Here in the Deserts, royal blood is more common than water. It means nothing, but even if it did, the Deserts by blood is no more hers than the sky is hers, or the Meadow. No, if you want to talk blood rights - it is his, the grandson of the first king and the son of two true Desert queens. He is of the true bloodline, not the usurpers that Scorch assumes belong so rightfully here. No, her blood belongs to whichever hole it first seeped out from.
"Apparently you do not, so let me remind you. You are nobody here."
And neither is he, but he doesn't go round snarling with self entitlement, expecting his heritage to make him something important to a kingdom that barely knows his name.
"Keep your weak veiled threats to yourself, woman."
And then she carries on as if nothing had happened. Quizzically, he looked to his queens and Yael. Scorch has proved herself a very honest and trustworthy individual, hasn't she? Is what his look seems to say. Sarcasm. Of course.
Ooc: sorry on iPad... And in class. Urk.
so you wanna play with magic? Scorch takes a little ride down memory lane, and without even knowing it, she carries Camrynn with her. The magic mare was not unaware of Scorch's ties here, and she briefly considers what it might have been like had Scorch ruled here. Or really, what it might have been like had Scorch never been baby-swapped, had she been raised the princess of light like she was meant to be. She is sorely tempted, just for a moment, to mess with the timeline, to push and pull the strings that have led them here today and rewrite Scorch's history, just to see what would happen.
But she doesn't. Grandfather paradox and all, y'know.
Scorch praises their potential as queens and questions their loyalty in the same breath, and Camrynn can't help but wonder what she thinks she's driving at. When Scorch mentions her, with the obvious lack of affection, her only reaction is an impossibly sweet smile. She doesn't need Scorch to love her, not anymore. Well, if you want to get technical, she never really needed it – she wanted it because she wanted it. She was never bound to Scorch with the kind of oath that binds her to the Deserts. And besides, serving the Deserts well has become a point of pride for her. Get her magic on the line, get her legitimately involved (one is distinctly harder than the other) and then you're going to get somewhere.
She listens to Scorch's words with calm dispassion, maintaining her role as the calmest and most voice-of-reason-esque horse in this conversation. She knows that Yael and Pevensie will see what Scorch is saying, what she's feeling – the way she describes a unison, and yet the way she expects Camrynn to be a Deserts-Amazon. Surely, surely Scorch would hate that if the situations were reversed. What would she think if a Deserts-Amazon ruled alongside her in the jungle? Surely she wouldn't be too pleased.
Her smile remains as she listens to the rest of Scorch's statement s without interruption. When the mare calls her Cammie, and comments on her newfound virtue, she can't help but offer that saccharine, uncannily sweet smile again. "I'm a queen of the Deserts, perfect honesty comes with the territory." she speaks calmly, her voice so serious that she either means it, or is speaking with the most perfect dry humor (hint: she doesn't mean it). It's probably inappropriate here, in this context, but between her and Yael, Scorch can't touch them, and she knows it. "And really, when it came to the competition, none of us knew what to expect. The gods of the Deserts picked the challenges and the winners, and there's no horse alive who can know the will of the gods." her velvet voice is entirely honest this time. She remembers the gods so vividly, so well that it might be just yesterday that she had stood before them, wishing she could ask them a million questions. They have earned her respect, and even if she could know their minds, read the futures that they spin, she wouldn't try.
She looks to Romek, amused and grateful that he's such a spitfire. "Well, as you may have gathered from Romek here, I'm not sure the Deserts are as unified in support of an alliance." she pauses for a moment, her eyes shifting back to Sorch. "We will present everything that you have said to our assembled kingdom, and then the Deserts will choose." She speaks it delicately, as though deliberately ignoring the weight that such a sentence must really carry. She can feel the many ripples that will come from any decision that they might make – and it is comforting to her to know that no matter what, between herself and Yael, and Eight if she needs him, the kingdom will be safe. Because at the end of the day, no amount of manpower (or womanpower) could ever hold out against the might of three magicians. Four, if she manages to catch Evrae's interest.
"We cannot offer you an answer until there has been a vote. But we will have one as soon as we can, and we'll deliver you an answer as soon as we're able."
And that's really all there is to it. She can see the threads of the future beginning to weave themselves together, starting to coalesce into the timeline of What Will Be. She doesn't peer too closely (it is early, yet) but the prospects are not surprising.
Looking at Scorch, feeling the cavalcade of emotions that the dragon-mare has felt throughout this conversation, Camrynn feels…something. It's impossible to say whether it's sadness, or pity, or even some kind of strange amusement. Camrynn does enjoy seeing how far she can push her limits with those in power, how much she can do, what she can provoke.
And to that end, she plants an undetectable seed of magic within Scorch. It's impossible to say whether it's kindness, cruelty, or just plain because she can. This seed will lie dormant within Scorch until she next has a child. When she does quicken, that child will have a twin. And that twin will be a baby girl, a tiny dark bay filly who will grey, with color changing eyes. The exact duplicate of Cammie, the filly who wasn't, but with her personality as sweet and innocent as Cammie had ever pretended to be.
Perhaps she's apologizing for being the worst daughter ever.
Or perhaps not.
CAMRYNN co-queen of the deserts, magical, mother of badassery
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