kreios
don't you tame your demons, but always keep them on a leash
As the product of two monarchs, it was always assumed that my siblings and I would reside in kingdoms. We all do – at least as far as I know – but lately I have begun to wonder what it might be like to do something else. I have no intentions of abandoning the Desert, of course; Father would rise from his grave beneath the oak tree and smite me for the thought alone. I am simply curious about them, about herds.
It doesn’t seem sensible to ask other members of my kingdom about them, since they clearly prefer kingdom life to herd life. But I’ve wandered through the canyons that border the badlands of the Desert, and found the two empty herd lands that sit beside the Light Mythic Kingdom. The Orange County and the Misty Rapids intrigue me, and I have oven imagined what a life there might be like. It would be split between my kingdoms duties of course (however few they are) but it might be nice.
The next step in deciding if a dual herd-and-kingdom life is feasible for me is then finding someone to help. I’ve considered asking Lucrezia or even Adrie, but I’m too afraid that they will laugh at me, and then how will I face them? No, I’d decided as I headed toward the Meadow this early fall day, it’s best to find someone entirely new.
The air is cool here, and the breeze lifts the chestnut hair of my mane from my neck as I follow the path beneath the fire-leaved trees. I am difficult o miss in the Field, even thought he scant red spots on my pale coat match the red-gold of autumn well. I am taller even than my father, and his thick Percheron blood (and my mother’s muscular figure, as well) have ensure that I tower over the rest of the company that has gathered in the Field on this autumn day. My size, however, is not something I am self-conscious of, so I keep my ram-horned head held high as I make my way into the open area.
I had taken into account the temperature of the season, I realize as I catch the scent of the mares that make up the majority of the homeless in the Field, but I had not considered that it was the season. I have never touched a mare – not in that way – and I have no intention of fathering children yet. It’s expected of a herd stallion, I’ve heard, but I’m not a herd stallion yet. I have only just lost my own father, and am not yet ready to be one myself. But that logic does not affect the blood that races through my veins like fire, and it does little to control the surge of testosterone.
Perhaps, I decide, it might be best to come back another day, perhaps in the winter, when I will be more in control of myself. Yes, I decide, that is what I will do.
I turn to leave and that is when I see her, a sleek silver figure atop the hill. She’s calling, perhaps not just to me, but I am within earshot. I should say hello, I tell myself, even if it’s just that – a hello and a goodbye in passing. I turn towards her instead of the path back to the Desert, and climb the hill with little effort. I am accustomed to scaling sand dunes, after all. Someone else reaches her first, a buckskin stallion that smells of the Chamber
“Hello,” I say, lowering my head to them both in a nod of greeting. It’s a longer stretch down to the mare, I realize, she is very small and very slender. She reminds me of Queen Yael, but this grey mare is much prettier; I realize that even in the haze of breeding season. I look at both of them, but my attention always return to the mare. “I’m Kreios, from the Desert. Well, I am from the Desert but that’s not really where I’m representing today.” I’ve already fumbled, how embarrassing. Since regaining the proper use of my mouth, I’ve done my best to always be well spoken. I do not look over at the other stallion, wel aware that even with effort I’d lack the easy charm that he posseses.
“I’m just here as me.” I add, in case that will help at all. Though I am not gifted with a silver tongue, I am genuine, and that at least is clear in the way that I offer a somewhat shy smile. “What brings you here today?”
|
|
|
