On the Edge of Paradise [Diplomats or Any]

[Nayl]

I am not afraid... I was born to do this.

Nerine captured this iron-fisted mare and it molded her into a Queen with fiery eyes and soul. She is almost as untamed as the tide, but motherhood softened her substantially. To her peers, no, she remains just as hardened and brash. To those that carry pieces of her heart with them, she is something far greater and far rarer to behold.

But without her children nearby as of late and with Lior slinking deep into the depths of the caverns, Nayl has allowed the armor to buff itself once more.

”She is aware,” Nayl quips at Karaugh, knowing well she may be lying, ”but she asked why you are here, not the relationship between our homes.” She joins them at a leisurely walk, her gaze sweeping between the two of them as she sides immediately with Tantalize. Of course she would stand behind a sister versus an outsider. But she remembers this mare from years ago and how her skin was riddled with Stillwater’s. It was a time that Nayl still deeply longed for him and jealousy bubbled in her core, but she suppressed her primal needs for him. She found someone closer, more comfortable, more loyal.

This time, however, she isn’t quite as heavily bathed in his scent. In reality, Nayl hasn’t heard much of – or from – the stallion. Naturally, he has crossed her mind, but she would never admit to that. She is too proud to accept that she had lost him, just as she is too proud to accept that her hold on Beqanna is beginning to weaken. Nothing is said of Hyaline. Instead, the focus is solely on Sylva. Djinni visited recently, but never did she mention that the kingdom is nearing empty. ”Nerine is thriving,” she admits coolly with a fond glance toward the cliffside before settling back on Karaugh. In the blink of an eye Djinni is among them, but silent. A fleeting glance, quick and nonchalant, as though noticing a seagull flying overhead. The silence is enough to assure Nayl of her intentions, her curiosity brewing in her friend. ”Surely you’re not allowing your home to fumble? You’re still trying to ensure its security and keep some sort of population there?” Her shoulders roll with another slow blink of her autumn eyes, trying not to let Stillwater leak back into her memories.

”I wouldn’t let Sylva fall, nor Nerine. Perhaps Taiga deserved it.” But Ruan comes to mind and there is a pang in her heart as she considers the secluded ice man. She originally wanted him to bend the knee, to be like how Sylva is to Nerine, but the topic never fully breached. Perhaps this would open a window should she find him and offer him and his family refuge. With the thoughts, it’s difficult not to acknowledge Djinni, and so she casts her attention downward to the sand as though still weighed by her heavy thoughts.

queen of nerine
daughter of covet & myrina