I've heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
but you don't really care for music do you?
Despite all of his years in the Gates, he was new to all of this. To making suggestions, and politics, and having high expectations not only for himself but for his members. All he wanted was for his kingdom to prosper, and for other kingdoms to know that despite their reputations that they would not play whipping boy. While he didn’t necessarily want them to be feared, he wanted them to be respected. He wanted everyone else in Beqanna to know that they were here, and that they had a voice. The Gray King felt certain that his kingdom could be a strong kingdom, especially with their current members. Fiasko, his queen…a quiet strength, but someone he held in great esteem. Jason, the blue magician. Though Mast didn’t know much about him and he sometimes got the feeling Jason preferred it that way, Mast couldn’t deny what an asset he was to their kingdom. Mast may have lacked any type of magic but he could easily feel the way Jason felt for the Gates. Wichita, who had arrived as a shy recruit and was now flying up the ranks. Sweet Reuen, as unsure as she was, well Mast valued her immensely. He thought for sure under that shell was a flower just looking for the right amount of sunshine and water to bloom. For now he reserved judgment for Rapscallion, though he thought the stallion was made of the right stuff. Yes, they had the wind at their backs.
Surely, the thinks, winter time is the most pleasant time to visit the Deserts. He had felt the warmth in his bones before he had even gotten close to the border, and though he loved his beautiful home dearly, the blazing sun was a welcome change. It warmed him clear to his core, and a large part of him thought how nice a nap would be. But now was not the time for naps, now was the time for a certain amount of political talk and the talk of things important to all of his kingdoms future. He knew that Jason had said he would accompany him, but Mast knew that magicians could travel any way they saw fit. So he had set out on his own, not intending to be rude, but relishing in the solitude nonetheless. It felt good to travel across the sands with nothing but his own thoughts (which were many). Finally, when he thought he had reached the border (it was hard to tell with the shifting of the sands and the brightness of the sun) he stopped, peering into the distance. He would wait here for the Deserts queens, wait here for Jason. He would wait patiently, content to bask in the sunshine.
M A S T
It has taken a good half-decade, but finally, she begins to feel the cooler shift in the winter weather here in her Desert home. Up until this point, she had put the seasons down to hot (winter), hotter (spring), hellfire (summer) and unpleasantly stifling (spring). It was not in the poor little ponies breeding to come here, to such a painfully dry, scorched land - not when her ancestors had wandered across Tundra, never to feel the cold. However, she is beginning to adapt, slowly but surely.
She is by a little grove of palm trees next to the border, resting with Ketterley under the shade, her eyes half closed. The heat does have the most wonderful way of making one feel gloriously drowsy, leading to the most pleasant naps. She was in such a state, half dream, half reality, when a foreign scent hit her nostrils. Nothing totally unexpected, since Cam had welcomed most of them here, but nevertheless she goes off to do her duty: to greet and investigate.
The little buckskin mare trots off in the direction of the scent. That of a stallion, she presumes, musty and appealing to her nostrils (though of course, she wouldn't dream of betraying Hurricane). She advances to spot him on the horizon, politely waiting at the border. Some sort of diplomat, she assumes.
"Hello," she chirps, most jovially. She smiles her sweet smile, eyes sparkling with delight at the chance of a chat. Poor mare never seems to shut up these days. "I'm Pevensie, welcome to the Deserts. May I have the pleasure of your acquaintance?"
@[Evie]
 gaza Their meeting in the Gates hadn’t come to much, except for Gaza deciding that it was a very lovely kingdom, and that maybe he would want to live there. Despite the fact that he probably could have eaten his weight in sweet, sweet clover, he had to return to the Desert - with nothing to report other than a successful introduction.
Gaza doesn’t know whether or not to count it as a success, not knowing that many such diplomatic ventures end this way. He doesn’t call it a failure - that would imply he hadn’t followed through with his duties, or that the kingdom was empty, or that they had driven him away with tooth and hoof. None of those things happened. They just… kind of ended on a stale note? He hopes that Mast and Wichita don’t think ill of him for it - especially when he has a secret desire to maaaaaybe join the Gates.
While Gaza has reported to Yael about the status the Gates (alive, friendly), he hadn’t made his way to the Queens yet. Oops. He is actually on his way to find either Pevensie or Cam, when he conveniently comes across Pev and just the guy he wanted to tell her about. Funny how that happens sometimes. And then there is Pev’s daughter, who he has yet to meet, who is resting in the shade. She’s cute, he thinks, though only in a passing thought, and then pays her no mind. There is a pleasant smile on his face, for he’s always thought fondly of Pevensie, ever since they chased the camels together. It is genuine and heartwarming, and he offers it to both of them before allowing himself to interject with an introduction.
“Pevensie! I was just looking for you… I mean I have been looking for you for awhile. Never mind. This is Mast, he’s King in the Gates, and I met him awhile ago.” Nice fellow, he wants to say, but that isn’t for her to decide. “Mast, this is Pevensie, one of our Queens.” Nice lady, too, he thinks. Wasn’t this just the perfect little gaggle of nice little geese?
vanquish x yael
so you wanna play with magic? You could argue, I suppose, that magicians are never truly late - that they, much like wizards, arrive precisely when they intend to. And Camrynn certainly seems to prove that rule – she plays with time, looping it around itself, drawing it ever tighter as she slips unseen and unexpected through the resulting knot. But tighten though it may, it never catches her, not truly.
What does, when she can make the world dance at her whim?
She fades into existence slowly, long after Pevensie and Gaza have already greeted Mast. She knows what's going on, of course she does – she feels everything in the Deserts down to her essence, in her bones. Even when she wanders (as she does, sometimes) she is always tethered here, and not just because of the oath she swore. Yes, she had sworn to the old gods that she would serve the Deserts or lose her magic. But she'd done so to prove the point of her loyalty after she'd already chosen to pledge it. And hadn't it borne out, in the end? She might not have done much to bring the Deserts to greatness, but she'd done nothing but try.
The fact that she's on-and-off raising a miniature army of her own in complete secrecy is irrelevant. She's not going to use it to hurt the Deserts, so it's really almost the same thing as having a secret army within the Deserts.
Almost.
Fully solid, she regards the three assembled horses with a smile. She is as beautiful as ever, her coat a pure dark inky black, no markings save for the gold crook and flail proud across her chest and the thin trail of diamonds and gemstones tracing across her left cheek. And then, of course, there's her eyes – today there's a clear cerulean blue, deep like an ocean. But otherwise, she appears entirely normal.
She greets Pevensie with a gentle touch of her muzzle. They'd come to an understanding of sorts that day when the oasis had appeared. Or at least, Camrynn felt they had. She wonders if the golden mare suspects that Camrynn had played any kind of role in the way things had shaken out with Hurricane, and the daughter the two of them had had.
For just a moment, Camrynn wonders if she'd done right by Pevensie.
But then she turns to Gaza, offering the boy a gentle nod. Then she turns her attention to the King of the Gates, giving him a dip of her head. "And I'm Camrynn, the other queen." she adds smoothly as Gaza finishes speaking. "Mast, welcome to the Deserts. I trust your trip here was a pleasant one. Can I offer you refreshment after your journey? There's nothing like the cool of the oasis after a long trip." Her voice is warm like velvet, and her hospitality is sincere. What does it hurt her to offer him these comforts? The Deserts can easily afford them, and there's plenty of time for this before they get down to the diplomatic nitty-gritty, which she has no doubt is what brought him here.
CAMRYNN co-queen of the deserts, magical, mother of badassery
(I'm literally the worst. Sorry for making you guys wait <3)
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