Where Izora Lethia might not have hesitated to dip a hoof into the frigid waters of the North, Lilliana does. The chestnut mare is often found on their shoreline. She tends to spend short amounts of time soaking her aching joints in the salt water (her previous pregnancy hadn't been an easy one and while this one isn't as difficult as the last, Lilliana is not a mare meant for multiple children or pregnancies). It isn't unusual to find the Taigan mare standing there after she is finishing making her rounds or visiting with other Redwood dwellers, when she isn't with Yanhua or trying to catch a glimpse of golden Aela who grows lovelier with each season.
She has no time for any of that on this winter day. The buckskin Matriarch takes to the water and Lilliana snorts before finally committing herself to icy sea. Where the other Taigan councilmember has the luxury of gills and scales, she has none. By the time that the long journey (no thanks to her growing sides) is completed, her steps up the black, glassy beach are less than graceful. It takes her a moment to adjust to the feeling of solid earth instead of churning salt water below her and the flame-marked mare more or less staggers up the beach with a shaky gait.
Winds, she is tired.
Her companion could be taken as a vision; all shimmering scales, sleek sides, and sure-footed steps. Lilliana is none of that. Ocean water runs down her sides in rivulets and leaves a trail of where she goes. Where Lethy is lovely and light, Lilliana is soaked and sodden. When a cold blast of air blows past them, the thin-coated mare starts to shiver. She has learned to endure the cold in her years residing in the North. It is not something that she can say she will ever enjoy.
Lilliana follows a few paces behind Lethia and a familiar scent catches her attention, making the red mare momentarily forget the cold and the frost in the air that burns her flaring nostrils. Nash, her heart lifts and is followed by the eager rise of her head. There is a swing of purpose in her stride as she starts to glance around the Isle for a glimpse of her striped son. As much as she wants to find her firstborn, he is not the reason she is here. A dragon lounging on the scorched crags before them is. Her head jerks back slightly.
His dragon skin has a purpose outside the North. Inside it? Maybe on his Isle, Leilan grows comfortable. His appearance makes the fire-gold mare uneasy and she shifts her weight, though it does nothing to hide the her current condition. Neverwhere joins and something in the gleam of the pale blue eyes of the other mare makes her frown. Lilliana peers from beneath her curling forelock at the dappled mare and sighs, frustrated.
It makes her turn her attention on Leilan.
"Perhaps the next time you fancy a flight over the Northern territories, My Lord, a meeting there might be as effective as it here?" she quips. Her humor is dry where she is not. She clenches her jaw in determination to not shiver in front of the Dragon King. "It would save you a trip."
The Taigan mare feels her eyes flash up at Leilan. He speaks of the South and between the journey here, Lethy's easy compliance, and Neverwhere's games, her temper starts to flare. "The South?" she asks, as startled by that as Never is vague. "What plans are there for the South?" Oh, her anger blazes. It sparks at the tip of her tongue and threatens to catch flame on this whole conversation. "What of Brennen? How do we keep aiding him? And what about Pangea?"
Remember when our songs were just like prayers
Like gospel hymns that you caught in the air?
somebody DID NOT appreciate the swim lmao