and some by virtue fall; any

[Kushiel]

Kushiel had been enjoying his day. The sun was out, the grass was green, the tree was on fire. Really, who could ask for more? Besides, it was spring. Foals were everywhere, and you couldn’t help but smile at them. Even if one or two of those foals were Gryffen’s creepy babies with big red eyes. Hey, kids were still cute, right? Even if they had a demonic tint to them? Anyways, Kushiel had been minding his own business (and maybe a little of Gryffen’s business as well) and thought he hadn’t been bothering anyone.


Keyword, thought.

He heard the sound of labored panting behind him and turned around with some unease. Oh god, was one of Gryffen’s conquests going into labor? That really wasn’t what he needed. But, now he saw that it wasn’t a laboring mare. Or at least, it was a mare, Shaytan to be specific, and she certainly did look belabored, but she didn’t seem to be with child. Perhaps she carried the baby weight really well? Kushiel looked at her closely, then spoke carefully.

“Do you need me to call someone? Another mare perhaps?” Yes, he was trying to pawn the job off on someone else, no he was not ashamed. Kushiel knew his own limitations, and delivering a child was exactly on the wrong side of that line. Still, the mare didn’t seem to react well to his helpful suggestion. She charged him, and the big stallion scrambled out of the way, undignified and confused.

“Hey!” He shouted at her, his flaming mane puffing a little higher at the perceived threat.

“Easy girl!” He dodged her with more grace than he knew he possessed and shouted again, not very soothing to say the least.

“I said easy!” The irony of shouting soothing words was not lost on Kushiel, he just didn’t have a ready alternative. For a diplomat, he rarely said the right thing, and he was completely unprepared to deal with this situation. Finally, when he thought she was calm enough, or at least when they had enough distance between them that he didn’t feel she was an immediately threat, Kushiel huffed in annoyance and growled at her.

“Can I help you with something?” He didn’t know a lot about Shaytan, but she did seem a little…off. He got the feeling she was the kid all the other kids had given a wide berth. He didn’t hold that against her, after all, he had been that kid as well. He just didn’t appreciate her rather special attentions.