If my heart was a house, you’d be home - any

[magnus]

but she's bringin' the moon and stars to me -

Despite the fever that burns low and hot within him—despite the aches and the coughs and even despite the ill-fated meeting—Magnus does not mind having the ice dragon on his border. He may enjoy teasing the other, enjoy giving back what Leilan so easily doles out to others, but he does not think the stallion a bad man. An overprotective father perhaps, but Magnus isn’t a perfect father and has no leg to stand on.

So he merely relaxes, flicking his tail at his haunches and rolling a shoulder. “And here I was thinking that you secluded yourself on that block of ice because you found it entertaining.” His inky lips pull into a smile, “It’s good to see you again, Leilan. I’m glad you’ve managed to keep yourself alive.”

After all, anyone with a mouth as quick and loose as Leilan was bound to run into trouble.

More trouble than a bemused soldier with a kid in love at his side.

Still, Magnus rolls it off and takes a step back, beckoning Leilan further into Tephra. “Heartfire has managed to make her way over.” The eagle-eyed Queen certainly didn’t waste any time in firming up their alliance, ensuring that the relationships remained steady throughout the passing of the crown. “It was a good visit. The relationship between Nerine and Tephra will remain solid moving forward.”

He angles his head slightly, looking out of the stallion out of the corner of his eye and keeping his face impassive, even when Leilan coughs up a chunk of ice. Concern touches him briefly, pinches his mouth in the corner, but if the other stallion didn’t feel like commenting on it, Magnus wouldn’t either.

“The West remains quiet, like much of Beqanna, but we are safe and peaceful.”

If only Magnus was to know what would occur in the coming days.

- Magnus