08-29-2017, 09:09 PM
It’s been nearly five years since she’d left the shore for the woods. The time seems to have gone quickly, and she can almost pretend that it hasn’t passed at all. Almost. Then she catches a glimpse of her children – her youngest children. She was a mother! Before the world had changed, Djinni had known what she wanted. She had an eternity to do anything she ever desired. She had never wanted children.
And now she has three. (Four really, if you count little Rhysand, and Djinni is truly fond of the piebald colt).
How the world has changed.
The expression that crosses Nayl’s face is not unexpected, but it does not make seeing it any easier. Djinni knows that Nayl’s title of the Iron Queen is not an undeserved one, but she also knows that it is not entirely accurate. Nayl is not invincible, though she would very much like the outside world to believe it. They’d find her all the more terrifying if they knew the truth, Djinni thinks with a wry smile that does not quite mesh with the topic at hand. If Beqanna knew the lengths that Nayl would go to for damaged pride, they’d whisper the name Nerine with appropriate reverence.
It’s something that Djinni has always liked about the other mare; she has never been able to accurately predict what it is that Nayl will say or do. It brightens a relationship that Djinni would otherwise find dull, as she eventually finds most of her companions.
Never in a thousand years would she have suspected that Nayl would jump to Stillwater as an explanation for Djinni’s announcement. Nayl knows the truth about the two of them – or at least more of the truth than anyone other than Djinni and Stillwater knows. Even if the Nerinian queen were to suspect that their publicly-undefined relationship had ended, did she really think that Djinni would come back to Nerine for that?
If something had happened between them (something terrible and worth giving up a throne for), she’d had simply sent him back. He’d always liked the caves better here anyway. He probably liked Nayl more too, truth be told, and if that meant she wouldn’t wake up drained of blood and pregnant a third time, maybe it would have been for the best.
That is not what had happened though – that is not the why – and so she simply shakes her head with eyes looking out to sea.
She laughs suddenly at the mention of Hyaline.
Djinni often forgets how young Nayl is, and how little she knows. It’s easy to do, as a head is full of many things after three-quarters of a century. Child rulers become adult rulers. Former child rulers never want to let go of their thrones; that is a proven fact. Their royal children or grandchildren might rebel and disdain power, but any head that wears a monarch’s crown as a child will be loathe to ever let it go. It had taken death to wrest away power from the horses in her lineage; Djinni is both proof and witness to problems just like the one that Nayl is fretting over.
“Who said I was just going to step down?” asks the glass-eyed mare. Until now, the uncharacteristic sincerity that she displayed had not wavered. Now, for a brief moment at least, there is a spark in her eye. “Surely I could come back in a manner that would be more helpful to Nerine than just to turn tail and retreat?” Djinni doesn’t offer any suggestions as to exactly what type of ‘manner’ she refers to, but she does wish the knowledge of their conversation drowned out by the crashing waves and shrieking gulls.
ooc: so this post basically ran away with me sorry D:
And now she has three. (Four really, if you count little Rhysand, and Djinni is truly fond of the piebald colt).
How the world has changed.
The expression that crosses Nayl’s face is not unexpected, but it does not make seeing it any easier. Djinni knows that Nayl’s title of the Iron Queen is not an undeserved one, but she also knows that it is not entirely accurate. Nayl is not invincible, though she would very much like the outside world to believe it. They’d find her all the more terrifying if they knew the truth, Djinni thinks with a wry smile that does not quite mesh with the topic at hand. If Beqanna knew the lengths that Nayl would go to for damaged pride, they’d whisper the name Nerine with appropriate reverence.
It’s something that Djinni has always liked about the other mare; she has never been able to accurately predict what it is that Nayl will say or do. It brightens a relationship that Djinni would otherwise find dull, as she eventually finds most of her companions.
Never in a thousand years would she have suspected that Nayl would jump to Stillwater as an explanation for Djinni’s announcement. Nayl knows the truth about the two of them – or at least more of the truth than anyone other than Djinni and Stillwater knows. Even if the Nerinian queen were to suspect that their publicly-undefined relationship had ended, did she really think that Djinni would come back to Nerine for that?
If something had happened between them (something terrible and worth giving up a throne for), she’d had simply sent him back. He’d always liked the caves better here anyway. He probably liked Nayl more too, truth be told, and if that meant she wouldn’t wake up drained of blood and pregnant a third time, maybe it would have been for the best.
That is not what had happened though – that is not the why – and so she simply shakes her head with eyes looking out to sea.
She laughs suddenly at the mention of Hyaline.
Djinni often forgets how young Nayl is, and how little she knows. It’s easy to do, as a head is full of many things after three-quarters of a century. Child rulers become adult rulers. Former child rulers never want to let go of their thrones; that is a proven fact. Their royal children or grandchildren might rebel and disdain power, but any head that wears a monarch’s crown as a child will be loathe to ever let it go. It had taken death to wrest away power from the horses in her lineage; Djinni is both proof and witness to problems just like the one that Nayl is fretting over.
“Who said I was just going to step down?” asks the glass-eyed mare. Until now, the uncharacteristic sincerity that she displayed had not wavered. Now, for a brief moment at least, there is a spark in her eye. “Surely I could come back in a manner that would be more helpful to Nerine than just to turn tail and retreat?” Djinni doesn’t offer any suggestions as to exactly what type of ‘manner’ she refers to, but she does wish the knowledge of their conversation drowned out by the crashing waves and shrieking gulls.
ooc: so this post basically ran away with me sorry D:
D J I N N I
genie | rose gold tobiano dun | trickster