens as she apologizes for not being caught up on current policies. It’s a fairly new one, of course, but the bay stallion enjoys the upper-hand that not being the one apologizing gives him, and he simply nods in acceptance rather than making her ignorance seem less than it is. He could be crueler about it, he tells himself; he could have said something about the Amazons sending incompetent diplomats. But look, he holds his tongue and says nothing terrible at all.
“I’m Texas.” He replies, offering his name only in return for hers; he doesn’t much care.
“I think the queen might be involved in business elsewhere,” He says, having just turned back from looking over his shoulder for the grey queen one last time. “I’ll let her know of the Jungle’s offer, and we’ll send someone to the Amazons to let you know of our decision.” Since they’ve never left the border, Texas doesn’t offer to escort her back (as he just might have if they’d been wandering though the Falls while talking). “Thanks for your visit. I’ll let Shatter Me know it was you who came, and will make that clear to whomever our diplomat meets when they go to the Jungle as well.” And with that he is ready to turn and seek out the queen himself.
[I literally took like four years to write each of these sentences and they drained me and I’m sorry D: if it works for you we can end the thread here and someone will be along to the zons shortly?]
06-14-2015, 09:00 PM (This post was last modified: 06-14-2015, 09:56 PM by Lyris.)
They wait. And they wait. And then they wait some more.
She shuffles her feet awkwardly and glances about, wondering when the Falls queen will arrive. She has to admit, she’s surprised at how long it’s taking. But, the position of queen comes with a certain amount of duties, so she supposes Shatter Me must be busy with one of those. Scorch herself is certainly often busy.
But the wait appears to be irritating her new diplomat acquaintance - she senses a distinct and rather abrupt change in his affable mood. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Texas.” Though he clearly doesn’t think it much a pleasure any longer.
Finally he breaks, and makes an excuse for his queen with clear finality. Their conversation is done, and he evidently wants her gone.
Well, she won’t argue. She doesn’t want to stick around when her presence is no longer welcomed. That would be an even bigger diplomatic faux pas than her lack of current knowledge. She will return to the Jungle, and report Texas’ words to Scorch. The flame covered queen can decided what to do with them. “Thank you. I’m sure Scorch will look forward to hearing from you soon.” If they hear from them at all.
