Winter is a season of respite for many, but not for Rade. The palomino stallion has been as busy as ever; there was no time to rest as long as the Lagoon's ranks were in such disarray. For lack of an authority figure in this place, Rade has assumed a sort of de facto leadership. Someone has to be vigilant. Someone has to manage the countless meticulous details that arise from so many men coexisting in a relatively small space. There were newcomers to assimilate into the brotherhood, would-be thieves to chase away, and stray mares to be regathered. Between one thing and another, Rade has had little enough time to pursue his own ambitions. His plans for the future have been laid down at his feet - not discarded, but neglected for far too long.

Having flitted between Tinuvel and the Crossing countless times, the tawny bachelor has still not managed to locate the elusive Soljor, and is forced to admit defeat - if only temporarily. There would come a day of reckoning for the brazen stallion who had stolen from the Lagoon, but for the time, Rade puts the incident aside so that he can address more pressing matters. It is time to tie up the loose ends of his life before they unravel - to honor the promises that he has made. The line of Rade's lips thins as his thoughts wander to the warmth of Atlantis, and the child who shares his blood. If he did not return for Conquistador soon, the colt was likely to end up beyond his reach. The Lagoon needed every young man they could acquire - they made the most malleable recruits. And Rade needed the support his half-brother would lend him in his bid for leadership.

But even as he sets out for the sea's edge, an elusive pull turns him abruptly toward the sheltered pools that provide sustenance to the Lagoon. The bitterly cold air is tempered by a tantalizing taste of Fatale's scent, and memories of their last meeting leave him longing for her willing warmth at his side. Perhaps it would be prudent to check up on the bay mare, to see how her pregnancy was progressing and ensure the health and happiness of both she and his unborn child. Rade is almost running in his eagerness to approach her, but pulls up short at the sight of the familiar silver-black mare, sporting a swollen belly to match Fatale's. He can almost smell the fear clinging to her dark skin; her lips seem to tremble even as she speaks in a voice of determined calm.

The transformation is striking; Mercury is not the same defiant woman from his memory. She is just a girl, disheveled and seemingly defeated by Felony at last.

“Fatale,” Rade greets her in a voice like honey, his muzzle extending to gently caress the bulge of her barrel. A vague smile curves his lips upward, though it does not quite reach his eyes; he is too aware of the silver mare who stands nearby. Part of the palomino longs to ask what Felony had done to destroy the spirit Mercury had displayed in their brief meeting, but he already suspects the truth. Styrke had possessed a brutal streak that had seemed to unhinge him at the slightest provocation, and he has already glimpsed the same potential in his brother's son. His amber eyes meet Mercury's briefly, unwillingly, and he acknowledges her in a determinedly casual tone. “You are one of Felony's mares, are you not? A pleasure.”

His failure to recognize her is an act. It would be impossible to forget the face of a woman whom his words had condemned.


stallion // mongrel // 15.1hh // 6 // palomino roan // reba
debonaire x neassa