Common

Winter wasted no time in settling it's icy grip around Tinuvel, and for the first time since he had come to the Lost Islands, it did not send Solomon roaming away from home to look for greener pastures. Instead, he sought solace in the company of the mares that chose to remain with him, and fretted over those who had chosen to stay away.

Their number had begun to rise precipitously in the past years, strangely at about the same pace that he felt himself softening. The rigid control he had once imposed on his family, on his herd, on his children, all of it had mellowd into something akin to apathy and he hated himself for it. Regardless of the crown he wore, Solomon was less worthy of the title than he had been during his first few months on the islands and the knowledge rankled him. What legacy, what example, was he leaving for his sons?

For the first time in months, Solomon ambled across the sandy shore of the Commons with no particular goal. Now that Spring was nearly upon them, it was only a matter of time before his mares began to foal and his ability to roam away from the familiar shores of the Cove would be restricted again.

Movement ahead draws his thoughts away from his upcoming children, although the mare before him could easily have been one of his own older daughters. The lean tobiano paused in his approach, his emerald green eyes roving over the lithe future of the young girl in appraisal. A part of him still burned with the desire to claim her for himself - whether she was interested in becoming his or not - but he tempered his approach with a welcoming nicker of greeting before trotting in her direction with his crest bowed.

The last thing he ought to be doing was inviting a new player into his already tangled love life, but Solomon reasoned that if this beautiful stranger didn't want him, then he could easily gift her to one of his sons instead.

Solomon slowed as he reached speaking distance with the pretty girl and allowed a smile to flare to life on his lips. "Well hello there," he settled comfortably to a halt and allowed his gaze to break away from her to sweep appraisingly across the empty landscape. He hadn't come here himself in the past few months, but the few patches of slow-melting snow in the shade showed little to no disturbance from passing hoofprints. "I should have known I wouldn't be the only one to be out enjoying such a beautiful day."

His gaze flicks warmly back to the painted mare as he offers up the word beautiful, allowing his pointed gaze and lazy smile to imply his interest. Solomon then gestures forward to offer his muzzle for an exchange of breath, if she will take it. "I'm Solomon, lead of the Cove and King of the island of Tinuvel."

He didn't often bring out his full title - finding that naming himself King led to less favorable reactions than relying on his natural charm alone - but he wanted to sweep this girl off her feet. The odds of her being newly arrived to the islands was high, and her youth gave him some hope that he would be able to awe her… at least a little bit. After the misfortunes of the past year, he could use the admiration of a pretty mare to cheer himself back up.

"Surely this has to be your first time in the Commons," he offers with a tilt of the head toward the land around them, although his gaze does not leave her again. "Either that, or I've just gotten extremely lucky." Chuckling softly, he grins again. "Or both."

Solomon knew that he could bypass the pleasantries - that he could step forward and draw his teeth along the dun-striped ridge of her withers and claim her as his own without regard for her desires - but he wanted to try something softer first. He was good at overcoming hurdles in his personal relationships, but he saw no reason to make things harder than they needed to be. "Can I have your name? Or will you make me guess?"

Solomon