12-26-2015, 01:10 PM
He has barely been here, hardly more than a day or two, when he hears a stallion summon them with a call that seems to ring out across the land. Mandan has been in the trees again, he likes hanging out there when Ygritte is off doing whatever it is that she does. There is something about the peace the trees afford him, the way sunlight and shadow spin off his fur and do little dances along his back and the paths before him. He likes the quiet there too, where the thunderous noise of the waterfall is diluted to a dull easily forgotten susurrus if he doesn’t think too long on it. It’s not that he thinks the water is too noisy, just that he’s used to open places - like the plains, like the meadow, where the noise flows up and out into the sky and doesn’t seem to bother him, but here it is contained like they are, in their little kingdom and he’s just not used to that - not yet, maybe never, but he’s trying for her, always for Ygritte. The bay stallion joins them, feeling out of place with the addax horns atop his head, but he nuzzles his mate’s shoulder all the same and settles in comfortably beside her (comfortably meaning that their shoulders touch, he stays in constant contact with her and is comforted by it). He listens to the other bay stallion (the king, he supposes though it goes unannounced but seems to be generally known and accepted) talk of an open competition to horses all over the nation for this position or that. Mandan is perhaps biased but he thinks his salmon-pointed mate would be a good candidate for this queen position, simply because she works tirelessly to see this land thrive and he has smelled her scent all over this place - a scent that is recent amongst so many stale smells of horses he has no names or faces for, and doesn’t really care to. He doesn’t have to say anything though because Ygritte speaks for herself and all he can do is smile from where he stands proud at her side.
A mare comes amongst them, stormy and quick to speak up; he is caught off-guard by the horns on her head and he is instantly excited by the idea of another here like him. Her horns differ from his, being some other species in her genes than the addax in him that produced such long spiraling horns atop his head but he flashes her a quick private grin, like they share a secret the rest of them are not privy to. She talks of earning back her right to be called queen and surprise flashes in his eyes; he does not like his beloved going up against this mare in any capacity but he knows there is a hint of warrior in Ygritte’s build, lovely and lithe as it is, but he spares a thought to their foal growing in her belly and concern mars his face mostly. Really though, he’s curious about the former queen and her horns, and he’s struck by the resemblances in Texas and Ygritte, but he voices nothing - Mandan keeps his thoughts to himself, guarded and close, as he simply stands beside his mate and watches, occasionally nuzzling her neck when he feels like it.
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