12-08-2018, 10:38 AM
My ears flick forward in curiosity at the mention of Solace. I had met the mare only once, though I had seen much of her in my captivity in Hyaline. She was always surrounded, either by her litter of children or the attentive affection of her mate. (The mate I had been very careful to avoid. I may be a firebrand but I am no fool). Our interaction had been brief and sharp, and while I do not lament my attitude – she and her sanctuary deserve it – I cannot help but wonder what about her I might have missed.
“Who is she to you, that you’d leave your child with her?”
The words come unbidden, my natural curiosity refusing to be contained. It is a Cleric’s responsibility to know about ties between kingdoms. It is a queen’s job too, I realize, just as the bay mare asks how things are. She smells of Loess, the salt and greenery smell that is like no other. My husband often smells of it, travelling between our home and this refuge, and I cannot help but wonder how much she already knows about what has been happening here.
I choose to give her the benefit of the doubt, even knowing that my own child rests not too far from us. He is in the dozing in the sunlight, after all, and it is all too clear that the fanged creature before me is unwilling to leave her shadows. We are safe for the length of this conversation, I think, but sunlight does not last forever.
“Good.” I answer, nodding my head congenially despite the faint suggestion of apathy that hangs about her query. “Noah, the leader of this land, has agreed to give us refuge for the length of the plague. Envoys have been sent to a few of the other kingdoms, hoping to find out how the rest of Beqanna has coped with the plague. We are allied with Sylva again; Wolfbane and I will be going there soon to solidify the recent alliance.”
Through it all, I use we casually. The royal We. I had intereacted with her very little during my time as Loess’ Cleric. Such was the nature of our bodies: I a creature of the day and she of the night. I am not certain what she was to Wolfbane beyond a queen consort but I have never considered her a threat to our marriage. Still, all of my senses suggest that she is a predator and I am not entirely able to relax entirely in her presence. Still, I roll my pale neck in a stretch and shift my weight, clearly content to stand and talk for a while more.
“Who is she to you, that you’d leave your child with her?”
The words come unbidden, my natural curiosity refusing to be contained. It is a Cleric’s responsibility to know about ties between kingdoms. It is a queen’s job too, I realize, just as the bay mare asks how things are. She smells of Loess, the salt and greenery smell that is like no other. My husband often smells of it, travelling between our home and this refuge, and I cannot help but wonder how much she already knows about what has been happening here.
I choose to give her the benefit of the doubt, even knowing that my own child rests not too far from us. He is in the dozing in the sunlight, after all, and it is all too clear that the fanged creature before me is unwilling to leave her shadows. We are safe for the length of this conversation, I think, but sunlight does not last forever.
“Good.” I answer, nodding my head congenially despite the faint suggestion of apathy that hangs about her query. “Noah, the leader of this land, has agreed to give us refuge for the length of the plague. Envoys have been sent to a few of the other kingdoms, hoping to find out how the rest of Beqanna has coped with the plague. We are allied with Sylva again; Wolfbane and I will be going there soon to solidify the recent alliance.”
Through it all, I use we casually. The royal We. I had intereacted with her very little during my time as Loess’ Cleric. Such was the nature of our bodies: I a creature of the day and she of the night. I am not certain what she was to Wolfbane beyond a queen consort but I have never considered her a threat to our marriage. Still, all of my senses suggest that she is a predator and I am not entirely able to relax entirely in her presence. Still, I roll my pale neck in a stretch and shift my weight, clearly content to stand and talk for a while more.
