and when i breathed
my breath was lightning
The mare answers her question, revealing that she hasn’t been in Beqanna long. Not long enough to know all that much about the kingdoms, so Rhy’s explanation of the Jungle is hopefully at least somewhat helpful. The Jungle certainly bucks tradition in that sense. And there are some that like it, and like the idea of not necessarily being ruled by a stallion in a herd. Granted, many of the kingdoms were ruled by women. That wasn’t uncommon. But there were plenty of traditional herds as well, and some mares still preferred that life. Rhy didn’t, but she respected those that did.
“Well, welcome to Beqanna.” She says to begin, before diving into the questions that the mare has. “Yes, the horses there are kind, though sometimes a little rough around the edges. The Jungle is known for producing strong, warrior women though. Even if you don’t like to fight, like me, most of us are capable of it. And the stallions there choose that life. We don’t make them stay, and we don’t make them do anything they don’t want to do. But other than to serve the kingdom and to help out, no, they aren’t there for anything else. Though it is not uncommon for the men that live there to choose to do so to be with the mare they love.”
She thinks of her grandparents, of Scorch and Hestoni. Kratos would never live in the Jungle as a manservant with Rhy, but many did. And they lived quite happily, those that had no ambitions for a title. Her own father had offered to live with Rayelle in the Jungle, had Rayelle chosen to go back to her birth home. But he loved her far more than anything else in this world, so that always made sense to her.
“The Jungle isn’t for everyone, and I’ll understand if you don’t think it’s for you.”
rhy
the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle
