She knew what some of them thought of her, but she also didn’t care.
Her father hadn’t always been a weak man, but war had a way of dragging ones heart from their bodies. That is what had happened to Mast in the end. The war had beat him and broke him, leaving him nothing but a shell of his former self. In the end, he had done what he thought was best for everyone. It had been his last act of valor, an act intended to save them all and hopefully finish what the Chamber had started. Topsail felt no feelings towards that matter, not really. It had all been before her time. In any case, she wasn’t one to dwell in the past, much preferring to invest her efforts in the present and plan for the future. But despite all of her fathers good points, he was one to hold a grudge, despite not having the heart to sustain such bitterness. If anything, Topsail had chosen to learn from his mistakes and refused to let history repeat itself.
So despite being a child born of the Gates, she was a woman of the Valley. She also knew more than she would ever let on.
For instance, the little shadow creature that trailed behind her. She could feel the traces of the mind controlling it, whispering orders here and there as needed. It didn’t come as much of a surprise then when the shadow-girl sought her out. Topsail raised her head at the sound of the girls voice, offering her a return dip of the head and a pleasant smile. “Please. Call me Topsail. And you must be Rhynn.” There was no doubt who she was; names were always easy to pull from someone’s mind without delving too deep. All the while she was speaking, the smile never left her face. “But thank you for asking. I am doing well, at least for a fat pregnant mare. And you? How are you? It’s nice to meet you; I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” she said with a laugh, indicating her growing belly. She could see bits and pieces of the other mares thoughts, and knew that the mare still saw her as a “Gates princess”…nothing could be farther from the truth. Once she had this foal, she would show the shadow minion what she had lurking beneath her mousey exterior. No proper princess of the Gates could have conjured up something so sinister.
topsail
I was in the darkness, so the darkness I became