to live and burn is
the most exquisite form of self destruction

The young stallion was more straightforward than Rade expected. Though he had wondered aloud at the bachelor’s reason for visiting the Peak, the question was more rhetorical than genuine. In truth, he’d cared less about the boy’s purpose than the one he was performing it for. Unfortunately, the surprise of learning that the blanketed male was being forced to ply for favors from his own Boss was short-lived. Of course Cullen was employing blackmail and bribery to build the foundations of his newest army. It was far easier than earning their respect and loyalty, after all. But at the same time, the roan stallion could not help but wonder if he was being lied to. Perhaps Cullen provided that script to all his lackeys, the better to sow discord and doubt amongst those who questioned them.

A short bark of laughter was quick to break that suspicion, however.

Rade felt the tension drain from his body, and could not help but to give a genuine smile in response to Fearghas’s denouncement. “Ah, the power of wishful thinking,” he mused sarcastically. “It seems to be the go-to strategy amongst the Vulcans as well, I’m sorry to say. I wonder if they realize how truly alike they are beneath their lofty ideals and for-the-greater-good proclamations?” Too late, he noticed the slender woman who had drawn close enough to overhear their conversation, but Rade didn’t waste his breath on waxing apologetic. If she didn’t like what he had to say, then she was welcome to take her ears elsewhere. And if she chose to repeat what he said to one of the Peak’s leaders, then she was only sparing him the breath it would take to share those thoughts himself.

Like Fearghas, his attention was quick to return to more important matters - though this time, he didn’t smile at the sentiment the dark boy added. Insulting Cullen felt good, but accomplished nothing - much like the Vulcans’ brilliant plan to hold a bunch of young stallions hostage for the crimes of the one who had misled them. No matter how grievous the errors they might have made under the Boss’s influence, Rade refused to believe that they were irredeemable. He had mistakes aplenty in his own youth, and allowed his passions to get the better of him more than once. And here he stood now, striving to bring about change for the better.

But to lead the Lagoon himself again? “My ambitions aren’t quite so grand as that,” he confessed, pausing to nibble at an itch. “The Lagoon was my home once, and I had intended to spend the remaining years of my life there. But your ‘gobshite’ would never allow me to live there in peace. See-” His amber eyes flicked to the woman who still lingered irritably, but enough of the Vulcan leaders already knew that there was no point in attempting to keep the secret. “I ruled the Lagoon once, many years ago. And Cullen - Cullen is my son.”

He grimaced, acknowledging just how unfortunate this truth was. But as far as Cullen’s negative qualities went, it wasn’t hard for Rade to figure out where they had come from. He, too, had once been that selfish and impulsive. Without Conquistador, who was to say what he would have become? Perhaps he could have wound up as cruel and arrogant as Cullen, if not for the boy he had fought so hard to save. And more than anything, it was that fact that convinced him that the Lagoon needed to do better. To be better.

Because if the love of a brother had been enough to bring him back from the darkness, then there was every chance that it could end the cycle of cruelty that threatened to break the foundations of his home.

stallion . twenty-two . palomino roan . mustang mix . 15.1hh
debonaire x neassa